didcotfc Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Claudio Castagnoli & Pelle Primeau vs. Adam Pearce & Brent Albright - give that three of the worst wrestlers ever to compete in ROH are in this match, it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 12, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Claudio Castagnoli & Pelle Primeau vs. Adam Pearce & Brent Albright - give that three of the worst wrestlers ever to compete in ROH are in this match, it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 13, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 13, 2008 Just signed for Final Battle 2008, Danielson vs Morishima - Fight Without Honor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted November 15, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 15, 2008 ... and aren't I happy wish i could be there to see it live, as I was for the first match between them at Manhattan Mayhem II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 20, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 20, 2008 Southern Navigation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted November 21, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 21, 2008 (edited) I think I preferred the Breakout match between Danielson and Black, but then, I loved the finish to that match and I recall you didn't like it at all, so that's probably a big factor. Danielson just makes finishes work for me, even if they are a mere half crab, of all things. It's not much of a discussion point now, as I just watched their third match... and their best...  ROH New Horizons - Detroit, MI - 26.07.08  Ring of Honor's eighth pay per view offering, New Horizons shows many of the overall traits of ROH in 2008. A lack of forward motion as a company and compelling feuds being among the negatives, and yet also some really good wrestling matches that have gone largely overlooked this year.  The opening twenty minutes are a bad start for the PPV, and also highlight a different negative for ROH, in that the production side of things often looks awful. The main, wide hard camera isn't white balanced properly and gives everything a tinge of yellow whenever it is used. There's also a number of promos between wrestlers in the ring and wrestlers in the entrance way - the problem being the entrance way isn't lit properly, and therefore there are wrestlers cutting promos in semi-darkness. Not good, not good at all.  The show starts with the ROH World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black of the Age of the Fall in the ring. They announce that as they have the power of being champions, they will not be defending the tag titles. Way to convince anyone who just bought their first ROH PPV that they made a good choice, though on DVD with a match listing that point doesn't hold up so well.  The Briscoes then run the Age of the Fall out of the ring, and Austin Aries attacks them in the dimly lit aisleway and out backstage. We then get a quick Briscoes squash of Silas Young and Mitch Franklin, which is basically an excuse for Jay and Mark to throw Franklin all over the place. The Briscoes shooting stuff in a video package filmed in their home 'town' Sandy Fork, Delaware follows that, which just looks very strange compared to any other wrestling product out there.  Back to the ring, and we have a throwaway Four Corner Survival with Delirious vs Erick Stevens vs Ruckus vs Shane Hagadorn. Everyone is already in the ring, which means no-one has any star power, Hagadorn looks awful in there, Ruckus gets in one big highspot then the FIP World Heavyweight Champion Stevens hits Hagadorn with the Doctor Bomb for the pin. A waste of the little PPV time it is given.  Austin Aries then comes back out and does a fairly bad job of explaining how his feud with Jimmy Jacobs is more about psychological than physical destruction. Either that, or the material is really, unsalvagably bad in the first place. Jacobs comes out in the aisleway, Tyler Black tries and fails to jump Aries from behind, then MsChif gets in a low blow and the Age of the Fall beat down Aries, Jacobs using "some metal object" on him until he is carried out.  With the tag champs in the ring once again, a barely visible Kevin Steen comes out on the ramp and asks when he and El Generico can get themselves a tag team title shot. Jacobs declines, and Steen is attacked from behind by Necro Butcher. Once they get out of the aisleway, a no-DQ Kevin Steen vs Necro Butcher match starts, and the PPV finally reaches the level of acceptable.  The actual ring and ringside area are lit up fine, and the dodgy hard cam is barely used for this ringside brawl, which puts the focus on the action from here on out, and combined with a lack of crowd brawling actually make this match stand out when compared to the obligatory no-DQ match every ROH DVD has to have. The pacing is good, the action is hard hitting, and there's a wince inducing finish as Steen hits Necro with a Michinoku Driver through a chair for two, then a package piledriver on a different chair for three. Credit to the production where it's due for some sick slow motion replays of both of those afterwards too.  Adam Pearce then cuts a very good pre-taped promo about his being NWA World Champion and about his lack of remorse for the fireball angle with Brent Albright from the Vendetta II show. A shame that the Pearce vs Albright matches didn't make it to PPV, but for the DVD viewer it was good build to Death Before Dishonor VI. Pearce then supposedly takes a call from Larry Sweeney on his phone, which segues on the PPV straight into..  Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. (Chris Hero and Go Shiosaki) vs Roderick Strong and Naomichi Marufuji.  