Official ROH Discussion Thread

[alexander]

Last night's results - # King & Blade over Primeau & Edwards# Haze over Thatcher (Heart Punch / Mind Trip Combo) # Claudio over Ruckus (Ruckus missed the back flip Claudio caught him in the big swing and European for the win) # Puder over some jobber not a student (Leg Submission)# Danielson over Albright (Triangle Choke) # Steen over Necro (Package piledriver on a chair after a brutal chair shot )Intermission# Delirious over Rinauro (Cobra Stretch) # Strong over Generico (Gibson driver) # Aries/Stevens to a double CO, Stevens had them restart and he finished Aries with the Doctor Bomb#Ultimate Endurance - Jigsaw out after an Albright half nelson, Mark 'Snuka dive' from the top of the ladder on BJ. Briscoes v. AOTF for the belts. AOTF after a Contracode from Jacobs followed by a Phoenix Splash from Black.

[Pete Scott]

I'd like to see some more detailed results but I think that sounds like a good solid show to start the year with. Stevens going over Aries it a bit of a suprise (I guess with his newly won FIP title on the line it's not as suprising at it could've been), the double CO would've been a bit lame so I'm glad they restarted. I'm eager to see the main event and several other matches on the card. Tonights show should be great although it's a real shame Hero's injured.

[alexander]

I'd like to see some more detailed results but I think that sounds like a good solid show to start the year with. Stevens going over Aries it a bit of a suprise (I guess with his newly won FIP title on the line it's not as suprising at it could've been), the double CO would've been a bit lame so I'm glad they restarted. I'm eager to see the main event and several other matches on the card. Tonights show should be great although it's a real shame Hero's injured.

The results had some really wacky looking star ratings attached, but I deleted them when I corrected the spelling and what have you, as I doubt they gave much of an useful indicator.What's up with Hero? And what was he booked for? Edited January 12, 2008 by Leicester Lantern

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Hero has a knee injury, hence his non-participation. Traditionally, ROHs first show of the year is always a bit crap, with maybe the exception of Hell Freezes Over

[dopper]

In the sale I got the Glory By Honor show from 2005 and Man Up.I bought Man Up to see if the ladder match is as good as people say it is, but is the rest of the card any good?

[TripleM]

Hero has a knee injury, hence his non-participation.

He was also booked against Danielson on this show

[alexander]

Slightly more detailed results -

Ring of Honor debuted at Boston University in Boston, MA tonight with the following results:Pre-Show:*Mike Bennet defeated Rhett Titus with a sitout rock bottom.*Azrieal defeated. Ernie Osiris with a double stomp to the back of the head.Main Show:*YRR, Kenny King and Jason Blade defeated. Eddie Edwards and Pelle Primeau in a solid opening match. YRR then cut a promo on the Briscoes, who hit the ring and cleared it of the YRR.*Daizee Haze defeated Alexa Thatcher in a short back and forth match. There are a fair amount of a*****s here catcalling the women.*Claudio Castagnoli defeated Ruckus with an European uppercut.*Daniel Puder made his in-ring Ring of Honor debut, defeating Mike Bennet in a open challenge. Sweet N Sour, Inc.'s Larry Sweeney said no one could make Puder tap. This brought out Bryan Danielson, who challenged Puder, but Puder balked. Danielson called out Brent Albright to have their bout.*Bryan Danielson defeated Brent Albright in a fantastic match, but Albright would not shake Dragon's hand afterwards.*Kevin Steen defeated Necro Butcher in a fun plunder match.*Delirious defeated Sal Rinauro with a crossface submission.*Roderick Strong defeated El Generico. Generico was laid out by Albright and BJ Whitmer afterwards. Albright said he wasn't done with Bryan Danielson.*FIP champion Erik Stevens defeated Austin Aries in a fantastic match that is worth the price of the DVD when it's released.*ROH Tag Team champions The Age of the fall retained their belts in a fantastic Ultimate Endurance match. Evans and Jigsaw were eliminated first. The second fall saw BJ Whitmer get pinned under the No DQ stipulation. The final fall saw the Briscoes get pinned after a series of big spots and near falls.Quick Thoughts:*Great show with a near sellout crowd....Kevin Steen is really getting over with the ROH crowd...Brent Albright deserves a ton of credit for wrestling in two good to great matches tonight....ROH announced an April 11th return.

