Official ROH Discussion Thread

[Big Benny HG]

ROH Civil Warfare (7 May 2010)

 

 

ROH returns to Manassas, Virginia (the town with an irrational love of snapmares and fall-away slams) for an uninspiring-looking 'house show' on the eve of their annual Supercard of Honor event from New York.

 

After a quick Eddie Edwards showcase against Bobby Dempsey in a 'Ten Minute Hunt' (a massively potentially interesting new Edwards gimmick where anyone who can last 10 minutes with him will earn a future shot at his ROH Television Title), the DVD turns its attention to the Kings of Wrestling vs. Briscoes feud, with two separate singles bouts between the members of the opposing teams. A good way of building a tag title rematch between them... except The Kings are defending their belts against the Motor City Machine Guns tomorrow, not the Briscoes. Oh well. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jay Briscoe is a disappointing non-event as a match. Chris Hero vs. Mark Briscoe is better, but don't expect any fireworks. In effect, all these bouts do is tell you that nothing here matters, and the important stuff will happen elsewhere.

 

The show moves on with 3 consecutive singles matches in the Pick Six contenders' rankings series, starting with a bout between Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens, who I remember having a decent little series some years ago (including a real cracker in FIP). Here, the pair contest a decent and solid, if rather insignificant, match. It's a similar story with Kenny King vs. Colt Cabana: a good, enjoyable match while it lasts, but instantly forgotten when it's over. 'Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels' first match back in ROH, against 'Mr Wrestling' Kevin Steen, however, just doesn't work. It just failed to connect with me on any level and keep me interested.

 

The main event is a tag affair, pitting ROH World Champion Tyler Black & Delirious against Austin Aries & Rhett Titus. This is based around the fact that Aries was responsible for injuring Delirious and putting him out of action a few months. They have their singles grudge match tomorrow at 'Supercard of Honor'. Titus is Aries' buddy, and Black is involved for, well, I guess, no better reason than he's got to be on the show somewhere. I found this to be a good, enjoyable, well-worked tag match. Despite that, however, it is undoubtedly more a "television" match than one you would pay $15 to $20 dollars to see on DVD.

 

Since the running time for the main feature is a mere 2hrs 10mins, there is room on the DVD for ROH to squeeze on the evening's dark match a (Kings of Wrestling squash versus The Set), as well as 4 bouts taken from the first couple of months of the weekly TV show on HDNet. A nice to have, and a great idea for bonus DVD content, except for the fact the chosen footage is nearly a year out of date from the main show on the DVD, so completely irrelevant (e.g. Steen and Generico solid as the tag team champions....).

 

Overall, a completely unremarkable DVD release. This was nearly 3 hours of my life that I'll never get back. Avoid.

 

Full show results:

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Ten Minute Hunt: Eddie Edwards beat Bobby Dempsey by submission to the Achille's tendon lock

 

Jay Briscoe beat Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall, reversing a UFO attempt into a roll-up

 

Chris Hero beat Mark Briscoe by pinfall after an elbow strike using the loaded elbow pad

 

Pick Six: Roderick Strong beat Erick Stevens with the Sick Kick

 

Pick Six: Kenny King and Colt Cabana fought to a No Contest as a result of interference from Kevin Steen

 

Pick Six: Christopher Daniels beat Kevin Steen with the Best Moonsault Ever, following a distraction from Colt Cabana. Daniels moves into the Pick Six.

 

Tyler Black & Delirious {W, Bizarro Driver} beat Austin Aries & Rhett Titus {L}

 

 

[close spoiler]

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Next: Supercard of Honor V

Edited December 15, 2011 by Big Benny HG

[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

New VideoWire up:

 

 

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

Oh shit! Jimmy Rave!

 

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

The guy was irrelevant when they bought him back in 2009, let alone 2011/12. Needless to say, this is not the answer to ROH's undercard problems

[gadge]

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

The guy was irrelevant when they bought him back in 2009, let alone 2011/12. Needless to say, this is not the answer to ROH's undercard problems

I hate the black box way of doing spoilers. You have to do "reply" to read them on phones.

 

I'll have something to say about that guy in my next review...

[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

The guy was irrelevant when they bought him back in 2009, let alone 2011/12. Needless to say, this is not the answer to ROH's undercard problems

 

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

Makes sense though, The guy was addicted to painkillers on his last run so ive heard. Him feuding with the Embassy interests me

 

[cobystag]

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

 

Right now, I only see it as a one-off return to face the guy who replaced him. I actually wouldn't mind to see Jimmy back, but on a semi-perm basis in that he's not on every show.

