Official ROH Discussion Thread

[ROHSteven]

Final Battle was very average - not like ROH at all. The main event was just awful. I completely disagree with the criticisms about the booking though, it's been top notch since Delirious took over, the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess.

The guy with the ROH avatar and sig praising it - who woulda thought it eh?

"Final Battle was very average... the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess."Not see those bits?

[PowerButchi]

DANGEROUS DEVON STORM appeared on last night's taping from Baltimore. DEVON STORM.Odds on Ace Darling coming in soon as well?

[ROHSteven]

DANGEROUS DEVON STORM appeared on last night's taping from Baltimore. DEVON STORM.Odds on Ace Darling coming in soon as well?

He was on one of the HDNet Tapings too. I believe he faced Daniels but not 100% sure. He defeated 'Antonio Thomas' in a dark match last night. Is that the same Antonio Thomas of 'Heart Throbs ' fame?

[Loki]

NO, NO, FUCKING NO.What was the fan reaction to that, genuine question?

As you can see from the clip, no bugger even moved from their seat. Congrats ROH on killing the heat for both a superplex and for a suplex over the top rope in one instant.

[jackhennessey]

Final Battle was very average - not like ROH at all. The main event was just awful. I completely disagree with the criticisms about the booking though, it's been top notch since Delirious took over, the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess.

The guy with the ROH avatar and sig praising it - who woulda thought it eh?

"Final Battle was very average... the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess."Not see those bits?

Me making a joke not notice that bit? I'm only fucking around, gave that site a lil gander liked the 5 future improvements article. I haven't watched Final Battle but the constant criticisms have really put me off, I hope they turn a corner with the Baltimore taping/Philly homecoming and the 10th anniversary show (that's in NYC yeah?) Plus the Chikara involvement at Philly could be pretty cool.

[ROHSteven]

Final Battle was very average - not like ROH at all. The main event was just awful. I completely disagree with the criticisms about the booking though, it's been top notch since Delirious took over, the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess.

The guy with the ROH avatar and sig praising it - who woulda thought it eh?

"Final Battle was very average... the only criticism I have of him and Cornette is Final Battle, it was just a complete mess."Not see those bits?

Me making a joke not notice that bit? I'm only fucking around, gave that site a lil gander liked the 5 future improvements article. I haven't watched Final Battle but the constant criticisms have really put me off, I hope they turn a corner with the Baltimore taping/Philly homecoming and the 10th anniversary show (that's in NYC yeah?) Plus the Chikara involvement at Philly could be pretty cool.

No, I didn't! Fair enough and yeah, it's a good piece.The first half of the show was great but the second half was just overkill. The gauntlet match was just 'meh' and was really predictable. The Briscoes/WGTT match was just a mess and came off awful although at least the Briscoes won and ended one of, if not the worst, title run in ROH history. The main event was terrible. They tried to outdo 'Best In The World' which, in my opinion, was near enough perfect. They had all the build up with Severn and the Dragon Sleeper and neither came into play, just made no sense whatsoever. I wouldn't recommend it if I'm honest. 'Death Before Dishonor IX' was much better even though there were no title matches and no Davey.The TV taping sounded ok, some weird booking decisions again but we'll see how they come off on TV. Yeah, the 10th Anniversary show is in NYC. They should have had the Philly Homecoming show as the 10th Anni show too and stuck it on iPPV - they really missed the boat on that one.I know next to nothing about Chikara but freshening things up can only be a good thing.

[Vito]

I've tried getting in to ROH lately but I can't get over how sterile and humourless the promotion is these days, the last iPPV was particularly difficult to watch because I just couldn't feel any kind of emotional connection with any of the performers, even the ones I was familiar with. I used to love the early stuff with the ludicrous scramble matches (I still have two Special K beanies somewhere), the "pure wrestling" and "strong style" contests and the phenomenal main event matches, but now it seems to be all about bland Firstname Surname guys with no charisma or personality going through the motions looking like they'd rather be somewhere else.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Vito

[Joey Joe Joe Jr]

I've tried getting in to ROH lately but I can't get over how sterile and humourless the promotion is these days, the last iPPV was particularly difficult to watch because I just couldn't feel any kind of emotional connection with any of the performers, even the ones I was familiar with. I used to love the early stuff with the ludicrous scramble matches II still have two Special K beanies somewhere), the "pure wrestling" and "strong style" contests and the phenomenal main event matches, but now it seems to be all about bland Firstname Surname guys with no charisma or personality going through the motions looking like they'd rather be somewhere else.

 

 

I kinda know what you mean or at least it was my experience when after a long stint of maybe a year of not watching a lot of the product, I ordered a few dvds back in 09 (Danielson and Nigel's last show) and during some of the matches, despite it being the Manhattan Center, the crowd were so, so quiet. It shocked me since the last show I watched had been A New Level which had a pretty hot crowd IIRC. That experience really turned me off watching constantly and from thereon I would catch the video wires and dl or buy the odd dvd which I heard good things about throughout the card.