[gadge]

In the sale I got the Glory By Honor show from 2005 and Man Up.I bought Man Up to see if the ladder match is as good as people say it is, but is the rest of the card any good?

I enjoyed the PPV undercard, and Danielson vs Morishima is very good and extremely intense, albeit a step below their first match at Manhattan Mayhem II for me. Glory By Honor from 2005 is GBHIV with Gibson vs Danielson isn't it? Why did you choose that show?

[dopper]

Glory By Honor from 2005 is GBHIV with Gibson vs Danielson isn't it? Why did you choose that show?

There was some Ring Of Honor chat in the UKFF chat room a year or two ago and MackemMan recommended it saying it was one of the best top-to-bottom ROH cards, but back then ROH had it for $25.Also I enjoyed the spell in 2005 when CM Punk went from the Jimmy Rave feud into winning the title and up until he left for WWE. As GBH4 follows on from that, and the Lethal vs Rottweilers thing was cool, Danielson winning the title and Cabana vs Homicide .... I've been meaning to check this one out for a while.

[gadge]

Cool.

 

I watched Honor Nation today.

 

I have enjoyed the early stuff with the Hangmen Three as a faction, and this show starts with Brent Albright and Adam Pearce vs Erick Stevens and Matt Cross followed by BJ Whitmer vs Delirious, both of which are fine and have a nice good guys vs bad guys thing going on. Heel Whitmer needs to dispense with doing technical stuff at the beginning of matches though (see also Whitmer and Albright vs Nigel and Claudio at Motor City Madness 07).

 

A Four Corner Survival turns into a three-way when Tyler Black is run off by Jay Briscoe, and the subsequent Nigel vs El Generico vs Hallowicked match is full of energy but probably goes a bit too far with the crazy spots when all that happens is the predictable finish of Nigel pinning Hallowicked.

 

Claudio Castagnoli vs Chris Hero runs way, way too long and isn't a patch on their Manhattan Mayhem II encounter. Claudio scoring a second straight clean pin makes no sense at all, as he already did that in Manhattan. Both guys should have moved on to other things and come back together 6, 9 or 12 months later. The match ran so long, I struggled to concentrate on Danielson vs Aries later on the card... more on that later.

 

Necro Butcher and Jay Briscoe brawl back out and have an anything goes match featuring Necro's usual stuff. I felt like I'd seen it all before here, and the Age of the Fall costing Jay the match was cheap, especially by ROH standards. They abduct Mark Briscoe afterwards.

 

After 'intermission' they come back with more Age of the Fall, as Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black squash Mitch Franklin and Ernie Osiris. Black looks quite good, as I've not seen his stuff elsewhere (I am progressing through the WSX stuff featuring D.I.F.H. now though). Jay Briscoe runs out after, and Jacobs and Black scarper, taunting "Where's Mark?" as they leave.

 

The early parts of Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson were really nice, and closer to their great 2004 encounters than anything more recent, but the slow pace lost my attention after the long Hero/Claudio match earlier. I woke up (!) for the last five minutes, as things had progressed towards the conclusion. The finish was fantastic. A rewatch is definitely in order.

 

Refreshed, I enjoyed the scramble between the No Remorse Corps and the now completed jigsaw that is the Vulture Squad (Evans, Ruckus and, yes, Jigsaw). High octane six man action that worked much better then Nigel-Generico-Hallowicked earlier by being in the semi main event slot. The main complaint I'd have is that the result doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of Faction Warfare, it just says Evans now has a stable ready to go.

 

Takeshi Morishima vs Kevin Steen for the ROH World Title was only going to have one winner, but was better than I expected it to be. It wasn't as good as Claudio's title shot in the same building, and was laid out in very similar fashion, but Steen throwing himself at Morishima was fun to watch. I liked Steen using his weight to work on Morishima's legs, and it actually went somewhere as it set up a sharpshooter that got a big reaction and started the closing sequence. El Generico also came out to get the crowd into the challenger, and in the post-match, the DVD closes with Steen pushing Generico away and teasing the split of their tag team.

 

Good show overall, with no genuine stinkers, in spite of the excessive length to Hero vs Claudio. This is the only DVD that fits between the Man Up PPV and the upcoming Undeniable PPV, so I'm now torn over whether I want to watch the four other shows I have ready...

