WARNING: There's a couple of curse words used to convey the greatness of London/Styles. If you're offended by stuff like that for some wierd reason, then press the "Back" button on your browser.
Ring of Honor - Night of the Grudges VHS
June 14, 2003
The Massachussetts National Guard Armory
Cambridge, MA
This event comes off of the heels of the 5/31 Do Or Die show, which I previously reviewed. That show featured two CM Punk matches, a confronation between Punk and Christopher Daniels, a rare appearance by UK sensation Jody Fleisch, and a dramatic match between Homicide and Samoa Joe.
- First up is a promo by recent WWE debutee Paul London. London runs down some of the highlights and hypes his non-title match later tonight vs. NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, who won the title just three days before this show. After he defeats AJ, London says that he'll capture the ROH title. Nothing special and in fact somewhat bland, but if Paul London is the worst I have to see on this tape, then I'll be more than happy to sit through it.
- Next in line - appropriately enough - is a promo by AJ Styles, who promotes his recent NWA title win (he's holding the belt here). AJ - with his valet, Trinity, standing next to him - continues by mentioning that the last time he and London faced off was in a three-way match (on 2/8/03 at the First Anniversary Show) that also included Low Ki. He admits that London pinned him in that match, but his win was thanks to assistance from Ki. This time, Styles says, there's no Ki in the ring with them, so he is convinced that he'll win tonight and - following that - "add the ROH (heavyweight) title to [his] collection," which already includes the ROH Tag Team Title that he holds with The Amazing Red.
- We finally cut to the ring for our first match...
Match 1: The Christopher Street Connection (BUFF-E & MASE) (w/ Ariel) vs. The Carnage Crew (HC LOC & TONY DeVITO)
The feud between these two duos began at Final Battle 2002, when The C.S.C. beat The C.C. via DQ when The C.C. used some hupcaps as weapons. The C.C. gained revenge at the First Anniversary Show by beating up The C.C. with their own hubcaps. Then, a month and a half later at Night of Champions, Mase of The C.C. teamed with Hotstuff Hernandez in a loss to The C.C. This is the blowoff match to their feud.
The C.C - whose entrance theme is the Y.M.C.A. SONG - play a gay tag team and they play their gimmick almost too accurately, as they come out in absurdly ornate, rainbow-colored costumes and one member gives some hugs and even some KISSES to MALE fans at ringside!
The commentators, Chris Lovey and Ray Murro (sp?), introduce themselves as the two teams shake hands. The C.S.C. really play up their gay gimmick to excess, as Buff-E tells Mase that he wants to start the bout so that he can get a piece of Loc's "sexy, heavy body" (it was hard to tell, but I think that's what he said). So, he starts and - just a few moments in - plants a KISS on Loc's forehead! A grossed out Loc tags in DeVito, who yells that he "don't want none of that sh*t today!" before attacking Buff-E (who Mase has tagged in) with a lariat. Buff-E ducks, though, and GRABS HIS FOE'S ASS~! and SPANKS HIM~! several times before DeVito rolls out. Loc re-enters and dropkicks Mase down, but receives a bodyslam from Buff-E, who follows by pressing his crotch into DeVito's face for a few moments. Mase then re-enters and does the single coolest manuever in wrestling, as he lightly POKES LOC's NOSE (which actually sends the big man falling down to the mat...LOL)! Buff-E enters again, but receives a lariat from DeVito and then the C.C.'s AWESOME 180º Horizontally Swinging Backdrop Suplex (Loc)/Swinging Neckbreaker (DeVito) combo for 2!
Loc tags in DeVito, who delivers some Dusty Rhodes/Road Dogg-style punches before downing Buff-E with a big standing dropkick for 2. DeVito proceeds to choke Buff-E with the middle rope and deliver some stiff crossface punches before tagging in Loc, who delivers a 3/4 Bulldog Facelock (Stunner Hold) Russian Leg Sweep from Loc for 2, when Mase (who afterwards mockingly shouts to Loc, "I didn't do a damn thing to you, bitch!" LOL!) breaks it up. Loc body slams Buff-E and climbs up top, but the C.S.C. member scrambles to his feet, applies a TESTICULAR CLAW~!, and throws him back down to the mat. DeVito tags in, clobbers each foe, and weakens Buff-E with a grounded side headlock before his old ECW finisher, the Bronx Bomb (Sitdown Uranage) for 2! DeVito tags in Loc, who quickly loses their advantage by falling to a running Swinging DDT.
The fans rally The C.C. and Buff-E finally tags in Mace (while Loc tags in DeVito), who cleans house with lariats before knocking both C.C. members into sitting positions in the corner. This sets up for Bronco Busters with excessive crotch-to-face action by Buff-E onto each foe and this is followed by a FRENCH KISS~! between the two C.C. members! YUUUCCKK! The C.C. then execute the Gay Basher (Bearhug [Mase]/Flying Crotch Attack to foe's face [by Buff-E] combo) on Loc, but DeVito breaks up the count at 2 and tosses the big Mase with a Belly-to-Belly Overhead Suplex, after which he and Loc (who has re-entered) set up Mase for their Super Spike Piledriver! Buff-E breaks it up, though, and he and Mase plant stereo FRENCH KISSES~! on DeVito and Loc! DeVito now pushes Buff-E down to ringside and at the same time, Loc hits his signature DDT onto his knee immediately rolled into a Swinging Neckbreaker on Mase! This sets up for DeVito's signature Moonsault off of the top buckle, which gains The C.C. the pinfall victory!
WINNERS: The Carnage Crew
After the bout, The C.C. continue their destruction, as they deliver a SICK SUPER SPIKE PILEDRIVER to Ariel, after she enters the ring to check on Mase's condition! Several referees run out and check on her, but when the crowd's "One More Time!" chant grows in volume, The C.C. grab Ariel once again and set up for a second Super Spike Piledriver, only to drop her back down to the mat and head backstage, arrogantly laughing together.
ANALYSIS: Very enjoyable match. Was it a technical classic? Hell, no. However, for what it was meant to be a (a comedy match that concluded the C.C./C.S.C. feud), it was very good. If you're really grossed out by The C.S.C.'s gay antics (which I do agree were quite over-the-top), then you may not enjoy it too much, but if you're one of those people who are able to view that type of stuff and laugh at it more so than gawk at it, it's very likely that you'll find this match fun to watch. As one of the latter type of people, I found the match to be very funny, but at the same time effective in getting both teams over. Even with the comedy, The C.C. looked very talented for the big men that they are. The in-ring quality was decent (not much better), but one must understand that this bout was primarily meant to serve as comedy, which it did a great job of. Plus, like I said above, The C.C.'s post-match Spike Piledriver on Ariel looked REALLY stiff. That earns them some points. I also liked how DeVito pulled his old ECW finisher out of his bag of tricks; that was a pleasant surprise. *1/4.
Match 2: CHANCE BECKETT vs. MATT STRYKER
This is the ROH debut of the Canadian-born Beckett, and he comes off the heels of a fantastic performance in the ECWA Super 8 Tournament earlier in the year.
Square off. Tieup. Armdrag by Stryker. Another squareoff and tieup. Beckett uses his own armdrag, this time. Another squareoff and tieup. Stryker applies a hammerlock and retains it for a solid minute or so before Beckett finally fights out and starts stretching both of Stryker's arms from behind. Stryker eventually rises and swings around in order to counter into the same type of stretch, now putting the pressure on Beckett, who eventually escapes by doing a front flip and kicking Stryker off and away in the process. A third squareoff and tieup. Stryker quickly uses a single-leg takedown and works over Beckett's leg by ramming his leg down into it. Beckett gains control and does the same with Stryker's leg before slingshotting him face-first into the ring mat and rolling backwards to immediately apply a single-leg Boston crab until Stryker grabs the ropes and forces him to break the hold.
Another squareoff and tieup. Stryker applies a side headlock and uses two headlock takeovers, but each time Beckett applies a headscissors and Stryker kicks out. Beckett then escapes a 3/4 chancery hold with an awkward-looking neckbreaker. Beckett applies a grounded dragon sleeper, which he releases when Stryker grabs the ropes with his feet. The fans applaud as another squareoff occurs. They tieup via a knucklelock and engage in a test of strength. Beckett bridges all the way backwards and Stryker holds him down, thereby obtaining several 2 counts. Beckett finally collapses to the mat, thereby breaking the bridge, and then rolls backwards while retaining the knucklelock, climbs up to his feet, and escapes the hold via another neckbreaker. He follows with a jumping knee drop for an arrogant cover that obtains 2 before having his Irish whip reversed, causing him to crash into the ringpost via a Flair flip. With Beckett in the tree of woe, Stryker running dropkicks his midsection for 2.