Both teams get ring entrances, which immediately makes this feel more like something you need to pay attention to. Sweeney tries to buy out Marufuji before things get underway, but when that fails he tries to hold his team out of the match. Lance Storm stops their exit, neatly following on in DVD continuity from the previous night's Northern Navigation show, and giving the PPV viewer a surprise bonus. A good tag team match then ensues, with Go and Roderick bringing the chops in their numbers, Hero putting in a really solid, shenanigans free performance as he really starts to develop the 'Young KO Kid' role, and Marufuji being Marufuji really. With Storm preventing S 'n' S Inc from being able to cheat, the natural order of things, a face team victory, is able to play out. The finishing sequnce, starting with a very neat double team version of the Codebreaker by Strong and Marufuji, and ending with Strong pinning Hero with the half nelson backbreaker, is especially satisfactory. Storm raises the winning team's hands afterwards, only for the heels to attack and Storm ends up on the receiving end of a beatdown from Hero. Credit to Lance for taking that when he's basically retired.  Brent Albright then cuts a promo about being on the receiving end of the fireball from Pearce. The promo itself would have been good, but his 'facial bandages' look ridiculous, and the promo is shot in the exact same place as the earlier Pearce promo, which ruins the illusion that Pearce was not at the show due to suspension.  ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness vs Claudio Castagnoli  The ROH title match not main eventing the PPV is explained when Nigel drops in to the commentary 'booth' during the previous match, hears about the Age of the Fall using their power to not defend the tag titles, and decides the World title match is going on next to try and throw Claudio off his game. An interesting touch that adds to Nigel's scheming, yet arrogant champion persona.  A short Claudio training video is dropped in before the match, which much like the Briscoes video looks a little weird, but at least is put into context as the specific training is neatly mixed with some of his trademark moves.  Unlike their (underrated, in my opinion) first match for the title, which main evented in the Hammerstein Ballroom and started off slow, this one kicks into high gear from the start, with Claudio hitting the bicycle kick immediately, going for the Ricola Bomb, Nigel escaping and hitting a short lariat, then Claudio firing up and getting the Ricola Bomb for a very close two count.  The crowd stay hot as Claudio european uppercuts Nigel around the ringside area, then things settle into a similar pattern to many of Nigel's better title defences - Nigel goes for lots of lariats, hits a few, while Claudio has some VERY good counters to many of Nigel's smaller trademark moves, and works his own big moves in from some unusual yet not overly contrived positions. In the end, a great sequence of increasingly big moves almost gets the job done for 'Double C', culminating in a particularly close nearfall from a second Ricola Bomb. There's also a good nearfall for Claudio out of a backslide that made me flash back to Claudio's loss to that move the night before. When Nigel eventually manages to hit the Jawbreaker Lariat after several attempts, that's the end for Claudio, which I liked a lot as it reinforces him as champion.  Very good world title match overall I thought.  Bryan Danielson vs Tyler Black  The third singles match between these two, Danielson beat Black at 'Breakout' and 'Southern Navigation', yet on PPV, Danielson was pinned by Black in the tag team main event of 'Respect is Earned II' and needs to beat everyone Nigel McGuinness has on PPV to earn a World Title shot, which includes the Age of the Fall member as well as Claudio and Go Shiosaki.  Their previous encounters have all told a story of the established, wily Danielson having to fight off the up-and-coming, full of attitude Black, who shows Danielson no respect, and pushes him physically and mentally to his limits. This has been helped by the fact they have really, really good chemistry against each other, and while he's not the finished article yet, Black is good at impressing the crowd with what he can do without becoming a face. There have been moments when Black looked every bit Danielson's equal, and it's taken something extra special for Danielson to come on top in their singles encounters.  Happily for the PPV buying crowd, this is their best match yet. Excellent bone bending by Danielson in the early going, restrained use of Tyler's natural athletic ability as part of his role in the match, Nigel McGuinness returning to commentary and adding more than he has to commentary at any point before, Black getting increasingly confident as Danielson crashes and burns on the odd unnecessary risk, great strikes as the match really gets going, and then just as the match reaches a crescendo, a true oh my god moment that could have spelled disaster, yet only makes it more compelling viewing.  As Danielson has Black in a cross armbreaker for the third (i think) time in the match, Black manages to lift him, charge into the corner, and powerbomb him into the top turnbuckle, only for said turnbuckle to be obliterated by the impact, which looks utterly devastating for Danielson as it smashes him in the back of the head. It still isn't enough for Tyler to pick up the victory, as a couple of minutes later Danielson knocks him stupid with the MMA elbows for the referee stoppage. Still, it's a truly memorable moment in another really good match that deserved it's main event spot.  There is more to the PPV yet, as after the match Jimmy Jacobs attends to his fallen tag team championship partner in the middle of the broken ring, when Austin Aries returns to avenge the attack from earlier. Their ten minute brawl through the crowd was quite intense considering the dodgy backstory, but it suffers from the lack of crowd lighting, and a general disinterest from me based on some burnout from the two excellent matches that immediately preceded it. There's some unusual stuff for a crowd brawl, like a Last Chancery from Aries at the back of the building. In the end, Aries and Jacobs battle up a ladder in the crowd, when the Necro Butcher comes out and pushes the ladder over, sending both men crashing through a table, in what is the start of Necro leaving Age of the Fall to stand on his own.  