Paid Members LaGoosh Posted June 15, 2006 Paid Members Share Posted June 15, 2006 I just remembered something from the Zandig/Cornette debate to prove why you should all skip this on the DVD.Cornette: None of ROHs wrestler would ever work for your shitty promotion.Zandig: Shows what you know, half the guys back there have worked for CZW.Cornette: And they wouldn't go back if you paid them a million dollars!Zandig: Shows what you know, I got a bunch of your guys coming in for Best Of The Best next month.Cornette: Yeah, to star in a movie about CZW called BREAK-NECK MOUNTAIN!*fans pop*Nonsensical, immature and dumb are the words that come to mind when watching this debate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted June 15, 2006 Paid Members Share Posted June 15, 2006 (edited) I watched 'Best in the World' on sunday morning, and tried to write a review in the afternoon, but the fact it was really hot addled my brain, and so here's a review of most of 'Best in the World' - but not the last two matches, as I need to rewatch Strong and Evans vs The Briscoes.  EDIT: Review completed 12th July - finally...  ROH Best in the World : New York, NY, March 25 2006  Part three of ROH's 'milestone series', this one isn't really much of a milestone. It's kind of the anniversary of the Manhattan debut, though it's only 10 and a half months after 'Manhattan Mayhem', it is the first time they drew over 1,000 fans (they claim) as the Basketball City venue is larger than the New Yorker Hotel they were running in.  The DVD opens with the end of 'Arena Warfare', as team CZW finish destroying BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Bower on commentary notes that tonight, anyone from CZW has a 'free pass' to come and make any challenge they want, and ROH will answer them in equal numbers. Whitmer's destruction was not nearly as dramatic on DVD as it may have been live, for me.  Jimmy Rave vs Pelle Primeau  This is a squash, which you can watch for free on ROHvideos.com. Pelle Primeau is one of the ROH students, but he's so small and bumps pretty well, that with the right angle he could probably get over. Rave gets bombarded by one of the biggest toilet paper showers yet, which makes a great visual. Two minutes later, and Greetings from Ghana (Rave's Pedigree rip-off) gets Rave the win. Prince Nana then gets on the mic, ripping on the NY fans and Bruce Leroy, leading to...  Jimmy Rave vs Jimmy Yang  Yang runs in and pastes Rave to start, which is a better flurry than any of Yang's performance against Roderick Strong at 'Arena Warfare'. It doesn't last, as distractions from Nana let Rave take control, then things settle down into a very WWE-style match, where the heel beats on the babyface, who gets some comeback spots but keeps getting cut down by managerial interference and other shortcuts.  Nana eventually takes a top rope kick from Yang, which lets Rave hit some of his big spots, including a spear and his running knee, but a showboating pinfall leads to Yang hitting a quick crucifix pin for the three. Solid Rave-dominated match. Nana then jumps Yang, but Bruce Leroy makes the save to a good reaction.  Lacey vs Allison Danger vs Mercedes Martinez vs Daizee Haze  Wow, this was a great ten and a half minutes, and has almost sold me on buying volume 1 of SHIMMER.  I love the consistency of the ring entrances, as Allison has her own music, but the same blue lighting effect as Christopher Daniels, and Daizee Haze still represents the Embassy and comes out to their music.  The main story of the match is Lacey trying to avoid Mercedes Martinez, though there's plenty of action as things progress. Lacey and Daizee Haze start, then Lacey pisses Martinez off by tagging her in by slapping her. After some of Martinez vs Allison Danger, Lacey avoiding Martinez turns into Lacey and Daizee isolating Allison, who is pretty good as a woman in peril (just typing 'woman in peril' relating to Allison Danger makes me think of Leicester Lantern coming in to save her - I've been reading this forum for too long).  When Martinez finally gets the hot tag, she cleans house in a big way, with a great vertical suplex-brainbuster-German suplex combo on Lacey in particular and the Manhattan fans eat it up. All four then spill to the floor, where Allison gets her first major offense by swinging The Haze into the metal barricades. Nasty. Martinez hits her finisher, a fisher(wo)mans buster, but isn't legal and Allison Danger is able to steal the pin on Lacey. Good stuff.  Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze vs Chris Hero and Necro Butcher  Blade and Mikaze supposedly have an open challenge, which is such a big thing it's not even listed on the DVD cover, and it's accepted by CZW's Chris Hero and Necro Butcher jumping them during their entrance, and swiftly destroying them. That's a good thing. Hero then does some calling out, first Adam Pearce, who comes out full of fire, wipes out Hero then brawls through the crowd with Necro, culminating in Pearce slamming Necro through a table on the floor. Hero jumps him, though, and Necro quickly recovers, so they beat on Pearce two-on-one until Hero gets back on the mic and calls out his regular tag team partner from elsewhere, Claudio Castagnoli, to help finish the job.  