Official ROH Discussion Thread

[alexander]

People are bound to pop for the end of a huge title reign like that. I'm looking forward to Hero and Claudio being jerks in ROH, and Edgecrusher will learn to love it.

 

EDIT - And apologies for the huuuge pic...But this is nice;

 

Edited September 18, 2006 by Leicester Lantern

[hitman89762000]

People are bound to pop for the end of a huge title reign like that. I'm looking forward to Hero and Claudio being jerks in ROH, and Edgecrusher will learn to love it.EDIT - And apologies for the huuuge pic...But this is nice;

that is just awesome!!

[edgecrusher]

I'll love the heat, I'll love CC's stick work, but Hero rubs me up the wrong way and I don't like what I've seen of them as a tandem. It's the same as me saying you'll learn to love Christopher Daniels. Not going to happen because you don't like anything about him. While I like CC, I just disdain Chris Hero. I find his voice REALLY boring. Surprised there was a pop. Aren't the Kings of Wrestling heels?

[stewdogg]

That picture is top notch!

[A-DUB]

Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com"I'm not sure on all the specifics yet, but Prince Nana is done with the company as he gave notice."

Eek, thats a bit of a blow coming off of one of the best (reported) shows ROH has ever put out. Can't say that I'm not a little bit sad about it, as The Embassy have been one of my biggest highlights in wrestling over the past year - in fact so much so that I actually enjoyed Jimmy Rave, alot (something which I wouldn't have said a few years back).Oh well ROH will bounce back as always I'm sure. Anyone have any favourite Nana moments they wish to share?

[edgecrusher]

What the hell? Why would Nana leave? That completely fucking kills The Embassy and pretty much kills Jimmy Rave. I wonder if this has something to do with The Embassy not being put over for the tag titles?

[gadge]

Jimmy Rave's had a huge series of losses this summer and with Alex Shelley gone the Embassy is pretty much dead anyway.I'd actually like to see a one-off bringing in of Alex Shelley's TNA tandem with Johnny Devine to face Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro, because the idea of Rave and Shelley trying to one-up each other with their respective servants amuses me.

[edgecrusher]

I don't get it, though. It's like Gabe's deliberately trying to kill one of the best heat machines in his company. Rave's not going to be half as detestable without Nana and Haze around. Speaking of which, what happens to Daizee Haze now?

[gadge]

I don't get it either to be honest. Since Shelley went full time with TNA, Rave's constant losing streak has been ridiculous, even though the toilet paper shenanigans at Chi-Town Struggle (the last DVD I watched) and the UK shows were larger than ever. I thought it was a odd that because Rave was in Japan, they announced on the newswire that they'd banned toilet paper throwing from last weekend's shows...The Haze definitely does need to stay around. After Lita/Trish last night I'm in the mood for some more decent women's wrestling.

[edgecrusher]

Not likely in ROH, at least not very often. The thing that's really stupid about it is that Rave is one of the company's best workers. So was Shelley, until he decided to leave. I thought ROH was supposed to be the company where talent was rewarded? An Embassy title reign, with Shelley and Rave, would have been absolutely monster. The fans would have been up in arms in all the right ways. IMAGINE THE TOILET PAPER SHOWERS!!!

Edited September 18, 2006 by edgecrusher

[alexander]

It's offical -

Prince Nana has given his notice to ROH. There is a newstory on the main page of the all new ROHwrestling.com right now complete with a statement from Nana. This means that The Embassy is no more in ROH. Where does this leave Jimmy Rave, Sal Rinauro and Daizee Haze? Only the future will tell. We want to thank Prince Nana for all his contributions to ROH.

While I couldn't care less about Sal Rinauro, I'm worried about what this means for Rave. He's already on a slide, and needs a decent new direction. And if this means I see less of Daizee Haze

[Magnum Milano]

People are bound to pop for the end of a huge title reign like that. I'm looking forward to Hero and Claudio being jerks in ROH, and Edgecrusher will learn to love it.EDIT - And apologies for the huuuge pic...But this is nice;

"All Hail the Kings of Wrestling!"

[gadge]

There's some official word on the Embassy being no more in today's newswire, and three new matches announced for the first round of Survival of the Fittest, which is the next show. Danielson vs Joe was already announced..

