ROH, Independents, and International DVD/Show Review Thread

[jmt225]

Okay, so we have a DVD Review thread in the General Wrestling Section, and we have a Sub-Forum for Old School Reviews, but I thought Indy/International DVD and show reviews deserved their own thread in this section.

So, if you have a DVD from ROH, IWA Mid-South, CHIKARA, NOAH, Dragon Gate, any Lucha stuff, etc. you recently watched, then please feel free to review it here. And if you attend an Indy show, doesn't matter what company, then your thoughts on your experience are highly welcomed in this thread as well.

With that said, I will review two ROH shows I watched over the past couple of days, starting with Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown- New York, NY

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This was billed as the final ROH show that will 'ever' feature Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. So, of course the fans were pumped for this one. Hell, so was I considering a Pre-Ordered this DVD, something of which I've never done for ROH before. In fact, this was the first ROH DVD I bought since Rising Above 2008 (which is the next show I'm going to review). With that said, it obviously had a lot to live up to.

The DVD menu, the music, and video intro are all pretty much the same that I remembered from back in the day. It's nothing special, but it doesn't have to be. ROH is about the wrestling in the ring, not about the presentation of it. However, I will say having Chris Hero as Color Commentator was a brilliant move and I was very happy with the job he did. Not quite as good as my man CM Punk from back in the day, but still pretty awesome nonetheless.

Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana​

Nothing too special here. Just a quick match that sees Cabana go over with the Billy Goat's Curse (which is just an Inverted Boston Crab). Not as much comedy in this one as you'd expect. Before the handshake, Rhett puts his hands down his tights, plays with his dick, then offers his hand for Cabana to shake. Cabana grabs a towel, wipes Rhett's hands, and then smacks him on the butt with it when he turns around. But that was really all the comedy in the match. From that point on, it's just wrestling, with Rhett controlling most of the match until Cabana's comeback and victory at around the 5 minute mark I think, if not sooner.

**

Dark City Fight Club vs. Cheech and Cloudy​

I hadn't seen Cheech and Cloudy since they were Lacey's angels, and man have they improved light years beyond belief. They are simply awesome now. And I had never seen Dark City Fight Club wrestle either, and they're not bad themselves. They're like a modern-day version of Harlem Heat in fact.

Anyway, the match was a lot better than I expected. Cheech and Cloudy have some really neat moves in their arsenal. For example, they do a Superkick/Enzuigiri combination where they hit both moves simultaneously. Pretty creative thinking there. And Dark City Fight Club had their moments as well. They're more of a power tag-team, and they ended up winning this with something called the Dark City Street Cutter, which is a Sit-Out Powerbomb/Neckbreaker combination. Very fun little match, and I think both of these teams have a bright future in ROH.

***

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega​

Claudio Castagnoli is something else. I used to really hate this guy, but now I love him. He's currently aligned with the awesome Prince Nana (who introduced him before the match) and his Embassy. It should be noted that Claudio came out with one black glove, which I guess is a tribute to Michael Jackson. And Omega ended up having a grey glove of his own in his tights and slaped the shit out of Claudio with it, lol.

Anyway, the match is awesome and very, very fun. Kenny Omega is basically a video game character. In fact, one of his moves is a Ryu/Ken like Hadoken type of move. It's hilarious. But Claudio completely steals the glory in this match when he does a spinning Torture Rack and towards the end of it uses no hands while still keeping Omega on his shoulders spinning around. It was unreal. And shortly after that Claudio steals the victory along with the glory when he low blows Omega while holding the ref and then hits his uppercut.

***3/4​

After the match Bret Hart came out and addressed the audience. Nothing special. He talked about how much he loves New York, and mentioned some of his favorite matches that has taken place in the city. Every match/wrestler he mentioned got a huge pop. At the end of the promo he promised that if he ever does wrestle one more match, it'll be in New York.

FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL: Delirious vs. Roderick Strong vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Grizzly Redwood​

Ahh... ROH's Four Corner Survival. These are always fun. For those who don't know, a Four Corner Survival is basically a Fatal Four Way, except there are no tags and the first one to get the pin wins the match.

Okay, so let's go over the cast of characters. There's Delirious who's now with Daizee Haze after pretty much a year long storyline of him trying to get her. There's Sonjay Dutt, who I'm sure everyone remembers from TNA. Well, to much of my surprise, the guy actually has a personality now. Sure, it's one of a pervert who wants to get in Daizee's pants, but still... it's better than nothing, lol. There's Roderick Strong doing his usual thing. And a dude I never seen before named Grizzly Redwood. This guy Grizzly is something else. He's probably only a couple of inches taller than Hornswoggle, yet he's pretty ripped and he can work. Also, his character is one of a Lumberjack like Regal in the WWF back in the day (you should love that, X, lol). He has a long ass beard, and wears a plaid t-shirt, fucked up jeans, and no shoes to the ring, to give you guys a visual.

Anyway, the match itself is typical ROH Four Corner Survival action, which is always good fun. Grizzly honestly stole the show with the shit he pulled off (especially for me since I never seen him before). The little guy can get a DDT out of fucking nowhere, and he bumps his ass off. But yeah... Roderick ends up getting the victory in this one due to Sonjay's perverseness. Instead of taking advantage of an out-of-it Delirious, he instead focuses all his attention on Daizee Haze. While he approaches her, he starts to pull down his tights, revealing a speedo, and Roderick comes from behind to hit him with the Super Elevated Gibson Driver for the win. Great finish.

***1/2

ROH WORLD TAG TITLE/LADDER WAR II: The American Wolves vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico​

I had forgotten all about Eddie Edwards wrestling this match with a broken elbow. What a fucking warrior he is. He should have earned every person's respect after doing this match, when the night before he broke his elbow. Just unbelievable. You won't see that kind of dedication in any of the mainstream companies. But, I guess that could be argued as a good thing.

Anyway, this match had a couple of insane spots, but of course Eddie was limited with the broken elbow, which hurt the match a lot. It's nowhere near as good as the first Ladder War between the Briscoes and Steenerico, but after Eddie's injury, no one could have ever expected it to be.

Regardless, the match did have its moments. My favorite was when El Generico hit Davey Richards with a Sunset Bomb off the ladder through a table. Now, this spot has been done before, but never as beautifully as Generico was able to pull it off. Hell, he landed on his feet for goodness sake! Another insane spot was Steen getting pushed off the ladder, to go through a table on the outside that was stacked over a ladder. Kind of hard to explain so you can understand it, but it was a brutal, brutal spot. And the finish came with Eddie and Generico fighting at the top of the ladder, reaching for the belts, and then Eddie getting a hold of Generico's leg and applying a single leg crab through the ladder. As he does this, Davey Richards climbs up the ladder and takes the belts himself. Not the best finish, but they gave it their all.

