My apologies for anyone regularly following this little project. Work has been crazy as its the holiday shopping season and I haven't had the time to write up my next entry. But fuck it, I get one day off a week so, let's do this!

Bobby Fish vs Davey Richards (Reclamation-night 1 07/12/13): A very intense kick filled contest with very nice spots and holds. It was a good match that felt great at times. It just had a weird pace and I never felt like it kicked into overdrive. Perhaps I'm wrong but, at this point I'm not quite sure what Fish's singles moveset is like. It seems sorta like the Koji Kanemoto's moves- heel hold, brainbuster, falcon arrow and kicks. I know he starts using a high angle Saito which they refer to as a Back Drop Driver (which is cool when Nigel is out there because he knows all about the "real" ones from Morishima). Anyhow, the finish was acceptable but, anti-climactic (or even "iffy") but, the match as a whole was good.

Eddie Edwards vs Kyle O'Reilly (07/12/13): This match was included as a bonus on disc #2 of the ROH. I am very glad this was there because it's been the best match thus far. This was the brutal intense stuff I'd wanted out of this feud. It focused on grappling and was in the lineage of Kobayashi/Tiger I, Pegasus Kid/Black Tiger II/Liger NJ Jrs. matches. Likewise, this too was a classic match in the style. It had wonderful pacing that built the intensity up into the finish rather than let is peter out at the beginning for the sake of shooting off fireworks throughout the match. Serious classic stuff!

Now we're on to Disc #2 of the set

reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans (ROH TV 07/27/13): Fish and O'Reilly are very good in their roles as the cocky heels here. I haven't mentioned their promos at the end of the last disc but, they are really fun and worth a laugh. So here Fish turns a non-title match into a championship bout out of hubris. I certainly get it because the DRagons truly look like a wrecking machine team here. Their characters and in ring work seemed to be gelling because unlike the Briscoe matches, it was clear that they were the stars of the battle. Not to say the Romero/Koslov team (who were a very hot tag team at the time) weren't good but, they truly looked like champs in this very good match. ***spoiler*** So, it was odd to me then, to have then lose to the guest NJ team. Nonetheless, Bobby and Kyle's ranting promos after the match were awesome. Kyle is clearly getting more comfortable in his character and Fish looked like the full package by just killing it on the mic with thoughtful and purposeful statements. You believe in his character when he speaks. This really elevates this segment or event into something really great.

Now, from the next match-up we realize that the Hooligans were transition champs so the Wolves and reDRagon could fight for the title at Manhattan Mayhem V. 

American Wolves vs reDragon (08/17/13): It was match that could have been so much more than just good. The beginning and end were very good but, the meat of the match was unorganized. Additionally the Manhattan crowd seemed to be lifeless by this point and some were vocally criticizing the fight. That is to say tag legalities and rules went out of the window and they put on a Young Bucks free for all with all 4 men in the ring for minutes at a time. I agree with the fans criticisms but, when the rest of the audience is near silent , don't be a dick and yell at the ref "Who's the legal man, Todd (Sinclair)!?" Because it really looked like 4 guys jumping and doing kinda hokey double team spots for people that NOT ONLY didn't care but for people actually talking shit on what you're doing. I think that made them panic and do things to try to win the crowd back. This in turn got short term pops but, sidetracked the match. Also, I watched a Young Bucks match recently and they don't do this '4 in the ring' stuff as long as you might think. They are usually popping in an out of ropes pretty fast but, doing it often. Here, the Wolves & DRagons were having a tornado tag match. I watched this bout twice and it really was unengaging up until the final few minutes. However, I think if this was in front of a more appreciative crowd, it would have helped both my perception and what the guys did.

Sorry to end this on a bummer but, better stuff is on the horizon for reDRagon. Thanks for reading and sorry for the delay!

Happy Holidays! and remember that it is retail, warehouse workers, and customer service people's holiday season too. They have the stress of buying gifts & driving in shitty traffic on top of  their job being hellishly stressful right now. So be kind! Not only is it the right thing to do but, you'll probably get treated better in return. You know kinda like that Golden Rule thingy...