ROH 148 – A Fight At The Roxbury – 8th June 2007
Ring Of Honor is back in the Boston area and in another new venue. No other market has seen so many building changes as the Boston region. It seems like every six months or so they need a new one. The Braintree venue was packed for the last show in the area (Dedicated) so we’ve moved to a bigger building – and it looks really cool on DVD, if a little empty. Main eventing tonight is Jay Briscoe challenging Takeshi Morishima for the World Title. There’s also an NRC/Resilience 6-man tag, a purists dream four corner survival and a couple of other interesting bouts to round out the card. We’re in Roxbury Crossing, MA. Commentating will be Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.
ROH VIDEO WIRE (29/05/07) – Hey, we actually get some new content this time! Rebecca Bayless is in the swamps of Florida to get an interview with Delirious, who seems a little angry at Roderick Strong. Later on he barges into the FIP locker room and trying to find Roddy. Tyler Black informs him that Strong is elsewhere.
- The Briscoes look REALLY drunk. Mark Briscoe is a seriously weird guy. They’ve got a big weekend lined up with singles matches in Boston then the Kings Of Wrestling in a 2/3 Falls Match in Philadelphia. Everyone has to Man Up of course…
- The Delirious antics end with him attacking Roderick Strong until a host of FIP wrestlers making cameos haul them apart.
Becky Bayless has the No Remorse Corps for some interview time. Strong promises to kill Delirious tonight, then stops to mock Austin Aries who’s stuck in TNA. They all sleaze on Becky too.
Bryan Danielson verbally squashes Jimmy Rave by saying he should’ve beaten him in far less than the 20+ minutes they wrestled to during their classic at the Fourth Anniversary Show last year. He promises their rematch tonight will be much shorter.
Brent Albright vs BJ Whitmer
This one will either be really good or really boring. Both guys have a lot of potential but thus far in their ROH careers they’ve tended to need to work around more charismatic opponents/partners to make their stuff interesting. Still, they had a good tables match in February, and it’s always intriguing when two of the bigger guys on the roster meet. Albright has some connections with Adam Pearce, who we saw consoling BJ after he lost the first ever ROH ppv match at Respect Is Earned…in under 3 minutes.
The two big men waste no time in laying into each other with some big forearms. They then crash over the ropes to the floor from a suplex attempt. It’s Albright that secures an advantage by launching Whitmer into the railings. Eventually BJ rallies and gives Albright a taste of his own medicine. He gets distracted by the referee though and it allows Albright back into the match. He targets the arm, softening it up for the Half Nelson Suplex and Crowbar finishers he likes to use. BJ gets shot shoulder-first into the ringpost to do yet more damage at the 5-minute mark. A swinging neckbreaker out of the corner buys Whitmer some time, and he follows it up with a second neckbreaker for 2. Implant DDT puts a stop to BJ’s momentum though. Albright goes to the top rope for no apparent reason, and misses whatever he was going for. Whitmer takes advantage with a German suplex…but Albright gets up for one of his own. DRAGON SUPLEX by BJ for 2. CROWBAR out of nowhere and BJ’s weakened arm is being punished again. He gets a leg on the bottom rope to break it. He lands a couple of blows to the head/neck region and gets 2. Which apparently pisses him off enough to headbutt the referee. Whitmer is disqualified so it’s an Albright victory at 09:21.
Rating - ** - That started out as a good match but I wasn’t keen on the finish. I’m not so upset about the non-finish, and I’m definitely not upset about Whitmer getting angry at the fact that he can’t buy a win at the moment, got squashed on ppv, lost the feud to Jimmy Jacobs and is generally unloved by the ROH fans. I just think it could’ve been done better. Why did BJ snap and headbutt the referee before he’d hit ANY of his finishing moves? Why not snap after Albright kicked out of an exploder?
Daizee Haze gets some in-ring promo time. That’s just not good. She calls out Lacey since it was the last Boston show that she got a massive welt on her forehead during an intergender Street Fight involving Lacey. Jimmy Jacobs comes out to a chorus of ‘you f*cked Lacey’ chants. Daizee tries to attack him, then gets jumped from behind by Lacey. That was basically a segment to get an on-air acknowledgement of the Jimmy/Lacey relationship and to add heat to tomorrow’s Haze/Lacey match.
Jimmy Rave vs Bryan Danielson
Dragon basically set this match up in his promo earlier. He defended the World Title in the best match of Rave’s career at the Fourth Anniversary Show. But he believes he should’ve been able to beat Jimmy in much quicker time than he actually did – a fact he aims to prove in the rematch tonight. I don’t like this booking. If Danielson can’t squash Rave then he looks like a chump, but if he does then Jimmy is absolutely buried and looks like a total jobber.
They work the mat and Rave works damn hard to keep pace with the technically superior Danielson. He then slaps the former champion in the face. Dragon keeps his cool and takes Rave to the mat, trapping him in a deathlock and holding onto it to punish him from a variety of positions. DEATHLOCK ABDOMINAL STRETCH! But Jimmy escapes by attacking the leg which is obviously set up for the Heel Hook. Danielson gets some payback with a slap of his own, which hurts Jimmy’s recently recovered jaw. Jimmy spits right in his face and tries to hold him on the mat with a headlock. Danielson spits his gum back into Rave’s face and goes right back onto the attack with a headbutt right on that problematic jaw. Credit to Jimmy, he comes back again, going low with a kick and getting a few shots in. Unfortunately for him, he tries the low kick again and Danielson catches him out. EARTHQUAKE SPLASH followed by a triangle choke but Rave manages to kick his way free. Danielson dishes out some punishing kicks and sends Rave out of the ring. Diving European uppercut from the apron finds the mark and leaves Rave reeling. He tries to come off the top rope but is caught with a MID-AIR spear. Heel Hook blocked but Rave dropkicks the leg and keeps going for it. Danielson rolls through a couple of pins and hits a head-capture belly to belly suplex. Rave tries to roll Dragon up but gets caught with the MMA ELBOWS! Rave taps at 10:50.
Rating - *** - For it’s spot on the card that was an excellent match. This was basically a showcase for Bryan Danielson’s newer style. Like Prazak pointed out on commentary, it’s more aggressive, more focused, less showy and more strike-based. It’s a necessary change because, without the World Title, you’re not going to be seeing him wrestling 25+ minutes every show. Some shows he’s going to have to take a back seat and wrestle in the midcard like this, and he showed he can deliver fun undercard matches too. And hey, I’ll give both guys all the credit in the world. Despite my misgivings about the booking, and despite the match being essentially nothing more than an AmDrag showcase, I thought they did a good job of looking Rave look halfway credible in what was a thankless task. I still think he comes off looking like a real chode though. It’s hard to see a way to rebuild him as a threat once again.
Kevin Steen vs Mark Briscoe
There is a heated issue between these two men. Mark Briscoe suffered a serious head injury in Detroit at All Star Extravaganza 3…and Kevin Steen has exploited that on several occasions. He’s sent Mark to the hospital in Long Island, Edison, and most recently at the ppv tapings in Manhattan by attacking Mark’s fragile skull. At Respect Is Earned he stole the Briscoes’ thunder following their big time ppv debut victory against Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal by demanding a Tag Title shot. The Briscoes/Steen-erico rematch has actually been signed for the next ppv taping in Chicago later this month. Mr Wrestling will be looking to build some momentum going into it.
Briscoe is pissed off after what happened at the ppv and he wastes no time getting the match underway. Steen tries to take a cheap shot by raking the eyes but Mark is non-stop, using the karate thrusts to get him out of the ring then hitting a CRAZY suicide dive over the ropes. SECOND ROPE SENTON to the floor. Mark goes for one high-risk move too many though. He tries a flying headscissors and gets powerbombed into the apron. Not satisfied with that, Steen picks him up and powerbombs him INTO THE CROWD! The brawl continues out there – with the two men taking a tour of the newest building on the ROH circuit. Steen takes it to Briscoe with a suplex and a body slam onto the hard floor. Back at ringside Mark hits back with a press slam off the guardrail then a standing moonsault…before the match finally returns to the squared circle. A stepping enzi rattles Mark’s skull and allows Mr Wrestling to hit the pumphandle cradlebreaker for 2. He tries a Swanton bomb but Briscoe gets the knees up and nails the urinage suplex. A springboard thrust kick lays Steen out again, but he takes too long getting to the top rope for the shooting star press. STEEN THROWS HIM OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH A TABLE! HOLY SH*T! Amazingly, Mark tries to get back to his feet. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! Steen wins at 09:44.
Rating - *** - That was a good, hate-driven match to continue the feud. I thought they did a good job of conveying Mark’s anger whilst keeping the “crazy Mark” spots that get a big reaction from the fans. Kevin Steen is one of my favourite guys on the roster at the moment. He’s entertaining as hell, but in matches like this he shows that he’s got a surprising grip on how to be a monster in the ring and use his size to his advantage. He has future World Champion written all over him in my opinion.