 

 

[close spoiler]

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Hopefully that means the other mystery challenger on Friday can be someone huge like a Low-Ki.

[Oliver]

That was a fine ROH video wire! Apart from WGTT (whose promo was shit) everyone cut a good to decent promo. Everyone's character is in some way interesting.

 

Kevin Steen particularly is intriguing. I am really curious to see what happens when he returns.

 

And..... do I really have to label this a spoiler? What are the terms in this thread anyway?

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Jimmy Rave's return is pretty good. It wasn't anything outstanding, but I thought his promo was believable and interesting enough. I liked his change of heart and wouldn't mind learning more about how he reflects on his days as crown jewel of the Embassy. Look forward to his match.

 

[close spoiler]

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[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

That was a fine ROH video wire! Apart from WGTT (whose promo was shit) everyone cut a good to decent promo. Everyone's character is in some way interesting.

 

Kevin Steen particularly is intriguing. I am really curious to see what happens when he returns.

 

And..... do I really have to label this a spoiler? What are the terms in this thread anyway?

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Jimmy Rave's return is pretty good. It wasn't anything outstanding, but I thought his promo was believable and interesting enough. I liked his change of heart and wouldn't mind learning more about how he reflects on his days as crown jewel of the Embassy. Look forward to his match.

 

[close spoiler]

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I just did it out of consideration to anyone who hasn't got that far yet, But then again they should be read the ROH thread then if they don't want to know current events.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Dear lord - it's just been confirmed that Maria will be managing Mike Bennett at Final Battle. Apparently she's banging him in real-life.

[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

Dear lord - it's just been confirmed that Maria will be managing Mike Bennett at Final Battle. Apparently she's banging him in real-life.

 

Rather her then having Brutal Bob Evans by his side, Can't stand him! He's not a boxer! Plus having a beautiful woman by his side fits in with his gimmick.

[gadge]

I liked Maria in a friendly airhead presenter/interviewer gimmick in WWE, but managing Bennett in ROH is a million miles from that. TV execs in mark for big names shocker?!?

 

Dragon Gate USA: Open The Ultimate Gate 2011 - Atlanta, GA - 3/4/11

 

Dragon Gate USA's pre-WrestleMania offerings from Atlanta continue. This was at midday on WrestleMania Sunday, so I was able to attend this one. Live, I thought this was really bad compared to ROH's shows that weekend. Let's see how it seems on DVD...

 

Johnny Gargano vs Jimmy Rave - One of the things that really was noticable at the ROH shows of the weekend was how undercard matches were just that. They were solid, but didn't overdo the moves and stuff, so the big matches stood out more. This could have benefitted from the less is more attitude, as 10-12 minutes would almost certainly been sufficient, yet they go 16:32 here. In the 8 months since the show, I have seen the more of the development of Gargano, and was more into his work in this DVD viewing than I was at the time. Rave however is still a guy who appears here and there almost at random, so by the time he kicked out of Hurts Donut I was ready for him to disappear again. Thankfully, he then taps to the Gargano Escape. An acceptable match, but nothing to write home about.

 

Sami Callihan vs Arik Cannon vs AR Fox vs Rich Swann vs Lince Dorado vs Silas Young - Six way freestyle action, with one fall deciding it this time. Callihan and Cannon get in each others faces again before the opening bell, then everyone gets a chance to do some moves in a seemingly random series of spots, with some nicely executed and some messy. Callihan and Cannon end up beating each other up until they realise they're being more effective with their efforts to clear the ring of everyone else. After they walk out at 8:30, there's a few more moves, and then Swann pins Dorado with the standing 450 splash at 10:00 even. A below average spotfest, as no-one had any particular crowd support, or did anything to change anyone's minds.

 

Brodie Lee vs Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa - Comedy squash, Brodie wins with the Truckstop at just 2:08. Blood Warriors continue to humiliate Stalker afterwards, until Ronin come out, and we move on...

 

Chuck Taylor vs Brodie Lee - Despite being 2-0 on this show, Ronin have had zero success against Blood Warriors this weekend. The pattern doesn't change here, and not only that, this is simply an extended squash, with Taylor only having one notable flurry of offence. Chuck does get to kick out of the Truckstop, but then goes down to a sitdown powerbomb at 6:48. Following that, CIMA calls out the tag champs...