***3/4​

If the match rating was for effort this would undoubtedly get 5 stars, but on match-quality I just can't be that favorable. Still though, I have all the respect in the World for these guys.

Also, before I get to the next match, let me say that Davey Richards is fucking awesome and in my opinion is currently the best wrestler in ROH. The guy has it all, and after watching these shows, it's really put me in an ROH mood, so I started looking at past results to see if there were anymore DVDs I should pick up, and the praise Richards gets in all his matches are unbelievable. It's like every night this past year he was putting on a MOTY candidate according to ROH and the fans. But yeah... I really like the guy. He might be a bit short, but he more than makes up for it with intensity, strength, and work ethic.

Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston​

These two's feud is by far and large the best thing to ever come out of CZW. They put on some awesome stuff in that company, and it's nice to see them bring it to ROH.

That said, this was not their best effort. Decent match, but nothing special like you come to expect whenever these two meet. However, to their defense, this was just building up to more special matches in the future, such as last weekend at Final Battle 2009. You don't ever want to blow your load in your early matches, so I completely understand the thought process in this one.

Still, not a bad match at all, and I especially liked the finish. Hero always has this loaded Elbow Pad and likes to hit the Discus Elbow Smash with them on. Well, Kingston stole the original Elbow Pad Hero brought to the ring; however, Hero had this beautiful gold Elbow Pad as a back up and was able to connect with it to put Kingston out for the 3-count.

***

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries vs. Petey Williams​

Since Aries has won the ROH World Title, he's had this gimmick going on where he comes out with this hat full of names in it, and whoever he draws out of this 'lucky' hat will then be granted an impromptu Title match. Of course, being the slime-ball heel Aries is, the name he draws out always somehow manages to be some scrub, girl, or in this case, legend. I think you can see where I'm going with this. Yep, Aries pulled out Bret Hart's name from his hat, and challenged the Hitman to a title match. However, Bret doesn't come out, so Aries then proceeds to call Hart a coward. Next thing you know, Petey Williams music hits, and he comes out to challenge Aries. After a sucker punch from Aries, Aries accepts the challenge and the match is on.

Unfortunately, though, the match ended up being quite boring. I've never liked Petey Williams. I think he's one of the most overrated wrestlers today, and the guy has just never interested me. None of his matches ever stick out, and the only thing he has going for him is his finisher.

However, I was not the only one not into the match. The crowd in attendance were not into this match at all, either. Seriously, the first half of it they just sat there, not making a peep, and the second half of it all they did was yell "Twinkies" towards the referee, Todd Sinclair. Every single time Sinclair would make a count, whether it was a pin, counting them outside the ring, or counting the five count to break something up, the crowd would follow every single count with "Twinkies!". It was quite disrespectful; not just to the ref, but to the wrestlers as well since all the audience cared about was making fun of the referee instead of paying attention to the match itself.

But yeah... it wasn't a very good match. It had an absolutely stellar ending, though; I have to give it that much. Petey Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer off the top rope, which was fucking brutal, only for the momentum to roll Aries all the way to the outside of the ring. On the outside (where there is a 20 count to get back in), Petey struggled to get the dead weight of Aries back in the ring, and at around the 15 second mark, Aries came to and hit an unexpecting Petey Williams with a Brainbuster on the outside. Aries then rolled back in the ring at 18/19 and the ref counted Petey out and Aries wins the match by countout. Tremendous finish for a rather boring match-up.

**1/2

Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The Young Bucks​

Great spotty little match here, as I'm sure must would expect from these two teams. Just a lot of action in this one. It was all over the place, with the Briscoes hitting their usual awesome shit, and the newly TNA signed Young Bucks hitting their usual awesome shit. There's not much more you can say outside of that, lol. The Young Bucks won when they hit their finisher, More Bang for Your Buck (which is a Rolling fireman's carry slam by Matt followed by a 450° splash by Nick followed by a moonsault by Matt) on Jay. Very fun, fast-paced match.

***3/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness​

Ahh, main event time.

Both these guys made their way to the ring, with a great ovation from the crowd as you would expect. Chants of "Thank you, Nigel!" and "Best in the World!" scattered throughout the building during their introductions, with the place just filled with joy to witness these two wrestle one last time in ROH. It was a great feeling watching it.

The match itself was very good, but nowhere near as good as their previous bouts. But how could it? The crowd needs someone to cheer for and someone to boo. However, of course no one was heel here. It was just two ROH legends meeting one final time, just for the fans. Nothing hanged on the balance, and both guys just wanted to give the fans their all one last time before heading to WWE/TNA, and they did.

The match was very back and forth the entire time. A lot of typical, BRUTAL looking submissions, followed by submission reversals, and back and forth and back and forth. Of course we also got the dive into the crowd one last time in an absolutely beautiful spot, and we also got the wonderful "Hey, hey, hey... I have 'til five!" from Bryan Danielson. Nigel also got his usual stuff in with the Lariats and Tower of London. It was kind of surreal watching this match with the thought that these moves very well could be the last time we ever see them in ROH, performed by these wrestlers.

The finish came when Bryan caught Nigel in the Triangle Choke, and hit him with repeated elbows. The ref stepped in shortly after to protect Nigel from further damage.

****​

After the match was over of course came the speeches from both Nigel and Bryan, which was by far my favorite part of the entire show to be honest with you. Nigel's speech was short and sweet, and him just basically thanking ROH, the wrestlers, and the fans. Bryan's was pretty much the same thing, except his was way longer due to the fact he decided to single guys out instead of just saying 'The boys' like Nigel did. For instance, he thanked Roderick Strong for all his hard work, and you know.... shit like that. He actually also thanked Todd Sinclair, saying that Sinclair was the best referee in the business. The fans actually changed their tune for Sinclair after that, which was a shock because they've always hated him (though I'm sure they're now back to hating him again, lol). And Danielson goes on and on. The highlight of the speech though was someone in the audience yelling something about Cena, and Danielson replying "I swear to God, when I see him I'm going to walk right up to him and punch that son of a bitch right in the ear!" Hilarious, and the crowd went nuts. They even started a "Cena's going to get his fucking head kicked in!" chant.

Once the speech was over, Danielson told the music guy to play "The Final Countdown" by Europe one last time, and as he does, the crowds sings along with the song while Danielson caters to them. Once it's over, Danielson walks around ringside high-fiving and hugging everyone in sight. Great feeling watching that.

All in all, decent enough show. Probably not as good as I expected, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved the farewell to Dragon. That alone was worth the price of the DVD, and I do recommend this show for fans of Bryan Danielson. This is something you absolutely do not want to miss out on.

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Tomorrow or the day after I'll have a Rising Above review ready (in which Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness in that one gets 5 stars in my book), and in the upcoming week(s) expect reviews from ROH shows Night of the Butcher 2, Return Engagement, and Death Before Dishonor V Night 2.