[Pete Scott]

The results from last nights show:

Ring Of HonorInman Sports ClubJanuary 12th, 2007- 7:30pm belltime990 Inman AvenueEdison, NJ 08820ResultsPreshow1) Pelle Primeau & Kyle Durden defeat Orange Cassidy & Vin GerardMain Show1) The YRR of Sal Rinauro, Jason Blade, & Kenny King defeat Delirious, El Generico, & Mike Quackenbush when Delirious was hit with a crutch and Jason Blade got the pin. Good opener.~All of Sweet & Sour Inc. with the exception of Bobby Dempsey are in the ring. They announce the $1000 Daniel Puder submission challenge. First up is Alex Payne, and he's submitted quickly. Rhett Titus is next, and he's done in 30 seconds.~Larry Sweeney announces that Chris Hero and Sara Del Rey are now the Intergender World Tag Team Champions. They will defend the belts against Ernie Osiris and Alexa Thatcher. The belts are a joke.2) Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey squash Ernie Osiris & Alexa Thatcher to retain the "Intergender World Tag Team Championships".3) Roderick Strong defeats Jigsaw when he made him tap to a new submission. It resembled a backwards Figure 4.4) Jimmy Jacobs defeats Jack Evans by submitting him to the Guillotine Choke.5) Claudio Castagnoli defeats Austin Aries after two Ricola Bombs. Aries was playing heel throughout the match.~Claudio calls out Puder and says he wants to take Puder's $1000 challenge. Claudio puts up $1000 of his own money to take on Puder. Puder can not make Claudio tap, so Sweeney attacks Claudio with a chair and steals his money to end the first half. ~INTERMISSION~6) BJ Whitmer & Shane Hagadorn defeat Bobby Fish & Eddie Edwards after a Whitmer powerbomb on Fish.7) Kevin Steen defeats Brent Albright with the Package Piledriver. Good match.8) FIP World Heavyweight Championship: Erick Stevens defeats Bryan Danielson following a restart. Just like last night, the match ended via countout and Stevens has it restarted. He PINNED DANIELSON with a Doctor Bomb. (then I died a little inside).9) The Age of the Fall vs. Briscoes brawl ends in a no contest. Jay got injured during a spot with a ladder and EMTs came out to attend to him. The Vulture Squad (Evans & Jigsaw) came out and brawled with Black and Necro. Apparently this became the match, as Jack won with a springboard 630. Last word on Jay was that he was helped to the back.

Sounds like a good show, I love Sweet N Sour Inc more as each show passes. Stevens seems to be getting a major push for 2008, not sure how I feel about that, he's never really wowed me and always seemed quite generic. Bad weekend for Aries with two pin fall losses. A good solid start to the new year for RoH it seems and I hope Jay's OK, hopefully there'll be an update on him later today. Edited January 13, 2008 by Pete Scott

[gadge]

While he lacks a bit of character, I can't remember one of Stevens' matches I didn't like, and he's been pretty great as the inexperieced but developing powerhouse so far. I'm a huge Danielson fan, but from where I am on the DVD series, and knowing Danielson's been on a downward trend while he has the Morishima series unfinished, I'd expect the result here to play out well when this DVD rolls around.EDIT: the other thing I really like about Stevens is that he doesn't rely on crazy spots, yet has never looked out of place at the fast paced end of the multi man tags he's been in either. He's just a rock solid hand - he has always seemed a much better fit for ROH than Matt Cross when they were tagging together.It looks like Steen is also going to get a singles push with victories over Necro and Albright this weekend. I don't see him as ROH champion or anything, but he's definitely more set for the top end of an ROH card than in 2005.

Edited January 13, 2008 by gadgetboy

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Fighting Spirit Review - 14/4/07

 

Nigel cuts a great promo to kick off proceedings. No stupid gimmicks like the old

[The Cum Doctor]

ROH THE EPIC ENCOUNTER

***********************

 

The Backseat Boys vs. Da Hit Squad

 

I have to admit, I thought "no way will this be as fun as I remember". Turned out it's just as fun as I remember it. Just two teams beating each other up. You actually had the sense that these two teams really don't like each other, and makes me wonder if there's some sort of heated fued which I am missing. It's also probably the best that the BSB looked as a team in their ROH run. It should be pointed out that Mafia walks out on his buddy.

