didcotfc

Supercard of Honor 4

I've been pretty slow on my ROH following recently. I got up to the 6th Anniversary show and never got the urge to buy more DVDs (and the conversion rate hasn't helped). Anyway I went along to the two Houston shows.

On the whole I had fun in an isolated show sort of way. It's worth looking out for the ropes breaking during the six man on the first show. After an awkward struggle through the middle portion of the match there was some serious incredible as Magno (I think) decided that having only the bottom two ring ropes would not stop him from flying around like a lunatic. There were some insane springboard dives and an incredible spot from the ring post to the outside. It was heart in mouth stuff.

As I say, I'm not following the product at the moment but there appeared to be some fued between Albright and Claudio. They handled their interactions as if there was some issue between them but the crowd were dead. You could have heard a pindrop and it was almost embarrassing when Albright finally got his hands on Claudio to be greated by what was, at best, a polite round of applause. It was even funnier on the PPV taping when Claudio, having got a reasonable reaction by bad-mouthing Nigel, was attacked again by Albright. What little heat was in the room was sucked away into the ether and the result was possibly the strangest 3-way I've ever seen (with Blue Demon Jr). It was the first 3 way I've ever seen where they had one man on the apron waiting for tags. Aside from the rules making no sense and the funeral atmosphere the match was truely horrible. God only knows what would have happened if there'd been a double down in the match. I can only imagine it would have ended with someone tagging the guy in who had only just tagged out. Ignoring the oddness of this, a value lesson must be learned. As things are, Albright will never be a vengefull babyface. They need to watch some Martin Stone or Samoa Joe segments to see how it should be done. Maybe it would have worked on a more established crowd that were familiar with the angles but somehow I doubt it.

There was also various AOTF interactions. Hasn't this fued been running forever now? The matches weren't bad but it didnt seem to be going anywhere.

On the plus side, keep an eye out for KENTA vs Davey Richards. Its not a MOTY like many were claiming but, botched finishes aside, it was tremendous fun.

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

Sorry Double post.

The soundtrack is amazing too, you'll either recognise the songs or get the ones you don't know stuck in your head immediately. Each stage has two or three songs assigned to it as well, with some of them set up to only play occasionally and catch you by surprise. For instance, the Pokemon stadium stage has the Pokemon theme but every so often it plays the Wild encounter battle music instead. I really need an MP3 of "Final Destination" in particular. Then you've got the stages, each one an amazing tribute to their source material and packed with incidental detail. The Wario Ware one that stops periodically and makes you play a WarioWare Microgame is absolutely ingenious.

The main brawling is largely unchanged but is as solid and fun as ever. Some of the stages are a bit over the top and force you to fight the stage rather than each other, but aside from that it's the same multiplayer awesomeness you should be used to if you're a fan of the series. The Smash Balls are a fun addition but can sometimes unbalance the fight unfairly if they happen to appear right next to some lucky person. The Final Smash attacks are spectacular and at times hilarious. A great touch is the fact that you can specify exactly which items will and won't appear during your brawls, so if you do have an issue with the Smash balls or some of the other power weapons, you can tinker until you have it how you want it. Oh how Mario Kart needs this option for Spiny Blue Shells.

Just picked up Smash Brothers. Its my first Smash Bros game and I must admit I don't quite 'get it' yet but for Nostalgia purposes it's rocking my world. Being battered by the Dr Wright from SNES Sim City Asist Trophy was just awesome. Give me a shout if you want to swap friend codes (and inevitably batter me)

Regular readers will know I don't have much time for Brent Albright. So I was in total agreement with this snippet from DVDR's review of the May 9 show...

I remember reading at one point about how Brent Albright didn

Fuck me, of all the points to get excited over... look, "this is awesome" is reflexive, and wrestling should never degenerate into the realms of postmodernism when you're watching it, pure and simple.

I hate the "this is awesome chant", whoever starts it. At that point no-one had started the chant, however it reared its ugly head several times. I agree with La Goosh's point above.

As for all this rubbsih about "you hate kids", "get an infection and die etc" - boys, it's wrestling, meant to be a bit of entertainment. As Alan Partridge said, "why not get yourself a girlfriend?"

There was a great moment in this match where a couple of kids started that “this is awesome” rubbish, and the crowd responded with a resounding “past your bedtime.”

No, fuck this, and everyone involved. If you think there is some hierarchy of fans who decide when it is the right time to start the 'This is Awesome' chant then I hope you get an infection and die.

There was a great moment in this match where a couple of kids started that

I've been trying to get through the FYF just lately. I'm up to Dayton but there's been very little to really excite me so far. Mind you, I heard a heckle that reminded me why people hate ROH fans. During the Tank Toland vs Mitch Franklin squash..."Do a transition move!"Words can't express how stupid that is.

Its ironic that in a promotion that is all about workrate the sports entertainment style stuff is the best thing about it. Project161 , Larry Sweeney , the Toland/Dempsey deal , Jimmy loves Lacey and even looking back at Nana and Embassy. ROH does good sports entertainment!

Necro returning opens some very interesting match ups. It seemed like they were building a Necro vs Jack Evans match. That could seriously rock as Jack fires away with his feather like offence and gets chinned. Necro vs Morishima could be fantastic. Has Necro vs Danielson been done? It seems familiar but maybe I made it up. Mind you, with Dragon's dodgy eye a flurry of punches might nit be great for him.There do seem like a lot of factions around now. There always has been though. I'm sure that Generation Next, The Embassy, The Second City Saints and the Rottweilers were all around at the same time. I might be wrong but some form of Special K were around at the same time although they might have disbanded by then. I think the problem is that the new factions haven't quite developed their own identities yet and so it seems a bit rushed. Maybe I'll change my mind when I finally catch up with the shows but Gen Next and co all seemed to have a defined character that everyone understood.

