Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 1, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 My final question is to DDD, and regards the FIP show held 2 nights before the other show you reviews that featured Scotty and Delirious teaming in the main event. Â I'm particularly interested in the Davey Richards vs Scotty too Hotty match, and your thoughts? Its something that has irked me quite profoundly and I can't seem to stop bitching about it! It would be cathartic to read some venting on the subject that shares my sentiments. Â I've got the DVD, but havn't gotten round to watching it yet, as I'm trying to catch up on ROH at the mo. I'll try and watch it in the next week or so though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylesclash05 Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'm catching back up with ROH, I have this years DBD to watch next. What I want to know is, would somebody give me a brief history of the Age of the Fall? As I haven't the time to watch as far back as their debut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaaaaad! Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 (edited) Revealing themselves to be 'Project 161', the AOTF debut at ROH's PPV 'Man Up!', their 161st show. Group consists of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black and Necro Butcher, with Lacey. Feud with the Briscoes erupts over the tag belts (and the power they bring) after they use the tether remaining from the Briscoes/Steenerico ladder match to hang Jay by his feet. This develops and Jacobs/Black eventually win the belts at Final Battle 2007, in the Manhattan Centre. Some time prior to this a woman named Allison Wonderland also begins to accompany them. They lose the belts within the month to No Remorse Corps' Davey Richards and Rocky Romero, but they gain a new member in Joey Matthews. They're also joined by Zach Gowen in February, around the same time as they begin courting Austin Aries, who is on a losing streak. Lacey eventually persuades Aries to go against Tammy Sytch in an attempt to get him to join AOTF. Â We're now at ROH's Take No Prisoners PPV. Tyler Black wins a four corner survival which entitles him to an ROH World Title shot later that night against Nigel, which he loses but takes many plaudits for. Meanwhile, Aries reveals he has not joined AOTF - he's stolen Lacey from Jacobs. Jimmy responds by (allegedly) spiking Lacey outside a gym with Tyler Black and Joey Matthews present in their car. At this time the Briscoes relinquish their belts due to Mark's injury, resulting in AOTF winning a one night tournament to reclaim the titles, beating Steenerico. Two different combinations of AOTF also go on to lose one and win one against Steenerico in non-title matches following the tournament. Meanwhile, Austin Aries sets his sights on releasing Necro Butcher from Jacobs' power and the three get involved in a feud of sorts. Matthews and Gowen, having both lost respective matches for AOTF during this time, are not 'kicked out' but are not seen again after this point. Aries also defeats Jacobs in a match which means he can pick Jacobs' opponent for their return to that venue - he chooses Necro Butcher in a No DQ match. Â AOTF defend the belts a few times (twice against Aries and Bryan Danielson) whilst Aries faces Jacobs and Necro in a threeway, with Necro's status in the AOTF uncertain. This should take you nicely into Death Before Dishonor - I wrote more but it only just dawned on me that this is as far as you need to go right now Edited January 2, 2009 by Dingbat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 4, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2009 My Death Before Dishonor VI review back on page 114 is finally finished here  I watched Age of Insanity as well, which is very much a 'B' show, but is worth a watch if you're a fan of ROH's masked men.  First off the filler... Kevin Steen vs Jigsaw? Why should I care? Maybe if Jigsaw was masked, and still teaming with Quackenbush... Speaking of the going nowhere Vulture Squad, Adam Pearce squashes Ruckus in the build to him rematching with Albright... Sara Del Rey vs Sassy Steffy lasts seconds... FIP regular and most likely to be pushed from the YRR Kenny King gets a match with Bryan Danielson, and I wasn't impressed enough to, um, stay awake. Damned late night ROH watching...  One of the major reasons to watch Age of Insanity is Delirious flipping to the dark side. After the events of DBDVI, Delirious comes out to face Rhett Titus a subdued figure, with new more black, less green ring gear, who bloodies Titus during their match (which is only second on the card) and wins the match by referee stoppage after repeated Panic Attacks, which considering the juice Titus gets is a nasty visual. The big news apart from the nature of the victory, is Jimmy Jacobs being ringside for the second half of the match, and talking Delirious into Age of the Fall afterwards due to their shared broken hearts. Bless them crazy emos. Daizee Haze, you can't talk him out of it, you crazy fool. Serves you right for thinking the 'thrust is a must'. Yeah.  Delirious then becomes Jacobs' mystery tag team partner for a match with the Briscoes in the second half of the card, which is certainly a change in direction. It's a good way of emphasising his place in AOTF too, though they come up losers to the Briscoes, who of course are looking for the tag titles again.  