Beckett regains control by reversing an Irish whip and delivering a knee lift, but it looked like he endup messing up by falling down to the mat, too. Anyway, the ref begins a 10 count until Beckett covers for 2. Beckett now weakens Stryker with a rear chinlock until the "Unibrow Warrior" escapes and unloads with a running leaping forearm, a back elbow, and a leaping heelkick. Beckett suddenly starts hulking up (and too abruptly, if I may also add), though, and sets up for a powerbomb, only to be back body dropped. Stryker now looks to apply the Stryker Lock (Inverted Figure Four Leg Lock), but Beckett fights him off and locks on a Standing Inverted Texas Cloverleaf. Stryker eventually escapes by pressing up so that he stands on his hands and then does a front roll, sending Beckett somersaulting to the mat, and then applies the Stryker Lock. Beckett holds out for awhile, but eventually taps out, giving Stryker the submission win.
WINNER: Matt Stryker
After the bout, Stryker celebrates his win. After climbing back to his feet, Beckett initially hesitates to shake Stryker's hand, which obtains some boos from the fans, but eventually concedes and shakes it before lifting Stryker's arm in victory, as we cut out.
ANALYSIS: Very good technical-based match, but before I get to the many praises, let me get my very few criticisms out of the way first. The match did seem too short to me. Once the feeling out process ended, the finish came within about two or three minutes. I would've liked to see a few more non-technical-based spots and please be aware that no, I'm not someone to base my rating just on spots. However, in this case, it did seem as if they could've gotten a few more in, just based on how many technical exchanges they fitted in. Also, Beckett's Flair Flip seemed unnecessary, for it was still very early in and I find it hard to believe that he was losing his balance so soon in the bout. Lastly, some of the execution on the lesser significant moves (Stryker's first neckbreaker and one of his knee lifts) were slightly botched, so that keeps it from going up to **1/2.
However, besides these brief complaints, I was very pleasured by what I saw. The opening scientific exchanges were *excellently performed*. No complaints about that. Beckett's bridging sequence was executed very nicely, I'd rather have seen the bridges be done by Stryker, but I digress), as was his creative escape of the knucklelock via the second neckbreaker. Stryker's execution of the leaping heelkick was great and the finishing submission sequence was fun to see, too. Technical gurus will be very content after viewing this bout. **1/4.
- Next up, John Walters comes out to the ring. He's followed by AngelDust of Special K, but JUSTIN CREDIBLE (!) sneaks up on him as he makes his entrance out to the ring and when he turns around, he's drilled with a SUPER KICK! The fans react VERY well to Credible, considering that many view him as a hardcore wrestler and ROH is primarily based on mat wrestling. Anyway, Credible makes his way into the ring and poses on each ring rope, as a large part of the fans - like I mentioned - are definitely happy to see him.
He signals for Gary Michael Capetta to enter the ring and GMC asks him "Justin Credible, what the hell are [you] doin' in Ring of Honor?" Credible wastes no time in responding: "First of all, Cambridge, Massachussetts, how the FUCK are you?!" An "EC-Dub!" chant surfaces in response. He says that he'll let GMC know what he's doing in ROH another time, but that "right now, [he's] about to make this match - not just the coolest, [he's] about to amke this match not just the best, [he's] about to make this fuckin' match JUSTIN [holds the mic up to the crowd, who finishes the phrase for him: "CREDIBLE!"]!" Suffice to say, the fans are pumped, and so am I. GMC exits the ring as the fans enthusiastically applaud.
Next up, Chris Sabin makes his entrance, and I believe that this is ROH debut, if I'm not mistaken. he circles the ring and slaps the hands of some ringside fans before rolling in and posing on the top buckle. Finally, Homicide he enters, accompanied by Julius "J Train" Smokes, and he gets a great response. Credible, BTW, will be taking AngelDust's spot in this match. All four participants enter the ring and shake hands with one another (Credible does so arrogantly, but he remains over with the fans) as the bell rings.
Match 3: JOHN WALTERS vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. HOMICIDE (w/ Julius "J Train" Smokes)
This contest will be under tag team rules, so Walters and Homicide start. They reach a stalemate, as each man uses a side headlock takeover and applies a grounded headscissors, but their foe kicks out and scrambles back to his feet. Another square off leads to a test of strength before Homicide applies a wristlock. Walters counters with an armringer, which Homicide responds to with a botched/mistimed leg takedown and looks to apply an STF, but Walters scrambles to the ropes. Homicide quickly lifts him back up and trade some strikes with his foe before Walters pushes him into the ropes. Homicide shoulderblocks Walters down and runs off of the ropes again. They do the leapfrog/dropdown sequence, with Walters doing the leapfrog, which Homicide baseball slides under and follows with an armdrag. Walters responds with his own armdrag, though, and follows with a dropkick, sending Homicide out to ringside.
The "Notorious 187," though, shows his fierceness by taking little time to rest and immediately re-entering the ring. He goes on the offense immediately with a running leaping corner Yakuza Kick, followed by an OVERHEAD BUTTERFLY SUPLEX INTO THE RINGPOST! Homicide follows with the old tree of woe baseball slide dropkick to the face that Tajiri used to use during his less tame ECW days. A snapmare by Homicide is next, but Walters responds with an snapmare of his own before trying a body slam. Homicide fights out of it and attempts a suplex, but Walters lands on his feet behind him and hits the Lung Blower (Leaping Double-Knee Takedown Backbreaker). Walters weakens Homicide with a bow-and-arrow hold and then a camel clutch crossface. Homicide eventually grabs the ropes, so Walters breaks and hammers on him in the corner with some chops. Homicide fights back with a Missile Dropkick from the middle buckle, but before he leaped from the post, Chris Sabin tagged himself in, so he enters and immediately covers Walters for 2.
Then, a creative sequence begins with Homicide applying a back waistlock on Walters, who in turn charges (he brings Homicide with him) towards Sabin (back on the apron). At the same time, Sabin catapults himself over the ropes AND his two opponents, landing with a sunset flip on Homicide, causing the "Notorious 187" to spring backwards and - in the process - German suplex Walters over Sabin's head! Back on his feet, Homicide charges towards Sabin, who intelligently pulls the top ring rope downward, so Homicide flies over him and out to ringside. Sabin quickly covers Walters again for another 2. Back on their feet, an Irish whip sequence sees Walters run off of the ropes and charge right into a nice *snap leaping huracanrana* from Sabin! Following this is a nicely-executed dropkick by Sabin, which convinces Walters to tag out to...Credible!
The former-ECW champ enters and slugs it out with Sabin before unloading with two of his signature moves - the running sloppy swinging DDT facebuster and the lifting sitout powerbomb out of the corner (for 2). Sabin is blindly tagged by Homicide, who enters and proceeds to show Credible who's boss with a RELEASE NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX and then a BRIDGING T-BONE SUPLEX for 2! Credible regains control with a low blow in full view of the ref and then tags in Sabin, who hits a jumping leg drop and an elbow drop for 1. Homicide fights back with his signature running corner Yakuza Kick and then sits Sabin up top, climbs up onto the top buckle and hits a *very cool* SUPER HIPTOSS INTO A MICHINOKU DRIVER II-STYLE SITOUT SLAM for 2!
Next, Homicide chokes Sabin in the corner before attempting a corner slingshot crossbody in the opposite corner, but Sabin catches him in a crossbody and swings him into his signature Uranage Backbreaker (he calls this The Sabalizer in other promotions) for 2! Sabin follows with a really fake-looking running knee smash to the side of the head for another 2. Homicide regains control and whips Sabin into the ropes, catching him with a Kurt Angle-style overhead belly-to-belly suplex for his own 2 and then tags in Walters, who ends what was a very nice Irish whip reversal sequence with an awkward-looking version of Nunzio's Running Corner Slingshot Swinging Armbar DDT for 2. Walter proceeds to wrench down on Sabin's arm in the corner, but Sabin follows this by using his quickness to duck and roll away from several attempted charges before executing a leaping enziguri kick. Sabin rests for a moment before covering for another 2.