Grudge, Gripes, & Grunts (WF123)04/26/93 Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Duggan11/23/92 Ric Flair vs. Tatanka03/08/93 Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. The Beverly Brothers03/08/93 Mr. Perfect vs. Papa Shango06/29/92 The Undertaker vs. Repoman03/07/93 Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson vs. Beverly Brothers & Little Louie05/10/93 Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Duggan (lumberjack match)07/20/92 Earthquake & Typhoon vs. Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster (Earthquake & Typhoon win WWF Tag Team Title)07/20/92 Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart & Randy Savage1993 Rick & Scott Steiner interview

Cool thanksThat match can't possibly be as awesome as it sounds can it?!

Cheers! ThanJudge for yourself :-)

Grudge, Gripes, & Grunts (WF123)04/26/93 Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Duggan11/23/92 Ric Flair vs. Tatanka03/08/93 Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. The Beverly Brothers03/08/93 Mr. Perfect vs. Papa Shango06/29/92 The Undertaker vs. Repoman03/07/93 Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson vs. Beverly Brothers & Little Louie05/10/93 Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Duggan (lumberjack match)07/20/92 Earthquake & Typhoon vs. Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster (Earthquake & Typhoon win WWF Tag Team Title)07/20/92 Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart & Randy Savage1993 Rick & Scott Steiner interview

HelloIt came up somewhere else on the board that there was once Bret Hart and Randy Savage vs Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels tag match. Does anyone know whether its on any old commercial release?

Right! I've finally got my appetite for ROH back and I've decided that come the next Buy 3 Get one Free offer I'm going to try to catch up.The last show I watched was Final Battle 2006 so I've got the best part of 2007 to cover.The fifth year festival doesn't look as unmissable as the Milestone series the year before so I was thinking of getting the first two shows and the last two shows (the UK ones) and skipping the ones in the middle. Then I was gonna get the All Star Extravaganza III, Supercard of Honor II(SUCH a lame name for a show) and then I'm a bit stuck. This Means War II looks missable but I think I'll get Fighting Spirit. I think I could posisbly miss Battle of St Paul and go straight to Good Times Great Memories. Is there anyone whos further ahead with their watching who can let me know if i'd be missing anything worthwhile (or buying something thats not 'must see').Cheers

That's not a bad selection of shows at all there. You might want to look at changing the Philly show from the Fifth Year Festival for the Chicago one, but it depends on your exact view of the line-ups. Definitely buy the UK and Detroit shows. All the April shows are pretty good, but in terms of storylines the two you have chosen are the most important of the four, and GTGM is an awesome show. After that, you'll be needing the Respect is Earned PPV show which comes on a two-disc set, though I haven't seen that far forward yet, I bought Reborn Again, Respect is Earned, A Fight at the Roxbury, Domination and the shows from Japan when I was at the show in Manhattan last weekend.

Right! I've finally got my appetite for ROH back and I've decided that come the next Buy 3 Get one Free offer I'm going to try to catch up.The last show I watched was Final Battle 2006 so I've got the best part of 2007 to cover.The fifth year festival doesn't look as unmissable as the Milestone series the year before so I was thinking of getting the first two shows and the last two shows (the UK ones) and skipping the ones in the middle. Then I was gonna get the All Star Extravaganza III, Supercard of Honor II(SUCH a lame name for a show) and then I'm a bit stuck. This Means War II looks missable but I think I'll get Fighting Spirit. I think I could posisbly miss Battle of St Paul and go straight to Good Times Great Memories. Is there anyone whos further ahead with their watching who can let me know if i'd be missing anything worthwhile (or buying something thats not 'must see').Cheers

Hey gadget. Trying to catch up on your list of recomendations now. I liked Epic Encounter 2 and thought the main event was fun but to be honest it could have been just as good and half as short. Then again, it does create the legend of the weekend when Danielson went an hour twice in a weekend. Has anyone checked out International Challenge yet?

Whats going on with Outcastvideo now? I tried to order some PWG DVDs from them a few weeks ago and they didn't even bother reply. I e-mailed them and they didnt bother to reply. They used to be such a good trader but not anymore it seems.

they werwe fine with me latley won stuff form them several times over the last month on ebaythe use a hotmail addy for emails now

This show got much more positive reviews from the ROH faithful than the generally disappointing October and November shows, and night 1 of the Chicago Spectacular, but I didn't really feel this show was all that. The cage match onwards is good stuff, but ROH have definitely done better. I hope 'International Challenge' and 'Final Battle 2006' are better. IC looks to have a good line-up, and FB2006 should certainly deliver.

Whats going on with Outcastvideo now? I tried to order some PWG DVDs from them a few weeks ago and they didn't even bother reply. I e-mailed them and they didnt bother to reply. They used to be such a good trader but not anymore it seems.

Blimey.Suprising to see Morishima beat Homicide after losing to Joe the night before. I guess it never really hurts to really shake things up with a big suprise now and again (but not week in week out). Still Homicide's title reign is going to be remembered for the chase rather than the reign itself.

i don't suppose anyone knows the name of the belly to back suplex where you cross your opponents arms over their chest and hold them by the wrist?Cheers