 

[jmt225]

I know I promised a Rising Above review, but man... it's too much of a bitch to review a full show after it's been a couple of days since you've seen it. I had to do that for Glory by Honor, and it was a lot harder than I expected. I might get around to it though.

With that said, here's The Night of the Butcher II review for you guys.

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Kevin Steen vs. Kenny King​

Pretty good opener for the show. Short, but good nonetheless. The crowd is HEAVILY in Kevin Steen’s corner for this one. No wonder why because Steen is always fun to watch. The guy just has so much charisma.

Anyway, outside of a beautiful Springboard Blockbuster, King didn’t do much else memorable in the match. It was pretty much dominated by Steen, who won with a Sharpshooter.

**1/2​

Delirious’ music hits, and out comes Pelle Primeau. Delirious tonight is supposed to be Pelle's tag team partner, but Pelle has no idea where Delirious is. Pelle gets on the mic and tells the crowd that he’ll fight this upcoming tag-team scramble match all by himself. But then, Daizee Haze comes out, takes the mic from Pelle, and basically announces that she wants to be more than friends with Delirious and asks him to please come out (Note: crowd is shitting all over Daizee at this point). Instead, Jimmy Jacobs comes out, and while he’s making his way to the ring, MsCif sneaks up behind Daizee and hits the Desecrator on her, which lays Daizee out for good. Jimmy then gets on the mic to assure the crowd that Delirious didn’t hear anything Daizee had to say and announce that Delirious is now a member of The Age of the Fall. He tells Delirious to come out, he does, Pelle asks what is his deal, and Pelle then takes a beatdown from Delirious.

Tag Team Scramble: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Ruckus & Jigsaw vs. Mitch Franklin & Trik Davis vs. The Phoenix Twins​

This was fairly short, but at the same time it was INSANE! Very, very, very fun match here. Bodies all over the place, crowd going nuts… what more could you want?

The Briscoe Brothers are so fucking awesome. They beat the living tar out of one of the Phoenix Twins in this one, while also delivering an EPIC Double Hip-Toss to Mitch Franklin (which by the way is Grizzly Redwood; had no idea until seeing this match, lol). Ruckus and Jigsaw had a couple of cool moments as well, and they’re actually the team to win this bad boy after hitting one of the Phoenix Twins following a Jig'N'Tonic/Top Rope Double Stomp. Awesome way to end an awesome match.

***1/2

El Generico vs. Tyler Black​

Very, very good match, here.

Tyler Black pretty much dominated the first half of it, but the 2nd half was just back and forth action with some really cool spots thrown in there. For example, Black hit this tremendous Springboard Hurricanrana while El Generico was standing on the top rope. However, my favorite moment in the match was when Black geared himself up to nail Generico in the corner with the forearm, and as he’s running back to the other corner to turn to get full steam so he can turn around and hit Generico again, instead when he reaches the other corner as soon as he turns around to run again towards Generico, Generico nails him as hard as he can with a boot to the face. You see, as Tyler was running back to the corner, Generico ran right behind him so he could hit him with that. It’s hard to give the moment justice typing it on the computer, but trust me… it was awesome.

El Generico ended up winning the match after hitting a Brainbuster on Tyler Black. The last five minutes or so of this match was simply spectacular. Great stuff.

***3/4

FIP Heavyweight Title Match: Erick Stevens vs. Chris Hero​

The highlight of this one for me was Sara Del Rey pushing the fuck out of someone in the audience while accompanying Chris Hero down to the ring. A fan reached to pat Chris on the arm, and as he was pulling back his arm grace Del Rey’s boob it looked like and man did she get pissed. And Hero just kept walking like nothing happened. Hilarious.

As far as the match itself… meh. It’s one of those situations where the match would have heavily benefited from Chris’s silly stuff, rather than the ‘Knockout Kid’ persona. Erik Stevens, I just find the guy boring. I mean, he’s supposed to be an old school like powerhouse wrestler, but the shit’s just not entertaining. And Chris in this match really didn’t do anything outside of that Discus Elbow shit he likes to do.

The end of the match came when Stevens hit a top rope powerslam on Hero. It wasn’t any more damaging than a Superplex would be, but it put Chris out for the 3 count. Fans didn’t dig the match, and neither did I. Not that these two didn’t try; it’s just not very appealing.

**

Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Nigel McGuinness​

This match, however, was AWESOME and worth the DVD price alone!

Seriously man, for a tag match involving 4 main eventers, it might be considered a bit short (it’s probably only a 10-13 minute match, no longer than 15), but holy shit did these guys go at it from the start of the match to the end of it.

The storyline leading into this one was that Claudio beat the hell out of Danielson a few weeks before, and he had yet to give an explanation as to why. Dragon is pissed, this match is set up, and Dragon picks Aries as his partner.

Well, there was no entrance for Dragon and Aries in this one. They both flew down to the ring looking to tear Nigel and Claudio’s head off. Bryan was especially looking to take out Claudio, but Claudio actually got the best of Dragon when he entered the ring, threw him out and into the guard rail, and then threw him in the audience. So unexpected. Aries then has to fight both guys by himself for a few minutes, and when Bryan finally comes to, Aries tags him in and that’s literally the only tag in the match-up. After that tag, Dragon went to kill Nigel and Claudio, and man was it awesome. And hey… he succeeded. Well, succeeded in winning the match anyway when he got Nigel to tap out in the Cattle Mutilation. However, no revenge on Claudio, and actually after the match, Claudio snuck Dragon and then proceeded to stomp his head with a chair on top of it, leaving Dragon knocked-out in the ring.

****

Roderick Strong runs the Sweet N Sour Gauntlet​

So, this was just flat out entertaining as shit. Let me run it down for you.

Sweeney comes out and is still pissed that Roderick Strong declined his offer to join Sweet N Sour Inc. So, he has decided tonight, Roderick will run the Sweet N Sour Gauntlet, facing every member of the faction who is there that night and able to compete. His first opponent? None other than Bobby Dempsey.

Bobby Dempsey, for those who don’t know, is from the ROH School. He’s really fat, with long curly blonde hair, and even though he’s treated like absolute shit by Sweeney and everyone else in the faction, the crowd still loves him. And because the crowd loves him, and since Roddy is just a nice guy, he wants to cut Bobby a break. So what he does is throws a shirt at Sweeney, which hilariously knocks Sweeney down and keeps him occupied for about 15 seconds, so Dempsey could then lay down and Roddy could simply pin him without inflicting any harm upon the poor guy.

Sweeney doesn’t see it, but he still gets pissed Dempsey lost so fast and demands him to go to the back and do 5 million squats, lol.