Castagnoli comes out, but nails Hero and Necro with european uppercuts and they bail, leaving 'Double C' (which could also be Chad Collyer, Colt Cabana, or Christian Cage, couldn't it?) and Pearce alone in the ring to ROH chants. Pearce calls for Hero and Necro to come back for some more, to no response, and Castagnoli promises to finally win the Pure title later. Good angle overall, but for the rest of the show the commentators go on about 'Double C' being loyal to ROH to the degree it telegraphs his later heel turn.  Christopher Daniels vs Alex Shelley  Both men need a win here after losses at 'Arena Warfare'. The ROH crowd continue to react to Daniels like a genuine megastar, moreso than in TNA, helped by the awesome ring entrance and the fact they appreciate him after his enforced abscence for most of 2004 and half of 2005. Prince Nana, Daizee Haze and Allison Danger are all at ringside for this one. This is the first long-ish match on the show, and it soon settles into a similar groove as Rave vs Yang, only better.  Shelley starts by frustrating Daniels, spitting water in his face at the opening lockup and then getting in slaps and ducking out of the ring. Shelley is awesome at being obnoxious, and the longer matches in ROH really give him the chance to show it. Daniels has plenty of his usual stuff to offer as the natural face, but this match is really about Shelley doing his heel thing in a major singles match for the second show in a row... except for the fact he falls in the end to the Angels Wings. The commentators mention that's two losses for the Embassy, which is only likely to increase tensions between Rave and Shelley after their recent arguings over World Title shots. More on that later. Good match, not full of big spots but the face/heel dynamic was spot on and the finish is excellent.  Pure Title match: Nigel McGuinness vs Claudio Castagnoli  This is Claudio's third and final Pure title shot while Nigel is champion. The first two title matches were reasonable, but ended in Nigel cheating to win, which didn't go down very well. This is a better match, which hardly plays to the Pure title rules at all, and genuinely feels like a feud ender. Nigel interrupts referee Todd Sinclair announcing the rules, and hilariously tries to suck up, but Claudio jumps him and dominates early on with his numerous european uppercuts and a couple of submission attempts that Nigel manages to get out of without using ropebreaks. Nigel takes over with a slickly done counter out of his headstand spot, and works over the arm for a bit.  Neither man holds too much of an advantage for long though. Claudio hits a sweet twisting bodypress to the floor, they brawl but get back in well before the 20-count becomes an issue, Claudio kicks out of the Tower of London, Nigel twice kicks out of a kind of inverted angle slam with a bizarre name I didn't catch properly, and they trade a series of european uppercuts into a Claudio backslide for a nearfall. Finally, Claudio uses the only ropebreak of the match to avoid getting pinned by a second Tower of London, but Nigel manages to retain after the lariat where he swings off the ropes. Very good stuff.  Gary Michael Cappetta is in the dark (no, really) for an intermission interview with Nigel, but first we get a video look at Jimmy Jacobs' simultaneously awesome and ridiculous 'Ballad of Lacey'. Check it out for yourself at ROHvideos.com. Back with the Pure champ, and he cuts an awesome, serious interview about his continuing title reign, including touring NOAH with the belt, how he was making it the 'real World Title' and aiming some comments at Bryan Danielson, starting the build to an eventual match between the two which occurs at the end of April.  Austin Aries vs Ricky Reyes  This is a rematch from 'Hell Freezes Over', where Aries was trying to get revenge for his students getting destroyed repeatedly and ended up only getting a flash pin when Reyes own shoulders were down while he had Aries in his dragon sleeper. This time round is probably a superior encounter, as Reyes finally seems comfortable in a serious singles match, and they have a good back and forth affair. The finish doesn't conclude anything though, as Reyes gets DQed for not releasing the dragon sleeper when Aries reaches the ropes - so yet again, Aries wins but without breaking Reyes' hold.  Before the crowd can turn on the DQ, though, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans run in for the save, swiftly followed by the Briscoes and we go straight into the next match...  Roderick Strong and Jack Evans vs Jay and Mark Briscoe  Hmmm, Strong and Evans, the Generation Next team you would have thought would have won the tag titles, except it was Strong and Aries who got the honours. They're also the team that had a series of very good highspot festivals in 2005, most notably a loss to BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs, also in Manhattan. So what are the chances of Strong and Evans defeating the Briscoes, who returned just two shows previously and have been attacking the champions and are on a quest to get a title shot?  