 

Open The United Gate Title: Pac & Masato Yoshino vs CIMA & Naruki Doi - Despite their efforts of the weekend, Blood Warriors are still getting more of a positive reaction than a negative one. That kills the dynamic they're trying to create here, and the crowd are subdued for most of the first two thirds of this. I hoped the match would play out better on DVD than I remembered live, but it didn't happen. Of course, there's more noise as the action picks up in the final third, but even then the match doesn't come close to the upper echelon of DG tags. World-1 retain the gold as Yoshino makes Doi submit to Sol Naciente at 23:02. Post-match, Ronin return so Gargano can poke fun at CIMA with some childish jokes, which falls pretty flat.

 

Sami Callihan & Arik Cannon vs The Dark City Fight Club - The setup for this is that Lenny Leonard interviews DCFC about their DGUSA debut. They talk about considering themselves one of the best teams in the world, but then go down to Callihan and Cannon in just 5:11. The crowd didn't care much about either team, but do embrace Callihan and Cannon christening themselves the Dirty Ugly Fucks afterwards. Well, kinda. This was just there, really.

 

Austin Aries vs Jimmy Jacobs - After failing to beat YAMATO the previous evening, this is supposed to be Aries last DGUSA match, so with Jimmy Jacobs as his hand-picked opponent, they basically work the same match structure as the final Punk vs Cabana ROH match. This is actually more fun that I remember at the time, though I could do without them allowing each other one of their trademark spots each in the early going. Of course, tempers then flare a bit, but they never really go beyond the realms of an athletic match into some of the violence that their big ROH rivalry had. The finish is right out of the Punk: The Final Chapter playbook, as Aries goes for the kick to the head into the brainbuster, and Jimmy counters with a small package for the three count at 14:24. The crowd start a moronic "What the F**k" chant at that. Ugh. Of course, the ridiculous thing about all of this is that Jacobs is never seen in DGUSA again, whereas Aries sticks around for a bit after turning on Ronin and siding with Blood Warriors in a post-match angle. The match itself was good, however.

 

Akira Tozawa vs Jon Moxley - Once again here the booking of Moxley leaves a lot to be desired. He promises Tozawa that his match with YAMATO will be a title match if he can first overcome Moxley himself in a no rules, Bunkhouse style match. They brawl through the crowd briefly, Trina Michaels gets involved on Moxley's behalf, then Tozawa turns the tables on Moxley by suplexing him onto two chairs then pinning him with one of those beautiful bridging Germans at just 3:57. That's it. Reby Sky emerges afterwards to take out Michaels with a DDT. ECW ECW ECW! Or, erm, something.

 

Open The Freedom Gate Title: YAMATO vs Akira Tozawa - Thankfully, the resulting title match is free of shenanigans and given plenty of time to develop in the usual DG singles title match style. It's not a blowaway bout or anything, but develops steadily enough to a pretty heated final few minutes. I really like YAMATO, but I'm kinda used to him outright heeling it up, rather than the tweener-ish fighting champion story they seem to be starting for him what with Moxley's imminent departure and Blood Warriors taking the top heel spots in Japan. It'll be interesting to see if he becomes a full blown fan favourite, something he understandably can't do against Tozawa here. Tozawa himself cuts out the diving headbutt spot for this main event, which is fine by me as I usually think it looks stupid. His repertoire of dives and German suplex variations is more than enough to get the crowd behind him, and he gets a big pop when he kicks out of Gallaria at one(!), though YAMATO blasts him with some forearms and a second Gallaria for the pin at 22:26. The show ends with YAMATO saying he respects Tozawa, and doing the obligatory "Did You... Enjoy... The Show?" gimmick. YAMATO.... YAY!

 

Overall - The main event is solid, and to a lesser extent Aries vs Jacobs and the tag title match are alright, but quality-wise this is barely recognisable as the same promotion from the night before, and easily the weakest of all the shows I saw that weekend. One for completists only, sadly. DVD run time is 2 hours, 53 minutes.

[Big Benny HG]

ROH Supercard of Honor 5 (8 May 2010)

 

 

The red n' black crew return to the Manhattan Centre for the first time since the 8th Anniversary Show in February. New York City shows from ROH are usually a big deal, with big-time matches that mean something, cool angles and a red hot crowd.