Up next, Sweeney says Roddy’s next opponent won’t be so easy, and introduces… Shane Hagadorn. For those who don’t know, Hagadorn is another ROH School graduate, and while he still sucks, the fans despise him unlike they do Dempsey. Not surprisingly, Roderick makes quick work with Hagadon and defeats him in about 2 minutes time with Roddy’s running boot.

Sweeney then says those two guys were just a warm-up for Roderick, and his real competition is coming out now. Who does it turn out to be? None other than Adam Pearce. And even though this match is only about 2 minutes longer than the Hagadorn match, it’s still twice as competitive regardless, and it’s not too bad. Roderick ends up winning this one too, however, with a roll up.

Sweeney is back on the mic, distracting Roddy after getting the pinfall on Pearce, and out of nowhere Chris Hero comes in and blast Roddy with a Discus Elbow to the back on the head. Hero then proceeds to hit Roddy three more times with his Spinning Elbow he loves so much, thus knocking Roderick Strong out. However, instead of getting the win for himself, he gets himself DQed on purpose. Sweeney then gets back on the microphone and announces that HE is Roddy’s final opponent. Sweeney gets in the ring, removes his jacket, struts ridiculously for a good 20 seconds (which was beyond hilarious), and then finally covers Roddy and gets the 3 count. Very, very, very fun stuff here. I loved it.

****

NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Brent Albright vs. Go Shiozaki​

Go Shiozaki is apart of Sweet N Sour Inc., so Sweeney is still at ringside for this match, but he doesn’t make an impact in it whatsoever. He’s just there to support his guy.

Now, this isn’t the prettiest and flashiest match you’ve ever seen; no, this is just a nice, hard-hitting fight with two guys working their asses off and beating the living shit out of each other. That’s what this match is all summed up, and to me… that’s greatness.

These two gave everything they had in this 15 minute or so match. Hard ass punches, kicks, knees, chops, etc. And at one point in the match you would have thought you were watching Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle, with the repeated German suplexes and the pinfalls and reversals that followed them. From guys this big and stocky, that was really impressive.

After a ton of false finishes from said Germans, plus roll-ups, and things like inverted brain busters and what not, the match came to an end when Albright hit Shiozaki with numerous knees to the point where he was out and the ref had to step in and stop the match to prevent further harm to Go. Very good match.

****

No DQ Match: Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Jacobs​

To give you the backstory to this one: Necro competed in ROH during the CZW feud, but once that was done, so was he in ROH. However, when Jimmy Jacobs formed Age of the Fall, Necro was one of the people he sought out to be in a group. After a year or so of them teaming up, they start to have a falling out. Meanwhile, Jacobs is in a brutal feud with Austin Aries at the same time, and they have a match where the winner gets to choose the loser’s next opponent when ROH goes back to Chicago, and can also name the stipulation of the said match. Well, Aries won and he chose Necro as Jimmy’s opponent and the stipulation of the match was for it to be a No Disqualification match.

Jimmy comes out and immediately gets on the microphone. He says that him and Necro are fine and dandy, and that they’re not going to fight tonight. He offers Necro instead of fighting him, he will let Necro do some AOTF promotion in Alaska. Necro of course declines and punches Jimmy in the face. The match then goes to the outside, they go in the crowd, and after some spots that include a slam on a chair, some bug spray being sprayed in Neroc’s face, Jimmy dropping in elbow on Nerco while he’s laid over a chair, and Jimmy being throw around in a trash can, they make their way back to the ring.

In the ring, Necro gets the upper hand, and sets up a chair to superplex Jimmy through. However, before he can, Tyler Black enters the ring and hits Necro in the back, causing him to fall off the ropes. Black and Jimmy then set up a table, put Necro on it face first, and right when Jimmy is about to put him through it, Aries runs down and makes the save. However, Black and Jimmy is too much for Aries to handle and they eventually get the upperhand, and they top rope powerbomb Aries through the table, where Necro was still laid out face first on. Jimmy then pins Necro and gets the 3 count.

***1/2​

Pretty short match considering it’s the main event, but it’s still enjoyable.

However, it was after the match where shit got crazy. Black and Jimmy continue their assault on Aries, when El Generico and Kevin Steen make their way to the ring (Steenerico and AOTF were feuding back then over the Tag Titles) and attack Black and Aries. Delirious then comes out, and it’s now 3 on 2 (Necro is still laid out.). AOTF gets the upperhand, but then out comes the Briscoes. They lay out AOTF. Then both Steenerico and Briscoes are in the ring together for the first time since Man Up (where the epic Ladder War between the two teams happened), and they stare each other down. Then they start fighting, lol. AOTF takes advantage of the situation by entering the ring and hitting the Briscoes from behind. Now the AOTF and Briscoes are on the outside, and Steenerico is still in the ring. Of course, then comes high spot time with El Generico doing a top rope cross-body-drop on all five individuals, and Kevin Steen following that up with a flip to the outside when everyone got up. Steenerico leave, and eventually both Briscoes and Aries are back in the ring, and the three members of the AOTF are in as well. They stare each other down and as soon as they’re about to go back at it, Necro finally re-enters the ring and punches out EVERYONE. It was awesome. After they all leave, Necro walks around the ring, high-fiving fans with his music “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty blaring on the speakers. The show then fades to black and it’s all over.

Overall, very enjoyable show. Not great, but still a lot of fun and your typical ROH show, with the ending of course stealing the entire show and sending everyone home happy. Check it out if you have the means to.

 

[Freddy4190]

I've been wanting to get into more independent wrestling. I have no clue where to start though. I just ordered 'PWG Sells Out' and was wondering if you've seen it? I'm going to do a review once it gets here and I watch it. I might have to check out Glory By Honor VIII. I've seen a bit of both Nigel and Bryan's work and was pretty impressed. Gotta love Desmond Wolfe. lol

 

[JayBriscoe2010]

I've been wanting to get into more independent wrestling. I have no clue where to start though. I just ordered 'PWG Sells Out' and was wondering if you've seen it? I'm going to do a review once it gets here and I watch it. I might have to check out Glory By Honor VIII. I've seen a bit of both Nigel and Bryan's work and was pretty impressed. Gotta love Desmond Wolfe. lol

PWG Sells Out is a great start man. I recommend starting ROH with The Milestone seires from 2006 their best year imo. Or if you just want the current, you cant go wrong with Supercard Of Honor IV. Davey Richards vs KENTA is my and many others MOTY from 09.

 

[Thriller Ant]

This is my first ever DVD review, and I’m pretty excited about it. This is my first-ever viewing of this show, which is notable on the surface as one of a couple shows that Matt Hardy worked for the company. Something about another guy sleeping with his girlfriend? I’ll investigate further later. The card looks pretty good, so we’ll jump right in!

