Official ROH Discussion Thread

[www.KingofEuropecup.com]

Courtesy of rohwrestling.com

 

The Fifth Year Festival has lived up to the hype in Manhattan, Philadelphia, Dayton and Chicago. Now ROH's 5th birthday party will come to a close in the United Kingdom at the The Liverpool Olympia on West Derby Road in Liverpool, L6 9BY this Saturday and Sunday. There will be plenty of tickets available at the door on both nights including some great seats. Saturday's event has a belltime of 6pm and Sunday starts at 5pm. For more info go to www.ROHwrestling.com and the "schedule" section.

 

ROH will pull out all the stops to close the Fifth Year Festival with a bang. Five years ago ROH started as a small indy in a rundown Murphy Rec Center in South Philly. Now thanks to your support ROH will celebrate its 5th birthday in England. These will be memorable and emotional shows as Samoa Joe's almost five year ROH career will come to a close. Joe will be in the main event on each night and will be faced with two of his toughest all time rivals in ROH. This weekend in Liverpool will see it all from title matches to violent wars to the best wrestling going today. Here is a quick look at whatever everyone has at stake in Liverpool:

 

-Samoa Joe: This "ROH Legend" will say farewell to the company that he made. It will be an emotional weekend for Joe, but not an easy one. Joe will be faced with two of his toughest rivals throughout ROH history. Saturday will see Samoa Joe vs. England's own Nigel McGuinness. The feud between these two has really intensified in recent months as part of the Joe vs. NOAH feud. These two even had two pull apart brawls on 2/16 in Manhattan. McGuinness pinned Joe in a tag match last week in Chicago. He also defeated Joe for the Pure Title back in 2005. Now Joe is looking to defeat Nigel to end the feud in Nigel's native land. Joe has requested to face Homicide in his final match on Sunday. These two have been rivals basically since Joe started in ROH. The rivalry has paved way for a mutual respect that has seen a friendship develop. Homicide defeated Joe in a ROH World Title Match last January. Now Joe wants to take the final chapter. While these two respect each other and have been tag partners recently, their competitive nature will drive both to try to win in the final ROH match ever between them. Will Joe go out 2-0?

 

-Nigel McGuinness: He proved to be England's favorite son at the debut Liverpool event last August when he took Bryan Danielson to the limit. However, McGuinness wasn't able to give his home country fans the big win. Now McGuinness will have two huge matches and he is determined to score some huge victories in his home country. Saturday will be the Samoa Joe match. Can the rebound lariat give Nigel another win over Joe? Sunday will be the end of the intense McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave feud when they settle things in a Fight Without Honor. This is an issue about respect and now ROH's biggest type of grudge match is coming to Liverpool. You can expect an all out war as McGuinness returns to England. Can Nigel get the big win in England?

 

-ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe- The Briscoes captured the World Tag Titles last week in Chicago and now they will make their first defenses in Liverpool. Saturday will see a truly international contest as The Briscoes defend against the Dragon Gate duo of Shingo & Doi in a first time ever match between four excellent athletic competitors. Jay & Mark have challenged any team in Europe to face them on Sunday and if they make it past Saturday with the belts they will put them on the line on Sunday. The Briscoes want to add to the international prestige of the ROH World Tag Titles by defeating the best from Japan and Europe this weekend in Liverpool. Will The Briscoes dominate the world?

 

-FIP Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong & Davey Richards: This is a very important weekend for the No Remorse Corps. Strong will make the FIP belt into a World Title on Saturday when he puts it on the line against UK's sensational high-flyer PAC. Davey Richards will face Homicide for the first time ever. This one promises to be very physical. Strong & Richards will team to take on the Dragon Gate duo of Shingo & Doi on Sunday. These all could be show stealers!!! Will the No Remorse Corps continue to rise?

 

-Dragon Gate's Naruki Doi & Shingo: Two of Dragon Gate's top athletes are coming to England with one goal in mind. They want the ROH World Tag Team Titles. Shingo's stay in ROH will be coming to a close in the next few months before heading back to Japan fulltime. In order for Shingo's ROH run to be a success he needs to win a title. Saturday could be his last shot. The Dragon Gate office has already sent word that Doi & Shingo will put the belts on the line against Richards & Strong on Sunday if they win them on Saturday. This will give both nights state of the art tag team action!!! Can Doi & Shingo bring the ROH World Tag Titles to Dragon Gate?