Sabin tags in Credible, who unloads on his foe in the corner with some punches, stomps, and a boot choke before tagging Sabin back in. Sabin quickly loses the advantage, though, and Walters applies a Surfboard Stretch/Cross-Arm (Sabin's arms) Choke. However, Homicide enters without tagging in and helps Walters by wrenching back on Sabin's head until Credible runs into the ring, super kicks the strong style thug out of the ring, and follows with a PESCADA! Walters follows with a great running version of his own Pescada that takes out his two opponents and Sabin follows with the coupe de grâce - a massive Running NO-HANDED Somersault Body Attack over the ropes, and keep in mind that he basically hit NOTHING BUT FLOOR, since nobody really caught him.
Homicide and Credible re-enter the ring now and Homicide flies out with his AMAZING HIGH-SPEED RUNNING SOMERSAULT ATTACK THROUGH THE ROPES~!, but again, he's caught by basically nobody and ends up crashing into the guardrail (this sparks a well deserved "Holy Sh*t!" chant)! What I don't like is that he gets back up immediately - even though he clearly took most of the impact - and re-enters the ring, where he receives That's Incredible from Credible! Sabin dramatically breaks up the pin at 2 and then tosses Credible out of the ring (Credible sells the bump quite nicely), but turns around right into a very awkward-looking version of Walters' Canadian Backbreaker Rack/Shoulder Powerbomb into DDT finisher.
Homicide breaks up the pin at 2 and - as Sabin rolls out of the ring - whips Walters into the corner and attempts a running leaping shining wizard, but Walters ducks out of the way. Homicide lands in a standing position on the middle buckle, so Walters hits a corner slingshot 180º corkscrew somersault powerbomb (just like he did at Do Or Die) for another dramatic 2 count! Walters sets up for a powerbomb, but Homicide escapes via a *sweet* snap dragon screw leg whip and follows with a leaping kneecap dropkick and then his signature jumping Bodyslam/Cradle Tombstone Piledriver combo! As Credible and Sabin brawl to the back, Homicide gains the win by applying a modified version of the STF, where he locks on the toehold, but instead of locking on a facelock, just yanks back on the hair of Walters.
WINNER: Homicide
After the bout, Homicide celebrates his win and then shakes the hand and raises the arm of Walters (once he gets back to his feet) before exiting the ring. Julius Smokes meets him at ringside and they head backstage, but not before Homicide looks into the camera and tells Samoa Joe that he hasn't forgotten about his ROH title that he failed to win at the previous ROH show (Do Or Die). The camera follows them through the curtain, where they're confronted by Low Ki. The angle from the previous show continues, as Ki tells Homicide that he doesn't need a guy like Smokes by his side, but Homicide insists that he's just watching his back. Ki walks off in frustration when he realizes that his complaints are going nowhere. Homicide is unhappy at first because Ki won't understand where he's coming from, but Julius and another unidentifiable guy cheer him up as we cut back to the ring.
ANALYSIS: Excellent match. Although it contained technical purists like Walters and Homicide, the bout followed more of a fast-paced spotfest flow, as opposed to that of a gradually developing battle on the mat. As a spotfest, it was great, and as a technical match it was still solid, which is nothing to be ashsamed of. Homicide's Super Hiptoss Driver and suplexes were all sights to behold, as was the highspots sequence (Credible pulling out the Pescada from his bag of trips was a welcomed surprise!) towards the end. The same goes for the well-performed finishing sequence with Walters and Homicide, save for Homicide's botched leg takedown.
I did have *a few* problems with the bout, though. During the first few minutes, the bout seemed quite rushed, as the advantage really changed quicker than it should have. This very quick pace appeared to cause both some awkward looking execution on some moves (i.e. Homicide's botched leg takedown on Walters early in, Walter's awkward-looking rope-assisted swinging DDT and powerbomb DDT, and Sabin's abnormally fake-looking running knee smash about midway through) and the inclusion of some spots (i.e. Homcide's two suplexes early in) that really didn't have much significance in the long run. It's also questionable as to why Homicide used the butterfly suplex into the ringpost so early into the bout, when it should instead be used to build toward a finish.
Besides these relatively small complaints, though, I found this bout pretty enjoyable. All four participants looked solid, including Credible, for the limited time he was in the middle of the action (he stayed on the apron for most of the time, which I'm not complaining about). And as for Credible's debut - it was booked surprisingly effectively. ROH management had a sufficient challenge before them in getting Credible over with the stern ROH crowd and they succeeded quite well. So, with this in mind, don't let my criticisms turn you off to it - this match is greatly recommended for both spotfest fans and technical gurus and it therefore receives a very impressive rating of ***1/2.
Match 3: No Disqualification Match - The Second City Saints (CM PUNK & COLT CABANA) vs. BJ WHITMER & RAVEN
The Saints come out to the ring first. Punk cuts his usually awesome promo, rallying his straight edge warriors. He drops the names of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, comparing himself to them and calling himself, "a thorn in the side of a poisoned America" before saying that his soldiers can be proud of him because like he did in their previous match, he will destroy Raven's revolution, which began 10 years ago. All the while, Colt acts like his goofy self, playing to the crowd and trying to take the attention away from Punk and to himself, but like many viewers, Punk's awesomeness succeeds in keeping my attenention, even more so than Colt's Steve Richards-like goofiness.
Next up, BJ & Raven make their entrances and Raven sits down in the corner of the ring to cut a promo. He says that on the last ROH show that he was on, he made the mistake of coming in a good mood, and it resulted in him being beat down by Punk & Colt. However, this time, he came to the show miserable. He continues, saying that "Sometimes in life, we make the wrong choices. Sometimes, a choice is made for us. And sometimes, there is no choice." With this, Raven - as a chant for him gradually drowns out a chant for Punk - welcomes Punk "to Raven's Clockwork Orange House of Horrors" and - after doing his signature crucifix pose - the bell rings, signaling the official start of the bout.
Punk and Raven start. The first tieup sees Punk force Raven into the corner and cheat by refusing to break the hold and instead beat on the morose legend before finally backing away and letting him recover. A second tieup sees the same thing occur, as Punk forces Raven into the corner and cheats by utilizing similar offense, but Raven uses the split second that Punk takes to taunt the crowd to grab a hold of Punk and beats him down in the corner with his own barrage of punches and mudhole stomps, before adding an exclamation point by kicking Punk straight in the face! Punk now absorbs a stiff knee lift to his gut before fighting back with a jawbreaker, only to have his lariat ducked Raven nail a super kick.
Each man tags out to his partner, leading to a squareoff between BJ and Colt, two IWA-MS alumns. BJ immediately drop toeholds his foe out of a knucklelock tieup and applies a front facelock. Colt eventually escapes and locks on a wristlock and BJ counters that into his own wristlock, only for Colt to eventually escape via a leg takedown and immediately run off of the ropes, thereby beginning lightening quick Irish whip sequence, as Colt hops over some dropdowns and through a leapfrog before exeucting a gut kick followed by a Vertical Suplex (although you could argue it was a Brainbuster...) for 2. Punk now enters and chairshots BJ down, after which Raven uses his own chair to bash over Colt's head...as if that nut needed his brains to be scrambled any more than they already are...
Both armed with chairs, Punk and Raven now square off, as if preparing for a chair duel, but Punk chickens out and retreats backstage, as Raven follows him close behind. After a few seconds, they re-emerge through the curtain and Raven proceeds to bash a garbage can over Punk's now bloody forehead a series of times before twice ramming Punk's face into the can, leaving a considerable amount of blood on its surface. Back in the ring, BJ is busted open, also, having - according to one of the commentators - received a chairshot from Colt (the camera was strictly following the Punk/Raven brawl for the last few minutes). Raven now drags Colt into the crowd, where he continues to assault him. Raven rams Punk face-first into a wall, as we're shown BJ and Colt spilling out to ringside, as BJ Cactus Jack-style running lariats his foe.
They proceed to brawl into the crowd, where BJ and Raven ram their foes' heads into one another's before drop toeholding them onto steel chairs. The heels take back the advantage now, as Punk assaults Raven with the guardrail and Colt running forearms BJ down onto the apron. As the bout returns to typical tag team format, Colt tags in Punk and the Saints execute their signature backbreaker (Colt)/catapult somersault senton (Punk) onto BJ, who Punk gains a 2 count on. The Saints assault BJ for awhile, repeatedly tagging in and out. Colt even knocks Raven off of the apron so as to make sure he doesn't interfere. The Saints perform some double-team offense and maintain control for awhile, but when BJ ducks out of the way of Punk's Diving Huracanrana from the middle buckle, Colt ends up receiving the move in a rather cool sequence.