I can’t find storylines heading into these matches, so I’ll fill in what I can from promos and if X or anyone knows, feel free to chime in afterwards. And of course, I welcome any criticism on my ratings.

We open with James Gibson, aka Jamie Noble, cutting a promo about the Four Way Elimination ROH Title match that is our main event tonight. He says that tonight is his 4th chance to win the belt. He wants to be the number one guy with the number one belt in the number one company. I liked the promo, it’s a shame that he never really got a chance in WWE.

Shirtless promo next with Generation Next, which I know little about but I already like because it is Austin Aries, Matt Sydal aka Evan Bourne, and Roderick Strong, all guys I am a mark for. Jack Evans is hurt and gone, which is why Sydal is there. Aries was talking, by the way. Matt says he is there because he has learned that to be successful in ROH, he needs a team. Going from Aries talking to Sydal is a definite step down, but he did okay there. Gen Next is feuding with The Embassy, and it will be those three against Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, and Abyss later in a match I will probably need to change my pants after.

Four Corner Survival: Matt Stryker vs. Ace Steel vs. Delirious vs. Sterling Keenan

First of all, no, this is not the SmackDown commentator you all either love or hate. Ace Steel helped train Punk and Colt Cabana, Delirious is a crazy guy in a mask with tassels, and I have no idea who Sterling Keenan is unless he happens to have a friend named Kel. No intros here, as we go from the last promo to the four guys in the ring and the bell sounds to start it. Delirious goes crazy as always while the other three watch and stay out of the way. Four Corner Survival is the traditional opening match at ROH shows, which is a Fatal Four Way with 2 me in at a time and tags bring the other two like a tag match except without specific partners. Nothing too notable so far, solid stuff from all 4 guys with Stryker dominating so far. Now Steel takes over with a gorgeous German Suplex on Keenan. Stryker with a Lionsault on Steel for 2. I don’t know what that was, but it got a 2 for Keenan on Stryker. Ahh, I’ve never heard of Keenan because he was very little ROH experience, thanks Prazak. Shadows Over Hell from Delirious only gets 2 on Steel. Wow, gutwrench sitout powerbomb from the top by Steel on Delirious gets the three.

I’ll use KB’s grading scale here, and give it a C. It was pretty short, shorter than most of these openers, but there was good stuff here. A nice opener, and the finishing move looked really good, no matter what spell check thinks.

Christopher Daniels says it is his destiny to be ROH Champ, but history has thwarted him. He talks about two 60 minute matches he was in and didn’t win and about how he was pulled from ROH by TNA without mentioning them by name. He also calls out Punk, and says Joe and Gibson aren’t factors. He says he is the only one with 60 minute, 4-way title match experience. He ends by saying that Punk can pray for mercy, but will not get it.

Spanky vs. Colt Cabana

In case you are one of the 7 people that doesn’t know, Spanky is Brian Kendrick. He enters with a giant black wad of something on his back. As I type that, you can hear a fan yell “What the hell is on your back?” Glad I’m not the only one. Cabana was in WWE for a very short time as Scotty Goldman, where his gimmick from what I can tell was to be Jewish. I love Colt Cabana. You can tell he loves pro wrestling, and goes out there to have fun and entertain the fans. What else could you want from the guy? Great comedy stuff from Colt before the match and gets Kendrick and the ref to join in. Old school weapon check from the ref which ends with Colt giving him a double high five. Dueling let’s go chants as the bell rings.

This is Colt’s first match in about 3 or 4 weeks after a loss to Nigel and a trip to Europe. Side headlock by Spanky to start. Typical stuff until a goose by Colt causes Spanky to run out of the ring. The ref gets one too for good measure. Arm drag by Spanky reversed by Colt. They pick it up for a sec, and then some more comedy and they both run the ropes. Spanky’s tape fell off, and you can see a cut on his back. Spanky gets kicked by Colt, they run the ropes some more until Spanky calls timeout, run some more and Spanky misses a leg drop. Butt bump knocks Spanky to the floor. Tomahawk chop from the apron and throws him back in. Huge chop from Spanky to which Colt replies “Ow. That was uncalled for.” Spanky offers another handshake (The match started with one, of course) which Colt accepts. Spanky yells “Sucker!” and whips him toward the corner. Colt dosey doe’s with the ref and rolls up Spanky for two.

The comedy stuff is ok, but it is starting to get old. Colt hides behind the ref, leapfrogs him, and rolls up Spanky for another two. Open hand chops form Colt, heel kick ends momentum and is followed by a tornado DDT for 2. Frog splash is rolled over by Colt for 2. Nice reversal as Colt shows back body drop, kick by Spanky into an enziguiri by Colt. Superkick by Colt gets 2. They are both exhausted now as the funny must be tiring. Series of strikes by Colt followed by a crazy series of stuff by Colt that ends with a nice pinning combo for the 3.

I will give it a C- because of the expectations I had. I was excited about the match, but I feel that there was too much comedy stuff and not enough wrestling. I enjoyed the comedy but it lasted a long ass time. If I watch it again, I will probably like it more then.

Post match Colt leaves leaving Kendrick in the ring and out comes the champ, CM Punk. Spanky, who looks very young, wants a title shot. Punk looks weird without all of his tattoos. Punk says he’ll give Spanky a title shot since he will be on Raw and Spanky will be on Velocity. Ouch, and not 100% true. I think Punk’s hair is purple. Spanky says stuff off-mic that I can’t hear and leaves. Punk says that it is because of him that ROH exists. This must be his last weekend, as he says that he is the champ, one-half of the best tag teams in the Second City Saints, the best commentator, and their trainer. He doesn’t really get big heat until he says he’s leaving with the belt, which ends the promo.

ROH Tag Team Title Match: BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness & Chad Collyer

The champs come out to “Slither” by Velvet Revolver, which is awesome and play rock, paper, scissors to see who starts the match, which is also awesome. Jacobs is wearing furry boots, again making me think he is gay, not that there in anything wrong with that. I hate Seinfeld. Jacobs win, and gets tossed around by Nigel “my wolf puns suck” McGuinness. A series of chops and slaps by Jimmy evens it until a series of European uppercuts from Nigel and the now legal Chad Collyer. Springboard cross body by Jacobs gets 2 and is chained into an armbar and tag. The only other time I’ve seen Whitmer was when he almost killed Jimmy in a match between them at Dragon Gate Challenge. Whitmer holds Collyer’s arm, and tags Jacobs who jumps from the top and stomps it. Hot shot by Collyer leads to a tag to Nigel.

