WU LYF 4 LYF

Wasn't he mocking The Embassy pose with that?

He may have been. I didn't get that connection when I watched it though.Just seemed the match was Rave stealing a bit of offence, Dragon hitting his trademark spots in between striking and holds which meant nothing. It's a good match with some neat touches, but it isn't on the level of the Shelley defence or the Romero defence and the first match against Strong.

Surprised at your opinions of Rave/Dragon. I thought the two Embassy defences were among Dragon's best, with the Shelley one a good yard ahead.

The Shelleyb defence was really great. The Rave defence just bored me for some reason. It could get better from a rewatch. Seemed like a lot of the stuff was really random and unfocused, like Dragon putting on the Full Nelson about 3 times.

Now onto 2006 ROH with ROH 4th Anniversary Show.The Briscoes v Mamaluke/Rinauro v Mikaze/Blade tag opener was a waste. The only point of it was to put the Briscoes over and they didn't even spend most of their time in the action. A few head drops later and they get the win. I thought they got rid of this garbage in 2002. 1/2*Claudio/Pearce/Azreial/Fury was next. 4-Corner Survivals are usually pointless and average. Add 3 crap workers to the mix and they become terrible. Pearce was boring as hell, nobody cared about Fury, Claudio's gimmick is annoying as hell, Azreial is just plain awful. No need for this stuff. 1/4*Joe/Lethal was decent-good. Not as good as their previous 2 matches- Lethal was leaving, and it showed, having the blowoff to a feud in the early portion of the show, and it not being a match that either put 100% into. I enjoyed it, but it was probably too long and in the long run it won't be remembered. **1/4Whitmer/Daniels is a match that I don't think anybody wanted. And with good reason. The work they did was pretty uninspiring, and I found myself delighted when the bout was stopped for some excellent brawling. 3/4*I actually liked Homicide/Cabana. Content wise it wasn't exactly great, but I loved the idea of the restars and thought they were carried out really well, and Cabana being willing to get killed for the sake of the feud certainly did the match some favours. More of a match to further storylines than anything else, it succeeded in that respect by getting me into the feud, and there was some nice action as well. Hate Cabana's selling though, and it's been said a million times, but the serious role does not suit him. **1/2Rave/Dragon has been overhyped. It went on way, way too long, and I felt it did little for Rave. His periods of offence were really short, Dragon's selling of most of his stuff was average at best, and while they established he could hang with Dragon on the mat, it seemed irrelevant as for much of the match he was clearly treated as inferior. He never looked like winning. There was some nice stuff in the match. Dragon's offensive reportoire is somewhat repetetive at this point, but I dug Rave stealing his offence, among other things. It's hard to point to the good stuff in the match, as it was really forgettable, but it's in there, and the match is a decent title encounter, though admittedly one of the worst Dragon defences I've seen. And I have to say that was more down to Dragon then Rave. **1/2Evans/Reyes was never going to be a classic, especially after Evans' late flight. It's fun seeing Jack get killed for a while, and they actually make a good job of the earlier portions, establishing the speed v power roles. I found it hard to watch after Evans landed on his head though. The botches didn't help the match at all, and Evans looked out of sorts. Still, wasn't a disaster, and it's too their credit they gave us something watchable. *1/2Aries/Strong v Sydal/Styles was good. I'm not a great fan of Sydal constantly teaming with random guys against Aries/Strong, but him and Styles looked decent as a team, and in terms of tag team fundamentals, they both seemed to understand how to work the structure in their favour. The ending sequences were fun, but the match dragged in the middle, and the face/face dynamic didn't help the match at all. Good match, but not one that will live long in the memory. **1/2Which pretty much sums up this show. It won't live long in the memory. After the opneing 2 disasters, the rest of the show was respectable, but I cared for little of it. Not one of ROH's better shows.

I'd say all evidence points to you being wrong on all counts.

Like what? He looked good on the mic in the Shelley match, but even then I thought Shelley looked better than he did.His promos from when he first returned in 2005 were really average. Basically I find his interviews fun when he's insulting kids and doing his heel act, but if he ever gets serious, he isn't that good at all.

Charismatic? If he wasn't then the fans wouldn't get into his matches PROPERLY.

The fans get into his matches because they have the belief he's a great wrestler and most of them really enjoy his matches. Roderick String has no charisma at all and yet the fans still get into his matches. And what do you mean get into his matches 'properly'?If you mean he plays a successful heel act I think you're pretty mistaken, as even when against top faces he gets his fair share of chants, and the people who boo him seem to be booing him because they think he 'plays a good heel', rather than any actual hatred they have towards him.