Naturally, the Briscoes have the advantage to start due to being the last to run in. With the match underway, Evans gets isolated, which is a good way to start. The Briscoes are fine when they're doing the isolation, less so when things speed up, though they have been pretty crisp since their return.  When Evans gets the tag, Strong cleans house, which is nice while it lasts, but we then go into an extended period where both teams try to get the advantage, but can't quite maintain it as there's always someone busting out something slightly ridiculous (including such a high number of spinning kicks that sometimes connect from Evans that even the commentators mention it) to prevent themselves from being double teamed for too long.  The end result of all this is finally, The Briscoes isolate Evans again. They do sneaky ref distractions, spit at Roderick to entice him into the ring and attack Evans legs, to the point they manage to get some heel heat, which is nice.  Of course, the match has a sprint finish, which is watchable enough if you like that sort of thing (which i generally do), but it's not as smooth as some. Evans and Strong get the suprise win with the Ode to the Bulldogs Phoenix Splash, which doesn't hit properly but is close enough to draw a huge pop, and the commentators sell as landing "on the face" of whichever Briscoe it was, which is more or less accurate.  After the match, Roderick carries a limp Evans backstage. Not sure why I mention it, but I liked it as it sold firstly Evans being near dead and secondly the fact they're a team.  In lieu of any Homicide/Colt Cabana interaction on this show, we then get a Cabana promo. While the DVD production crew show off all kinds of nifty tricks by inserting full screen and boxed out clips of their past matches and angles, Cabana cuts a promo that on paper should be really good considering their storyline, but in execution... i don't know, there's something about Cabana that isn't quite convincing.  KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji vs Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson  Blimey, there's a lot of intrigue running through this.  Danielson's title reign is going wonderfully, but while he beat Marufuji at Final Battle 2005, he hasn't tested himself against KENTA. At the same time, he has a tag team partner in Joe who is inevitably going to want a title shot at some point, so can they team together successfully?  Then there's the team of Marufuji and KENTA, who had that long, long reign as junior heavyweight tag champs in NOAH where they were practically unbeatable.  However, none of that matters to the crowd compared to the possibility of seeing KENTA and Joe lock up. So, that's what the main tease is, from the moment Joe waves KENTA off at the handshakes.  Danielson and Marufuji start with some nice basics to polite applause, standard feeling out stuff really. Danielson stays in when KENTA tags in, and they have a smart sequence, then Danielson hilariously teases tagging to Joe then refuses. Remember kids, you can't tell Danielson what to do in a match.  Of course, it isn't long until Danielson does tag Joe (on his own terms, so he saves face), and the crowd are rabid as Joe and KENTA batter each other in an electric but ever so short exchange.  Marufuji is then tagged back in, and he gets isolated by Danielson and Joe, all of which is much more smooth than anything in the previous match.  In a nice twist, when he eventually makes the hot tag to KENTA, Danielson is in for the ROH team. After KENTA charges Joe off the apron and they go at it again on the floor, Danielson then gets isolated, which is probably even better than the isolation of Maru before it. This leaves Joe on the apron steaming, and the crowd gagging for more from KENTA and Joe.  At this point, the match looks to be heading towards being really, really great. Then Joe gets the hot tag about 21 minutes into the match and, rather than a finishing sprint, there's another twelve minutes. It's twelve good minutes, don't get me wrong, but it just feels like the 33 minutes overall is five minutes or so too much, and it's definitely not the earlier part of the match that's to blame.  Eventually, KENTA pins Danielson after a beautiful top rope falcon arrow and a Go 2 Sleep out of a reversal sequence. ROH continuity should mean that earns him a title shot, but it hasn't happened yet.  Really good main event, which sets up plenty of potential future matchups involving Danielson, KENTA and Joe in particular.  In a moment of booking genius, the KENTA/Joe teases don't end at the three count. KENTA goes and picks up the ROH title belt, and Joe goes after him in outrage. KENTA then promises to "be back soon", and Joe responds that a tag victory doesn't mean KENTA could beat either Danielson or Joe in singles.  