Whimer breaks up another 2 count on Jimmy. Tag to Collyer. Submission broken up by Whitmer and Nigel back in. Jawbreaker lariat not called as such hits for a two as Whitmer comes in again. Man, they are making Jacobs look weak. They whip Jacobs into Whitmer in the corner. Then the challengers literally throw Jimmy into BJ. Now Jacobs is suplexed onto Whitmer. Monkey flipped onto Whitmer. The ref has absolutely no control here, and even though it is cool, it gets old quick. Whitmer prevents a Doomsday Device and throws his partner into his corner to make a tag, since those apparently matter now. Brainbuster to a pin by Whitmer broken up by Nigel. Whitmer uses Jacobs the first two ways the challengers did, except on Collyer for 2. Jacobs suplexed onto Nigel’s legs. McGuinness body dropped to the outside. Doomsday Device failed for the champs. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. German by Collyer literally dropped Whitmer on the top of his head. That move is awesome. Tower of London gets two and Jacobs nearly botches putting his foot on the ropes. A powerbomb/sliced bread combo end this for the champs.

D+ Decent match, but the complete breakdown was frustrating. As a traditional tag match, this sucked as it ended up being a tornado tag or four-way with two alliances. With that said, they really showed Jacobs as the weak link, which helped lead to their feud down the line. All of these matches have been short by ROH standard, too.

Joe says he was champ for 21 months, and in the span of 2 Punk ruined all of it. He calls him Punker which makes me chuckle. Joe will end Punk tonight.

Six Man Tag: The Embassy vs. Generation Next

Head up to the Gen Next promo to see the teams. Prince Nana leads his men out first. They flashback to a show earlier this year showing the Embassy beating up Generation Next. Daizee Haze leads Gen Next out, as she is always hot. Strong and Rave will start it out. Sydal apparently gets an official spot in GN if they win. Strong wearing long tights, which looks odd. Strong gains the upper hand in the chain wrestling that starts it. Chop by Strong leads to a tag to Shelley. Shelley wearing Hardcore Holly-esq tights. Hart attack with Aries doing the clothesline gets 2. Short-arm clothesline followed by a head to the turnbuckle puts Shelley in control. Wow, nice quickness by Aries leads to a 2 after a springboard back elbow.

Twisting body press and a Lionsault each get 2 for Aries. Shelley blocks the Brainbuster into a submission for Shelley into a submission for Aries. Finlay roll leads to a tag and cannonball leg drop by Sydal. Abyss gets the tag and Sydal may get smushed. The typical offense he uses now against the big guys gets him nothing but tossed about 28479821374 feet in the air. Abyss misses a clothesline in the corner, which leads to dropkicks from all three guys in Gen Next.

Sunset flip from the top by Sydal doesn’t work, so Aries tries to crossbody him down. Instead, he moves the mask so you can see Chris Parks and gets press dropped onto Sydal. In comes Rave with a series of stomps. Hotshot/wheelbarrow facebuster combo off the tag to Shelley. Really cool surfboard variation here by Shelley, but broken up by Roderick. In comes Rave. An interfering Shelley results with him getting the Slice from Sydal and Rave gets a dropkick from Sydal as he comes off the top. Tag to Aries, and he is cleaning house.

Powerdrive elbow only gets one. Abyss doesn’t pull the rope down enough, so it takes two guys to make sure Aries goes to the outside like he was supposed to. Nice save of a botch there. Abyss throws Austin into the barricades a couple times and that gets Shelley a two. In comes Rave. Aries is trapped in the corner of the heels. Body scissors by Rave. Aries leans back and gets a 2. In comes Abyss. He uses the Big Show open hand chop in the corner. A series of chops backs Abyss off, but another Big Show chop downs Aries. Aries gets smashed in the corner, and in comes Shelley. Snap suplex gets no count as the ref was dealing with the two Generation members Shelley taunted. Double clothesline off the tag to Rave gets 2. Back to the body scissors. Nana getting boo’d as he pulls out the Ghana flag. Shelley back in. Now the ref is distracted and the flag is used to choke Aries. I’m pretty sure that is against flag code and he should burn that flag now.

A bear hug type maneuver by Shelley. Aries makes the tag, but the ref doesn’t see it. Rave comes in because the heels don’t need their tag to be seen and keeps the hold. The arm stays up the third time for Aries. He’s out, rolls over, and brings in Strong who comes in on fire using no less than 5 different backbreakers. All three Gen Next members go after Abyss. Strong goes for the German, and kicks from his teammates send the Monster over beautifully. Shelley gets a standing moonsault from Sydal followed by a heat seeking missile from Aries when he rolls out. Moonsault from up top by Sydal down to the floor on Abyss.

Spear from Rave on Strong and goes for the Rave Clash, which you know as the Styles Clash as he was apparently feuding with AJ at the time, but is clotheslined by Aries for 2. Half-nelson backbreaker by Strong leads to the 450 from Aries and a victory for Generation Next. After the match, Strong gets Shock Treatment and the other two get Black Hole Slams.

B+ I really enjoyed this match. It was better than the other one because even though this one broke down, it didn’t last for 90% of the match. I love 4 out of these 6 guys, and enjoy all of them, so this match was great for me. Excellent 6 man tag.

Buy these shoot interviews.

Prazak tries to interview two students from the ROH training school, but Nana sets Abyss on them. Nana cuts a promo while you can hear the guys screaming the background which is hilarious. Shelly says some stuff too and uses his hands to tell it.

Grudge Match: Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal

Low Ki is currently in FCW as Kaval and has cool music. Jay Lethal had not yet had Randy Savage’s personality transferred into his body, which is a gimmick I can handle as long as I don’t hear him talk for more than 2 minutes. Lethal comes out and the brawl is on. Hopefully they say why this is a grudge match, because I have no fucking clue. Lethal takes control after a series of moves I couldn’t keep up with. Ki goes to the outside. Lethal was going for a dive, but Ki gives him a knee to the guy before he can. Heel kick sends Ki to the outside again. Ki takes a suicide dive. Apparently Lethal’s mom slapped Low Ki, and that is how this started. Lethal was attacked by a masked man, who turned out to be Low Ki. So there we go. It is all Lethal right now until a dropkick sends him into the barricade. Low Ki and Homicide’s manager, Julius Smokes, is wanted in Ohio and isn’t there.