Elsewhere in Age of the Fall land, Tyler Black is a heel again against Austin Aries, as he challenges him to compete under 'Age of the Fall rules'... then says he means competitive wrestling, not a brawl. Aries wins in a fair match, but not good enough to make it a reason to buy the DVD.  The business end of the show starts with Claudio furthering his heel turn by getting DQed in an FIP title match against new champ Erick Stevens. Considering Stevens won the belt back in FIP, then missed the Manassas/Hammerstein shows, this wasn't a good start to pushing him in ROH in his second FIP reign. Then, Chris Hero and Go Shiosaki defeat Roderick Strong and Brent Albright with a screwy finish. Not a great match, but at least better than the awful Hero/Strong singles match recently reviewed by DDD.  Finally, Nigel McGuinness defends the ROH World Title vs El Generico. Remember where I said this was a show to buy if you're a fan of ROH's masked men? This is why. Apart from some questionable logic (what did Generico do to earn this?), the fact is he's one of ROH's very best underdogs, and the result is a very exciting version of the Nigel title match template. Sure, there's a lot of lariats. There's a lot of close nearfalls. When the crowd buys it, it's just fine. When Generico is taking the beating, you want him to win. Of course, that's not happening, but it's a very fun ride, good enough that they rematched it at Glory By Honor VII, one of the major shows of the year.  So, if you like Delirious and El Generico, this show will interest you especially, otherwise it's a pretty skippable show. Next... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 7, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 An interesting titbit I yoinked from the ROH board, which in turn came from PWI Insider I think  New Ring of Honor booker Adam Pearce informed the locker room over the last 24 hours that he would be curtailing his responsibilities when it came to being on the road and in dealing directly with talent due to outside responsibilities with his family and other obligations. Moving forward, Pearce will still be booking but will not be attending ROH's Friday night events. He will fly in from the West Coast and help with the Saturday events. On events Pearce is not backstage for, Austin Aries (who has gained considerable power under the new regime) will be running the ROH locker room.  Larry Sweeney has also been tapped as something of a liason between the wrestlers and Pearce in an effort to cut back some of Pearce's time management. In the past, wrestlers would email or call Pearce directly with concerns and suggestions. Now, they will go to Sweeney, who will then report to Pearce. The change is made to take some of the workload off of Pearce's shoulders.  Interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 7, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) Interesting that Aries has just turned heel, too.  What's this? Another review?  Night of the Butcher II - 16.8.08  ROH returns to Chicago for another show with an Age of the Fall related main event, and plenty more...  The crowd are particularly hot for this event, which immediately jumps out as Kevin Steen vs Kenny King starts us off. Yep, it's another singles match for Steen after rededicating himself to his and Generico's tag title quest after their match at Death Before Dishonor VI. King slips on the ropes during his entrance, which Steen jumps all over him for. He redeems himself with a good performance in the match though, which is a good effort all round. Steen wins with the sharpshooter, which is the right result.  A Tag Team Scramble is supposed to follow that, but Pelle Primeau comes out solo to find out where his formerly semi-regular partner Delirious is. He should have been paying attention, and just should have got out of the way when he saw Jimmy Jacobs coming out. Jacobs introduces Delirious, who batters Primeau around ringside. See ya Pelle.  The Scramble then follows, with The Briscoes vs Ruckus and Jigsaw vs The Phoenix Twins vs Mitch Franklin and Trik Davis as the line-up. The Phoenix Twins are apparently up and comers from the area, and Franklin and Davis are replacements for Pelle and Delirious. Much like the early ROH Scrambles, there's a lot of spots, the pace is kept up, the sucky competitiors (I'm looking at YOU: Davis) don't drag things down, and the result is unpredictable - after the Briscoes batter pretty much everyone for an extended period, the Vulture Squad crew grab the pin when one of the Phoenixes get double stomp Jig 'n' Tonic'd. Yikes. Comparatively short undercard fun.  El Generico vs Tyler Black is the first match on the card with some serious meaning. The crowd's desire to see Steenerico grab the tag belts from AOTF means it works for the crowd to boo sometime fan favourite Black in this singles encounter. Things start off with punches and stuff before settling down, and then things build to a crescendo. Tyler really should have got the pin after a dazzling spot where he pulls Generico off the top rope in the corner, then manages to 'rana him OUT OF MID-AIR, then kick him right in the head when he's not flat on the canvas, but Generico kicks out. Shortly after, Generico hits the yakuza kick in the corner then a brainbuster for three. Good match that was elevated by continuing crowd heat.  