 

It may not have had the super "WRESTLING IS AN IMPORTANT SPORT" vibe the Cornette insists on, but the Ringcrew Express shtick back in 05 with their stage dives were brilliant.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

The Chikara team to face the Briscoes on 20/1 will be Hallowicked and Jigsaw

[gadge]

Remember the first half of 2011 when ROH had some buzz about it?

 

Supercard Of Honor VI - Chicago Ridge, IL - 21/5/11

 

On the very day ROH being purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group was announced, the promotion ran their sixth Supercard of Honor show from Chicago Ridge. Would the promotion produce a blinding show to dazzle the new owners? There's only one way to find out...

 

Homicide vs Michael Elgin - One thing I learned the month before this when I attended ROH live in Atlanta was that the undercards in 2011 have a tendency to feature watchable, not overly excessive, just under ten minute bouts. This one starts out in that vein, helped out by Elgin looking decent, but then Homicide drags things down towards the end. Worse, he also gets a victory out of nowhere with an Ace Crusher at 9:29. Elgin could have used the win here.

 

Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly vs The Bravado Brothers - Before this one gets under way, the Bravados attempt to cut a promo, only to be drowned out by the crowd whenever either of them tries to put the mic anywhere near their mouths. After a couple of minutes of this, their promo attempts are then cut off by the arrival of Cole and O'Reilly. The crowd love that. This isn't the first match between these two teams, and there's not too much different between this and matches past. The night goes from bad to worse for Harlem Bravado, as stereo kicks from Cole and O'Reilly seem to legitimitely KO him, but Cole and O'Reilly drill him with combination lungblowers anyway for the pin at 9:48. Ouch.

 

Steve Corino vs Mike Bennett - This is billed as "One Final Time". Before the match there's a rinse-and-repeat of the Revolution: USA angle where Corino tries to introduce his sponsor, only this time Bennett is shocked as he actually arrives. The crowd, who were understandably chanting for Steen at Corino's tease, still embrace the arrival of Jimmy Jacobs in the spot. Unfortunately, Jacobs is thrown out and the match is a bit of a dud, and Corino never manages to score a victory as Bennett beats him again with a piledriver at 9:23. At least they didn't go 15+ minutes here.

 

Chris Hero vs El Generico - You would expect the card to pick up here, but sadly Hero and Generico are saddled with being the fourth straight match to go just 9 minutes and change, and the finish has Cornette's fingerprints all over it. What was bubbling along nicely ends abruptly when Hero blasts Generico with a kick and gets the pin with his feet on the ropes at 9:05. Then, referee Todd Sinclair senses something fishy, gets confirmation of Hero using the ropes FROM THE CROWD, and restarts the match. A Helluva Kick and a half nelson suplex later and Generico gets the win just 0:23 after the restart. A big disappointment, this.

 

Davey Richards vs Charlie Haas - Oh boy, what to say about this one. This is Haas' first ROH singles match, and rather than starting him easy, he's thrown straight into a "dream match" scenario with everyone's favourite ROH debating point, Davey Richards. Predictably, they go down what you might call the "Kurt Angle Classic" route here, which is only going to leave a number of people shaking their heads. From my perspective, the mat wrestling in the early going is watchable enough, but if you've not got particularly interesting characters and storyline, you can't just substitute those things with German suplex exchanges, which is how it comes across. Haas even busts out Angle's Olympic Slam into the ringpost spot on Richards, but there's no reason for it and it gets almost no reaction. Richards eventually gets the pin with a trio of unanswered kicks to the head at 18:50.

 

Claudio Castagnoli vs Shelton Benjamin - Two things stood out to me in this one. The first was that Claudio is wrestling a style that will get him over in the WWE midcard almost immediately, and while he won't get matches this long that often, he can easily condense his stuff to make his shorter matches more exciting. The second was that Shelton was carried for at least the second half of the match, he looked completely knackered out there. In fact, he barely did anything but sell Claudio's offense for several minutes before getting the pin out of nowhere with the pop up superplex at 17:21. I wouldn't call this a great match due to the need for a carry job, but I found this much more watchable than Richards/Haas. The history between them (and their respective partners) certainly helped. Kings and WGTT have to be seperated afterwards.

 

Christopher Daniels vs Colt Cabana - Another Cornette-ism at the start of this non-title match, as Todd Sinclair gives Truth Martini a count of ten to leave ringside before Daniels loses by forfeit. A shame, as Martini and Daniels play off each other well. The match is simple good guy-bad guy formula, with plenty of home town reaction for Cabana as you'd expect. There's a storyline finish, as Michael Elgin runs in but Steve Corino foils his efforts, then Cabana dumps Daniels midsection first across the top turnbuckle for the pin at 8:51. Cabana has no time for Corino in the post match and leaves, and it's Corino who takes a House of Truth beating afterwards. Poor Steve. Overall, the match and angle were just the sort of thing you'd find on a TV show, and it's just kind of there on the DVD.