Slam on the wood floor by Low Ki. 2 for Ki followed by another two after a gutbuster. Ki is chopping hard. Prazak has his notes messed up and stutters a bit. These chops are hurting me, they are so loud. Roll-up by Lethal gets two and a huge clothesline afterward by Ki. 2 count leads into a body scissors by Low Ki. This is a move that should be used by the mainstream companies more. It doesn’t look that flashy, but it is something that looks like it would legitimately hurt because it does. Rope break is followed by more loud chops. Now they trade shots, but a kick to the gut by Ki ends that. Series of right hands after a two count. An elbow that looked like the People’s Elbow with less running gets 2. Ki standing on the hand of Lethal and follows up with a double chop for 2. Ki picks up Lethal like he’s going for a belly to back, but drops him on his face. Lethal gets a belly to back after Ki locks in a reverse bear hug. Both are slow to get up and they trade chops.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a staredown and a chop down. Lethal with 4 Irish Whips and a suplex. Diving head butt hits and both men are down. Ki kicks out at 2. Lethal locks in a full nelson and tries for a Dragon Suplex, which is his finisher apparently. Ki grabs the ref to block in, and Lethal is put in the Tree of Whoa (it looks more fun that way). Lethal sits up and is trading blows with Ki, who is up top. The double stomp hits, but Low Ki can’t get the cover. Here is is, but Lethal gets the ropes. Ki going up again, but Lethal kicks the ref into the ropes to knock Ki down. Full nelson on, but Ki runs and ducks, and we have our second fall outside the ring botch tonight. Lethal lands on the announcer’s table. Ki goes for the double stomp but Lethal moves and Ki stomps through the table in a nice spot. Ki is chopped into the first row and Lethal is giving chase. A bunch of chops and punches by both men is followed by them going into the bleachers.

Is that the bell? Wow, we have a DQ after Ki shoves the ref again. And here comes Homicide. Apparently these two are the Rottweilers and they go after Lethal. Here comes Matt Hardy! I know because he is using his WWE music which may or may not be legal. Matt calls out Homicide and tells him that Matt Hardy will not die.

There was a match to rate there, and I’ll give it a C-. It was a brawl for most of it, and that’s what it should have been. The ending sucked though. If they wanted a DQ, why not use a weapon? They hate each other so it would have made much more sense to me.

Matt Hardy vs. Homicide

Here we go. I ran and peed before this match, so maybe I’ll be cheerier since I feel like I’m being kind of harsh. Dueling chants to start, with Homicide flipping off the crowd when they say Let’s Go Hardy. They get face to face, back off, and lock up. Hardy runs over Homicide on their second lock-up. Nice set of opening lock-ups from these two. I’m excited about this match, and the opening has been good. Hardy is controlling to start with some nice technical work. Wow, clean break in the corner. They break again, but Homicide pokes Hardy in the eye.

Stomps in the corner by Homicide followed by a head-scissor. It’s a brawl now and Hardy gets the advantage with a tilt-a-while side slam when Homicide goes for the head-scissor again. Hardy is pissed, choking and punching. Homicide comes back with a leg bar, broken up by the ropes. Drop toe hold sends Hardy to the outside. Tope con hilo by Homicide, which, in English words that are not a translation, means a front flip suicide dive. Hardy whipped into the barricade. This time he reverses it and it is Homicide that crashes into the metal. Neckbreaker by Homicide after he attacks Hardy when they go back in the ring. Diving headbutt gets 2. Chinlock by Homicide as the crowd gets behind Hardy. Matt gets up and tries to hit the ropes, but is pulled down by the hair. Knee drop gets 2. Choke in the corner by Homicide, followed by a back rake. Headbutts by Hardy in the corner, but he eventually falls victim to a gorgeous tornado DDT by 187, but only gets 2.

Homicide goes up again, but Hardy crotches him and hit’s the superplex. Both men are down, and get up at the same time. They trade right hands until Hardy takes control with a discus forearm. Matt does his corner clothesline/bulldog combo for 2. Hardy locks in the Scar, a double underhook lock with body scissors, which is broken up by the ropes. I love that move. Side effect by Hardy gets 2 ½. Matt goes up, but gets crotched. Homicide face busted off the top. Hardy’s taunting leg drop gets boo’d and a 2 count. Twist of Fate countered into a Northern Lights Suplex, which I can’t believe WWE has never used that reversal, for 2. Lariat by Homicide gets about 2.9. Cop Killa reversed into Twist of Fate reversed into the Cutter for another really long 2. Hardy with a Splash Mountain, reversing a springboard attempt for 2. Low Ki distracts Hardy which allows Homicide to hit the exploder suplex. Homicide tries to grab the chain Ki brought to the ring, but ends up in a tug-of-war with Jay Lethal, which allows Hardy to get the roll-up victory.

A- I loved this match. These two worked really well together, and Homicide gets a nice push by only losing by roll-up against a WWE guy. Both guys worked hard, had the time to put on a show, and it showed.

A recap of Punk’s reign as champion, including him signing his WWE contract on the ROH World Title and his showdowns with his 3 opponents tonight.

ROH World Title Elimination Match: CM Punk (c) vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. James Gibson

Like I said earlier, Gibson is Jamie Noble, the rest you should know. Daniels comes out first and is pumped, which leads to a don’t go back chant from the crowd, referring to TNA. Gibson comes out wrapped in a Confederate Flag to “A Southern Boy Can Survive.” Alright then, explains the accent. He also has 01 like the General Lee on the ass of his trunks. I wonder how many people get that reference. Joe is the Pure Champion here, which is a title I really like. I understand ROH’s roster isn’t that big, but I would love to see that belt come back in some major company. And here comes the champ. He yells “It’s clobberin’ time!” which I love that he still does that, and heads toward the ring. Punk’s hair is purple, and as a guy who enjoys hair dye, I appreciate that. Joe and Punk have a pose off, we have introductions, and here we go. Wow, Punk is getting heat and that is followed by the goodbye song which makes me chuckle. Oh, now it’s a Thank You Punk chant, which isn’t as much fun.

Only two guys can start, so the faces have a pow-wow while Punk lays on the top tope in one of the corners. Punk and Joe start it off. And we have our first tag, as Punk tags in Gibson. And Punk tags himself in and Joe has to leave. So it is Gibson and Punk. Nice technical showing from the two WWE guys. There is a 60 minute time limit, and even if Punk is eliminated he still is champ if it goes that long.

After some shoulder blocks, Daniels tags Gibson to enter the match-up to face Punk. I didn’t write a lot about the start, but it was good stuff. We have a faceoff, some shoves, some lock-ups, and some great back and forth stuff. They stand up and the crowd goes nuts. That was some excellent action right there. Joe puts his hand out toward Daniels, and after some stalling he obliges.

Joe is pacing and Punk just stares at him. Punk goes to tag Gibson, who jumps off the apron. Punk rolls and tries to tag Daniels, who also jumps off the apron. Huge belly to back suplex from a side headlock by Punk by Joe. Punk rolls out and walks around so Joe can’t suicide dive, but takes a cannonball from Gibson. Punk rolls back in and tags Daniels before Daniels can get away.

Joe overpowering Daniels until Daniels locks in the side headlock. After some short offense, Daniels locks it in again. Daniels tags in Gibson. Test of strength, which Joe dominates. Gibson rolls out and locks in a front facelock reversed into a surfboard variation, then a nerve hold, then a seated ad stretch by Joe. Back senton by Joe misses but the same move by Gibson doesn’t. They trade chops, and a high knee takes down Gibson and Joe tags in Daniels.