You know the difference, when they stop the duelling chants and actually unload their hatred on him.

Well, actually, I've seen little of this. Care to point me to any matches where this happens?

He proved at Arena Warfare he can cut great, long promos that rile the crowd up

Yes, like I said he cut a funny heel promo on the CZW fans. Problem was, a lot of the things he said he was getting cheered for. And it wasn't as if his promo was anything revoloutionary. He did his 'I'm better than Benoit' act, he insulted a couple of fans, what's new? Shelley's promos in that match were far more effective.

Not sure how you define 'original' in this industry

Something new and different. Rather than 'I'm the best in the world' stuff.

Some of his adlibs are very original, though. Every interaction he's had with the CZW fans has been goldust, IMO.

Yeah, I've enjoyed his stuff with the CZW fans.

I think part of the reason why Danielson's getting such an uber push is that he's the best talker the company's got, and they know it.

I don't see Danielson as that good a talker, decent perhaps, when he's doing his heel act, but not original and doesn't have great charisma.With Punk gone they don't really have any great talkers, I like Jack Evans and Alex Shelley, though Shelley will be gone soon and Jack's not going to cut any amazing promos, just fun ones.

Daniels is over like fuck in ROH

I really haven't a clue why. He's an average wrestler at best, and an even worse talker. He has no charisma, no character, he's completely boring in every respect.

Watched ROH Final Battle 2005, my last 2005 show before I get onto the newer stuff. Must get round to writing full reviews for these, I've only done ROH Final Showdown and a couple of random matches.Anyways...Rave/Milano was a good opener. Classic heel/face structure, well put together, the sort of simple match ROH needs more of on their shows. **1/4Cabana/Azreial was a joke. Azreial is just useless, and Cabana isn't much better unless he's doing comedy, so as you'd expect, this sucked. 1/2*Claudio/Nigel was solid. They made good use of the two referee's, told a nice little story around Nigel not being able to cheat, once again a good heel/face structure built around a decent feud. Castagnoli can be a little uninteresting, and Nigel is kind of inconsistent, but it was OK. **Shelley/Corino was really a bit random. Corino is the face, but nobody really likes him and anyway, why have face or heel when you can do duelling chants? The match itself was once again a solid affair, but very forgettable. Some decent arm work, Corino did a pretty great job of selling it actually, I can't fault him for that, but just seemed a bit out of place. *3/4I usually hate 4-Corner Survial's, but at least Dragon/Joe/Whitmer/Lethal had some purpose, and with the variety of angles they took into the match, it was always going to be somewhat interesting. Joe was so far above the rest and it showed, and his perfornmance saved the match from mediocrity, bit too much non selling and chucking out random offence at the end, but the finish made sense and it was an altogether fun bout. **1/4Strong/Aries v Mamaluke/Rinauro was good. I like Aries and Strong as a team, and they had the roles nailed down really well, with the champs having to cheat to get the advantage against the superior challengers. Mamaluke looked really good here, so not so subtle heel work, and I lvoed the multiple barricade attacks on Aries. The built well to the hot tag, and once again they got the right finish. **1/2Danielson/Marafuji was good, but didn't blow me away. There were some great moments, but the match just seemed to lack direction. I wasn't digging the Eddie/Dean throwback spots either. It's the kind of match that's technically good, and you can't analytically find a lot wrong with the psychology or selling, but it didn't have a lot of depth, and ends up being just another title defence. Kobashi took Marafuji to a much better match than this. **3/4Ki/KENTA kind of fell victim to its own hype. The cries of 'best match ever' and the like had me going in expecting a classic, which in all reality, it wasn't. It was nice and stiff, but after the first 5 minutes there was little to shout about up until the strecth. Low Ki busts out all his spots, Kenta busts out a few of his, there were times when this match looked great, but it didn't come together for them in the end. This is good-very good, and if you mark for stiff battles you'll probably go crazy over this. Apart from the stiffness, there isn't a lot to set this apart from a regular ROH main event. I would have prefereed gangster Ki, and some of his selling was rather dodgy at times, overselling when he hit a move, yet when Kenta was on offence his selling was pretty average. They got the big match atmosphere down nicely, and the action was good, you'll rpobably get more out of the match if you come in expecting less. ***1/4Why does Christopher Daniels get a promo on DVD every show? He's an awful interview. I beg ROH to stop this happening.I liked the show. Everything on the undercard beside the Cabana match was solid, and a lot of it was pretty good. Add in two main events which while they don't live up to the hype, are certainly an enjoyable way tgo spend an hour, and you've got a good show all round. Not the best show they've done, but most will like it. Solid all round.