FIP World Heavyweight Title: Erick Stevens vs Chris Hero  Things go downhill here slightly, for two main reasons. One, the match is too long. Secondly, Hero's Knockout Kid gimmick works in the context of killing Pelle Primeau in under ten minutes. Not in 20 minute matches where his strikes don't look that devastating because he hits loads of them and doesn't win. Erick Stevens is good at the rookie powerhouse role he plays, where he has some good power moves but he doesn't control his matches, but after 18 months in the promotion it's time he moved on. Still, his good selling and nicely executed power moves work for effective comebacks, so the crowd maintain most of their interest. The crowd do finally bite on the possibility of Hero winning with the rolling elbow right near the end, but then he gets in a bad position in the corner, and Stevens wins with an impressive power slam off the second rope.  Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries vs Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli  This is really good. I get a kick out of Team Work, and they are particularly on form here. Danielson is so keen to get revenge on Claudio, he even pushes McGuinness out of the way at the beginning to go after him, chasing him to the floor and around ringside. Later on, both Nigel and Claudio do the Dragon-mocking routine McGuinness has had down for months, which immediately makes their team gel. Loads of good action here, and the crowd gets another good result as Danielson makes Nigel tap to Cattle Mutilation! I think this is Danielson's first chance to score a point on Nigel since the 6th anniversary show match went against him, and the beginning of the build to the Rising Above PPV title match they have (also in Chicago).  Roderick Strong running the Sweet 'n' Sour Gauntlet in a quest to get a shot at Larry Sweeney himself begins the second half. Strong throws his shirt at Sweeney at the beginning, and while he's distracted, Bobby Dempsey takes a dive. That made me laugh, and the crowd pop. Shane Hagadorn is next. For some reason, the man servant gets in some offense, and things drift for two or three minutes before Strong gets his ass into gear and starts beating Hagadorn about before finishing him off with a neat combo of offense. Adam Pearce is next, and the two have a proper competitive match, which works nicely with Pearce's heel mannerisms and the crowd buying the overall story. Strong wins again, only to be ambushed by Chris Hero and his loaded elbow pad. THREE dragged out strikes with that (and an early Hero DQ) mean Sweeney then pins Roderick without making a single offensive maneuvre, which works much better than the deal they did with Claudio in a similar situation the year before. The feud goes on, but this story does a good job of adding fuel to the fire.  NWA World Heavyweight Title: Brent Albright vs Go Shiosaki  Oh. Dear. This is really bad, without actually being really bad. They have a technically correct World title match, but everything is completely by numbers, and absolutely no-one cares. Albright is mega-over in NYC, but in Chicago, not so much, and the colourless Shiosaki doesn't draw emotion from him or the crowd. The NWA title match rules mean there are no dives, and there's little outside the ring shortcuts, so they have no help there. There's a hilarious moment right in the last portion of the match where they batter each other with clotheslines, then do a double clothesline knockdown, and the result is a polite ripple of applause. There is an "ooh" from the crowd when Albright hits the half nelson suplex and Shiosaki lands at a very ugly angle, but it's more a gasp at the impact than caring about the result. I don't even want to comment on an amateur looking exchange of German suplexes. Even the commentary team, which I'd been actively enjoying during this show, seems to realise the match sucks, as Shiosaki misses his moonsault and Lenny Leonard mockingly goes "Shiosaki misses the moonsault, EPIC FAIL~!". Albright retains, possibly with the crowbar, but the actual finish seemed so irrelevent that I can't be certain...  No DQ: Necro Butcher vs Jimmy Jacobs  Now, this is more like it. It's main event time. Necro coming out to "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty is simply awesome. The face turn for Necro is obviously complete: he takes time high-fiving everyone at ringside, and the crowd go bananas for him. The story here is that Austin Aries was able to put Jimmy Jacobs in this match by beating him in the main event of the last show in Chicago, Vendetta II, and Lacey had told him that Jacobs' greatest fear was the Necro Butcher.  Jacobs seals the deal with a hilarious pre-match spiel, offering Necro a trip to Alaska to spread the word of Age of the Fall. Necro actually gets on the mic, which I thought would seem weird but worked fine, and puts over that he was fighting for his family now. Then he punched Jacobs in the face with the hand he had the mic in. Excellent. Then they go through the crowd, and while the typical ROH brawl is often pretty mind numbing and identikit, the main event positioning, the crowd love for Necro and good action made it pretty compelling.  