This miscommunication allows BJ to crawl to his corner and tag in Raven, who cleans house with his usual offense, including a lariat on Colt at the same time that he (Raven) running bulldogs Punk. Colt breaks up the pin at 2, but ends up receiving a drop toehold that causes him to be catapulted out to ringside. Raven then holds on when Punk tries an Irish whip and executes the Raven Effect for 2, as Colt drags Raven out of the ring, only for BJ to fly off of the top buckle and across the ring with a Diving Headbutt Drop onto Punk. The ref counts to 2 before being pulled out of the ring by Colt! Realizing this, BJ goes and leans out of the ring, grabbing a hold of Colt, pulling him up onto the apron, and Exploder Suplexing him from there back into the ring!
BJ covers Colt for 2 (who's not the legal man, but the commentators don't seem to care...), but with the ref at ringside, there's no count. Instead, BJ starts climbing back up to his feet, only to turn around and receive a STEEL CHAIR THAT PUNK SHINING WIZARDS INTO HIS FACE! Punk lays Colt on top of BJ and then rolls outside and wakes up the referee, who slowly climbs back into the ring and makes the count, only for BJ to kick out at 2. Raven starts crawling back into the ring, but Colt knocks back out to ringside with a kick and then lifts BJ up and executes THE COLT .45~! for the pinfall win.
WINNERS: The Second City Saints
Colt slowly rolls out of the ring and joins a blood-covered Punk, who - while on his knees - dementedly smiles into the camera and puts over the Saints. As Colt recovers, Punk climbs back up to his feet, re-enters the ring, and attacks Raven. Punk delivers a leg drop and then climbs on top of his foe and decimates him with fists, after which he attacks BJ, disallowing him to come to Raven's rescue. Meanwhile, Colt sets up a table at ringside. Punk assaults Raven with a steel chair before rolling him out of the ring to Colt, who lifts him back up to his feet and lays him on top of the table.
After beating BJ up with the same chair, Punk climbs up top and leaps off, putting Raven through the ringside table. He looked to be attempting a flying leg drop or stomp, but didn't jump far enough, so it looked more like he simply stomped a foot on the edge of the table, rather on Raven's body. The table broke, nonetheless, and Punk climbs back up to his feet and puts himself over to Colt, who seems a little hesitant in agreeing with what his partner just did, but his stupidity kicks in and he shrugs it off. As the announcers act dumbfounded about what just happened and act like Punk murdered Raven, we cut out.
ANALYSIS: First of all, before I forget, I want to put over the camerawork used in this match, as it was organized very well. If you're not grossed out easily, the cameramen got great closeups of Punk's bloodletting. What I really liked about this match was how everything flowed quite well. If you want to see a match that produces non-stop action *without* utilizing psychology-lacking, S.A.T.-style highspots, this is a match that exemplifies the concept, and the Punk-Raven feud also produces a great deal of drama, similar - as the rivalry has been compared to - to the older battles between Raven and Tommy Dreamer in ECW. Especially the latter part of the match - when I was doing the PBP, the match wasn't as fun, but when I just sat down and watched the bout, I was really entertained. There really wasn't a part of this match where I wasn't excited.
At the 8/16 ROH show in Fairfield, CT, I was one of the few - thanks to the great opportunity that I've been given to write for the excellent web site that is NoHoldsBarredWrestling.com - allowed to hang out after the show, and I got the chance to chat with and get autographs from some of the wrestlers on the card, including Kevin Dunn of The Ring Crew Express, Slyk Wagner Brown and April Hunter, HC Loc & Tony DeVito of The Carnage Crew (my interview with Loc can be found in the 2003 archives of ObsessedWithWrestling.com's Columns section), and CM Punk. When I asked him, the man who popularized the "straight edge" concept on the U.S. indy circuit told me that - up until that point - his favorite match between himself and Raven was this one, and I can definitely see where he's coming from. There was really constant action that perpetually maintained throughout the course of this bout.
Now, I'll let my few criticisms be known quickly. I was hesitant in believing how Punk kept gaining the advantage in the early part of the bout. Raven is the veteran, and Punk gained immediately gained control the first time the two locked up, and it wasn't through any lack of scouting Raven that he lost control, but rather because he simply started playing to the crowd, giving Raven time to recover. That being said, however, the participants continued playing to and were consistent with the formula of Punk being the dominant heel and Raven fighting to overcome the young gun's overwhelming stamina. For example, Punk kept using cheap comebacks, like hitting the jawbreaker on Raven out of nowhere, and - like the classic heel - retreated when he realized Raven was getting the best of him. And Cabana played his role very well, causing miscommunication a few times due to his habits of goofing off on the most inopportune occasions.
There were a few awkward parts of the bout where - like aforementioned - I wondered why Punk was holding control over Raven what looked to be so effortlessly, but ROH kept to that strategy and pushed the formula of Punk using his youth to continually cheat and obtain the advantage, so I give them credit for that. A solid tag team match with very good drama, considering its duration. ***1/4. Oh, and allow me also put over the pre-match mic work. Great stuff from Punk and Raven, as usual.
- It's now intermission at the real show, so we go backstage, where Gary Michael Cappetta is with Matt Stryker. The man who beat Chance Beckett earlier in the night puts his "Unibrow" gimmick over and states that the success he's found in ROH is what he envisioned upon entering the business five years ago. He vows that he won't be Chad Collyer's "whipping boy" - like he has in their past matches - when they have their scheduled bout at an upcoming ROH show in Philly. He also puts over his upcoming "Tap Out" Match vs. Tom "Reckless Youth" Carter. Stryker walks away and G.M.C. is about to introduce the segment when Prince Nana shows up and hypes his return tonight to "Ring of Onna," (he hadn't been seen in the promotion since 2002) in his classic Jamaican sort of accent. Nana then walks off to prepare for his match, but only after calling G.M.C. a "peasant." G.M.C. proceeds to introduce the second half of the show.
Match 4: DIABLOS SANTIAGO (w/ his Outkast Killaz partner, Oman Tortuga) vs. PRINCE NANA
Tortuga looks to be in great shape and comes out to the ring *extremely* pumped for his partner's match. Santiago, meanwhile, looks alright, but he's not nearly in the type of shape as Tortuga is. Nana then comes out, wearing quite an ornate, gold and white robe and a black and gold headdress thingy. Nana wrestles the match without the robe or headdress, instead choosing to remove both to reveal typical wrestling attire.
Handshake. Santiago uses his quickness and actually maintains control for the first two or three minutes of the bout, delivering moves such as a backdrop suplex, a jumping neckbreaker, a snapmare, and two running neck snaps), but Nana eventually uses his power to pancake Santiago into the corner with a running lariat. He immediately follows with a Rikishi-style running butt ram with Santiago in a sitting position in the corner and then a gut kick and an Implant DDT for the pinfall win.
WINNER: Prince Nana
Tortuga enters the ring and checks on his partner after the match. Nana confronts him and says something that he doesn't like, so Tortuga takes a swing, but Nana blocks it and sideslams him on top of Santiago. A running leaping senton onto both men follows.
ANALYSIS: Crap match, which is just what it was expected and meant to be. Even with that in mind, though, the two didn't work too well with one another. The sequence that preceded Santiago's neckbreaker was blatantly choreographed and very slowly-executed, to the point that it practically revealed the business. I guess on the good side, it wasn't a *total* squash, as 75% of the match's offense was from Santiago, and he did hit some nice moves (particularly the two neck snaps), but besides that, this match was one that most people would want to just fast forward through. At least it was kept short. 1/4*.
Match 5: Special K of MIKEY WHIPWRECK & DIXIE (w/ Hydro, Lit, Angeldust [a.k.a. JAPW's Azriel], Becky Bayless, Slugger, and other Special K'ers) vs. The S.A.T. of JOEL MAXIMO & JOSE MAXIMO
The lights go out and the awesome Special K introduction ensues. Mikey & Dixie are accompanied by the rest of Special K, who - along with their representatives in this match - party in the ring like only they can. Oh, and Becky looks hot, as only she can. The S.A.T. then enter, and I must say - they're quite over. The main backstory for this match is that The S.A.T. want to get back at Mikey, their trainer, for joining the group that they've been feuding with for the past year in ROH, Special K.
Mikey and Joel start. Tieup. They start with a relatively fast-paced sequence, as Joel's pushed into the ropes, and they do the usual shoulderblock/hop over/leapfrog sequence, with Mikey pulling the leap frog out of his back of tricks! The sequence results in Mikey executing a messed up tilt-a-whirl headscissors takeover. Good to see he's been taking drugs with the rest of Special K. Mikey follows with a nicer looking huracanrana, but Joel ducks his lariat and executes a leaping enziguri. Mikey rolls out of the ring to rest, as Joel turns around into a Missile Dropkick from Dixie.