 

Click to Show/Hide

September 20th: We have most of the first round to announce for "Survival Of The Fittest 2006" on 10/6 in Cleveland, OH. We were hoping to have the entire first round today, but a curveball has been thrown into the mix and we'll have details of that next week. These first round matches were selected in a random drawing. The winners of these matches will all go to the Six Man Elimination main event that will determine the winner of the one night tournament. Here are four first round matches:

 

-Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries

-Matt Sydal vs. Davey Richards

-Jimmy Rave vs. Delirious

-Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe

 

Get your tickets for this huge show now at ROHwrestling.com or by calling 215-781-2500. Great seats still remain!!! If you act by 10pm tonight at ROHwrestling.com you can save 15-20% on any tickets including second row ringside seats.

 

September 20th: ROH now stands for the Road Of Homicide. Right now Homicide is heading to a World Title shot when ROH returns to NYC on 12/23 at the Manhattan Ballroom. Jim Cornette has promised that it will be a hard road for Homicide, who still has to make it to 12/23 in one piece. Cornette has set up a big roadblock for Homicide on 10/27 in Dayton. It will be Homicide and a partner of his choice vs. Steve Corino & Adam Pearce with Jim Cornette. We hope to have news of Homicide's partner soon right here in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire.

 

September 20th: Prince Nana has given his notice to ROH. There is a newstory on the main page of the all new ROHwrestling.com right now complete with a statement from Nana. This means that The Embassy is no more in ROH. Where does this leave Jimmy Rave, Sal Rinauro and Daizee Haze? Only the future will tell. We want to thank Prince Nana for all his contributions to ROH.

 

September 20th: The 15-20% sale ends tonight at 10pm at ROHwrestling.com. This is your chance to save big on ALL ITEMS at ROHwrestling.com including DVDs from SHIMMER, FIP, WWE, TNA, BCW, IWC, NOAH and many other promotions. This also includes new ROH releases like 7/29/06 "Generation Now" from Cleveland. See the epic Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness series continue as they fight for the World Title. Plus: a first time ever singles match pitting Christian Cage vs. Christopher Daniels; Generation Next says goodbye to the name as they take on the top prospects going today when Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Matt Sydal & Jack Evans face Davey Richards, Jerrelle Clark & Irish Airborne; Homicide vs. Mark Briscoe; Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs; Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro vs. Colt Cabana & Ace Steel; Delirious vs. Claudio Castagnoli plus more!!! Order now for immediate delivery at ROHwrestling.com and act by 10pm tonight to save 15-20% on your order. Check the main page of ROHwrestling.com for details.

 

September 20th: We have an update on BJ Whitmer after his ankle surgery. Whitmer now has a walking air cast on and is back in the gym. He will have the cast permanently removed on 10/9 and then he will start rehab. We still aren't sure when Whitmer will be cleared to return to the ring. Whitmer will make special appearances on all the October events.

 

September 20th: The ROH Video Wire is almost here. Colt Cabana is the host of the first ROH Video Wire.

 

September 20th: We'll have KENTA's opponents for 11/3 in Boston and 11/4 in Philadelphia next week. This will be your last chance to see KENTA in ROH and the United States for several months.

 

September 20th: We'll be back tomorrow with several huge matches for 10/7 in Detroit including the main event!!!

[stewdogg]

Prince Nana And ROH Part WaysTuesday, September 19, 2006Prince Nana has given his notice effectively immediately to ROH. Nana, as the controversial head of The Embassy, has been part of some of ROH's greatest angles, promos and matches. Prince Nana was on the very first ROH show. Many will remember Low Ki knocking out Nana on the fourth show leading to the ridiculous injured head storyline. Nana rose to the next level when he formed The Embassy at "Final Battle 2003" with Xavier as the first member. The Embassy really took off when Jimmy Rave became "The Crown Jewel" at "ROH Reborn: Completion" in July of 2004. The Embassy had notable feuds against AJ Styles, CM Punk and run ins with Mick Foley as well as The Midnight Express. The Embassy's biggest match as a collective faction came at "Steel Cage Warfare" last December against Generation Next. We want to thank Prince Nana for all his contributions to ROH and wish him the best in the future. The Embassy will live forever in ROH history!!! Here is a statement from Nana about his departure: "I regret to announce my departure from ROH as of 9/16/06. I have to back track on many things concerning my career in sports entertainment and I think now is about the right time to do it. I know there is a gold mine for Prince Nana out there that will soon be revealed! Please don't think this is my send off...This is a long needed vacation that I take from time to time with ROH. I intend to remain a loyal Oil supporter of all the athlete's, that continue to go above and beyond the call of duty for "Ring Of Honor"---- The Vision (Class of 2002). As far as The Embassy, We all know That's Forever! LMAO! Prince Nana" Thats from the newsire for those that cant be bothered to check it out themselves. Gadget, can you lend me some ROH DVS please?