 

-Homicide with Julius Smokes: Don't miss this chance to see "ROH Legend" Homicide and his cornerman Julius Smokes live!!! If you thought Smokes was something on The Wrestling Channel and on DVD wait until you see him live. Who will win the final Homicide vs. Joe match?

 

-Matt Sydal: This former ROH World Tag Team Champion will see his career long rivalry with Delirious go international as they face off in a 2/3 Falls Match. This two always deliver and it will be special for both of them to bring the rivalry to England. Matt Sydal will test his skills against PAC on Sunday in a battle of two of the best high-flyers going today. Both these matches will be spectacular!!! Can Sydal defeat Delirious in Liverpool?

 

-BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs: The violent and brutal feud pitting Whitmer vs. Jacobs comes to England. Night one will see a tag match with Whitmer & Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Jimmy Rave. Whitmer also wants to get his hands on Rave since Rave cheated to defeat him in Chicago. Sunday is sure to be wild when Whitmer and Jacobs square off in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. These two always bring the fight when they face each other. How violent will it get this weekend?

 

-Delirious: The crazed masked man wants to prove he is the better man against Sydal on Saturday. Sunday will see an interesting match as Delirious takes on Colt Cabana. This one is sure to be entertaining. Can Delirious beat Sydal in two falls?

 

-Colt Cabana: He is one of the most popular athletes in England. Cabana will have one last chance to get his hands on Jacobs on Saturday in the tag match. These two had one of the most bloody bouts in ROH history last week in Chicago. What kind of match will Cabana vs. Delirious be?

 

-Jimmy Rave: The now highly aggressive Rave had a rough first outing in England with losses to Davey Richards and Doug Williams. Not only that, Rave was disrespected by the UK fans. Now Rave wants to ruin McGuinness' homecoming by winning the Fight Without Honor on Sunday. This is going to be beyond hardcore. Can Rave upset the UK fans and win the feud against Nigel?

 

-Allison Danger & Sara Del Rey: The UK will be treated to women's wrestling at its best with Danger vs. Del Rey on Saturday. Word has it some native talent is not happy about being snubbed. SHIMMER action is coming to Liverpool on both nights!!! Who will Danger and Del Rey face on Sunday?

 

-PAC: UK's hottest sensation is ready for his ROH debut this weekend. PAC will be given the opportunity to make his reputation in ROH and steal the show on both nights. He might even be the top man in FIP if he can defeat Roderick Strong on Saturday for the FIP Heavyweight Title. Will PAC do or die?

 

If you thought "Unified" and "Anarchy In The UK" were something last August, wait until you see what ROH has in store for you as the Fifth Year Festival and Samoa Joe farewell tour come to a close. ROH is bringing over more talent to thank you for making all this possible. We'll see you in Liverpool this Saturday and Sunday!!! Tickets will be available at the door on both nights. Everyone will be buzzing about these shows on Monday. Don't miss your chance to see ROH live and experience the Fifth Year Festival.

Edited March 1, 2007 by www.KingofEuropecup.com

[Philjax]

There will be plenty of tickets available at the door on both nights including some great seats.

So what's that all about then after the record sellout for the last tour?

[chunk3rvd]

I imagine part of the reason is in the sig of the guy you quoted!!!I've always found it a bit shitty and sort of a conflict of interests for Alex Shane to be promoting 6 shows in 1 building 8 weeks apart. This must have affected ticket sales as I've seen many poeple saying they had to choose between the two.

[Philjax]

True dat. 6 shows?? 4 surely.

[chunk3rvd]

6 if you count the day shows by IPW:UK on 28/04 and 29/04

[Philjax]

Ahhhhhhhhh. I wouldn't count those.

[Guest "Sugar" Shane Helms]

Well, I posted this on the ROH board, but it got deleted, because ROH mods/posters have no sense of hunour, so I thought I'd put it here. No Remorse Corps... to me that's a mere hop slip and a jump away from No Limit Soldiers? Will yelling "HOOTIE HOO!" improve Roderick's promo skills?