Jose now enters and counters Dixie's Irish whip, sending the Special K member into the ropes. Jose catapults Dixie over his head and Joel catches him in a powerbomb position, but then decides to let him escape and sloppily hand him to Jose, who applies a full nelson. Joel then sloppily knocks Dixie down to the mat, lifts him up (again, in a sloppy manner) via a wheelbarrow suplex, and drops him face-first onto the top ring rope. Dixie bounces backward as Jose slides down to the mat and ends up extending his legs, so the back of Dixie's head (sort of ) lands on his two knees. WTF was that? It looked absolutely PATHETIC. The commentators cover it up well and act like Jose planned to have the back of Dixie's head ram onto his knees, and I feel sorry for him because it looked like he DID mean to have that happen, which makes him a friggin' idiot. I can guarantee you they're not showing a replay of that spot...
Mikey now regains control and assaults Jose, but Joel comes to his partner's rescue. The S.A.T. lay out Dixie and Mikey on top of each other, almost like a "69" position, and Joel applies a Boston Crab on Dixie, while Jose locks Mikey in a Camel Clutch. After releasing his hold, Joel runs off of the ropes and eventually Japanese dropkicks Mikey's face. Following a Double-Team Spinebuster, The S.A.T. roll Dixie onto his chest and each applies a Brock Lock (Leg Muffler) on a leg of Dixie. They then lift him up into the air from that position before swinging him 270º so that he's catapulted face-first into the mat! Joel covers for 2.
Dixie regains the advantage and then tags in Mikey, who executes a catapult leg drop onto each of his foes. Then, in a creative sequence, Mikey Mikey applies a bodscissors on Jose (who's face-first down on the mat), lifts his trainee up into the air, and wheelbarrow-style inverted powerbombs him, right on top of Joel! Jose is lifted back up to his feet and he receives a Double-Team Spinebuster followed by a Double-Team Gutbuster from Mikey & Dixie, at which point Mikey applies on him a somewhat sloppy Muta Lock, and then rolls over onto his chest, so that Jose is facing upward. Dixie then springboards into the ring and drops a knee onto the face of Jose. Dixie covers for 2 and then lifts Jose back to his feet, only for the S.A.T. member to fight back with a wierd - yet cool - looking Snap Swinging Backdrop Suplex. He snaps it far more and much quicker than The Carnage Crew do with their signature double-team manuever that's similar to this, so it's really more of like a Swinging Neckbreaker, only on the back, instead of on the head. Either way, though, it was straight from hell, because it looked damn sick.
Both participants are now down and they eventually tag in their respective partners. Joel takes down Mikey, and then executes a release German suplex on Dixie, only for the Special K member to land on his feet and down him with a Rolling (Roaring) Elbow. Joel rolls out of the ring as Jose re-enters and attacks Dixie. A creative sequence leads to Joel - whose standing on the apron - positioning Dixie in a draped position across his back and proceeding to sit down, thereby spiking Dixie head-first with a *sick* MAXIMO EXPLOSION ONTO THE RING APRON~! (a.k.a. a Kryptonic Crunch/Air Raid Crash/Reality Check)! Sheesh...What a bump...Both men spill down to ringside as the fans chant, "Holy Sh*t!" This spot is followed by a nice Flying Somersault Body Attack Suicida from Mikey, who takes out both Special K and the Maximos!
While I salivate at the image of Becky's boobies, Mikey now brings Jose back into the ring. Jose swings up onto Mikey's back, as if for a crucifix takedown, but then rotates into a sunset flip for 2. Mikey, though, beats him back to his feet and a very quick - yet still nicely executed - sequence sees him toss his trainee via a Double-Arm Belly-to-Belly Overhead Suplex for 2. Jose mounts a comeback with a Tornado DDT for 2, at which point Dixie re-enters the ring. Jose charges at him and attempts a crucifix takedown again, and then - like before - turns that into a sunset flip, only this time the move is scouted and Dixie drops down to one knee, crunching Jose's head into the other one via the Dixie Driver (Kryptonic Krunch that slams the victim onto his knee) for 2! Joel now enters, ducks a lariat, and KILLS Dixie with FOUR CONSECUTIVE NON-RELEASE POWERBOMBS~!, the last a *SICK* SITOUT POWERBOMB (more like a Driver!) for 2!
Mikey re-enters the ring, crotches Joel when the S.A.T. member climbs up top, and executes a Super Huracanrana, which he follows with a nice Running Whippersnapper! Jose breaks the count up at 2, and then goes after Mikey. After being crotched on the top buckle once, Dixie climbs back up to his feet and attempts a Tornado DDT, but Jose throws him off. Joel lifts Dixie up onto his shoulders, as Jose climbs up top and leaps off, spiking Dixie with a Swinging DDT - The DOOMSDAY DDT~! Both S.A.T.'s cover for the win.
WINNERS: The S.A.T.
The S.A.T. are huffing and puffing afterwards, selling the bout like they were doing all the bumping, when in fact it was basically all Dixie taking the hits. The duo's theme, Cypress Hill's "Rock Superstar," hits over the PA, causing memories of "The Rock Superstar" Kaos' memorable run in XPW (Did I just say that in an ROH review?) to come floating back (Kaos used the same theme for a period, and it fit him a lot better than it does The S.A.T.), but the music is cut short, as Special K (besides Dixie and Mikey, who are still recovering from their beatings) enters the ring and attacks The S.A.T. Special K drags the Maximos out to ringside and continue decimating them as The Carnage Crew (HC Loc & Tony DeVito) run out and attack Mikey, who's still in the ring. The commentators do a good job, first identifying each of the often-unindividualized (I know that's not a word) Special K members and then explaining that Mikey recently got the Carnage Crew a match, which is why they're out for revenge on him.
Mikey eventually fights back and is making a pretty believable comeback until Justin Credible (who had made his ROH debut at the previous show Do Or Die) comes out and Superkicks him when he turns around. Loc & DeVito recover, smile at Credible, and then begin stomping and punching at Mikey more. Loc takes the mic and says that there's only one guy as pissed off as himself and DeVito, who then takes mic duties and officially introduces Credible as the Carnage Crew's newest member.
ANALYSIS: Borderline decent tag team match. This is about as sloppy as I've seen from ROH, although keep in mind that I haven't seen as many of the promotion's videos as some others, such as those fanatics on the ROHWrestling.com message forum (although I am a member of it). The sequences at the beginning really showed how lackluster The S.A.T. can be when it comes to mat wrestling. The exchange that eventually resulted in Dixie getting wheelbarrow suplexed onto Jose's knees was especially terrible. Talk about revealing the business...all of the mat work leading up to it (save for Mikey's pretty nice looking jumping 'rana) was sloppily executed, but the result (the wheelbarrow onto Jose's knees) looked SO fake/ridiculous/dumb/pathetic, because Dixie actually dared to SELL the move, when in reality it clearly wouldn't have hurt much.
I do want to put over Dixie's Dixie Driver, towards the bout's latter stages. The whole sequence leading up to it was well done, as Jose did the crucifix into the sunset flip on Mikey, but when he tried it on Dixie, it was scouted. And the manner in which Dixie did the move (the driver) looked believable - all in one motion, Jose swung up onto his back and tried to rotate into the sunset flip, only for Dixie to counter by dropping down to one knee and crunching Jose's head. That sequence was one of a couple of Dixie's commendable contributions to the bout. He was definitely it's highlight. He hit a nice missile dropkick early in, executed an alright-looking springboard knee drop, and performed the Dixie Driver to end the nice sequence that also featured Mikey and Jose. Dixie also bumped like a maniac in this match, taking like 75% of the match's bumps. That's a great deal more than his fair share of hits, and that's definitely something that I can definitely appreciate.
In all honesty, it was really Dixie's bumping that saved the match from being unwatchable. The S.A.T. weren't horrible, IMO, as they did hit some cool moves, but they really put the viewer through some considerable misery by having to watch their technical skills, which leave much to the imagination. The S.A.T. have some great double-team moves, and they showed some of them, but that doesn't change the fact that they were the main reason for the match being as lackluster as it was. This definitely wasn't up to par with most of the other ROH tag team matches I've seen, so if you're in a rush and looking to only watch the best matches on the tape, this is one bout I'd recommend fast forwarding through, with the possible exception of Dixie's bumps. Skip The S.A.T.'s wrestling *attempts*, though. Blah...*1/4.