 

Special K vs. Dunn and Marcos vs. The Carnage Crew

 

This is a scramble that offers no surprises, and instead offers fast paced spot driven stuff, which is fine by me, as the spots weren't blown. With Dunn/Marcos and TCC, you always get the same thing, but in a short space of time, it doesn't come across as much of a weakness. So what you have here is a perfectly acceptable Scramble Match which should pass a few minutes of your time.

 

ROH Tag Team Titles - The Amazing Red and AJ Styles vs. The Briscoes

 

Not as well paced as their first match, and definately not as spectacular to watch, but there's still a lot to like about this match. Mainly, The Briscoes feeling the need to suplex Red all over the place like a rag doll. There's also some nice throwbacks to the first match, including a brilliant exchange where The Briscoes counter the series of moves that won AJ and Red the titles. However, the ending sequence of this match, while not eye popping, is great fun. So yeah, don't skip this match. It's really good.

 

CM Punk vs. BJ Whitmer

 

One of the more overrated ROH matches. Almost nothing happens for the time that they're in the ring. The only point of this match seems to be the big bump that sees the match stopped. Just a lot of moves followed by a table break.

 

Christopher Daniels vs. Homicide

 

These two guys obviously taking their tactics from the Punk/Whitmer school of wrestling, as they, also, just throw a bunch of moves together. This match is actually clipped, making me scared about what might have happened in the first part of the match, as the second part certainly wasn't up to much. Both of these guys should have been disappointed in this as they are capable of much better.

 

This leads to Mafia becoming Dan Maff of the Prophecy.

 

Samoa Joe vs. Hotstuff Hernandez

 

Hernandez is a spectacle, and ROH like to show that off. This match was far too short to actually mean anything though. It did it's two jobs though. Made Hernandez look a little bit mental and it made Joe look like a monster. Job done.

 

ROH Title - Samoa Joe vs. Chad Collyer vs. Tom Carter vs. Matt Stryker

 

This is like a three way fued with Joe tacked on to make it more meaningful. Some of the spots were nice, especially the final spot which was kind of cool in a "nice thinking" kind of way. It's basically the usual four way, but Joe didn't take as much of a part in the match as I was expecting him to. I guess it makes sense with the other three men not liking each other very much.

 

2/3 Falls - Paul London vs. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson

 

This is pretty far from being a typical ROH match, as most Danielson matches tended to be around this time. This was very much a 45 minute story between two guys who are very good at it. Both guys seemed to have their ideas of how they wanted to win the match, and both guys stuck to their guns right the way through. In the end, one of the two men decided to use something from his arsenal that he knew he had and didn't use enough. As far as 2/3 Falls matches go, only Austin/HHH from NWO 2001 betters this for me. This match is a bit overrated and is far from perfect, but it's still a terrific match.

 

Bunkhouse Riot

 

This is a weird one to keep a track of. It's also a bit of a bag of wank. Very reminiscent of the brawl involving Abby at the Night of the Butcher. Except this match, everyone could actually move around in a free fashion. Don't be fooled though. That doesn't make this match any better.

 

OVERALL

********

 

There's all sorts of goodies on this show. There's three entertaining tag matches in a row, culminating in a really good tag title match. There's the 2/3 Falls match for the technical wrestling fans out there and ... well, I was gonna say the Bunkhouse Riot for the blood marks, but it might not be good enough even to satisfy you. Still, it's a show that's worth a look.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Christopher Daniels vs. HomicideThese two guys obviously taking their tactics from the Punk/Whitmer school of wrestling, as they, also, just throw a bunch of moves together. This match is actually clipped, making me scared about what might have happened in the first part of the match, as the second part certainly wasn't up to much. Both of these guys should have been disappointed in this as they are capable of much better.

Apparently the first six minutes were so bad they had to be clipped. A realsuprise at the time, as Daniels vs Homicide was an indie dream match at the time. They just didnt click for some reason

ROH Title - Samoa Joe vs. Chad Collyer vs. Tom Carter vs. Matt StrykerThis is like a three way fued with Joe tacked on to make it more meaningful. Some of the spots were nice, especially the final spot which was kind of cool in a "nice thinking" kind of way. It's basically the usual four way, but Joe didn't take as much of a part in the match as I was expecting him to. I guess it makes sense with the other three men not liking each other very much.

I forgot Reckless had a brief run in ROH. His match up with Matt Stryker was quite good as I recall.