We close out the DVD with a VERY brief Lance Storm promo saying that one of Bryan Danielson's open contracts for a World Title shot could get him out of retirement. Then finally, Alex Shelley and Jimmy Rave have a bitching session about their losses to Danielson on the last two shows and in their singles matches tonight, until Prince Nana sends the camera away and it fades to black. Shelley's bitching in particular is hysterical - "since when are getting screwed and getting the shit knocked out of you the same thing?".  Overall, this was a good effort from the ROH peeps, with a higher level of match quality than most of the 2006 shows before it, though it doesn't quite flow as well as some of the NYC shows from 2005 and with the lofty title of "Best in the World" it's just a fraction underwhelming for me. Edited July 11, 2006 by gadgetboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgecrusher Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 (edited) I really don't think ROH can be criticised for lack of character anymore. I'd say the quantity of character-less and colourful wrestlers on the show is about the same proportion as on WWE these days. Off the top of my head I can only name about 6 people with no real gimmick in any ROH show I've seen.And besides, they have Delirious some of the time, and there's more character there than in some PROMOTIONS.I hope to see more of McGuinness. He looks cool, but I've only seen the one match. I find it pretty weird that one of a promotion's major titles is hardly ever seen on its shows... Edited June 15, 2006 by edgecrusher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCD Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 (edited) The good thing for ROH in terms of no personalities is that the people who used to be undercard wrestlers with no real personality like McGuinness, Rave, Collyer & Jacobs now have them & the only ones who don't really have personality are the opening match tag team people. Edited June 15, 2006 by RCD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgecrusher Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Yeah, basically. The people no-one gives a shit about are... well... shit, and the people who need to be good, are good. I guess the problem is magnified if you have problems with spotfests, but I personally quite enjoy Kid Mikaze/Jason Blade matches. At least, as far as filler goes, there's some pretty stuff happening in the ring. It's better than it being a boring drag as often happens in WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCD Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I wouldn't mind Jason Blade dropping Mikaze & teaming with Jay Fury & Jarrelle CLark. All 3 of them have impressed me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of my World Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Just placed an order for the last five shows in the Milestone series, which are Best in the World, Dragon Gate Challenge, Better Than Our Best, Supercard of Honor, and The 100th Show.Best match I have seen from RoH this year of the show's I have seen would be Bryan Danielson vs Jimmy Rave from the fourth anniversary show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 Best match I have seen from RoH this year of the show's I have seen would be Bryan Danielson vs Jimmy Rave from the fourth anniversary show.YEAH~! That match was fucking incredible. Anyone who doesn’t realise how great Rave has become needs to have the wax cleaned out of their brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
$tew Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Best match I have seen from RoH this year of the show's I have seen would be Bryan Danielson vs Jimmy Rave from the fourth anniversary show.YEAH~! That match was fucking incredible. Anyone who doesn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 Best match I have seen from RoH this year of the show's I have seen would be Bryan Danielson vs Jimmy Rave from the fourth anniversary show.YEAH~! That match was fucking incredible. Anyone who doesn’t realise how great Rave has become needs to have the wax cleaned out of their brain.... but that's going to hurt, isn't it? $tew, I replied to you on RIM about how great Rave is. I’ll smack you down here as well if need be! Seriously though, no head drops, no flips and no legit~ respect in sight and Rave is one of the most watchable wrestlers in America right now. When you consider how boring he used to be, it’s amazing. Just goes to show what feuds with CM Punk and AJ Styles can do for a guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of my World Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Rave is probably my favourite wrestler to watch in RoH at the moment, weather it be in singles or tag matches. I watched his cage match with Punk from Nowhere to Run and it is a great feud ending match, and a match which seemed to have genuine emotion in it in regards to wanting to see the babyface overcome the odds and beat up Rave. Very rare for the indies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didcotfc Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Rave is probably my favourite wrestler to watch in RoH at the moment, weather it be in singles or tag matches. I watched his cage match with