[robgomm]

Well, I posted this on the ROH board, but it got deleted, because ROH mods/posters have no sense of hunour, so I thought I'd put it here. No Remorse Corps... to me that's a mere hop slip and a jump away from No Limit Soldiers? Will yelling "HOOTIE HOO!" improve Roderick's promo skills?

That got deleted? Wow.

[King of my World]

The two UK shows do look really good on paper, lets hope they deliver.Watched Dethroned the other night and it was a good show. Tag title match was excellent with a nice finish, and the main event was a great brawl with Briscoes vs Joe/Homicide. This is the type of match I like Homicide in, I dont really enjoy his singles matches too much, I find him to be a bit overrated. Got the Chicago Spectacular Night 2 to watch next.

[Jun Kasai]

March 9th: ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima will be on every ROH show in April. His entire match schedule for April is complete. Right now Morishima has only signed for one World Title Match. It will be on April 14th in Edison, NJ when he faces Nigel McGuinness, who many predict will be the next ROH World Champion. There will be a big sale starting later today at www.ROHwrestling.com that will give you big savings on tickets for all these shows. Here is how Morishima's April is shaping up with much more info coming soon on all these matches: -April 13th in Long Island: Morishima & Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness & Doug Williams-April 14th in Edison: Morishima vs. McGuinness for the ROH World Title-April 27th in St. Paul: Morishima vs. Austin Aries-April 28th in Chicago: Morishima vs. Shingo

Oh my, Morishima/Shingo is going to rule, cant wait to see this one.

[robgomm]

Interesting that they are doing Morishima-Nigel so early. I thought Nigel would take the belt of 'Shima but I'm starting to think Dragon will do that. Not sure. Really good looking matches there!

[Big_Will]

March 9th: ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima will be on every ROH show in April. His entire match schedule for April is complete. Right now Morishima has only signed for one World Title Match. It will be on April 14th in Edison, NJ when he faces Nigel McGuinness, who many predict will be the next ROH World Champion. There will be a big sale starting later today at www.ROHwrestling.com that will give you big savings on tickets for all these shows. Here is how Morishima's April is shaping up with much more info coming soon on all these matches: -April 13th in Long Island: Morishima & Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness & Doug Williams-April 14th in Edison: Morishima vs. McGuinness for the ROH World Title-April 27th in St. Paul: Morishima vs. Austin Aries-April 28th in Chicago: Morishima vs. Shingo

Now that looks like it could be a great match

[gadge]

I watched Chicago Spectacular Night 2 this morning.

 

The show starts with an in-ring Colt Cabana promo before his scheduled match with SHINGO, which sees their scheduled singles match get melded with the Team Delirious vs Team Danielson six man match, and we now have an 8-man elimination tag team main event. More on that later.

 

The first match after that shenanigans is Ace Steel vs Tank Toland, which is not exactly appealing on paper but is fair enough in execution. Steel gets positive reactions from his home town crowd, and Toland being ex-WWE and not particularly well noted (except for being a 'Dick'), gets a heel reaction to match. So they work a basic WWE-ish good guy vs bad guy match fairly well, except for a not very good looking over the shoulder backbreaker into a DDT, that's what happens when you overcomplicate. Steel gets the win via rollup, and the crowd is happy. Next...

 

6 Man Mayhem follows that, with Kikutaro being the main reason to watch. Also in the match is Trik Davis (ugh), CJ Otis (who looks too much like ex-CBBC character Otis the aardvark for me to not laugh), ROH wrestling school underdog Pelle Primeau, and both members of Irish Airborne, Jake and Dave Crist. Beyond Kikutaro and his comedy, Primeau is the best performer in the match for me, the Sabu-trained Otis looks alright and has the best physique, and Irish Airborne do their usual spots, remaining over with the midwest ROH fans. Curiously for a singles match, the Crists hit their Irish Air Raid tag team finisher and one plays guard wile the other gets the pin. O-kay...