Knee drop gets 2 for Daniels. Arm drags into an armbar by Gibson. Elbow drop on the arm back into the armbar. Nice series of moves gets Daniels out of it and into control with the head scissors. Bridging hammerlock by Gibson, and they back into Punk’s corner who tags Gibson out of the match.

Punk ping-ponging between Gibson and Daniels and finally rolls out after a headbutt by Joe. They keep bringing up the time limit, which makes me think that might come into play. Front facelock on the mat by Daniels and suplex for 1. 2 count after a neck snap by Daniels. Punk with a nice chop to retake control. Punk sent into Joe’s corner and slaps Joe to bring him into the match.

Joe with the high knee in the corner on Daniels, and here comes the face wash. Daniels tries making a comeback, but is taken out. As Joe goes to follow up, Punk tags himself in once again. Two count after a kick/chop combo for Punk. Belly to back gets 2 for Punk. Punk must have called Randy Orton already as we have the chinlock. Punk locks in the submission in the ropes, which is broken up by a running dropkick by Joe. Punk is out on the floor. Gibson throws him back in, and Punk and Daniels are down. Punk ducks the enziguiri, and locks in a bow-and-arrow. Boston crab by Punk, but Gibson breaks in up with a series of right hands to Punk. Again with the time limit. Both legal men are down. They trade rights, Daniels sends Punk in the corner but a boot ends that. Apparently it is hot in Dayton tonight.

Punk throws Daniels outside and drives him into the barricade. Punk sets for an Ole kick, but Joe blocks it. Punk gets a 2 after a dropkick to the back of the head, and we have a second rest hold. Punk gets the knees as he goes for a split-legged moonsault which was very nice, and both men are down after Daniels hits the STO. Daniels tags in Gibson as they are really selling that Punk does not want to face Joe. A short-arm clothlesline by Gibson is called a “short clothesline” which makes me chuckle because Gibson is short. Joe grabs Punk, but Punk ducks as Gibson charges in, taking out Joe. Slingshot cross body by Gibson on Punk who is outside, followed by the split-legged moonsault by Daniels, followed by the suicide dive by Joe as all 4 men are down on the outside.

Joe and Gibson back in the ring first, and Gibson goes shoulder first into the post as Daniels hit’s a reverse STO on Joe. Punk just nailed Gibson with a chair as he is still against the post. Gibson is busted open, and 4 refs plus Daniels are checking him out.

Back to the ring, we have Punk and Joe facing off finally, trading strikes. A series of kicks takes down Punk and gets a 2 for Joe. Snap powerslam gets a 2 for Joe. Punk takes down Joe and a moonsault gets 2. Gibson has been gone for about 2 mintes and apparently they already know he has a concussion.

Daniels tags Joe and he and Punk trade 2 counts from roll-ups. Death Valley Driver by Daniels gets 2. Missed BME leads to a double-underhook backbreaker for 2 for Punk. BME hits after an uranagi but only gets a long 2. Jawbreaker by Punk leads to a tag to Joe and an Ole kick for 2. Powerbomb gets 2, and turned into an STF (the right way) by Joe, and turned into a Crossface. Daniels gets a rope break. Samoan drop on the Samoan leads to a Lionsault for 2. Koji clutch by Daniels, and Joe is fading. Joe comes to life before his arm falls the third time and gets the rope break. Daniels going for Angel’s Wings and can’t get it. Roll-up by Daniels turned into the Rear Naked Choke. Daniels was on the rope, but Punk shoves it off and Daniels taps and is eliminated.

Here we go with Punk and Joe. They trade strikes again. Daniels gets up and attacks Punk, but ends up hitting Joe with the enziguiri and eats a low blow from Punk. Punk rolls up Joe and eliminates him to retain.

OR DOES HE?

After Joe and Daniels fight some, Gibson comes back! Blood is still gushing from his forehead, but Gibson is dominating Punk. Flying cross body gets 2. Punk hits a TKO, and unloads a series of right hands. Gibson thrown to the floor and eats a pair of big right hands before crotching Punk on the barricade and nailing him in the leg with a chair. Punk goes for the top rope hurricanrana, but Gibson rolls through and locks on the cloverleaf until Punk reaches the ropes. Punk locks in the Anaconda Vice until Gibson gets the ropes. Crucifix gets a 2.99 for Gibson. Tiger Driver, Gibson’s finisher, hits. The ref counts 3, but says it’s only 2 and the crowd is pissed. Gibson goes for the superplex, which is reversed into a Pepsi Plunge attempt, reversed into a top rope Tiger Driver for the 3! Spanky, the Mrs., and a few others from the locker room come out to celebrate.

A This was a great match. The psychology was great, the in-ring work was great, and it told a great story. This was anyone from Ring of Honor saving their title from going to WWE. The ending with Gibson coming back was a little melodramatic, but a great match nonetheless.

Overall: B- This wasn’t the best Ring of Honor show ever, but the last 2 matches were great. I would definitely suggest picking it up, but it definitely isn’t the best ROH show I’ve ever seen.

 

[JayBriscoe2010]

Nice review man, do you got the whole summer of Punk on dvd? Redemption was solid but once you get into 06 theres so many Grade A shows from ROH it's nuts.

 

[Freddy4190]

Yeah, I bought this under recommendation by a few people who said Chikara was pretty cool wrestling. They had interesting characters and it was a decent organization. I do not like Chikara. Not at all. This DVD can't be "the best of" because it's not that great in the first place. Mike Quackenbush, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli[sp?] are the only saving graces on this DVD. Mike Quackenbush vs Claudio is a good match. The other characters are just.. weird. They're too out there for me. They try too hard to be interesting in my opinion and fail. Los Ice Creams, Jigsaw? Really?! I dunno. I understand the wrestling is supposed to be somehwat humorous and entertaining but I just found it very bland and boring. Didn't care too much for the majority of it.

 

[The_Hooded_One]

Yeah I never understood the hype of CHIKARA, it's rather mediocre. I was a huge ROH Fan and im still a fan but admit sadly their in decline mode. Last year was the 1st year I didn't get even 20 ROH Shows on DVD, it just wasn't as good or impressive to me. Dragon leaving really will have a lasting effect on them and letting Sapolsky go was idiotic to say the least, I think Cary Silken is fucking stupid! I will always cherrish the live shows I got to attend, especially being front row for Misawa/KENTA in NYC, but those days are long and gone. Their tv sometimes has some damn good matches but it has such a AWA/NWA feel to it. That's not a bad thing but...when it's 2010 and your on tv you need the shit that will make the fan cum fast, and what I mean is you need hard/fast stuff and not jobbers like Eddie Kingston who doesn't even deserve to be in a Wrestling Ring, not to mention their tv crowd is terrible.