Punk from Nowhere to Run and it is a great feud ending match, and a match which seemed to have genuine emotion in it in regards to wanting to see the babyface overcome the odds and beat up Rave. Very rare for the indies.Those were my thoughts on the main event of Nowhere to Run. Babyfaces overcoming the odds and getting revenge on the heels is quite rare in the indies. The show had a great feel good finish because of Punk's triumph and not just because it was a good match or a good show. Although Punk was tremendous in the fued it still wouldn't be possible if Rave wasn't a completely detestable heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgecrusher Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Rave is a great heel, though I think Bryan Danielson pips him for pure entertainment. The guy's just such a great character, and his performance on the mic at Arena Warfare was very arresting. Especially since he did an almost HHH-length promo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgecrusher Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 I just remembered something from the Zandig/Cornette debate to prove why you should all skip this on the DVD.Cornette: None of ROHs wrestler would ever work for your shitty promotion.Zandig: Shows what you know, half the guys back there have worked for CZW.Cornette: And they wouldn't go back if you paid them a million dollars!Zandig: Shows what you know, I got a bunch of your guys coming in for Best Of The Best next month.Cornette: Yeah, to star in a movie about CZW called BREAK-NECK MOUNTAIN!*fans pop*Nonsensical, immature and dumb are the words that come to mind when watching this debate.God, yes. That debate was retarded. They didn't even follow the goddamn rules. It might have been a little more interesting if they had approached it seriously. Instead, Cornette comes across like a whiny little bitch in a schoolyard, interrupting Zandig every time he speaks while Zandig, despite foul-mouthing all the time and mumbling like a drunken loon politely waits for Cornette to speak every time. Really weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgecrusher Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Thought I'd post my opinions on ROH's 100th show, the end of the milestone series. I watched it last night and am watching it again in quick recap so I remember correctly and can quote stuff I liked.  --------------------------------------------------------  We see Danielson get handed the keys to the ROH training school. He says that he effectively owns this place now. We're in the arena and these fans fucking hate each other. The CZW fans tend to get shouted down by the ROH fans, but not always.  1st match: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Christopher Daniels  The CZW fans pelt Claudio with 'You Sold Out' chants, which is funny. They play around with the usual 'hey' spots at the start of the match, then they randomly go all luchadore and hit about ten million armdrags in the mid-point section. Claudio hits a long delayed vertical suplex, and the action is nice and technical, though not very fast paced. The CZW fans boo this hardway. Claudio eventually goes for his weird water-slide move and gets countered into a single leg rollup for the three.  Daniels cuts a promo after his match, but he wishes there was an 'on' after his name, 'cause the champ's way better at it. Still, it's more than serviceable and puts over that this is an important milestone. He makes his own milestone by finally shaking Castagnoli's hand, then says that he shakes Castagnoli's hand "Because I know the future of this company when I see it". This comment becomes interesting later on...   Chris Hero cuts a promo. His promos suck when you can see his face, because he's almost expressionless and conveys no emotion whatsoever. Blahs on about what he's done to get where he is: "I've been through hell and back to get where I am today. My body's been abused, I've been hit with chairs. I've even been betrayed by my best friend." At this point Castagnoli leads the fans to drowning him out. Wonder if it's occurred to him that 'I've been hit by chairs' is a statement with the same kind of strength as 'I juggle damp cloths' in a wrestling environment. He goes over to the CZW fans section and gets cheered a lot. A rousing chant of 'Joe's gonna kill you' accompanies him to the exit door, and he ACTUALLY SHOWS SOME EMOTION. Woooo. Hero is rapidly wearing thin on me. He's getting kinda boring.    I don't understand why Jimmy Yang is ranked in the top 5. I've yet to see him win a match of any variety.   2nd: Four corner survival, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Delirious vs. Jimmy Yang  Before this there's a backstage segment with Lacey where she says she'll remove her top for Jacobs if he can only win, but puts her foot in her mouth by saying she'll do it on ROHvideos.com, too. Why foot in the mouth? You'll see...  