- "Field of Honor: Coming Soon" ad.
Match 6: For the #1 Contendership Trophy for the ROH Heavyweight Title - PAUL LONDON vs. AJ STYLES (the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and ROH Tag Team Champion [w/ The Amazing Red]) (w/ Alexis Laree)
London and AJ were scheduled to team up at Expect the Unexpected a few months earlier and combat The Prophecy for the ROH tag team titles, but London no-showed that night, leaving AJ to pick a partner. He chose The Amazing Red and the duo pulled off the upset over the Prophecy to nab the titles, which angered London upon his return. The two had a war of words leading up to this show, and this is their blowoff grudge match. And it's a douzy (sp?), folks...
During his entrance, London slaps the hands of those lucky enough to be at ringside, and it's clear that he was destined for greatness. AJ then comes out, with his cool country/rock themeplaying and has his two titles around his waist. Let me mention that - according to the commentators - this is the first one-on-one match between these two. It's also worth noting that the fans do their classic trading of chants for the first minute or so of the action, as you can easily hear, "Let's go, London!" immediately followed by "Let's go, Styles!"
Onto the match - Squareoff. A knucklelock begins the bout, but they very quickly go down to their knees, where they execute a quick mat-based sequence, transitioning through grounded hammerlocks, facelocks, armbars, etc. and mirroring one another's offense in the process. Back on their feet, London tries to put AJ to sleep (early into the bout, I might add) with an strategically applied front facelock, but the double champion eventually finds a loophole via a leg takedown. That leads to a second very swifly-executed mat exchange, as both participants haul ass in rotating their bodies in circles and the like with the hope of discovering a flaw in their opponent's onset, which they find none of, eventually backing up to their respective corners, having arrived at an initial stalemate.
A second squareoff ensues, and they lock up via a knucklelock again, but this time, that lasts a bit longer, as both competitors vie for adequate positioning. London eventually gains the upperhand and applies a waistlock, which AJ sells for a sufficient period of time before transitioning into a hold of his own, an inverted armbar. He eventually transitions into a fireman's carry-like takeover, but London wastes no time upon hitting the mat and immediately applies a headscissors. AJ eventually wiggles out of that and dives toward London's head, locking it in a grounded inverted headlock. London floats backwards and AJ ends up with a grounded back waistlock on his foe. They bridge from that position up into a standing position and London eventually breaks AJ clasp around his waist and utilizes an armringer, only to change his mind and kick AJ in the stomach before backing up. That choice - suffice to say - generates even more heat for this already intense contest.
They back up once again, and London offers a handshake, which is...accepted. Another squareoff generates third time. AJ immediately executes a snapmare and then *KICKS THE HELL* OUT OF LONDON'S BACK! AJ is hardcore, and man, I'm diggin' this shit...AJ offers London a handshake of his own...London hesitates for a moment, but then accepts, and it's clean, as neither man attacks his adversary. Another squareoff eventuates, and the two grapple via a third knucklelock, towards which each puts all of the power he can muster, because by this point, the drama of the match is becoming quite intense. They contend for supremacy and at one point, it looks as if London has the advantage, but AJ eventually use a nice move by wrenching his left hand free of London's grip and forcing his foe down to the mat, where he affixes a jujigatame. With London in the corner, though, it's not long before his opponent wraps his legs around the bottom rope, forcing the hold to be released.
Following another squareoff, they signal for a fourth knucklelock tieup, but AJ beats London to the punch by diving headlong and employing a single-leg takedown before eventually resorting to a knee/legbar. London tries to switch the momentum by wrapping AJ's right leg around his neck (like a Brock Lock/Leg Muffler), and seems to accomplish just that for a few moments, but then AJ leans forward and clubs London over the head a few times to force him to release the hold. Both competitors hustle back to their feet, from which position London and then AJ give their opponent a shove, but they don't go at it immediately, instead backing up and setting the stage for another squareoff (the fifth of the match).
They lock up and struggle for a few moments, with AJ eventually forcing London into the corner. AJ appears to be following the ref's orders for him to break the tieup, but London is unsatisfied and physically forces him away via a push. AJ then ignores a handshake request from London, instead opting to step forward a few steps, ending up nose-to-nose with his opponent. They have some words and each man even slaps the other one time, but again, they don't come to blows. Instead, AJ grins and grants London's request for another handshake, before the two back up once again and square off for the sixth time. An intense grapple leads to London locking on a side headlock. AJ forces him into the ropes and both men attempt shoulderblocks, but neither falters. Another tieup immediately ensues, but again neither gains distinct control, as the advantage constantly changes tenure. London eventually wrenches on a side headlock (although AJ still his gripping him very tightly, conveying the intensity of this battle) forcing AJ up against the ring ropes.
The ref calls for the break, and London initially appears to obeying this command, only to forearm AJ across the side of the head! AJ then counters London's Irish whip, sending him into the ropes. London drops out of an attempted back body drop and applies a back waistlock. AJ transitions into one of his own, but London is relentless and reapplies his version before quickly executing an amateur-style waistlock takedown (à la Benoit or Angle). Before London can execute his next intention, AJ kicks up to his feet and armdrags his adversary! Sweet! London comes back with an armdrag of his own, but his followup lariat is ducked and AJ executes another armdrag. London now ducks a Booker T-style spinning calf kick and employs a Japanese armdrag, after which both hustle back to their feet and have the same idea, contacting nothing but one another's feet via stereo dropkicks. Again on their feet, each man steps back into his respective corner and receive a well-deserved ovation.
The fans are going nuts by now as London climbs out of the ring to rest for a few moments. When he returns, though, AJ does the same thing, exiting the ring to take a breather, after which he re-enters. The mindgames are abundant. A few mintues ago, Ray Murro said that one could've "cut the tension (in the building) with a knife," so by now, you can just imagine the excitement of both the crowd and myeslf, each of whom is well aware that they're witnessing a classic in the making. Again, they shake one another's hands, after which AJ surprises London with a stiff forearm! After a brief exchange in the corner, London tries to take AJ for surprise with a nice-looking sunset flip, but AJ rolls through it, only for the future-Velocity veteran (hehe) to wiggle out of his attempted Styles Clash and scramble back into his own corner. London finds no refuge, there, though, as AJ charges towards him. London backdrops AJ over the ropes and the double champ lands on the apron before proceeding to knock London down via a Springboard High Japanese Dropkick!
London rolls out to ringside and dodges AJ's pescada and the double titleholder lands hard on his knee, after which London re-enters the ring and nails a high-impact baseball slide dropkick, sending AJ into the guardrail! The two participants brawl at ringside for a few minutes, utilizing the guardrail in some quite stiff manners. London plays up a cocky heel persona by absolutely RAMMING AJ's leg into the ROH guardrail with SICKENING force. AJ regains control, but what's of note is that he continues selling the leg injury. AJ rolls London back into the ring, where they trade strikes with one another before AJ surprises his foe with a stiff leaping enziguri kick. AJ follows with a snap suplex and then a 180º Rotating (London) Last Rites-type of Face Slam (London lands on the back of his head) off of the ropes for 2. The move looked painful and pretty cool, but also somewhat awkward, not really because it was sloppy, but more because I don't think it's ever been done before.
London's right elbow can be seen slightly bleeding as AJ lifts him back up to his feet and lariats him into the corner, only to have London counter his next offensive manuever by double-leg kicking him backwards several feet, into the center of the ring. Now, a very nice, extended sequence that sees London repeatedly try to fight off AJ's enziguri attempts occurs. AJ connects with one, the thud of which is absolutely THICKENING, but London stays on his feet and maintains his grasp on AJ's other leg. AJ eventually limps back up onto his free foot and fires off another enziguri, which this time is ducked. London continues holding onto AJ's other foot and AJ limps up one more time onto his free foot and fires off one more enziguri, but *this* time London has it scouted and BEAUTIFULLY counters in midair with a *nice* Dragon Screw-style Face Slam that receives a great deal of "Ooohs!" and "Aaahs!" from the crowd, all of which are well-deserved. Excellent stuff.
London shows his VICIOUS STREAK~! by working over AJ's left foot with some pretty nice offense. All the while, the fans are going absolute apeshit. AJ tries to fight off London as he's lifted back up to his feet, and he eventually gains what he believes is an opening and runs off of the ropes, only to receive an elbow to the gut. A pretty pitiful-looking legsweep from London follows (it was more of a mistiming mistake that can be credited to AJ), and then an elbow drop. Next, London kicks up to his feet and executes a leaping fist drop for 2. London beats on both of AJ's legs with a standing stretch, and then elbow drops what appears to be the upper left leg.