[edgecrusher]

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR IVYay, my PC’s behaving today.So, it’s recap time. Dave Prazac is... um... wearing stuff. Baseball theme. Points out Homicide’s significance in the CZW business, and then we go into a short CZW/ROH feud highlight. Then we have Homicide in the ring on his own, drinking a beer in street clothes, and we have a proper history of Homicide highlight reel. He’s wanted a belt all his time in ROH, saying he’d take any belt. From the way he says it, you’d think there was more than... um... two singles titles he COULD win. Roundup is, he’ll be a tag champ, he’ll be a World Champ, or he’ll be a Pure Champ (heh, not likely) by the end of the year, or he’ll leave for good. Good stuff. Next, we have a random BJ Whitmer promo. He’s hardcore, he’s hardcore, he’s... staring at cows??? Maybe he’s waiting for them to explode. Sums up, fairly badly (not much of a promo, our Whitmer), what he’s been through during this feud. He wants to destroy stuff, kill people, hurt Necro, to end his stigma of ‘CZWs bitch’ (my phrase). Ha, you have no ‘mentality’ Whitmer, you’re nuts. Powerbombs into the crowd, indeed. This is one of those promos that you REALLY KNOW someone’s cutting a promo. Feels forced, and it goes on way too long. Ne’er mind. It’s not like the majority of WWE’s guys are any good in a promo, either, and Whitmer can wrestle a whole lot better than them. Prazac is talking to the Homicide, who is with a pretty chick I don’t recognise. Maybe it’s his real life girlfriend or something. I really like Homicide in promos. He comes across as so relaxed and cool. He very much sums up the old face idiom that a good face needs to be someone you’d want to hang out with. Just as the recap ends, he snaps at Prazac “And change that goddamn jersey!”. Heh. And we’re into the main show...We get a zoom-in on Pearce’s head scar. Now this is a much better promo than Whitmer’s. Lots of good stuff here building up the main event, the feud and the show. Flashback to ‘Hell Freezes Over’ when Hero faced Danielson. Very brief flashback, as it turns out, and we don’t actually see anything. Umm... ‘kay. The point?1st Match: Seth Delay Vs. DeliriousSeth Delay I do not know, and he looks like a ponce. Delirious deserves better than this, but hey, he’s a decent bowling pin for the green goblin to choke out. Of course, we know this isn’t going to be the squash it ought to be, but that’s both the horror and the honour of ROH. Slightly funny chant of ‘LET’S GO SOUND GUY’ as there’s a big delay on Delirious’ music and entrance. The fans give a cheer for the opening bell, as they know full well what’s coming, and of course Delirious goes nuts. Seth gets booed hard for interrupting Delirious’ antics, and Delirious swiftly gets the fans pumped with a sweet little rolling technical sequence. Pretty much everything Seth does either gets booed or small reaction, barring a dive to the outside. In short, the fans don’t care about Seth Delay, and while I normally don’t notice this here it’s VERY noticeable that the fans’ interest dies the second Delirious isn’t in control. In short: The fans want a Delirious squash. What they do NOT want is Seth DeNobody countering Delirious’ finisher into a nothing no-fall. In fairness, some of DeNobody’s offence gets some claps and responses, including him pulling Sasuke’s old full backflip that never hit, allowing for Shadows over Hell and the Cobra Stretch. As quick as you’ll ever get out of ROH, but really a waste of Delirious’ talents. How anyone can claim not to like him I don’t know. It’s a squash/nothing match. *Whitmer gets another promo. Why? What is this accomplishing? He basically says nothing new. Another flashback, to Tag Wars this time. 2nd Match: Colt Cabana/Jay Lethal Vs. Jimmy Rave/Sal RinauroNana cuts a promo in the crowd, but as usual I can barely understand him. He rags on the fans, and riles them up very effectively. He has a great shit-eating grin. He’s hired someone to be in The Embassy and make Rave look good, then he calls out the red hot Daizee Haze, who accompanies a walking duvet to the ring. It’s hilarious that WWE is hiring completely untalented bimbos to big money contracts while women such as Haze, who legitimately enhance any talent they go near never get a look in. But hey, who needs talent in the Pro Wrestling ‘Industry’? It’s over-rated. Or something. Here comes the toilet paper shower, and it’s the usual fare. Ah, Alex Shelley, where art thou? Sal adds a little character to the proceedings by offering handfuls of paper to his new boss, and playing a dodgeball-like defence for him, but really, what can match Shelley