Delirious is the coolest guy. He's so distinctive and unique, it's no wonder he's beloved. I'm surprised WWE haven't come calling, because this guy's more entertaining than Eugene could ever hope to be and his promos are comedy gold by their very nature. On top of which he's one hell of a wrestler that it's very easy to get behind because half the time it genuinely seems like he hasn't got a clue what's going on. He starts off this match by croucing down in his corner with his right hand extended, staring into the distance, and holds this pose for about a minute, while the other three wrestlers walk over and shake his hand. Well, Jacobs does, then Yang pats his hand and fuzzes his head, and Rave shakes his little finger. Great stuff. Jimmy Jacobs' ring entrance is awesome, and he's really rather over now. He has no Lacey with him tonight, because she's decided he's getting too distracted by her. However, he has a picture of her to keep himself satisfied. The match itself is standard ROH four corner stuff, enjoyable but not really long enough to go much of anywhere. In the end, Lacey's cunning plan to get Jacobs to do something BACKFIRES, as he not only obsesses over the picture, but after Yang misses the contra code and Jacobs hits the Contra Code he stops covering Yang at 2. Delirious tags Yang, hits a sick looking cobra clutch backbreaker into his cobra clutch camel clutch... for the victory.  It's later revealed that Jacobs wouldn't pin because he didn't want the sick internet fans porning off over his girlfriend, and love conquers all. Awwww. See, if Lacey had just said she'd show HIM, he probably would have won the match. Jacobs is the cool.  3rd match: Homicide/Reyes vs. Strong/Aries  Nice stuff. Aries gets his leg firmly worked over in this one, but despite the decent quality of the work I never had the feeling Strong and Aries could lose. I think this is the problem with GenNext; their title defenses are losing their luster. I've watched the last seven shows (well, the ones available on ROHvideos, anyway, so up to this very show), and GenNext are really losing the ability to make it seem like they are beatable. This would be okay if they were having squash matches, but they're not, and the sense of competition isn't there because it doesn't feel like they're going to lose. Homicide gets on the mic and rips the CZW fans for chanting something like "We want Blackout" (I think it was Blackout. Another Homicide-a-like wrestler?). They also chant 'pussy' at Homicide, which is hilarious. I'm also getting bored of Roderick Strong. Aside from his wrestling ability he's so goddamn vanilla. From what I've heard of his shouting and whatnot he seems like a vaguely annoying prat; kind of like a less charismatic AJ Styles. Austin Aries is by far and away the better member of this team.  Homicide rules, Roderick Strong gets in completely the wrong position for a tope con hilo, causing Homicide to come screeching to a halt just before jumping (that could have been nasty if he couldn't put on the breaks). He baseball slides out, and I think that pissed him off because he momentarily forgets to sell a bit of offense from Austin Aries to cover up Strong's miscue. 'Cide very enthusiastically double stomps Strong through a table off the apron. There's a nice bit where Homicide runs to chop block Aries but he runs for Reyes instead and dropkicks him. Aries eventually hits the 450 on Reyes while he's got the Dragon Sleeper on Strong. Too long for what it was.  4th match: Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana  I loved the feud between Homicide and Cabana. I now understand that Homicide was done wrong by the outcome; he SHOULD have killed Cabana. Way to completely no-sell a supposedly life-changing feud. I am thus extremely pleased when Colt Pratana gets rolled up after six minutes of good action. The best thing here is Danielson's hate-hate relationship with the CZW fans. "He is your ROH world champion, and is also THE LEAST over-rated wrestler in the world". How anyone can cheer for Chris Hero and call Dragon over-rated when he's more charismatic, better on the mic, better in the ring, and just generally superior in every single way a wrestler can be I do not know.  Cabana screams in pain when he shakes Danielson's hand; now that's a firm handshake. After a brief lockup, some moron shouts something incredibly loudly, Danielson ponders, then asks Cabana for a pause so he can moon the CZW crowd. He has a nice ass! Danielson kiss my ass club in the making, maybe? The fans are the real story in the match, the ROH drive the CZW fans nuts after a 'boring' chant with 'Hero tapped out' (I don't know what it's referring to, but I imagine it's either something Danielson or Joe did), which causes loud guy to scream something else. As mentioned, six minutes and its over. Suits me fine. Cabana's an okay wrestler but I don't like his character at all.   Backstage we see Jacobs reveal why he lost, and Colt wandering around like a smurf wondering where the hell he is. He could be happier about the outcome of his title match, methinks.   5th match: Derrick Dempsey vs. Pelle Primeau  Fairly quick showcase for these two. Derrick slams Primeau's head in, Primeau reminds me of Matt Sydal, Derrick wins. Not a bad match at all, if short.  