London now signals for a Brainbuster Suplex, but AJ responds to the fans' rallying and attempts his Vertical Suplex into Hangman's Neckbreaker. London lands on his feet, though, and fires off a kick to the left leg, only for AJ to deliver a knee lift to the gut and then fire off his own (successful) Brainbuster for an eventual 2 count! London comes back with a back elbow and then does a nice sequence where he baseball slides through AJ's legs, ends up at ringside, and double-leg trips his foe, setting AJ up for some quick assaults on his left leg, including a Catapult Leg Drop onto it for 2, and it then suffers some wrenching and stretching from a standing London. London now leg drops the limb and applies a perpendicular spinning toehold subission. The trade strikes (even with the hold applied), eventuating in AJ SMACKING THE *SHIT* out of London.
The ref begins a 10 count as the fans rally the participants slowly up to their feet, where they engage in a strike exchange. At one point, they both go to swing, and see the other also pulling back, so they stop before AJ delivers a swack. That sequence reveals the business for a brief moment, but I'll let it slide. The exchange eventually leads into a stiff, full-fledged brawl (I must say, though, that they do get kind of lazy toward the end of it...), culminating with AJ hitting his signature Discus Lariat, which London does a fuckin' maniacal, shooting star press-style selljob for!
RAY MURRO: "Words can't describe what we just saw there, Chris."
I thought I did a pretty eloquent job, if I may so say myself, but I digress...
The ref starts a 10 count, as both men struggle back to their feet. AJ whips London into the ropes and a short - yet nicely-executed reversal sequence results in AJ dropping London with a creative Hammerlock Backdrop Suplex for 2. Back on their feet, London - after a quick armringer reversal series - executes a nice-looking Flying Spinning Heelkick from the middle buckle for 2 and AJ sells the spot by doing a sweet corkscrew moonsault-type thingy. Next, London tries his signature Catapult Quebrada, but AJ dodges it and London lands on his feet, only to lift his head up, right into AJ's awesome Quebrada Inverted DDT for 2. The fans rally both men back to their feet. AJ sells his knee injury as he sits London on the top buckle and sets up for a Superplex. London fights that off and after a headbutt exchange and some more escapes from attempted setups, London executes a front suplex-type toss, planting AJ face-first down on the mat.
At this point, London climbs up to his feet and then connects with the LONDON CALLING~! (Shooting Star Press), which the double titleholder tried to scramble away from the attack last minute, only for that strategy to backfire and have London land on his already injured left leg. Both sell their exhaustion (and AJ his injury) for several moments before London makes it back to his feet and looks to apply a figure four leg lock, which AJ counters into a schoolboy rollup for a dramatic 2 count. London is relentless, climbing back to his feet and again looking to affix the submission. AJ tries to fight it off with some *vicious* kicks to the chest, but London eventually succeeds in locking the hold on. AJ's shoulders repeatedly go down to the mata nd the ref counts a number of near falls before AJ is able to grab the ropes and break the hold.
London now lifts AJ back up to his feet and sits him on the top buckle. For the next minute or two, London repeatedly tries to set up AJ for superplexes and other variations of that manuever, and each time, AJ fights him off, sending him crashing back down to the mat below with some VICIOUS shots to the back. London, still unrelenting, repeatedly struggles back to his feet and steps back up onto the middle buckle. At one point in this sequence, a guy in the crowd audibly yells, "This is what wrestling's supposed to be!" I wholeheartedly agree. Just when I thought London had landed back-first on the cold, hard mat too many times to muscle his way back to his feet, he surprises me and finds a way to struggle back to a standing position. The last time this happens, he charges toward the buckle and tries a Mike Modest/Trish Stratus-style Handstand Super Huracanrana, but the two times he tries this, he can't catapult himself high enough to wrap his legs around AJ's head.
The sequence looks quite awkward, as I'll explain later, and it ends with AJ executing a Super Sunset Flip Powerbomb out of desparation. Then, upon hitting the mat, AJ climbs back to his feet and lifts London up by the legs before delivering the Styles Clash, after which he too drops to the mat and starts clutching at his already injured left knee, which he landed on. AJ eventually covers London and receives a dramatic 2 count. Next, London is lifted back up to his feet and he escapes a Dragon Suplex attempt, but not AJ's Bridging German Suplex, which obtains *the 3 count*! However, both men's shoulders were down, sparking some confusion, as Alexis Laree enters the ring and checks on AJ as the ref talks to Gary Michael Capetta, who eventually announces the verdict as being a DRAW, since both guys' shoulders were down at the time of the German Suplex pin. The fans boo and begin a "Five More Minutes!" chant.
WINNER: None; The competitors battle to a Draw, due to a double pin.
The commentators wonder who won the trophy and who's getting the title shot at Death Before Dishonor, while the ref gives AJ one of his titles. Once the two competitors make it back to their feet, the fans give them a standing ovation. They engage in a staredown and look out at the fans, who are going berserk while changing "Five More Minutes!" They eventually shake hands and embrace, but the handshake is quite intense. AJ then goes back to London, though, and raises his hand and London does the same, in return, as the fans rightfully applaud. One fan yells, "That match is worth the price of admission alone!" and I think it may've been the same one who yelled "This is what wrestling's supposed to be!" a few mintues before. He knows whawt he's talking about. London hands AJ his titles (the NWA title and the ROH tag title) and the double-champ leaves the ring and heads backstage. Cut out.
ANALYSIS: Absolutely fantastic match, tarred only by two or three very minor selling issues and the awkward sequence preceding the already awkward (due to it's non-decision) finish. The matwork to start was as brilliantly performed as one could possibly expect from two *workers* with the relatively minor experience that these two possess. The execution on their moves was nearly flawlesss and their various strikes (i.e. the chops, kicks, and forearms) were exceptionally crisp. It's very, very rare that two *workers* - as opposed two "sports entertainers" - can maintain the fan's interests with their *every* move...not just with the actual physical combat that they execute, but with everything that they do, from the time they step into the ring from the time they step through the square curtain. Save for the awkward sequence that resulted in the sunset flip powerbomb and two or three couple second long intervals, every single moment of this match was special, and there's only so much a flawed exchange can do with a match like this.
AJ and London worked together in a manner that few guys are willing to act today. They were unselfish, willing to play off of each other's personas to perfection, so as to put on a match that featured no decisive winner, but in the end, there were three winners - AJ, London, and the fans - whether they be ROH management, fellow workers, or just faces in the crowd - that witnessed it.did all of the little stuff that lifts a match from great to spectacular. They generated a great deal of heat with relatively little history between the two. Sure, they had a brief storyline going into the match, with a previous alliance having gone bad due to London's jealousy of AJ winning the ROH Tag Team Title with The Amazing Red and not himself, but let's face it - they hadn't met nearly as many times as guys like Low Ki, Chris Daniels, and Bryan Danielson. They developed drama that very few could produce, thanks to the strategically placed handshakes, handshake refusals, and cheap shots.
The precision regarding the execution of their amateur-style grappling techniques was a welcome relief, in my opinion, as the indy circuit has two many guys trying to perform Malenko/Guerrero and Flair/Steamboat-esque tieup sequences when they haven't yet been taught how to correctly affix the most basic of holds. The two guys are professionals and it shows not only by the success that they've accomplished in this sport, but in the acting that they put forth in this match. One particular sequence that I thought was very well done was was the one consisting of London trying to evade AJ's enziguri's. The whole sequence was brilliantly executed. London did a fine acting job of selling the power of AJ's kicks and AJ's determination in repeatedly making it back to his feet, but also putting over his own tenacity by knocked to the mat.
This was just one of the many instances where they balanced the need to put over the heel persona that London developed throughout the bout and the resiliency of AJ in not giving up, despite his "leg injury." AJ sold that impairment throughout the bout, even when he was on the offensive, so that's another facet of this match that he deserves kudos for. I have AmDrag/London's 40 minute match, but believe it or not, I've only watched it once (you can bet I'll be watching it more after seeing this fantastic match of London's), so I can't really compare this to that bout, but I can assure you that if you're looking for scientific excellence, this one of your best bets from ROH. but that's just my opinion. That match was fantastic, granted, but this match - from the opening bell, I was on the edge of my feet.