selling loo rolls like hard right hands and hiding under the ghana flag as if it’s an ironclad bunker? Nothing, that’s the answer. Cabana and Lethal throw some roll at The Embassy, which sends Haze mental, as always, and pisses off Rave enough to make him move forward, then run away as they charge the ring. Haze throws herself at them so hard she launches herself out of the ring, on the other hand. The fans are well into Cabana launching loo rolls at Rave’s head. I hate Cabana, but tragically everyone else loves him. Never mind. No company can get it all right.Jimmy gets massive heat at the start, as usual. I hear a vague droning in my ear which I realise constitutes the ‘commentary’. There’s a dual problem of these guys having absolutely no personality and the fact their mics are on too quietly that combines to really screw them over. Sal Rinauro’s at least the perfect foil for Cabana to be an idiot at and to make look like an idiot. Rave slaps Sal Rinauro across the face for being crap. Lethal hits an armdrag into cartwheel and and dropkick, which I liked a lot. Then Cabana does it, as well. Yay for getting over signature spots. Considering the mood of this match, it really shouldn’t have been second. What’s the point of two comedy-ish matches in a row? Rave takes over after hitting Lethal with a Northern Lariat. Rave immediately gets booed, and gets more boos as he tags in. Build around Rave constantly cutting Lethal off while Rinauro tries to keep pressing the offence. Lethal eventually cuts loose and breaks free from The Embassy for the hot tag. Cabana’s not bad at this, and the fans are massively into his activities. He uses the ref to spin round on an irish whip and lays The Embassy out. Rave gets planted with a top rope DDT and oklahoma roll for a nice near fall. Lethal his his standing backflip kick which looks both beautiful and really flashy without being over the top (Jack Evans take note). Finishing stretch sees lots of nice moves and big stuff until a superkick sets Colt up for the rather underwhelming spear finisher. The fans start chanting ‘BULLSHIT’. Rave’s spear hasn’t even remotely been built up as a finisher, so I’m not surprised, and this didn’t look anything like the beautiful variant that he used with Shelley.Decent match. Short again, bit more serious than first. Got the fans a bit hyped. The next match, however, should get these guys red hot. The Briscoes are always a good water mark for ROH audiences. how fervently they’re reacted to says how much high spottery they want from their matches.**More flashbacks, to 4th Anniversary show and Arena Warfare, then Roderick Stwong is out to the ring. That’s because the DVD is wrong, and it’s NOT the Briscoes up next. They’re up later. Right now, it’s Stwong vs. Nigel McGuinness for the Pure Title.3rd Match: Nigel McGuinness Vs. Wodewick StwongThe fans boo the reading of the rules, so Nigel mugs by asking for the ref to be respected, pissing the fans off. Possibly an ad lib, if so a very good one. Stwong attacks him out of nowhere with a chop, but McGuiness is back to blocking him like the last time they met before long. Stwong forces an early rope break with the Stwonghold, but McGuiness is back swiftly with work on the arm. As always, McGuiness is silky smooth and innovative with his nastiness, and I see at least a half dozen new things from him. This is good, because I’ve now seen a fair few McGuiness matches, and his arm work could get boring if he didn’t vary it. As a side note, I hate it when commentators say stuff like: “You have to wonder if [insert limb] has popped out of its socket/joint” as Prazac’s pal does here. No, you don’t have to wonder. It’d be pretty bloody obvious if that had happened, wouldn’t it? A second Stwonghold causes a second loss of rope break. Whoops, no, that’s the third! Christ. I missed the second one. How’d that happen? Okay. So far, McGuiness has been Stwong’s bitch. That says a countout win to me. McGuinness does something wonderful, by pulling the top rope back to whip into Stwong’s face while he’s on the apron, but it leads to McGuiness getting backdrop suplexed on the apron. Here it comes, surely. Yep. Nigel starts asking Stwong to bring it on, as the count builds up. Stwong goes over the guard rail into the crowd, but Stwong gets in at 19. Yay for false finishes! McGuiness’ headstand of death doesn’t look half as good as usual, due to the way it gets set up, but you can’t have everything. McGuiness takes TWO death kicks from Stwong in a row, resulting in a double rope bounce into lariat of destruction for a heart in the mouth near fall. Fans are well into the match at this point. I’m not really