ShittyLittleBoots

The first third is them just going hold-for-hold in charming fashion, wrestling over the control. After a while of that, Collyer sees that Dragon clutches his knee after a bad landing on a suplex, and then it's a full-on attack on that knee. Collyer's work over it is fantastic; he really comes off as a calm, cool, collected, laser focused ice-cold killer -- an ICEMAN if you will. Dragon sells the knee & being in trouble pretty damn fantastically, and him fighting out of Collyer's firm control created for some great moments. I'd say one of my favorite things about this whole thing was the contrast in the two characters that were American Dragon & Chad Collyer -- they're pretty similar with their wrestling, but they are also very different with how they react & answer to stuff happening. Truly a great, charming encounter. Would call it somewhat of a gem too, seeing as nobody ever really talks about it. ****

A 30-Minute Iron Man match, and it's a really good, borderline great one. The first third or so is all about some good ol' scientific, technical wrestling w/ neither really establishing control over one another. It unsurprisingly of course rules since it's these two. Eventually Dragon starts getting a bit more mean w/ his work, and he starts sneakily doing some work over Williams' neck. It pays off big when he gets the first (& only) fall of the match to his name by delivering a couple of vicious Dragon Suplexes. That happened at around the 18-minute mark (shout-out to Gabe for informing us about that), and after that, the urgency keeps on rising & rising. Williams knows he is losing, and the clock is ticking, so he starts wrestling with bigger urgency than earlier in the match, and it's really good stuff. The little drama revolving around his big finish in the Chaos Theory rules w/ Dragon kicking out of one, and then surviving from the 2nd one with that rope-break. Awesome match -- the 30-minutes flew by, the wrestling was compelling throughout. I'd put it a notch above their also-awesome Road to the Title meeting. ***3/4

Bryan vs. Styles is one my favorite wrestling pairings ever. This is their first ever singles match, and the first time they've been in a same match, period. Pretty notable in that regard, and it's also notable how in their first ever meeting, they already produced magic. It has that signature amazing, intense matwork you'd expect from them -- Dragon & Ki are the most hailed mat-wrestlers of this era, but AJ brought his own, fantastic flavor into that game as well, and it's in full showcase here w/ his brilliant aggression & intensity. They of course bust some great, brutal looking n' sounding strikes throughout as well, and it must be said that AJ's selling of Dragon's uppercuts was 5-outta-5. LOVED Bryan's attack on AJ's arm too -- he got the control back by kicking that arm, so he naturally saw a target in it afterwards, and his work over it was just tremendous. