ROH 167 – Glory By Honor 6 Night 2 – 3rd November 2007
So the first night of Glory By Honor 6 weekend wasn’t so great. The first night of GBH5 weekend wasn’t so amazing and the following evening’s event was one of the highlights of the year. I really like the card for tonight’s show. Hero/Generico should be fun in the opener. Lots of people have been praising Castagnoli/Marufuji and Danielson/Morishima. There’s also an NRC/Vulture Squad trios match, the Briscoes finally defending the Tag Titles against the Age Of The Fall and Misawa defending the GHC Heavyweight Title against KENTA. We’re in Manhattan, NY. Hosts are Prazak and Leonard.
ROH VIDEO WIRE (12/10/07) – See Survival Of The Fittest 2007 (ROH164) for details.
El Generico vs Chris Hero
This is a rematch from the second round of the Race To The Top Tournament where Generico caused quite an upset by defeating the much-fancied Hero. Since then Chris has gone on to live up to some of his potential by winning the Survival Of The Fittest tournament. Unfortunately he blew his shot at the title despite wrestling an injured Nigel McGuinness last night, so now he’s starting at the bottom again.
Not a whole lot happens in the opening minutes, but the crowd are kept entertained with the gamesmanship of Hero and the popularity of Generico. Both men do a good job of working the crowd up whilst doing as little wrestling as possible. Dave and Lenny are amusing on commentary too, so the whole thing feels like a fun start to a DVD. Hero skins the cat but pauses to show off and gets clotheslined back outside again. Sweeney distracts Generico allowing Hero to shove him from the apron into the guardrail. In another amusing moment Hero chops Bobby Dempsey who falls backwards down onto Generico lying on the floor. He decides to set Generico up on one side of the ring then go all the way to the opposite turnbuckle to show his athleticism. He tries an all-the-way-across-the-ring flying leg drop but comes up short, much to the amusement of the crowd. Generico, ironically, then does show his athleticism with a double springboard flying headscissors. Cravat Buster then an inverted suplex get Hero a 2-count. Hero’s Welcome almost countered into a backslide much like in July at the Race To The Top Tournament. Yakuza Kick misses but Generico still catches Hero on the top rope. Turnbuckle Brainbuster blocked but the Yakuza Kick does score this time. Diving headbutt…COUNTERED TO A CRAVAT SUPLEX! HERO’S WELCOME! Hero wins at 14:24.
Rating - *** - Much like the Survival Of The Fittest final, how much you like this match really depends on how much you enjoy Chris Hero’s in-ring antics. Personally I find them really fun to watch if they’re done well (unlike Hero/Castagnoli at Honor Nation which was boring as hell). He’s a wonderful act to start a show with since he’s always guaranteed to get a crowd reaction. As such, this was a hugely effective way to kick things off. Generico (who’s a popular guy in his own right) contrasted very well with Hero and, although this match was a tad on the long side, it never felt dull.
Brent Albright, BJ Whitmer and Shane Hagadorn run in to attack Generico. Albright powerbombs him through a table set up outside the ring before Kevin Steen and Delirious can come to make a save.
Brent Albright/BJ Whitmer vs Kevin Steen/Delirious
Delirious’ issues with Adam Pearce and the Hangmen 3 go way back so it’s no surprise to see him out here. Steen and Generico have wanted a piece of the Hangm3n since Undeniable when they tried to recruit Mr Wrestling, assaulting the Generic Luchador in the process. The Steen-erico team successfully defeated Whitmer and Albright yesterday in Philadelphia.
Apparently Todd Sinclair has the authority to declare this an impromptu match so we’re underway. Steen is the most popular guy in this match by a mile. The babyfaces start off hot and secure an advantage by isolating Albright. The Shooter finally breaks their dominance by catching Delirious for a swinging front slam. Whitmer TOTALLY botches an attempted suplex over the top rope, leaving Delirious to crash into the canvas at a horrible angle instead. Albright belly to belly suplexes him into position for a Whitmer frog splash for 2. Delirious plants a torpedo headbutt into Brent’s sternum and finally makes a hot tag. Whitmer gets more heat than he has in weeks by stopping Steen hitting a dive on Albright, but Mr Wrestling fights him off and hits a somersault plancha that wipes out Albright and Hagadorn. Back inside he gets 2 on BJ with the cradlebreaker. He tries to talk strategy with Delirious but that is obviously a lost cause and Albright capitalises with a 61-Knee. Panic Attack/cannonball senton sequence by Deliri-Steen, then Shadows Over Hell. Steen-ton Bomb nailed but unlike last time it doesn’t do the job as Albright is on hand to save his partner. Suicide Flip scores for Delirious but Hagadorn stops Steen hitting the Package Piledriver with a low blow. EXPLODER THROUGH A CHAIR by Whitmer, and the ref didn’t see it. The Hangm3n win at 11:00.
Rating - ** - This was shorter than the Hero/Generico opener, but felt longer. It was a decent, back and forth formula tag bout (much like last night in fact), but without Pearce, BJ and Albright struggle to connect with live audiences – much as they did before joining the Hangm3n. Unlike the Vulture Squad, who I initially didn’t care too much for but I’m getting into thanks to some really fun matches, each time I see the Hangmen 3 I get a little more bored of them. Adam Pearce is an EXCELLENT speaker, but he’s not booked on enough shows for that to matter, and most ROH fans don’t really like his style. The whole Hangm3n angle is based around BJ Whitmer, who after almost 5 years in ROH’s midcard, has basically done everything there is to do and the fans are totally burnt out on him. It’s hard to see exactly why they’re together (other than they’re 3, big, brawling guys who are rather mean) and with no real defined purpose, they seem like another wayward midcard act – meaning their matches are increasingly devoid of interest. It’s a shame because Albright was showing hints of breaking out as a singles wrestler before this after some great matches with Morishima in the summer. And now they’re dragging Steen and Generico, two of ROH’s most outstanding performers this year down with them. Either book Pearce more (and get him talking a LOT more), or phase Whitmer and the stable out.
Shane Hagadorn sends his cohorts to the back and promises to keep the Hangm3n momentum going. He issues an open challenge, which is answered by Austin Aries. Despite some initial success for Shane, the match lasts less than a minute before Aries wins it with the Three Moves of Doom. Double A also has an announcement to make – he’s disbanding The Resilience because now he’s #1 contender, he needs to focus on winning the World Title. That news gets quite a pop, which shows you how much Aries has had to carry Cross and Stevens. Nigel McGuinness comes out and whines about not being able to wrestle again. Much like last night the crowd get on his back about it. He doesn’t seem to understand that people aren’t annoyed because he’s injured, they’re annoyed because he’s whining like a little b*tch and not coming off like a World Champion in the slightest. He has a real tantrum when someone says something he doesn’t like, but promises to defend the belt against Aries at ROH’s next ppv taping back in Manhattan at the end of 2007.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Naomichi Marufuji
This is a hell of a match to just throw out in the undercard. Castagnoli has really risen up the card in 2007, following his Race To The Top Tournament victory. He delivered a stellar performance against Morishima in an ROH World Title match, went to the finals of Survival Of The Fittest and is embroiled in a feud with former partner Chris Hero. This is another chance to show he belongs at the top of the card with a match against one of NOAH’s most popular stars. Marufuji has been in great form himself this year so this definitely has a lot of potential.
The match starts with a ‘HEY’ duel, which is pretty even since both guys have a lot of fan support. Wrestling-wise they’re even too with neither man able to establish any kind of advantage for several minutes. Marufuji springboards to the top rope then STAYS THERE showing amazing balance to apply the Iron Claw. Claudio escapes that by locking in the same hold right back and forcing Maru down onto his knees. The pace quickens with a beautiful near-miss segment which gets a standing ovation. Again Marufuji shows awesome balance by springing to the top rope and walking it with Castagnoli’s arm for balance. Dragon screw in the ropes scores and Maru immediately starts to work the leg, doing some severe damage. He hits a dragon screw from the turnbuckles then goes for the ever-popular Figure 4 Leglock. Les Artess gutwrench suplex brings Double C back into the match, followed by a one-legged fisherman suplex for 2. Tilta-whirl backbreaker nailed too, but Castagnoli struggles to cover right away thanks to the injury. Unfortunately his leg selling starts to fade away from that point. Dead-lift German suplex scores for 2 as well. Riccola Bomb blocked but he nails a bicycle kick instead. Avalanche brainbuster gets Marufuji a nearfall then he lines up the superkick. Shiranui blocked and Castagnoli simply drops Maru over the top rope and to the floor. TOP ROPE UPPERCUT nailed. Giant Swing next, then the RUNNING UPPERCUT for 2. Marufuji hits a low superkick then the SHIRANUI but Castagnoli’s feet land too close to the ropes. Riccola Bomb countered…Shiranui blocked. BRIDGING ROLL-UP! CLAUDIO WINS! 18:42 is your time.
Rating - **** - I’ve given quite a generous rating here, but there are reasons for it. The match was 20-minutes of exceptionally smooth wrestling. It did a great job of elevating Claudio because it made him look on the same level as Marufuji. He never felt like an underdog here which is crucial if we are to believe him as an ROH main eventer of the future. And to that end, scoring over a victory over Marufuji, one of NOAH’s biggest stars is a massive deal. Who knows what sort of strings ROH had to pull to get the NOAH office to agree to that. The match wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, with the brief spell working over Claudio’s leg seeming particularly worthless. However, the main purpose of this match was continuing the elevation of Claudio Castagnoli and, to that end, it was a huge success so I’m rewarding it with a good rating.
Chris Hero and Larry Sweeney ruin Claudio’s big moment by attacking him. Sweeney hits his signature top rope elbow drop and promises to ruin every big moment until he leaves.
It’s now time for the ROH Tag Title Match, with the Briscoes defending against Age Of The Fall’s Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher. Unfortunately the match lasts about thirty seconds (well…technically 40) before Jay and Necro start swinging chairs at each other, forcing a double DQ. Fans aren’t happy about that…and neither is Necro, which begs the question ‘why bring the chair in the ring you big, beardy nut-job??’
Bryan Danielson vs Takeshi Morishima
This rivalry turned in some classic bouts over the World Title, but all turned sour at Man Up when Morishima attacked Dragon’s eye and used it to his advantage to win the match. He’s since lost the belt, but the hatred between these two men has become very personal.
Danielson doesn’t even wait for Morishima to get into the ring before attacking him. Using chairs in a somewhat more subtle way than Jay/Necro just moments ago gives him an advantage he promptly wastes by diving off the top rope into a big suplex from Shima. The NOAH star starts throwing elbows at the bad eye to press home his advantage. Ever since this match entered the ring Danielson just hasn’t been able to live with the power of the big man. So it is perhaps fortunate that Morishima’s missile dropkick knocks Dragon out of the ring. Actually…maybe not – Ole Ole butt attack scores for Mori. Dragon responds by throwing Morishima at a fat guy in the first row. SPRINGBOARD CROWD DIVE by Danielson! His craziness gets him an advantage that he tries to press home by attacking Morishima’s eye with the bell hammer. Back Drop Driver on the floor…ouch! And by the looks of things Danielson is bleeding too. Yep, he’s actually bleeding quite heavily, exacerbated by Shima repeatedly shunting him into the guardrails. Big lariatooo gets Morishima the first nearfall of the match. Back Drop Driver blocked…and AmDrag rallies with Roaring Elbows then a flurry of kicks. MMA ELBOWS…German f’n suplex!! Why on earth would you attempt that on such a big man? Obviously that only gets 2. MERCILESS FACE STOMPING INTO THE TRIANGLE CHOKE! Morishima escapes that and clubs his opponent down with another lariat. He works the eye some more…which the crowd boos despite Danielson’s similar level of aggression throughout the match. Dragon has no choice but to low blow Mori. REPEATED STOMPS TO THE BALLS! Danielson is disqualified and loses the match at 11:35
Rating - *** - Another lively and well-thought out match between these two. It never really had the chance to become the classics the first two matches did, but it served it’s purpose of furthering the hatred between the two men well. It cleverly built on previous matches. After Morishima’s actions at the last Chicago ppv, it was Danielson who broke the roles, acted in an unsporting manner and generally brought all the aggression and fight he could muster. Until right at the death when he started raking Danielson’s eyes over the ropes, I think Morishima largely stuck to the rules. The downside of this one was that I don’t think it did a great deal for Danielson’s credibility – the reasons behind it were good, but his actions in this one made him look a little weak and desperate. I almost found myself routing for Morishima’s angry giant act over Danielson’s cheating, aggressive little dog. As the supposed babyface, even with the story in place for it, I found him harder to identify with…
Dragon loses the plot a little bit and does the whole ‘angry man floors ref and jobbers’ act…bringing out an angry Nigel McGuinness…who Danielson swiftly kicks in the injured shoulder.
INTERMISSION – Rebecca tries to get a word with Danielson who claims he isn’t ashamed at all for getting revenge on Morishima by attacking his balls tonight.