feeling it, though. Wodewick tries his super duper gutbuster, but it gets blocked and countered into a Tower of London for another close near fall. Nigel’s nose starts bleeding. He tries to DDT Wodewick out on the concrete entrance, then just ties to hold Stwong back for a double countout. Finally, as Wodewick’s looking to get back in, lifting McGuiness along, McGuiness hits the DDT. In a fucking stupid move, Wodewick starts moving before Nigel does. For fuck’s sake, if you get DDTed on CONCRETE you shouldn’t be moving within four or five seconds of the move! I hate Wodewick Stwong more and more.OK match, but it didn’t really catch my notice, and the finish was utterly stupid in all the wrong ways. **1/2Supercard of Honour flashback. Cornette comes out, I imagine to answer this whole ‘wishes’ business. He’s dressed real snappy tonight. He starts off with a couple of nice cracks at the CZW crowd. He then goes on to talk about the ECW revival, which the fans in attendance do NOT appreciate. Cornette has some good cracks at this, too. “This proves two things. One, Vince McMahon and those brain surgeons who work for him can fuck up a wet dream, and two, Ring of Honour is now Philadelphia’s only REAL hometown promotion!” This gets a massive response from everyone in attendance, presumably for and against, as ROH chant out the CZW or pro-ECW guys. Good rabble-rousing stuff, Cornette doing what he does really well. He announces that KENTA will be coming to Philadelphia in a while, and KENTA will be challenging for the ROH World Title beforehand, so he might be champion. The CZW fans start trying to ‘boring’ Cornette, but he just ignores them. With his ‘commissioner’ business done, he goes right back to heckling the CZW fans and talking about the feud. Says J. J. Dillon is coaching the ROH crew. Finally, Cornette gets to the three wishes. Cornette says, simply, ‘no’. At this point, Bryan Danielson comes out to the ring, and announces that he will take Homicide’s place in the Cage of Death. I adore Danielson. He treats the CZW people with such effortless and easy contempt. He doesn’t need to overplay it, and he doesn’t need to shout. It’s great. And he does it with one sentence, then completely ignores them. When the CZW fans give him a massive ‘BORING’ chant, he gives CZW some more lip, having a crack at Necro Butcher, and indeed all ‘wrestlers’ who wear T-Shirts to wrestling matches. It’s a kinda weak comment, but he gets a much better one relating to Sonjay Dutt being the only one from CZW who ever went anywhere. Real good promo, all told. Cornette is very pleased that Danielson doesn’t want any favours, and Danielson’s the best he could go for anyway, and gives spot 5 to Danielson, much to the CZW fans’ irritation. Very strong segment, possibly a little long. This is how to hype people for a main event during a show.Flashback to the 100th show, when Claudio turned on ROH and Pearce getting his head wiped.4th match: Irish Airborne Vs. The BriscoesIt’s the Airborne, and they’re HAPPY! They always are. Remember, guys, Jake has the beard. Out come the Briscoes, my aggro-scuzz heroes, and the fans are immediately pumped. Marc’s going all Homicide with the flag thing wrapped around his mouth. Code of honour is followed. Is it just me, or does Dave look a bit like Randy Orton? It’s mostly in the haircut, to be honest. The spectacular springboard moves come in after Dave escapes the Briscoes’ rather simple controlling tandem work. They do the same trick after Dave tags, which is really smart in my opinion, because we know the Briscoes have a tendency to be totally OTT. Here, their grounded but very slick tandem moves prevent clashing and insure the Airborne look good. Jake hits a beautiful springboard back headlock takeover. It’s SO slick. Some fucking idiot in the audience shouts ‘Come on you’re losing the crowd’. Thankfully, the gang just go on with their (very good) match. Airborne pull a couple of new spectacular tandems, in particular a spectacular release german suplex onto Dave’s knees. It doesn’t look half as contrived as it sounds. The Briscoes take control, as you might expect, by being a lot more violent than the Airborne. Jay Briscoe (I think) hits a standing dropkick that gets UTTERLY INSANE height (he comes about an inch away from actually missing Dave, he jumps that high. As a result, it just looks like he kicks his head off). I still find it hard to tell between the two Briscoes. For reference, Jay has the tribal circle on his back. The Briscoes start slowly escalating their offence, working more of their highflying and overtly impressive moves into the match, which is very nice. Haven’t seen