Danielson's out to the ring again post match, and now it's promo time. He clears his throat, the fans chant over-rated, and someone in CZW's ranks starts setting off a blowhorn every time Danielson tries to speak. Nice ad-lib line: "You know what's over-rated; fans who think they're cool and blow blowhorns." One line that seems to make no sense, though: "And do you know what's really over-rated, is dudes in tanktops, looking like fags, and I'm sorry but that's an insult to homosexuals" I'm guessing its a reference to the CZW roster or the fans.  Danielson then mocks CZW for unoriginal chanting, and goes into his full anti-hero persona with a cheeky insult at the ROH fans before adding "just kidding, just kidding." CZW fans chant "We want cheerios" (I think that's what it is) and Danielson continues to rip into them with some great ad-libbing. Lays into CZW a bit more on the basis of being crap wrestlers, and cunningly segways into promising to do a great job in the dojo. A sustained 'boring' chant from CZW results in him threatening to show his ass to the fans again. "Don't make me show you guys my butt again I'll do it." You can tell this guy loves his job. Fans chant "Shave your ass hair" and Danielson just laughs at them and proclaims "You guys are only embarassing yourselves". It's hard to say how fucking awesome his work is here, because instead of just standing there and swearing at the CZW fans (as Cornette does on other occasions) he treats them like and makes them look like complete and UTTER tools. They know it, too, and as a result they try even harder to drown him out on the mic and piss him off, only for him to turn the tables again and again. After getting the ROH fans to chant a BRITISH chant "You're gonna get your fucking head kicked in", he takes the piss out of the CZW fans for their lame retort of "That was gay" (the running theme of this whole section is Danielson pointing out how they keep using the same chant structure). I love this guy so much.  6th match: Delirious vs. Danielson  Bryan calls out Delirious after pointing out he's beaten every other winner on the show so far, and they have a nice, cool little match, which goes a good length unlike his first one. After handing the mic to Delirious, he cuts a hilariously weird promo, ending with his unique take on The Final Countdown. Then they're into the match because that pissed Danielson off.  Danielson mostly annihilates Delirious, though he does get a good burst of offence in that has the fans superhot, they SO want to see Delirious win. Danielson tries to unmask Delirious at one point, and bloodies his head. The crucifixed elbows to the head get Danielson a stoppage win in the end. This is all good stuff, though there's no doubt Danielson's winning all the way tonight. It's actually the first time I've seen him just squash and dominate his opponents; on every show up to now I've felt like he might lose at some point, particularly in his matches with Rave and Strong (so glad Strong didn't win, he's SO bland!).  Fans start chanting 'He's our hero' at Danielson.    My opinions on the shittiness of 'The Great Schoolyard SHouting Match' have already been made clear.   7th match: Hero/Necro/Super Dragon vs. Joe/Whitmer/Pearce  Wild brawling action all over the arena, with tables and chairs all over the place. Camerawork and choice of shots leaves A LOT to be desired, though, and there's all kinds of good action you just don't see. Lots of 'aftermath' shots though, with people lying hurt and broken up. The match ends up feeling pretty weird. Super Dragon is barely seen to do anything at all, though he curb stomps Pearce. Actually, hardly anyone seems to do anything. They'd have been better served with a short stint of wrestling in the ring before breaking down, though I guess this way makes most sense with how heated the feud's been.  In the end, John Zandig interferes, the CZW ref declares that CZW has no rules so its okay, Zandig takes out ROH's ref, then Claudio Castagnoli comes running out... to turn on ROH and go back to CZW. SEE? Daniels' comment at the start of the show comes back to haunt him! The one man whose hand he's shaken is a traitor!!! EGADS, THE HORROR! I reckon there'll be a rematch in the not-too distant future.  I'm guessing CZW were made to sacrifice to have a victory at this show, because they looked fucking lame here, needing not only Zandig's interference but also Castagnoli's betrayal to beat the ROH crew, who mysteriously received no help at all from their own locker room. Whitmer took a Psycho Driver through a table off the apron, and I'm not sure whether or not he was actually hurt from that, he certainly looked it and everyone around him looked worried.  In the end, the CZW wrestlers showed off in their fans while their music played.    Great show. The main event would have been better with better timed and chosen camera cuts, though. Danielson's promo here is not quite as immense as his Arena Warfare one, but for crowd interaction and off the cuff comments this one is brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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