I've seen VERY few matches that have kept me as interested as they did even when they were simply squaring off. Not only were all of the strikes they utilized crisp, as I mentioned above, but so were each of the spots they inserted into the match. AJ's Hammerlock Backdrop Suplex, the creative exchange leading up to AJ's Brainbuster, London's Flying Spinkick, AJ's Quebrada Inverted DDT, the London Calling - they all had an "umph" in them where you could tell that both performers were working extra-hard to make them look believable, and 90% of the time, they did.
Unfortunately, no match is ever perfect, as was the case with this one. There were some minor mistakes, mainly with the selling, but also with the psychology (although, granted, it was brilliant most of the time). First, let me address the work leading up to the finish, because that was my biggest problem. I don't know if he legitimately messed up in trying to execute the move or what, but these instances really detrimented a sequence that up until then looked to be building up to something really big. However, it didn't end up accomplishing that feat, as the exchange resulted in AJ eventually executing a good-looking - yet still of disappointing magnitude, based on what the sequence seemed to be leading up to - Super Sunset Flip Powerbomb out of desparation.
To a degree, AJ made up for this disappointment by lifting London back up by the legs and pancaking him face-first into the mat via the Styles Clash, and then goes to sell the pain of his knee injury, as he landed on the limb by executing that signature manuever. However, the sequence leading up to the Styles Clash was still was awkwardly done, and it's one of the few downsides of the match, IMO. Again - it appeared as if London was attempting a Handstand Super Huracanrana, but it looked very clumsy. He came up way short of wrapping his legs around AJ's head, something that you wouldn't expect from someone as talented as London. It's really unfortunate that this error had to come at the point that it did, too, because the match was about to wrap up, just minutes later.
Another flaw came while the two were brawling a moment before AJ KILLED London with the discus lariat. Both guys were about to punch one another and then they saw that the other guy had already pulled back, so both hesitated for a moment before the brawl continued. Although it's not a major problem, that instant didn't look good at all, and really looked awkward and revealing. Also, I should mention London's sequence where he did the legsweep, elbow drop, nipup, and then the fist drop. The legsweep looked pretty awkward, and although I understand London was trying to act cocky, the whole sequence seemed out of place in such a serious match. By the way, I watched AJ's Last Rites-style face slam again and - while it did look wierd - they executed it pretty well and right afterward, London was bleeding from the elbow, so I'll let it pass and not take anything off for that instance.
Besides these minor criticisms, the match was absolutely fabulous. It had everything the ROH fans expect when judging classics - drama (the whole handshake deal was great, as were the staredowns and the like); crispness (the execution of the matwork early in and of 90% of the other spots that followed was fantastic); consistency (London's relentlessness in assaulting AJ's knee, even when you thought he had forgotten about AJ's injury of that limb). They stayed relatively basic with the moves they used, besides London's dragon screw abd AJ's Hammerlock Backdrop Suplex, but they knew exactly when to incorporate what into the match, and played their roles perfectly with believable, realistic expressions. And let's remember - wrestling is a show, so acting is important, and that's something that they clearly understood going in, because they made everything look authentic.
This is one of those matches that you don't have to be a puroresu freak to enjoy. They gear this match toward a number of audiences, thanks to the various aspects of manuevers, holds, counters, etc. that they employ. Their build the match so dramatically that you really will be entertained, regardless of what type of fan you are. Sure, some fans will like it more (it'll appeal more to technical fans than spotfest fans), but still - they did a great job of applying a great variety of methods into the performance, and that didn't go unnoticed, judging by the fans' enthusiastic chants after the bout. If you want a model of how to build a pro wrestling match, this is one of the contests you should watch. It's not every bout that two performers put on such a great match that a fan is motivated to yell praises so loud that those watching at home can hear it relatively clearly. The ending hurt it a tiny bit, but as I previously said - it was so good, a miniscule mistake like that can only detriment the match so much. Very highly recommended. ****1/2.
Match 7: Non-Title/Losing Group Must Disband Match - The Group (CW ANDERSON, MICHAEL SHANE, & ROH Heavyweight Champion SAMOA JOE) vs. The Prophecy (DAN "MAFIA" MAFF, DONOVAN MORGAN, & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS) (w/ Allison Danger)
- Basically, the storyline leading up to this match is that Steve Corino formed "The Group" in late 2002. The faction stole away "Simply Luscious" Ronnie Stevens and Samoa Joe from The Prophecy. Daniels' fought back by luring Allison Danger away from The Group and into The Prophecy. The Prophecy's acquisition of Stevens and Joe seemed detrimental, as shortly thereafter they lost a major tag team grudge match to Low Ki & AJ Styles, and then their tag team titles to Styles & The Amazing Red. At Night of Champions, Joe captured the ROH title from Prophecy member Xavier. Maff soon joined The Prophecy when he saved Homicide and Michael Shane from a beating by CW and Jack Victory. Then, at Round Robin Challenge II, The Prophecy beat down Joe and Shane. Maff got some revenge on Joe at Do Or Die by briefly assaulting him, but the Empty Arena Match between Daniels and Joe was cut short by security, leading to this six-man blowoff/grudge match between the two factions.
ROH Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe is shown walking to ringside and joining his partners before we cut out and go to The Prophecy's entrance. They have awesome theme music, I must say. What didn't get on the tape was the segment that came right before this instant and right after the London/AJ match. Low Ki came out and cut a really crappy promo, where he basically rambled on for awhile, causing ROH management to cut his speech from the tape, so as not to make a (then) star of their's (he's since left the company, although he does appear every once and awhile for them). However, it makes the transition from the previous match to this one awkward, because the stipulation for this is that the losing group must disband. While Ki's promo was really boring, it did serve to establish why that stip was put in place. Anyway...
Both factions enter the ring and each is introduced. Maff is wearing a bandage over much of his face, although it's not covering his eye.
Daniels and Joe are about to start, but then Shane enters and tells Joe that he wants to start, and Joe obliges. So, it's now Daniels vs. Shane. Squareoff. Tieup. Stalemate. Clean break. Another squareoff. A second grapple. Some waistlocks are exchanged before Shane utilizes an armringer, but Daniels escapes via a nice forward cartwheel (with Shane wrenching one arm), and then transitions into a hammerlock. Shane twists out and applies a side headlock before Daniels pushes him into the ropes. Shane avoids a hiptoss attempt, at which time they fire off a number of strikes (i.e. lariats, back elbows, and kicks, one after another), each of which is dodged. Shane eventually utilizes a schoolboy pin for 2 and Daniels then employs a double-leg takedown and rolls over on top of Shane, hooking his legs for only a 1 count. Shane beats him to his feet, but a few moments later, both guys punch one another at the same time. They both sell the strike before backing up and squaring off again.
Maff and CW are both tagged in and they square off with one another. They start with an exchange of chops, which lasts for a good 30 or so seconds, and then face off again. They exchange some slaps across the face and then spit at one another, before tagging out. Joe and Morgan enter. Joe starts quickly with some kicks to the lower left leg, and then tosses Morgan out to ringside. Chris Lovey announce that they're being told that Raven had demanded himself and a mystery partner vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana at the next ROH show, which will be two weeks from this show. Anyway, Joe climbs out of the ring to follow Morgan, but the So-Cal standout rolls back in quickly. Joe re-enters, too, and they square off again.
Morgan initially gains control with some forearms and a waistlock, but - after an exchange of armringers - Joe takes him down onto the mat and focuses on his arm with a Fujiwara Armbar and a knee drop for 2. Joe now uses a snapmare and then a rear chinlock, but Morgan fights back to his feet and makes his way towards the Prophecy's corner, where he tags in Daniels. Morgan and Daniels whip Joe into the ropes and hiptosses him, at which point Morgan hits an elbow drop and Daniels then delivers a leg drop. Daniels makes the mistake of lifting Joe back to his feet, as the ROH champ forces Daniels into The Group's corner, where Shane tags in. Shane whips Daniels into the ropes and back elbows him down for 2. Daniels now fights back and forces Shane into his own corner, where Maff tags in.
The newest Prophecy member assaults Shane's gut with some nice knee lifts and shoulder thrusts, and then chokes him with his boot. Maff tags in Morgan and the two Prophecy members double-team Shane with a back elbow for 2. A snapmare and a Japanese dropkick get the same result for Morgan. Shane fights off a suplex attempt and nails one of his own before tagging in Joe. The ROH champ enters and uses some forearms, only to have Morgan come back and apply a headlock. Joe pushes him into the ropes. Both try shoulderblocks, but neither falters.
Anyone have another word for "applies/locks on," when it comes to submissions? Especially during the London/AJ match, I felt myself resorting to that diction quite frequently, and I think I can do better.