The popcorn slot gets filled by Tyler Black squashing Alex Payne. I can’t really be bothered to rate it but Tyler looked good. Small Package Driver gets him the win. The Briscoes charge out to have a pop at him…but he scarpers before they can take a swing. Jay offers AOTF another title shot tonight in a No DQ Match
Roderick Strong/Rocky Romero/Davey Richards vs Jack Evans/Ruckus/Jigsaw
Another Faction Warfare tag match. Obviously Jack has a lot of history with Roderick to add a little spice to this one. I really can’t help but wish they’d found Jack some better partners for his stable though. As much fun as his spots (and indeed, Ruckus’ spots) are….I still don’t really feel it with them. Enjoyed their match at Honor Nation though, so hopefully these guys will surprise me again.
Bodies all over the place from the bell…which gives way to an extremely tenuous sequence between Romero and Jigsaw. After the gritty realism and big fight atmosphere of Dragon/Mori it looks very tame. Jig hits a somersault plancha on all three NRC members then joins with Ruckus to flip Evans into a moonsault on Strong. The Corps join forces and work over Jigsaw as the referee eventually manages to stamp his authority on the match and get some men out to the apron. The NRC work over Jigsaw in well-oiled, methodical fashion. Romero and Richards finally misfire and crack shins on an attempted dualling kick combo, allowing Jiggy to bring Ruckus and Evans in. Ruckus lines up some of his usual spots, but Romero has seen it before and blocks a handspring elbow to land the jumping DDT. Springboard flipping reverse elbow from Jack but Roderick lays him out with a gutbuster into the big boot. Richards dominates until Ruckus and Jig hit the rolling fisherman suplex/powerbomb combo on him. PRESS SLAM/NECKBREAKER COMBO by Strong and Rocky which was pretty damn cool. Everyone to the floor now…so you know what’s coming. MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR from Ruckus. Evans flips into a neckbreaker on Strong before they do battle on the top rope. Ong Jak knee drop…gets 2. Evans misses his own dive to the floor…and Strong drags the mats aside for a GIBSON DRIVER ON THE FLOOR! SEATED STRONG HOLD!! Jack taps at 14:36
Rating - *** - Honor Nation was better. This one was a little more sloppy and the climactic sequence wasn’t as fun…plus the heat section on Jigsaw was pretty generic and forgettable. I don’t have a lot to say as it’s nothing you haven’t seen better elsewhere…but for what it was I enjoyed it. I really like Strong and Richards, but there’s something about all these guys which just doesn’t strike a chord with live crowds…and their matches suffer as a result.
In footage provided by AgeOfTheFall.com, Jacobs, Black and Lacey cut a promo outside Toys’R’Us. They’re disgusted by the presence of a strip club right next to it. Best part of the whole thing was a goofy female passer-by asking what they’re filming, then looking utterly flummoxed by Jimmy’s reponse of ‘we’re filming a decaying society’.
Back in the ring Larry Sweeney brings his troops to ringside to announce that at the next pay-per-view it’ll be Hero vs Claudio. If Double C loses, he’s done in ROH. Hero is still upset at not winning the World Championship last night…and beats Bobby Dempsey up to demonstrate that. He then starts running down Austin Aries as he’s the number one contender, calling him a worse World Champion than Xavier. That brings Aries out – and he wants a match. Ever the business man, Sweeney starts negotiating – and wants Austin’s #1 contenders spot if Hero wins. Aries agrees…on the condition that if he wins, Sweeney has to wrestle Castagnoli at Final Battle.
Chris Hero vs Austin Aries
The winner goes on to the final pay-per-view of 2007 to challenge Nigel McGuinness for the ROH Title. Aries won the shot by beating Bryan Danielson in their recent Best of 3 Series so putting it all on the line in an impromptu match is quite the risk. Hero and Nigel have had issues for quite some time so you can see the appeal for putting them on ppv. With Nigel already showing signs of struggling for popularity a ppv match against a heat magnet like Hero might not be such a bad idea.