‘I’m a winner mom’ – Steen to the camera. He goes for a chair to do more damage but Jay Briscoe runs him off to save his brother. El Generico drags Big Kev to the back.
Mike Quackenbush vs Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Nigel McGuinness
The DVD packaging lists this as a #1 Contendership match, though the commentary makes no real reference to that. These four are all exceptionally gifted technicians, with Quack, Hero and Claudio having a lot of experience teaming and wrestling each other from Chikara and other indies. Nigel still has an issue with Chris Hero and Larry Sweeney stemming from the Wrestlemania weekend shows. He’s also beaten Hero and Supercard Of Honor 2, and in a tag match at This Means War 2. Claudio Castagnoli hates Hero’s “super agent” Larry Sweeney for breaking up the Kings Of Wrestling and wants revenge for that…although he’s still not technically feuding with Hero himself. Indeed, he’s even selected him to be his tag partner in his Tag Title shot tomorrow night. Now Claudio is an established babyface again he’s got the ‘We Will Rock You’ intro for his entrance music back. Queen can’t be heels you know. Brian May reeks of too much awesomeness to ever be boo’d.
Hero shakes hands with Claudio before the match which is pretty significant. He also tries to convince Double C to lay down for him and worry about their match tomorrow night. Quack is so good on the mat even Nigel can’t keep up with him. In the end Hero attacks him from behind then tags Nigel out. Mike outwrestles him too so he runs out of the ring and brings Castagnoli in. MOONSAULT ARMDRAG by Quackenbush…but Claudio finally catches him with a tilta-whirl backbreaker to put a stop to the Mike Quackenbush masterclass. Giant swing by Claudio, and we soon see the Kings Of Wrestling start to work together to do a number on the newcomer to the ROH roster. ‘Tag in Nigel’ – the Boston crowd who have noticed that Mike has been in the match since it started. Unfortunately Quack is still getting worked over by the former Tag Champions. Tank Toland (at ringside as part of SnS Inc.) chokes Mike as he lies prone over the middle rope too. But Quack manages to get a hot tag after positioning Claudio on Hero’s shoulders then taking them both down. Shortarm McLariat on Hero gets a 2-count. Hero hits back with a double stomp to the chest so McGuinness takes him down with a hammerlock DDT.
Quack blocks the Nodowa Otoshi and lands an inverted Samoan drop for 2. Apparently that’s called the BTS. Hero drops him on his neck with a back suplex, then an inverted release suplex. Castagnoli hits a RUNNING RICCOLA BOMB and McGuinness has to save Mike from being pinned. Riccola suplex (straightjacket German) gets 2 as the KOW are in control of Quack again. But he’s ridiculously athletic, and finds new ways to hit ranas and headscissors on them. Big boot/dislocator combo by the KOW…but they get into a shoving match and it allows Quackenbush to tag out. Tower of London on Castagnoli, only for Hero to break the fall. Claudio ducks a McLariat for the Alpamare Water Slide. That gets 2. Quack in again and he monkey flips Double C out of the ring. MOONSAULT PRESS TO THE FLOOR! Hero tries to get a ‘Chris is awesome’ chant going as he fakes a dive to the floor. REBOUND LARIAT by Nigel wipes the smirk off his face. He tries the Jawbreaker Lariat but Bobby Dempsey and Tank Toland pull him out of the ring and throw him into the guardrails. DÉJÀ VU HEADSCISSORS BY QUACK…GETS 2! Claudio takes his head off with a BRUTAL European uppercut and gets himself a title shot at 18:42.
Rating - **** - I’m so glad they gave this one time to develop. So often these fourways are totally meaningless, but this one really delivered. Mike Quackenbush looked absolutely phenomenal out there. I don’t think there’s a guy on the roster who has the array of unique and wacky spots that he does and he got to show off by spending most of the match in the ring. They also did a really good job of slowly turning up the heat on the pending Hero/Claudio feud – which has been on the back burner due to Hero’s sporadic appearances thus far this year. Nigel is probably the closest to the main event spots at the moment but he’s got unfinished business with Chris Hero too. The finish – with Hero’s lackeys dragging him out of the match – ensures he has an “out” and adds some more to their rivalry.