 

Shane Hagadorn comes out and picks on Pelle Primeau afterwards, in response to Primeau issuing a challenge for Hagadorn's Top of the Class Trophy the previous night. Adam Pearce comes out and they lay Primeau out with a spike piledriver. Nasty. Homicide's music hits, and we get an impromptu Homicide vs Shane Hagadorn match ending in a Cop Killa. Homicide and Pearce are set for a Strap match later (for which Pearce has cut a couple of really good backstage promos), but Homicide notes the Steel Cage is still on the ring truck from the previous night's Danielson vs Joe World Title match, and lays out a challenge for a Cage match instead. Sounds good to me.

 

Next is Samoa Joe vs Mark Briscoe in an epilogue of the Joe and Cide vs Briscoes feud that ended 2 shows previously. They had a solid match at Final Battle 2003 when Joe was World Champion, and this is comparable, but once again not up to Joe's matches with Jay Briscoe. After starting quite hot, by this point the crowd aren't as loud as you might expect. As with a lot of the shows since Glory By Honor V Night 2, there's just a lack of energy in everything, possibly as this is the 7th show held by ROH in the building in 8 months. However, the end of the match grabs the crowd's attention here, as Joe hits the Muscle Buster but then lays in some more strikes and a vicious lariat before making the 3-count, as a statement towards Pro Wrestling NOAH. Shame that in the current time, I've just seen Joe's last two ROH matches, so I know the feud is only going so far.

 

Austin Aries and Roderick Strong vs Christopher Daniels and Matt Cross was supposed to be Aries and Strong challenging Daniels and Matt Sydal for the ROH World Tag Team Titles, but Sydal has a knee injury after teaming with SHINGO against Strong and Aries the previous night, so the title match is held off. Daniels picks the former M-Dogg 20 as his partner after they had an athletic style match at 'The Bitter End'. Again, the crowd heat isn't what it could have been, but then the match isn't that great. Certainly, Aries and Strong had much better tag matches in 2006 when they were the champions. Cross puts in a pretty good performance, but doesn't really stand out either in a good or bad way, and in predictable booking takes the fall after a 450 splash from Aries. No drama to this one at all.

 

Homicide vs Adam Pearce in a Steel Cage is by far the best match on the card to this point. There's a genuine feel that there's motivation for both guys, and they put in plenty of effort. The match is helped by a claustrophobic feel provided as a cameraman is actually positioned inside the Cage, between the ropes and the Cage on the door side. As a result, any escape teases are done over the top and not through the door, and there are plenty of close views of blood when first Homicide then Pearce (via ghetto fork) are busted open. Intense stuff, Homicide getting the win to finish clearing the path to his title shot against Bryan Danielson.

 

Davey Richards vs Jay Briscoe going on after that feels a little odd at first, but they have a good competitive, no-frills match. Again, Jay is definitely the better Briscoe, as he's been having matches in this style since him against The Amazing Red was the first 'official' ROH match ever. After a good bout of NOAH-esque fighting spirit exchanges of momentum, Mark Briscoe comes to ringside when both men are down, and motivates Jay to a clean win with the Jay Driller. Richards cuts a backstage promo later, pointing out how he needs backup, basically foreshadowing the birth of the No Remorse Corps. Good match in a style aimed at ROH fans.

 

Delirious, BJ Whitmer, Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Jacobs, SHINGO and Jimmy Rave is YOUR 8-man elimination match main event. Plenty of backstory, mainly in Danielson vs Delirious, Cabana and Nigel, Whitmer and Cabana vs Jacobs, and Nigel vs Rave. I love ROH's tendency to combine entrance musics, which works better for Team Delirious here than Team Danielson.

 

The opening 8-man segment is slower than I would have liked, with no big brawl to start. Booo. Eventually things do break down, and things turn nasty when Jacobs brings out the railroad spike, Whitmer gains control of it, and accidentally spikes Lacey. There is blood on the floor at ringside, but her face is immediately covered. Jacobs carries her to the back, then comes back and bludgeons BJ's ankle with a chair, getting himself DQed.

 

From there, Jimmy Rave and his new heel hook submission capitalise on Whitmer's injury to make it 3-on-3, then he makes Nigel tap out for the second straight night. Two easy submissions earned by Rave subdues the crowd again. SHINGO is eliminated by a Cabana rollup, which saddens me. SHINGO really won me over live in Liverpool last weekend, that's for sure. It's down to Delirious and Cabana vs Danielson and Rave. Rave eliminates Cabana with a small package after a Danielson low blow. The lack of heat is most tangible there, as there isn't much negative reaction for Cabana's home town elimination.