Overall, New Horizons has two very good and two further good matches, and I'd recommend a purchase. Nicer production would have made it even better, and it certainly won't win over people who don't like ROH because of the way it looks. There are two bonus matches, but I haven't watched them yet. Watch this space. Edited November 21, 2008 by gadgetboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 22, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 22, 2008 Good review! I'm working my way towards this show as we speak. Â I didn't have a problem with the finish itself to Danielson/ Black II, I just thought it was a bit odd that Black fought out of all of Danielson's finshers only to tap to a plain old half crab. But it was better than their first match - the finish to that really was fucking stupid. Â The reviews from last night's Dayton show don't look promising at all - a DQ finish in a last man standing match? To be honest, I think the last thing they need at the moment is Joe coming back - why remind the fans of how great the compnay used to be in comparison to the present? For Joe's appearance to be of any worth he has to put Black over. I'm not that big a Black fan, but having a guy come in for one night and beating one of the guys you're building up for 2009 is just retarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 25, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2008 A New Level Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted November 28, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 The Black Friday sale is on now... save 40% if you spend $100, save 35% if you spend less. I need 5 DVDs at the moment... at $20 each. Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm29195 Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've just brought the 2 newest Japan shows, Death Before Dishonor 6, New Horizons, and the Flair Interview for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted November 29, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted November 29, 2008 FIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King is Dead Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 $8 2004 dvd's at rohwrestling.com for 24 hours, i picked up At Our Best, World Title Classic, Joe vs. Punk II and Final Battle 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted December 1, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 (edited) Excellent World Title matches highlight all of those shows... look out for Alex Shelley vs Jimmy Jacobs in an I Quit match on the undercard of Joe vs Punk II as well Edited December 1, 2008 by gadgetboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted December 2, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted December 2, 2008 Excellent World Title matches highlight all of those shows... look out for Alex Shelley vs Jimmy Jacobs in an I Quit match on the undercard of Joe vs Punk II as well  Other highlights from those discs include one of the top ten tag matches in ROH history - Homicide & Romero vs. Strong & Evans at JVP 2. World Title Classic has the first - and best - Ultimate Endurance Match. 2004 was a pretty good year for ROH considering they nearly went out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted December 2, 2008 Paid Members Share Posted December 2, 2008 (edited) I've finished 'Fueling the Fire' now, and while I can't be arsed to write a full review, I have some thoughts on what was at least a better show for the Manassas, VA crowd than 'Southern Navigation'. Â The Briscoes vs Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn is a bizarre match for ROH to open with, in that it's a Briscoes squash, mainly at the expense of Hagadorn, only with a southern tag heat segment for the southern crowd that actually gets more heat than the standard heat segment ROH tags usually feature. Â Pelle Primeau vs Rex Sterling comes across like a midget match, which is hilarious as Sterling comes out taunting Primeau about his lack of stature when he's not *much* bigger and quite generic looking. The UK equivalent would be Paul Robinson vs Ashley Reed, which out of it's IPW:UK context and thrown onto an ROH show would have not worked on any level. Â Delirious vs Rhett Titus is all about the story and not at all about the movez, and for it's place in the undercard I enjoyed it quite a lot. Might as well face it, you're addicted to love... Â Necro Butcher vs Roderick Strong was HARD hitting and fun albeit irrelevent. Â Danielson and Aries vs Sabin and Shelley is 25 minutes of solid, solid wrestling, and is all about the interaction between Alex Shelley and Austin Aries. The lack of a real finish hurts it, but in storyline terms it starts some things that I'm sure never get finished with Shelley and the Aries/Jacobs feud. Real good wrestling though. Â Brent Albright vs Chris Hero did nothing for me at all. Just bleh. No intensity at all, and the crowd is way down in volume. Â Nigel McGuinness defending the World title against Ruckus is the ROH equivalent of Batista vs Manu on Raw the other week. Standard TV match, big star controls for the most part, midcard guy gets some offence but gets polished off quite easily in the end. Ruckus put in a reasonable performance as the midcard guy with no real hope of winning but giving it his all. I will say it could have been a lot worse. Â Jacobs and Black vs Shiosaki and Marufuji is a very good main event. I'm not sure how it compares to the six man main event from the previous show in the venue where Team NOAH won (earning them this tag title shot), and Marufuji teaming with Shiosaki after facing the Sweet n Sour Inc Member the night before in tag team competition is weird. At least they have Roderick chase Sweeney off before the match gets going, so Marufuji can get Shiosaki to focus on business. In terms of match structure, this is a lot like a Briscoes tag title match, with average early going, picking up BIG TIME towards the end. Lots of different double teams due to the different personnel involved keeps it feeling fresh at the same time though. The Super Contra Code gets little response, as Shelley did a better looking Super Sliced Bread #2 in the earlier tag match... I really came out of the match wanting to see Jacobs vs Marufuji one-on-one, even though they don't interact *that* much in this one. Also, of the AOTF team Tyler is the one with the BIG moves that looks ready to break out in singles, for me. Â I enjoyed Fueling the Fire, but I can't wait for Death Before Dishonor VI, my next DVD to watch... Edited December 29, 2008 by gadgetboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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