 

The DVD gets off to a fine start with a really good little match between The Briscoes and Rhett Titus & Kenny King. I really enjoyed this one - just decent old fashioned character-driven faces vs. heels pro wrestling, containing a nice story in the continuing dissension between King and Titus. The bout seems to go down equally well with the live fans and is probably Titus & King's best tag effort to date. Moving on, an Erick Stevens basic destruction job on Grizzly Redwood is more notable for the unexpected post-match run-in from ECW favourite Balls Mahoney, before the show gets back on track with a very physical, very intense and pretty damn good Amazing Kong vs. Sara Del Rey match which the crowd go Radio Rental for. Definitely several pegs higher than your usual US indy women's matches.

 

Despite the fact I usually think Christopher Daniels is a bit shit, his non-title match here against TV Champion Eddie Edwards is actually really good and exciting. Much, much better than Daniels' craptastic match with Kevin Steen the night before. This show continues down the right road with Austin Aries' various hilarious attempts to get out of his singles grudge match with Delirious. Of course, it doesn't work, so Aries is left fighting Delirious in his suit trousers and tremendously flamboyant shirt. What a fabulous man this is. As a match, this doesn't even get going, but as an angle to set up future events (including Aries, Titus and King going after Delirious' valet Daizee Haze), it is perfectly adequate and a welcome change of pace from the rest of the show. That change of pace continues with a crazy '34th Street Last Man Standing Deathmatch' between Colt Cabana and Kevin Steen. This picks up very much from where the tag match at 'Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies' left things and is another thrilling and often jaw-dropping fight. The thing I like is that ROH doesn't do hardcore-style often, but when they do, it isn't done for the sake of it. It is done because the guys involved hate each other with a passion and the feud has escalated to the point where it is necessary. An awesome stunt-filled brawl, and the next chapter in the best feud of the year so far.

 

Those who like tag team wrestling should get a massive kick out of the World Tag Team Title bout of Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin). For the most part, this is an absolutely stunning effort, right up there with the Kings' bout with the Briscoes at 'Big Bang'. Two of the best tag team acts in the entire world doing what they do best and tearing the house down. The finish which eventually comes after all this is kinda deflating (and one that probably has more to do with inter-promotional politics than anything else) but up until then this was a stellar, world-class scrap.

 

Capping off the disc is the latest ROH World Title challenge from Roderick Strong as he takes on Tyler Black. There used to be a time when it seemed every ROH World champ got to notch up the traditional meaningless defences against Strong and Jay Briscoe on 'B' shows before being tested by stiffer competition, but those days are long gone and Strong has risen to the point where he now comes across as a credible, legitimate title threat. Indeed, the pair contest a hard-fought, dramatic and compelling big-time main event title battle, which manages to be somewhat decisive at the same time as leaving room for more.

 

As a complete package, this is a very good DVD indeed. With several excellent matches and the advancing of numerous feuds and storylines, this is an 'A' show that you really should see.

 

Full show results:

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) beat Rhett Titus & Kenny King by pinfall, Doomsday Device-ing King onto Titus

 

Erick Stevens beat Grizzly Redwood by pinfall after a Doctor Bomb

 

Sara Del Rey beat Amazing Kong by pinfall after using Chris Hero's loaded elbow pad to hit a rolling elbow strike

 

Non-Title Match: Christopher Daniels beat Eddie Edwards by pinfall with the Best Moonsault Ever

 

Austin Aries beat Delirious by DQ when Delirious failed to break a choke

 

34th Street Last Man Standing Deathmatch: Kevin Steen beat Colt Cabana, using a barbed wire baseball bat after interference from Steve & Colby Corino

 

Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) beat Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) by DQ to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles, following interference from The Briscoes.

 

Tyler Black beat Roderick Strong by pinfall with a God's Last Gift from the top rope to retain the ROH World Championship

 

 

[close spoiler]

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Edited December 18, 2011 by Big Benny HG

[David]

Dear lord - it's just been confirmed that Maria will be managing Mike Bennett at Final Battle. Apparently she's banging him in real-life.

You don't approve?

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Of appearing at FB. Naturally it's none of my business what either of them do in their personal life!

[air_raid]

Why not? I actually thought she was one of the few "not-a-capable-wrestler" Divas that actually showed a shred of personality and charisma, was outraged when she got released so soon after winning the (FAN voted for) Slammy for Diva of the Year, and would actually grab some attention for pretty much any group she appeared for?