Eventually they get back in the ring, and the match ends in shenanigans, as Tyler Black runs in just as Necro is about to put Jacobs away, Necro is put through a chair, Austin Aries tries to make the save, but he ends up being powerbombed onto Necro, which puts Necro through a table. A three count later, and Jimmy Jacobs is the winner! Booooo!  From there, it's mayhem time. Jacobs and Black hold up their tag titles, and Steen and Generico run in and jump them, but Delirious runs in and the Age of the Fall once again gain control. The Briscoes make the save, leaving them and Steen and Generico in the ring. 11 months after the Ladder War (again, in the same venue) they end up brawling once again, and there's a big dive sequence. Steen and Generico leave, and there's another face off, between AOTF and the trio of the Briscoes and Aries. Before they can square off, Necro comes in from the side, and punches EVERYONE in the face. The DVD ends with Necro standing (well, sitting on a chair in the ring to start) tall, as 'I Won't Back Down' once again plays. Fabulous.  Highly enjoyable fare from ROH this one, which caught me by surprise as it's not been a greatly hyped show. Since Northern Navigation/New Horizons weekend, ROH has had a particularly good set of shows for the most part... Edited January 7, 2009 by gadgetboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 8, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 From the latest Newswire  January 8th: Ring of Honor officials are still receiving no cooperation from Austin Aries when it comes to the World Title Match that he earned by virtue of his win over Tyler Black at Final Battle. The Booking Committee has been trying to secure the championship match for the fans in Edison on January 17. We hope to have an update on this as soon as possible, as neither the ROH Office nor Nigel McGuinness has any clue what Aries is doing.  I will refrain from commenting on the attendent irony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 8, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Shit. Now when Aries becomes the first 2-time champion, which I think is deserved, people will bellyache that he "politicked"/booked it himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 9, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 I have no problem with Aries as a two time champ, I just find stuff like the above amusing. Given that someone was seriously suggesting Albright as a potential champion the other day, I could live with Aries in light of that. Â On a completely unrelated note, does anyone else find that after watching The Wire they stop saying "shit" and start saying "sheeeeit"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klown Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 My tickets came in the post this morning for my 10th and 11th US ROH show !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 10, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2009 Northern Navigation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 12, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 12, 2009 First up, the news: Nigel McGuinness has surpassed Bryan Danielson to become the second longest reigning ROH World Champion ever. Well done Nigel! Â Secondly, nice review DDD. I think I said before, Stevens-Shiosaki through to Marufuji-Strong is one of my favourite three match runs in ROH for 2008, with Danielson vs Castagnoli II being perhaps the most fun I've had watching a match all year. Steen's third title shot, however, is ridiculously overrated by the ROH forum. It's way too long, and follows the usual Nigel title match format, only slower to fill time and with nothing to fill the gaps between the big spots. D-U-double-L, DULL, bar the stupidly mental bumps Steen takes that you mention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 13, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 13, 2009 Why thank you kind sir! Another one for your delectation... Â New Horizons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dopper Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Does any footage related to 'The Wrestler' appear on any ROH dvds? Â I was thinking they might have interviewed Rourke or the Director or had them introduced the audience at the shows where they recorded scenes for the film. They could have made interesting dvd extras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted January 19, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) Not really, is the answer. There an amusing moment on Double Feature though where Eddie Kingston is cutting a promo in the crowd and Marisa Tomei walks past in the background. Â While I'm on here I must say I do fear for the future of ROH. The attendance figures for both weekends' shows were low, there seems to have been an almightly cock up regarding the time limit draw which they're now hastily trying to turn into an angle as damage limitation. As for Bison Smith - ROH needs that fool like a hole in the head. And as bad as Gabe's booking was in 2008, his plans for the few months after his departure looked a hell of a lot better than what actually happened. Edited January 19, 2009 by Dearly Devoted Dexter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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