INTERMISSION – She tries to get some answers from BJ Whitmer about his conduct earlier but he isn’t in the mood for talking. Kevin Steen hijacks the camera to deliver a ridiculously awesome promo. ‘I enjoyed it so much that I can’t wait to steal the DVD from the merch table and watch it over and over again…and use it as if it were pornography’ – Steen on his match with Mark Briscoe earlier.
Eddie Edwards vs Pelle Primeau
On the surface this is nothing but a popcorn match between two of ROH’s more prominent jobbers. But I’m actually pretty interested in the outcome of this one. I’m always impressed with Edwards whenever I see him. He never does anything flash, but puts on a decent showing every time and does his job with minimal fuss. He’s up against Pelle Primeau, who’s popularity is waning a little bit following his terrific showing in that Six Man Mayhem match at Fifth Year Festival Dayton. I’m curious to know who wins this because it’s a good indicator of who ROH thinks has more to offer and a brighter future with the company. I really hope it’s Edwards who, if he continues to develop, could really contribute in a variety of ways. Pelle is cursed to be nothing more than ROH’s version of ECW Spike Dudley.
Primeau tries to trade holds with Edwards but he’s always going to struggle with the bigger man. He goes for shoulder tackles, and obviously that doesn’t work either. Finally he goes to what will work for him and uses some high-flying. He almost botches a springboard crossbody but recovers well. It doesn’t really matter too much though since Eddie almost chops him in half. Back suplex gourdbuster gets 2 for Edwards. Pelle lands a hurricanrana only to be immediately taken down again with a clothesline. Nice work from Primeau gets Edwards out of the ring. He tries a somersault plancha but Eddie CATCHES him! HEADSCISSORS INTO THE RAILS! Nice counter by the underdog. Springboard press into the double stomp gets him a 2-count. A tilta-whirl DDT finds the mark as well but still Edwards kicks out. He gets caught going for one aerial move too many and Eddie nails a PIGGYBACK STUNNER for 2. Primeau tries a snap hurricanrana only to be powerbombed. CROSS-LEGGED BRAINBUSTER! Edwards wins at 07:14.
Rating - *** - I was actually blown away by that match. I was expecting a dull, forgettable popcorn match but these two worked SO damn hard to impress the live crowd – and it worked. Edwards was a great base for Pelle, who’s improving all the time. That somersault plancha/headscissors spot was really ambitious and it didn’t look too bad. And hey, I get my wish and Edwards wins. 3* is a generous rating for this but I was so surprised that I think it warrants it.
El Generico vs Matt Sydal
This one certainly should be a fast-paced affair. There’s not a lot to connect these two other than the fact that they’re both exciting, spotty workers who know how to pop a crowd with their offence. It’ll be interesting to see who’s heel and who’s face here. Matt Sydal has been getting more cocky and heel-ish in recent months, but Generico regularly teams with Kevin Steen who is a heel (in theory at least, he’s kinda like 2002/3 era Chris Daniels in that he’s supposed to be a heel but he’s so good he gets a lot of cheers anyway). This is one of the matches I’ve most been looking forward to on tonight’s line-up.
I love how Generico gives his opponent big hugs when following the Code Of Honor. They trade wristlocks in a token ‘lets get the wrestling out the way so we can go spot-mad’ way before cranking up the pace with a few armdrags. Sydal gains control and starts showing some of the cockiness that we’ve seen from him over recent months. Generico hits a jumping heel kick and Matt immediately takes a time out on the floor. He tries to come back in but Generico ties him up in the ropes, leaving him prone for an Asai moonsault. The Generic Luchador lines up his Yakuza kick but Sydal avoids it and nails a spinning heel kick. The fans administer the double-count in Spanish which is awesome. Sydal hits a flurry of offence in the corner then a sweet-looking flying double knee strike from the top rope for 2. Generico avoids the standing moonsault but Matt has the Brainbuster scouted and drops him with the Slice. Both men tumble over the ropes as Sydal hits a crossbody and they take their time getting back to their feet. Generico gets a run up and jumps THROUGH THE TURNBUCKLES INTO A TORNADO DDT! I love that spot. Back in the ring Generico hits the most ridiculously over the top sit-out powerbomb EVER for 2. ‘That was tres’ – Boston. Sydal blocks the Yakuza kick again. STANDING MOONSAULT for 2. Some fans thought that was it. It’s a new ref tonight, and he won’t be invited back. ‘This ref sucks’ – Boston. They fight on the top where Generico blocks the moonsault belly to belly, then ROLLS THROUGH the standing frankensteiner to hit the YAKUZA KICK! He goes for the Brainbuster. SYDAL COUNTERS WITH A RANA! He wins at 14:05.