 

With a 2-on-1 situation against Delirious, Danielson really starts heeling it up. As strong as his heel character is, you can tell he's still covering for his shoulder injury. After a few minutes of Delirious being double teamed, it's Danielson's cockiness that costs his team the advantage, as he isn't even looking at the ring when Rave is pinned by Delirious' Chemical Imbalance #2. The crowd pops nicely for that.

 

Danielson vs Delirious for the ROH World Title has happened three times in 2006, so with no title on the line here, can Delirious finally gain a measure of revenge? While he managed to pin Rave, Delirious is still on the defense for the most part, but Danielson fails to put him away, with the crossface chickenwing and cattle mutilation both coming close. I popped for Danielson countering Delirious' leaping lariat into Cattle Mutilation at one point. The first close fall for Delirious comes when he again hits Chemical Imbalance #2, only not as nicely as when he pinned Rave, and Dragon kicks out. The crowd heats up as the Cobra Stretch is applied, and Danielson's arm falls twice before he escapes, but Delirious has finally learned that you need to string a combination of moves together to pin the ROH World Champion in this situation, and uses a great looking Cobra Clutch Suplex before the Cobra Stretch finally forces Danielson to tap out. The crowd pops BIG TIME for that, and we get extensive footage of Delirious celebrating afterwards.

 

So that's the happy end of the Danielson vs Delirious feud. Overall, the 8-man tag didn't live up to my hopes, though the final bit was very good. This show got much more positive reviews from the ROH faithful than the generally disappointing October and November shows, and night 1 of the Chicago Spectacular, but I didn't really feel this show was all that. The cage match onwards is good stuff, but ROH have definitely done better.

 

I hope 'International Challenge' and 'Final Battle 2006' are better. IC looks to have a good line-up, and FB2006 should certainly deliver.

[didcotfc]

This show got much more positive reviews from the ROH faithful than the generally disappointing October and November shows, and night 1 of the Chicago Spectacular, but I didn't really feel this show was all that. The cage match onwards is good stuff, but ROH have definitely done better. I hope 'International Challenge' and 'Final Battle 2006' are better. IC looks to have a good line-up, and FB2006 should certainly deliver.

I've reallyed stalled on ROH since Anarchy in the UK since a lot of the cards look pretty forgettable and as you say, a lot of the October November stuff hasn't been praised to highly. Since you've seen a lot of the recent ROH, can you advise me what you think are the must see or key shows so that I can catch up when the next buy 3 get 1 free offer comes round.I was thinking ofGlory by Honor V (Both Nights)Irresistable Forces (For Joe vs Danielson)Chicago Spectacular Night 1 (For the same reason)Is there anything else out there thats particularly unmissable?

[WU LYF 4 LYF]

Homicide/Samoa Joe v Briscoe Brothers (ROH Glory By Honor V Night 2)

 

I really wanted to love this, as I'm digging the Briscoes character and interviews at the moment, but unfortunately, there was so much wrong with this. The fact it started off as a great, heated brawl with a manic crowd, and turned into a standard wrestling tag, killing the crowd dead. Homicide's lame Eddie Guerrero tributes. The fact that Cide + Joe wrestled as heels for a lot of the match. The fact that Joe looked lacklustre and unmotivated. It was just boring and the wrong match for the occassion. It's lack of decent structure didn't help either; it's a problem that constantly comes up in Briscoes matches, as no team maintains any offence for a substantial period. There's a moment where Joe gets the hot tag, and then starts circling the ring for a grapple. Everything feels wrong. It's kind of saved by an excellent last few minutes, but it's the epitome of a nothing match. There isn't even anything humorous you can say about it. *3/4

 

Watching all of the Glory By Honor V weekend, and it's all been very dull so far. The exception is the fantastic Jimmy/Colt/Lacey storyline, which really is the best thing in wrestling at this point. It's must see stuff, and the reason I picked up the DVD's.