the Briscoes so clearly work well before. Here they’re clearly helping the Airborne out and dictating the pace, and do a very good job of it. Mark and Jake hit stereo shooting star presses to the outside, then go back in and start forearming each other’s faces in. Jake takes the uranage, then holds Jake up for a crucifix powerbomb, before throwing him into a neckbreaker from Jay for a near fall. Nice. The Airborne are not very good at facial expressions, considerably and noticeably worse than the Briscoes. Marc half kills Dave with a brilliant flapjack Death Valley Driver, then the Airborne hit their unnamed tag team finisher of death on Jay, but Mark saves the day, then kills Dave with the Cutthroat Driver for Jay to get the three count. Really good match. Good heat, great moves, good flow and a great build into the hot closing stretch. ***1/2Ace Steel gets a promo, and it rocks. While the ‘wide-eyed wildman’ thing is very old, it works better with Ace because he does it while he’s talking normally. Helps it look a lot more believable. He’s bringing a cow bell, and someone’s gonna die. Good promo, though it was filmed way before the event, seemingly. Flashback to Weekend of Champions, and that insane Exploder suplex to the outside. Whitmer’s not going to have a long career if he keeps on in this vein, bearing in mind his current injuries.5th Match: Davey Richards Vs. Ace SteelMy jury’s still out on Richards. He has the look. But what else does he have? The fans are pleased to see Styles, he’s kind of a special attraction at this point since he’s not brought in very often. Apparently his asking price is too high, though that doesn’t surprise me. He clearly thinks of himself as a superstar, and worth paying for. And he’s right. They talk about Richards’ victories over Jimmy Rave, but let’s face it almost everyone has beaten Rave of late. For some reason the office seems to hate him. Some kick-based aggro and dominance playing at the start, before chops and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker enter play and give Richards the opening. AJ quite possibly becomes the first man in ROH history to kick out at one after Richards pins him following a mere kick to the chest. Richards takes over, until AJ hits a missile-ish dropkick to Richards’ leg and goes mental with kicking him on the outside. AJ starts looking really pissed off and starts bullying Richards about, which is cool to watch. Our fabulous duo fail miserably to call an indian deathlock by the right name, then Prazac’s idiot friend compounds it by saying ‘AJ’s looking a bit frustrated there’. The call’s fine, the timing’s not. AJ doesn’t look very frustrated, and I don’t think they’ve gone over ten minutes yet, and AJ has tried about one other cover up to this point. He’s got no logical reason to be frustrated. I’m glad I blank these morons out most of the time. Either their voices are utterly without passion, or they’re talking absolute shit. Prazac is at least coherent and reliable. Richards hits his power-up missile dropkick and starts kicking AJ to death, gets a near fall off a german suplex, but AJ fires back with a hammerlock backdrop driver. Fans start shitting on the match for no easily apparent reason, my guess is the CZW guys being assholes. Richards finally gets a clean and above all else QUICK connect on his handspring half turn kick, then tries for his finisher, no luck. Goes for the handspring kick again, but goes into a spinning torture rack powerbomb. Spiral Tap lands on the knees, Richards hits the charging forearm of pain into gutbuster, powerbomb and Brock Lock. AJ gets the ropes, Richards mocks AJ’s signature pose a little, but takes a sick looking pele kick, leading shortly into the Styles Clash and the win. Good match.***Samoa Joe chats about the main event, too. They really are building brilliantly to the main event throughout this show. Ring of Homicide flashback, when the lights went out and Homicide cleaned house, and a of bit of the match with Necro Butcher. 