Rating - *** - The first half of the match was pretty dull and aimless, and the second half was non-stop awesome, so I suppose we’ll split the difference and give this one a 3* rating too. These two hit some nice stuff in the second half and they got some good reactions from the crowd. I’d like to see Quackenbush in with either one of these two since I think he’d do really well in this type of match. I’ve also re-watched the nearfall after the standing moonsault a couple of times and it is a refereeing error which leads to fans thinking the match was over. He hits the mat and makes a clear hand-swishing motion which the fans believe is the first count…but it is only a moment later that his hand hits the mat for the first time and he calls out ‘one’. I wonder if he’ll ever get another shot. Gabe is notorious for flipping out when the refs screw up finishes.
Roderick Strong/Davey Richards/Rocky Romero vs Delirious/Matt Cross/Erick Stevens
Both the previous NRC/Resilience 6-man tags have been pretty good so I see no reason why this one shouldn’t be too. Matt Cross and Erick Stevens are joined by their third different senior partner in their battles with the NRC. Austin Aries is still stuck in TNA so they’re still left leader-less. Tonight they team up with Delirious, who has his own beef with the NRC after they beat him up on pay-per-view.
The babyfaces run to the ring and kick-start a mass brawl which moves all around ringside. Richards struggles with the gymnastics of Cross, so Romero takes a different approach and simply knees him out of the ring. Delirious climbs the ropes for a SUICIDE FLIP that wipes out the entire NRC before Todd Sinclair finally tries to attain some kind of order. The Resilience work over Roderick Strong for the early part of the match. That is until Richards and Romero manage to drag Stevens out of the ring and illegally double team him on the floor. Obviously that leads to Erick getting worked over by the heel trio. They show off a neat array of dirty tricks and cockiness as they keep the biggest man in the match well away from his partners. He tries to block some of Davey’s kicks, only for Richards to rake his eyes and keep him down on the mat. Eventually Stevens hits an overhead suplex on Strong and gets the hot tag to Delirious who takes Richards to the floor with a crossbody. CORKSCREW SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by M-Dogg. Richards still has enough to block the Cobra Stretch but he springboards into a headbutt to the stomach and eats the Bizarro Driver for 2. Never Ending Story on Romero, until he goes to the eyes and nails a second rope DDT.
Rocky seems to try James Gibson’s front choke but Stevens powers him into the corner for the Choo Choo avalanche. All 6 men are in the ring now as we lose all semblance of order. Cross hits a handspring elbow in the corner, which is a natural set up for Delirious’ Panic Attack. TKO on Romero gets 2. Stevens tries the Oklahoma Stampede but Strong saves Romero. Richards drops Delirious with an Ace crusher but has his pinfall broken by M-Dogg. Romero lays out Cross with a kick and all six are in a heap. Roddy and Stevens are up first, with Stevens defying a low blow to hit a big front powerslam for 2. Richards stops Delirious as he set up for Shadows Over Hell then gets into a slap war with Stevens. Handspring enzi COUNTERED WITH A GERMAN SUPLEX! SHADOWS OVER HELL! CORKSCREW MOONSAULT BY CROSS! STRONG BREAKS THE FALL! He hauls Stevens from the top rope with a superplex…FROG ELBOW by Richards! Delirious dives in to save Erick. M-Dogg tries to go to the top rope but gets crotched. DIABLO ARMBAR by Romero! Delirious breaks it with a leg drop from the top! Death By Roderick scores but Delirious scoots behind him for CHEMICAL IMBALANCE II! He gets the three-count over his rival at 21:37.
Rating - *** - I’ve seen a lot of criticism of the NRC/Resilience feud, but for all it’s shortcomings storyline-wise, that’s the third time a trios match featuring the factions has been a really good watch. In my opinion this was probably the worst match of the three. Not that it was bad, I just thought it was poorly structured. The heat sections on Strong and Stevens seemed to serve no purpose other than to kill time before they could ditch all the tag rules, legal men and whatnot and just do the easy thing and hit a load of spots. It was still exciting but I think they could’ve had a better match. On the positive side – Stevens did a really good job selling and was a very sympathetic figure during the heat segment on him. He was an odd choice to do the face in peril segment but it worked. They also minimised the amount of time M-Dogg spent in the ring which is good since ROH are fast learning that he’s a limited worker and probably shouldn’t be in a storyline of this magnitude.