Watched ROH Vendetta yesterday.Delirious/Ace Steele v Chad Collyer/Nigel McGuiness was an acceptable enough opener. They didn't bring anything fresh or interesting, but they had a nice little story worked around Steele and Collyer, and it was at least watchable. Can't say it did a lot for me though. *1/2Jimmy Jacobs v Sal Rinauro was suprisingly good. In fact, Jacobas has become one of the most watchable guys in ROH right now, with his new gimmick with Lacey. Anyway, some successful comedy, some decent wrestling towards the end, just wish ROH didn't have to have 5 nearfalls and people kicking out of finishers every match. **1/4BJ Whitmer v Claudio Castagnoli didn't grip me at all. Don't get me wrong, the work wasn't so bad, but I have zero interest in Whitmer, and Claudio having a good match usually depends on him having a game opponent. 3/4*I can't believe Christopher Daniels is still so over. Another depressing 'Daniels' style match, made worse by the fact he was facing the best wrestler in the world, Samoa Joe, and still couldn't produce something good. Joe wasn't at his best here, I wasn't feeling the feud, Daniels was himself. Not a car wreck, but Joe can do so much better. *1/2Adam Pearce v Davey Andrews is one of the worst debuts I've ever seen. Pearce is so dull both in character and what he does in the ring, and Andrews doesn't bring anything to the table either. It wasn't even one of those fun squashes where somebody gets totally destroyed. 1/4*The second Danielson/Strong match was good, but it's very overrated, and not a patch on the first. The transitions were weak and the offence switched far too ofetn. Dragon's selling was pretty crap for a lot of this: he takes a slam on the steel ramp, and 10 seconds later is back on top after a kick to the gut. It was also too long, and Dragon's smirk and heeling felt out of place 30+ minutes in to a gruelling match. The beginning was great, but at times they looked like they were killing time out there with some stuff. Sometimes this looks like a real top drawer bout, and like I said I enjoyed it. Dragon once again did some nice heeling, Strong did a good job at playing the plucky underdog, it had a lot of things going for it. But it should have been 30 instead of 47. Don't know why people prefer this to the This Means War match. ***The Generation Next/Embassy 8-Man was fun. Ending was shocking, and Shelley's attack on Evans was awesome. Honestly, you will cringe at some of the stretches. Everyone was showcased pretty well, and everyone established their role, and stuck to it nicely. Pretty entertaining for the most part, even if it was just there to whet your appetite for Steel Cage Warfare. ***Not one of the better ROH shows. The 2 main events are definately worth watching, and it was booked well. Better than This Means War but didn't hit the heights of the previous Dragon/Strong match with anything on the show.----------Also watched ROH Steel Cage Warfare today.Ring Crew Express v Blade/Mikaze had some reasonable high flying action, but the problem is nobody actually cares about these teams. No structure, no character, no point. 1/2*Have to admit I liked Andrews/Primeau. Perhaps because it was the opposite of the above match, but Andrews squashing him was good to watch. Extra marks for the numerous Ricky Reyes squahses after the match. *Colt Cabana/Milana Collection AT v Sal Rinauro/Tony Mamaluke was fair. Serious Cabana sucks, but I enjoy MIlano, and the tag champs are serviceable at least. Won't blow your mind, but was a passable outing. *1/2Dragon/Romero was really great. In fact, there's probably nothing to choose between this and the first Strong match as Dragon's best defence. It also happens to be criminally underrated, don't know why it was easily the best match on this show. Loved the work around the kicks and submissions leading to the big moves, everything felt real, an engrossing contest. SElling both through the facials and actions was good, and just an all round quality piece of wrestling. ***3/4Joe/Lethal was good as well, I'd probably put it around the same level of their Manhattan Mayhem match. Action before the heel turn was good, with Lethal believably playing the underdog face, then getting frustrated when he couldn't match up to Joe and put him away, so resorting to the chair. Simple story that they played out, Joe showed why he's the best in the world by being an awesome sympathy face, a role he's not exactly used to playing. Liked Lethal going over clean. Couple of blown spots, but they don't detract from the match, it was a little methodical in the beginning, but overall it was good. ***1/4Homicide/Corino was basically ruined by Cide's shoulder injury. Even then though, they managed to put on a more than watchable bout, and the attacks to the ear with the fork were both sickening and entertaining. Cide's character work came across really well, with his sadistic smiles after the attacks, and Corino at least brought some intensity and hate. Could have done without the contrived board spot at the end, but they deserve great props for pulling a decent match out here. **1/4The Embassy/Generation Next Steel Cage Warfare I have mixed feelings about. As a feud blowoff, it wasn';t as good as it could and should have been. It really drags at times, a lot of the action is predictable, and it feels more like an angle than a match at some pojnts. Then again,t here are some really fun moments, most of them bring the hate, adn they had some good ideas. It was good no doubt about it, but just too long and meandering to be anything special, and it's only the third best match on the show. **3/4This was better. I doubt I'll ever watch the first 3 matches again, but Dragon/Romero is worth getting the evn for a alone. Chuck in a damn good Joe/Lethal match, and two other reasonable matches, and you have a worthwhile show.