6th Match: Sonjay Dutt Vs. Bryan DanielsonSonjay gets a few toilet rolls thrown at him by the ROH fans. As always, Danielson is in his ‘tweener role here, as he has been whenever CZW gets involved. Sonjay Dutt’s dance looks... odd. Tonight, Danielson is “The CZW Killer”. Well, he would be, wouldn’t he? This should have some great heat at the very least.Sonjay, of cause, slaps Danielson across the face instead of shaking hands, and you just know that Danielson’s going to fucking murder him for it. In a cool moment, the ROH fans do that chant from ages ago, the ‘you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in’ one that Danielson, I think, introduced to them. Sonjay’s in the role of cowardly heel, here. Inevitably, Danielson slaps Sonjay as payback, and Dutt sells it like his face just got halved. Danielson doesn’t actually go aggressive immediately, instead he goes for being a dick and slaps Sonjay about to piss him off. Well, that was the other route he could go. Danielson gets the ‘same old shit’ chant for his pretty much trademark test of strength escape into dropkick. Sonjay shows a hell of a lot more personality in here than he ever has in TNA, and hilariously gets a rousing ‘JOBBER’ chant from the ROH crowd. You know what they say, the best insults are the true ones. Danielson quite VISIBLY mugs for a ‘same old shit’ chant, by going for his surfboard, but ironically he doesn’t get it. He starts clawing at Sonjay’s face instead of going for it, and looks like he’s having a whale of a time, then locks on the surfboard and gets the SOS chant. The ROH fans try a countering ‘SAME GREAT SHIT’ chant, but it doesn’t really catch on. The action here is great when it gets going, fast and fluid with great sequences of high flying counters and technical stuff from Danielson. Dutt hits a senton dive to the outside, and the ROH faithful give HIM a ‘SAME OLD SHIT’ chant, which is kinda funny. The match kind of stalls at one point as its going into the closing stretch, I’m not sure why. Or at least it feels like it stalls. Things just seem to stop. The heat isn’t hurt too much, but the fans do get a little quieter when things get going again. Danielson fails to get submissions with the chickenwing and Cattle Mutilation, before Dutt gets a near fall off a sunset bomb, and a HIDEOUS looking moonsault one-legged stomp. Danielson finally gets the win with the USB stoppage elbows. I’ve never really had a problem with them, but at the same time I do think it would be better for him to go for other finishers. After all, if a bunch of elbows is worth a stoppage, what else is? ANYWAY, great match. Dutt looked good here, and Dragon was on top form for the majority. Not sure if this is one of those mega carry jobs or not, but great work.****Nigel McGuinness promo backstage. This is cool. McGuinness is such a smug bastard here. Cabana overhears him talking about the tag team title match earlier. Ends up with a Pure Title match signed in Ohio. War of the Wire II, if I remember correctly. The very next show. Hm. Might be good.Flashbacks to Chi-Town Struggle and In Your Face.7th Match: Da Cage o’ DeathBloody hell, that’s quite a structure. J. J. Dillon does the coin flip amid a bunch of ‘woo’s. He calls it right, and ROH has the advantage in entrance order. Joe’s out first. Hoo boy, this is going to be pretty crazy. First out for CZW is a ridiculously dressed Claudio Castagnoli.Rousing ‘JOE’S GONNA KILL YOU’ chant. After a tentative start, Joe crushes Claudio with a diving elbow and goes apeshit, then starts beating Claudio up. Ole kick, chair shot, soccer kicking a trash can into Claudio’s head, all good stuff. Claudio gets the odd move in, but this is standard Joe squash stuff. A very angry BJ Whitmer is next into the cage, and that means Claudio is in deep trouble indeed. Unsurprisingly, Claudio mostly gets his head kicked in. Then, Chris Hero joins the fray. He gamely throws a chair into the ring, and a double poke to the eye allows the CZW invaders to take over. On BJ Whitmer, naturally. The devastating move that seemingly takes Joe out of the fight, so he cannot help his ally? Why, the deadly, deadly DROPKICK, of course. I’m not sure whether we’re supposed to think of Joe as utterly invincible or, in fact, made of spam, because it does seem like love taps cripple him at stages in this feud. Bryan Danielson charges the ring and takes Claudio and Chris Hero apart, giving the favour firmly to ROH. Joe and Danielson, shockingly, work together in dismantling the invaders for a good couple of minutes. Danielson then sets Gero up for a Muscle Buster, and promptly betrays ROH by chop blocking Joe’s leg out (conveniently nailing Hero with the Buster in the process), and attacking him with a chair and stomps. After mugging for the very angry crowd he gets into a verbal encounter with Cornette, and walks out while Joe is helped out of the ring. That leaves Whitmer 1 against 3 until Pearce enters. Nate Webb has entered in the meantime, and he hits a rather impressive moonsault van terminator. Problem: The original still looks better, and looks more devastating. A true case of ‘more flips does not a better move make’. Great twist on Danielson. Necro Butcher is out next, and at this point Pearce and Whitmer are getting destroyed. Steel comes out with his cow