Larry Sweeney is in a ‘privately hired athletic facility’ (i.e. the empty arena after the show) for a training session with Tolland, Dempsey and Hero. Tank tries to make Dempsey run laps with Hero on his shoulders…but he collapses after about two paces. These guys are really entertaining.
Takeshi Morishima vs Jay Briscoe – ROH World Title Match
Jay earned this title shot by winning the fall in the Reborn Again main event. There he and his brother defeated Takeshi Morishima and his partner BJ Whitmer, and he gets his reward tonight. Longer-time fans of ROH will remember Jay’s clashes with Samoa Joe over the World Title. He came really close to upsetting a dominant champion then. Now he’s got bigger, better and more experienced. Is he ready to extend the Briscoes’ dominance to the singles scene as well?
Morishima is back to being a cranky, introduction-hating monster and he jumps Briscoe before the bell rings. The match goes to the floor where he uses his giant butt to squish Jay into the guardrails. Briscoe comes back with a big boot then a FROG SPLASH off the apron. He keeps working hard, using his speed to dropkick Mori out of the ring again. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! Unfortunately for Jay, he barely caught Morishima and basically crashed into the railing. He takes to the air once too often, allowing Shima to catch him for a suplex. And it’s that easy for Morishima to take total control. He effortlessly dominantes Jay, barely allowing him back to his feet for more than a few seconds at a time. Jay tries a sunset flip but Mori refuses to let go of the ropes. In the end Sinclair kicks his hands away and Briscoe gets him off his feet for a dropkick. He rallies again to lift Mori into a flapjack and gets a big pop for lifting him into a vertical suplex for 2. A single Bossman Slam kills all of Briscoe’s momentum and Morishima flattens him again with the cartwheel body avalanche. MEGA-MISSILE DROPKICK SCORES! Jay fights the Back Drop Driver and superkicks the big man…only for Mori to floor him with his ass. He tries it a second time only for Jay to counter with a German suplex! DVD NAILED! FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH…GETS 2! That was ridiculously close to 3. Shima powers out of the Jay Driller and sits down on Briscoe’s chest. He tries to go to the top rope again but gets caught this time. Superplex…MORI KICKS OUT AT 1! LARIATOOOO! BACK DROP DRIVAAAAA! Morishima retains the title at 13:26.
Rating - *** - The match started and ended really strongly. During those times both guys were playing their role really well. Jay was doing a fine job as the underdog babyface, and Morishima looked like an unbeatable, unstoppable bad-ass. My problem with the match was that the middle part really dragged. Where as in the Aries or Shingo defence, EVERYTHING meant something and told part of the story, there were periods in this match where it felt like they were going through the motions and getting from one spot to the next. To be honest, whilst it was good, it felt like what it was – a predictable, run of the mill, formality title defence for Morishima where we all knew the challenger had no chance, and the match felt a tad meaningless as a result. Personally I’d have put this in the midcard rather than have it main event.
Kevin Steen runs out to get in some cheap shots on the semi-conscious Jay Briscoe. Mark runs out…and soon Generico follows as well. These four end up in a brawl for the second show running.
Brent Albright introduces himself for the 68-millionth time. His promos aren’t quite BJ Whitmer bad, but they’re not so good. He has his eyes on the ROH World Title apparently.
Back at the ‘privately hired facility’, it’s 20-minutes later and Bobby Dempsey is still on his first lap. Chris Hero is literally running circles around him. He stomps to vomit…Hero doesn’t stop running circles around him. They’re not quite The Embassy but they’re a lot of fun.
Tape Rating - *** - This was another solid Ring Of Honor show. To be honest, it’s lacking that one big match that really sells the DVD and takes it from ‘good’ to ‘buy it now’ territory, but if you’ve got all the big shows and you’re looking for one of the lesser events to pick up as part of an ROHwrestling.com sale, this one isn’t bad. The big four corner survival is certainly the best match. Mike Quackenbush in particular stole the show in that one. Elsewhere we got an introduction to ‘midcard Danielson’ style, advancement in the Briscoes/Steen-erico feud (including a fantastic Intermission promo by Kevin Steen) and BJ Whitmer finally lose his patience at being a constant loser. It’s a shame this one didn’t have a better main event, that’s all.
Top 3 Matches
3) Kevin Steen vs Mark Briscoe (***)
2) Takeshi Morishima vs Jay Briscoe (***)
1) Claudio Castagnoli vs Mike Quackenbush vs Chris Hero vs Nigel McGuinness (****)