 

Chicago Street Fight: The All Night Express vs Jay and Mark Briscoe - A more positive reaction to the Briscoes than they've been getting is immediately noticable in this one, and slightly hinders the efforts of the All Nights, but with the Street Fight gimmick in effect, both teams basically go to war. As is usually the case when ROH does this kind of thing, there's plenty of intensity and violence, and the match is certainly very good, but at the same time this kind of thing has certainly been done better. Predictably, everyone juices bar Kenny King. I guess being "The Pretty Boy Pitbull" has its benefits. The Briscoes pick up another victory in the feud, pinning Titus after the doomsday device at 19:29, albeit with a weird delay while Jay Briscoe stumbles around the ring and falls into the pin itself. That was odd. I just felt there was a certain spark missing in this one that would really have pushed it to the next level, but I don't know what specifically.

 

ROH World Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs Roderick Strong - It seems a bit weird having Roderick Strong get his championship rematch with Edwards here after he also lost to Richards in Atlanta, even with the storyline they've been doing where Richards doesn't want to face his teammate. Thankfully though, they quickly make you forget that, thanks to Roderick starting out really aggressively as soon as the pre-match handshake is done. Credit to both the commentary and the wrestling for telling the story that Strong feels he only lost the title due to underestimating Edwards, and isn't going to make the same mistake again here. This has the added bonus of getting the crowd behind Edwards, except for when they can't restrain themselves from the dreaded "This Is Wrestling" and "This Is Awesome" chants. Still, this is ROH after all, and such crappy chants come with independent wrestling territory for the most part. The next best thing about the match is that they aren't booked to go a ridiculous amount of time, with the bout clocking in at a digestible 23:37. There is a bit of a sense of overkill near the end for me, with one example being when Roderick hitting the Gibson Driver on the apron and then another Gibson Driver on the floor (Edwards survives, of course). However, this was a compelling match overall, with hard hitting action at a continuous high tempo. I also though it was a nice touch that it finished with Edwards winning in a manner more convincing than the rollup that got him the title in the first place, as he locks in the Achilles Lock and starts stomping Roderick in the head for the referee stoppage. Really good stuff.

 

The show ends with Davey Richards running to the ring with a chair to see off a House of Truth battering of the champion, then Edwards says he'll quit if Richards doesn't agree to challenge him for the title. Richards finally agrees, and so our iPPV main event is made for the next show, "Best in the World"...

 

Overall - While DVD run time for this is a meaty 3 hours, 13 minutes, I didn't enjoy much of the first hour and a half at all, and only the main event really stood out to me as a match worth going out of your way for. Generally a disappointment considering the high standards of most of the rest of ROH's 2011 to this point, and particularly compared to previous Supercard of Honor shows.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Remember the days when you used to get amazing opening matches in ROH? Shelley vs Claudio 20 minute draw is one that springs to mind. Thing of the past it seems like.

[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

Seems that Homicide is done with ROH as his profile has been removed from the website, Hasn't been anything special since returning apart from The LAX vs KOW match.

 

Also seems that Mike Mondo has been added to the full time roster, Please with that as i've liked what i've saw from him. His "biggest man in Ring Of Honor" gimmick does get a few laughs. Steve Corino hasn't been removed from the roster page, Even after reports that he was done with the company. Hopefully he sticks around.

[jackhennessey]

Just chuck Corino on commentary, him McGuiness and Kelly - 3 man commentary would be pretty rad. Didn't the southern promotions back in the territories opt for a 3 man approach? Then you can have 2 colour guys (one more heel one more face) alongside a play by play guy just calling the match.

[Only_The_Strong_Survive]

Just chuck Corino on commentary, him McGuiness and Kelly - 3 man commentary would be pretty rad. Didn't the southern promotions back in the territories opt for a 3 man approach? Then you can have 2 colour guys (one more heel one more face) alongside a play by play guy just calling the match.

 

That could work, But who would you have as heel? Corino or McGuinness? Both awesome heels! But i suppose it would make sense to turn McGuinness as Corino has been sticking up for the young guys for a year.

 

Also really hoping ROH can pull something huge out the bag for the 10th Anniversary Show. Hoping for a great card with Highlight Packages between matches of the greatest moments

[jackhennessey]

Both are too good at being heels! But yeah as much as I love Corinos dickhead mic work as a heel (One that I can remember when he was mentoring/managing Steen, and they were both doing commentary whilst Steen was beating up some jobber, cracking stuff) But yeah it wouldn't make sense for him to be slagging the faces off yet... Where as McGuiness can really do the cock piss-aker gimmick great and he was a heel at the end of his ROH wrestling career. Plus everyone noticed how at first the show was a bit too Kevin Kelly heavy so three lads on the mic they can spread out the face time a little.