Catching up on some ROH, I have 3 2005 shows that I wanted to see, then everything in 2006 from 4th Anniversary up to Destiny, without the Weekend Of Champions and How We Roll shows. I've seen 3 of the milestone series already though.Saw ROH This Means War 2005 tonight, and I have to say, the show was really bad, probablyh the worst ROH show I've seen.Claudio v Shelley opened up. I don't usually like these exhibition style matches but I dug this for the most part. They engaged in what turned out to be a fascinating matwork battle for the first 10-12 minutes, and it only really dropped off when they got a bit cliched towards the finish. The angle with Nigel helped, as did Shelley's great charisma. Was a promising start. **3/4The Blade/Mikaze v Azreial/Andrews tag was really bland. None of the 4 bring anything different or interesting to the table, it doesn't say a lot for Azreial that his finest ROH hour was being squashed by American Dragon. Wrestling was actually OK, but nobody was interested. 3/4*While it was very fun watching Reyes squash the despicable Mitch Franklin, there didn't seem to be much point in it. Especially since all his push did was set him up to lose to Aries a few times. 1/2*The Kikutaru/Whitmer/Nosawa/McGuiness match was a waste. Why they continue to book these pointless bouts is beyond me- especially since they brought it two imports for this one. As 4-Ways go, this was right down on the lower end of the spectrum. There was some failed comedy, some dull wrestling, and this show is getting worse. 1/2*Styles/Aries is supposedly an Indy Dream match, but I can't say it's ever popped up in any of my naps. It isn't all that good either. They don't mesh well together, and while there's a few cool things to see, it's another nothing match. I like Aries when he's doing character work, such as his grumpy ROH veteran act, but in terms of his offensive reportoire I find him rather 'indy' for my liking, for lack of a better term. Still, he's better than AJ. *3/4Cabana/B-Boy was just dismal. The wrestling was stale, Cabana couldn't seem to decide on his character, B-Boy wasn't over and there was never any doubt about the result. Not especially bad, just totally boring. The after match brawl with Homicide was also pretty bad, not helped by the fact the fans cheered loudly for Homicide, when he was booked as the despicable heel. 1/2*Please never let Lethal or Daniels attempt comedy again. To be fair, the crowd seemed to enjoy it, but it came accross as terrible on tape. Then again, when they got onto the wrestling it was maybe even worse. I had a forlorn hope that as Curry Man Daniels might be a bit better, but here he is, his same old self. Another waste. 1/2*Dragin/Strong saved the show. Dragon is the cocky prick who thinks he's better than everyone, Strong is the young upstart with a lot of heart but whose not quite on Dragon's level. Some great moments, too many to mention, liked the struggles for the Strong-Hold, like the finish coming out of nowhere, loved Dragon flipping of the fans when they beckoned him to come and do the ole ole kick on the other side. Not a perfect match by any means, and the work they did was really simple, but it succeeded because of that. They didn't give away too much with their first match, yet told a compelling story and the time flew by. Very good, though I hope they'll go on to better things. ***1/2So yeah, without Dragon/Strong this show sucks.Next, it's Vendetta.

Looking for a match date.It's an All Japan early 90's 6 Man Tag (Likely 1991). It's Kobashi/Kikuchi/Misawa v Taue/Tsuruta/Fuchi, it features leg work on Kobashi and Kikuchi, and Taue beats Kikuchi when he cathces him running in with a kind of STO (Not sure of actual name).It could be either 26/08/90 or 24/03/91 though could be neither.My DVD has a Taue/Fuchi/Jumbo v Kawada/Kobashi/Misawa tag supposedly on 24/3/91 but I'm sure that's the wrong date.