bell, and clobbers all of CZW, particularly Necro, with it. Inevitably, though, the numbers game works against him, Hero takes the bell away, and Claudio puts him down. While ROH is getting annihilated, Hero starts a slow ‘CZW’ chant, then suggests he’s going to reveal the mystery partner, but Ace Steel runs in behind him and clobbers him with a trash can. Eddie Kingston hits the cage to complete CZW’s team, and the butchery continues. At this point, both teams are complete, many of the participants are bleeding, and ROH has surely lost. A thunderous ‘HOMICIDE’ chant starts, because he is our hero. However, Eddie and Hero start arguing, rather than winning the match, and amid all that, Homicide gatecrashes the party. He bears a wooden board, with ‘OUCH’ on one side. And he looks happy to be here. Kingston gets the board smashed over his head, and the battle is on. Necro runs onto tacks that Homicide pours out, then Homicide throws a handful of them in his face, allowing Whitmer to hit an exploder for a near fall, then Homicide hands out the forks and everything turns REAL nasty. But it had to. This is the way this feud HAD to go. Utter madness all over, as a barbed wire baseball bat enters the fray, someone in the crowd screams, Ace hits someone with a chair, the wire gets turned on Necro Butcher... and Nate Webb gets fucking LAWN DARTED into the cage from inside the ring. That looked BAD. Into the cage, onto the concrete. Ace Steel and Adam Pearce perform a random complex move spot, with Steel hitting a top rope Ace Crusher and a leg drop sidewalk slam with Pearce at the same time. You know, this match is better for not having any announcers at all. I think the only person not bleeding now is Homicide. SO MUCH NASTINESS! Oh, Nate Webb isn’t bleeding, so that’s two people who aren’t. Claudio and Pearce go through a table, taking them out of the match. Hero ends up perched on the cage trying to escape the furious ROH people who are throwing stuff at him, then he comes back with a big moonsault that knocks down everyone who wasn’t beforehand. Hero takes a SICK brainbuster onto a chair for a near fall, broken up by Necro Butcher, who takes yet another crazy bump onto a set up chair for another near fall. The tides have turned, and it’s looking obvious ROH is going to win now. CZW is in retreat, getting hammered constantly. The insaneness continues with Whitmer samoan dropping Necro off the apron through a table covered in barbed wire. Nate Webb tries a chair moonsault, but Homicide rolls up, then lariats the chair into his face, and kills him with the oh-so appropriately named Cop Killa onto a barbed wire board to end the feud with ROH’s victory.Utterly. Fucking. Insane. One of ROH’s best matches ever, but I guess the impact is strengthened for me because I know pretty much every bit of the storyline since February. *****There’s then a ‘taking out of the trash’ for the beaten CZW wrestlers, defeated and then dumped out of the arena in ignominy while Jim Cornette laughs and taunts them all the way. Cornette shakes hands with everyone, barring Homicide, who he asks to stay at ringside along with Pearce and J. J. Dillon. Cornette promos about how he knew Homicide couldn’t let his home promotion die. Jim Cornette promises him that he can have his three wishes, since he came through in the end. There’s an IMMEDIATE ‘LOW KI’ chant. Homicide’s first wish: A fight with Steve Corino. No idea why, but he gets it. Number two: He wants a guaranteed ROH World Title shot. He gets it. Number three: Low Ki reinstated. *Buzzer goes off* Cornette not happy about that. See, he gave his word that Low Ki would never be back so long as he was Commissioner. Fans start chanting ‘JUST SAY YES’. If Gabe ever does come to terms with Low Ki again, the fans will be mucho pleased. Cornette explains himself nicely, though, saying he’ll only do things for Low Ki in particular. This issue rapidly heats up, as Homicide calls Cornette a liar for not giving him his three wishes, Cornette calls him ‘Homocide’, and Homicide spits in Cornette’s face, resulting in a Pearce and Mace spray assisted beatdown. Fans not so happy with this. Julius Smokes tries to get in the cage but he gets Maced as well. Cornette takes his belt off and whips Homicide across the back. The fans start chanting for Low Ki, clearly expecting/hoping for a run-in, but it doesn’t happen. Pearce and Dillon keep the ROH students from climbing the now-locked cage, while Cornette continues to whip Homicide’s back. Cornette leaves, saying anyone on Homicide’s side can kiss his ass, and the students crowd round until someone gets bolt cutters to free Homicide. And we’re out.