Hero cheats from the bell (naturally) but the advantage doesn’t last too long. He headscissors Aries, then runs to the outside and basically starts sobbing after Aries hits the inevitable dropkick. Has Bobby Dempsey straightened his hair?? Two minutes later Chris is back in the ring. Pretty soon he’s out there again throwing Austin Aries’ crotch-towel at Dempsey. Aries lines up the Heat Seeking Missile…but Hero shoves Bobby into it’s path to save himself. Hero starts working Aries over, but I’m completely distracted by the amusing sight of Sara Del Rey tending to Dempsey. All the antics on the outside have given Hero total control of the match. Finally Aries blocks a cravat suplex and tries to rally back into the match. Dropkick sends Chris outside…Heat Seeking Missile scores this time. Hero blocks the quebrada and scores with a cravat into an inverted DDT for 2. Cravat neckbreaker nailed over the top rope but Austin hits back with the shinbreak back suplex. He ducks out of Hero’s Welcome and both men go down after trading Roaring Elbows. Cravat suplex scores…Hero’s Welcome blocked again. Kick of Death…BRAINBUSTER! Horns of Aries locked in. Larry Sweeney tries to interfere only to be driven off by Claudio Castagnoli. Hero taps at 16:06
Rating - *** - This was a tough one to rate. On the one hand it was really slow going. Hero looked visibly tired out there after wrestling earlier in the show. He didn’t botch anything per se, but he looked half a step off through the whole thing, and the pace was very slow (even for a Hero match). But on the flip side, the actual story they told in the ring was quite solid and just enough to nudge this into 3* land.
Mitsuharu Misawa vs KENTA – GHC Heavyweight Title Match
This one gets the full NOAH treatment. GHC theme music, Joe Higuchi reading the title declaration (he even gets an appreciation ceremony with Harley Race as part of the DVD extras) banner, streamers, bells and whistles etc. Getting a Misawa title defence on US soil is a massive deal for ROH. Even if he’s a shell of his former self, as I said in my review for the previous show – Misawa remains an absolute legend and even years past his best and ravaged by injuries (and lets face it, a lot heavier than he’s been in the past) he’s still got the ability to auto-pilot his way to a good match. Last night he worked well within himself…but for a title defence I think the ROH fans can expect a little more.
The two men follow the Code Of Honor which is a nice touch. Misawa meets Kenta’s kicks with some elbows during the opening exchange. Fans are absolutely loving seeing the legendary Misawa in person. Misawa sells Kenta’s offence like he’s annoying little brother then completely levels him with an elbow strike. He then has a go at Todd Sinclair for not giving him a clean break. Old man Misawa is CRANKY tonight! The feisty challenger comes back with another series of kicks and manages to floor the champion. I think Kenta genuinely hurts Misawa with a big kick to the spine, with a big one leaving him looking in real pain, shaking his arms and wringing his hands. He tries to go to the top rope but Misawa knocks him off with another big elbow. Misawa in control now…and the pace is exceptionally slow at this point. More kicks…so now it’s Kenta back in charge. Misawa knocks him outside again with another elbow smash. ELBOW SUICIDA! Tiger Driver nailed but Kenta gets the shoulder up. The champion tries to go upstairs but Kenta gives chase. Avalanche Tiger Driver blocked…RUNNING FALCON ARROW BLOCKED! Misawa dives but Kenta blocks, driving a knee into the sternum. The old man is dazed and Kenta scores 2 with a Tiger suplex. Misawa goes for the Tiger Driver again. COUNTERED INTO GO 2 SLEEP! TWO COUNT! Kenta can’t believe it. EMERALD FROSION! BUT KENTA KICKS OUT! Misawa runs at him again only to be met with the Busaiku Knee. Elbows from Misawa…SUPLEX INTO EMERALD FROSION. Misawa retains at 18:31
Rating - *** - Anyone expecting Misawa to pitch up and put in a Joe vs Kobashi-esque performance was always going to go away disappointed. For where Misawa is now in his career, this was a pretty fun little match – definitely one of the best of this particular run with the GHC belt (although his Morishima matches were better). The pace was VERY slow in the middle and the initial buzz about the crowd really did, but after that elbow suicida, and the old-fashioned, puro style, head-droppy multiple finishers sequence got going they came alive again and the last few minutes were good. As I said during the intro – Misawa is a long way past his prime. If you want to see him at his very best go get your hands on some 90’s AJPW. At this point in his career it’s just as honour to see him wrestle (as it was when I saw him in Coventry at International Showdown – and as it was for all the ROH fans on this particular evening), and a real treat seeing him in ROH.
Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Jimmy Jacobs/Necro Butcher – ROH Tag Title No DQ Match
The earlier attempt to get this match going was aborted when Jay ‘brain surgeon’ Briscoe and Necro ‘rocket scientist’ Butcher thought it’d be ok to bring chairs into the match and got themselves disqualified. I know these guys hate each other but I thought AOTF’s whole goal was to get the belts from the Briscoes so they had the power? Anyway, this feud has been really intense, so here’s another chapter, and second time around tonight, there’s no rules.
Briscoes spring to the ring and get the right underway. They line up duelling dives to the floor but only Jay manages to connect after Lacey manages to grab Mark. SSP TO THE FLOOR from Mark. Jimmy goes to the eyes to stop Jay hitting the military press DVD. Necro hits the chair slam on him for 2. Jimmy lines up a tope suicida…but MISSES and takes a nasty looking bump into the crowd barrier. To make things worse, Jay and Mark drag him back into the ring only to launch him out into the railings again. Sexy goth Lacey tries to get involved but Daizee Haze (at ringside with the Briscoes) sends her out with the Heart Punch/Yakuza Kick combo. Top rope drive from the Haze, leading to Lacey and Daizee fighting all the way to the back. SHOOT BOXING between Mark and Necro, and there’s only going to be one winner there. Necro wraps the younger Briscoe up in the ring mats so he can’t escape, then scales the ropes to hit a big splash. SENTON BOMB TO THE FLOOR BY JACOBS! That’s absolutely crazy! Back inside it’s the AOTF giving Jay a double suplex into a stack of chairs for 2. Necro hauls him up for a chokeslam into the same chairs. Now it’s Jimmy’s turn – GUILLOTINE DDT INTO THE END TIME! Mark makes the save. The champions line up a double stomp into an open chair, then a double back suplex through the chair…but barely connect with the hardware on each occasion. Jay suplexes Necro of the apron and they both land with a horrible thud. In the ring Mark gets 2 after a chair assisted tumbling senton. The Briscoes get 2 again with a springboard Doomsday blockbuster. Necro is on hand to save his partner, and he gets 2 with a sluggish DDT. He lines some open chairs up…CHAIR BACKBREAKER ON MARK! Jay makes the save, and the champions rally for a DOUBLE PRESS SLAM THROUGH A CHAIR on Necro. They launch Jimmy through a table. JAY DRILLER! Jay pins Necro to retain at 17:45
Rating - *** - Probably not as good as people were expecting. It was very spotty and disjointed, but I think the effort and guts were definitely there. I think the Briscoes tend to struggle in brawl matches like this as their regular matches are so OTT and spotty anyway. Grudge brawls where they just throw out death-defying stunts don’t feel any different. There was still enough good stuff to make this a worthwhile watch though. Crowd was absolutely dead though after all the Misawa stuff (which should’ve gone on last – although it’s easy to say that in hindsight). The way they barely responded after Jacobs’ crazy senton to the floor was really hard to watch. Obviously this won’t end the feud, and we’re still very much building up to an eventual Briscoes vs Jacobs/Black match which, I’m sure, will be a killer…
Tape Rating - *** - Definitely not the strongest Manhattan Center show ROH have produced. Not that it was a bad show by any stretch of the imagination – just not quite the blowaway super-show that you come to expect for one of their “big” events. On the one hand, the show is solid throughout. The whole card (bar one match and some brief squash matches) reaches 3*, and Mitsuharu Misawa defending the GHC Title in ROH is one of those historical moments that you really should see. But on the other hand, nothing (outside of maybe Castagnoli/Marufuji) is overly great either. Misawa/KENTA – the selling point of the show – is more of a great spectacle than a great match. Briscoes/AOTF and Aries/Hero seemed better on paper than they were here tonight. The NRC/Vultures 6-man and Danielson/Mori have been done better elsewhere etc Personally I liked this one. But if you’re operating on a tight budget, unless you’re desperate to see Misawa’s title match, or you’re a massive Claudio fan (his Marufuji match was really good), you could probably skip over this one.
Top 3 Matches
3) Mitsuharu Misawa vs KENTA (***)
2) Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson (***)
1) Claudio Castagnoli vs Naomichi Marufuji (****)
Top 5 Glory By Honor 6 Weekend Matches
5) Mitsuharu Misawa vs KENTA (*** - Night 2)
4) Nigel McGuinness vs Chris Hero (*** - Night 1)
3) Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson (*** - Night 2)
2) Claudio Castagnoli vs Naomichi Marufuji (**** - Night 2)
1) Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson (**** - Night 1)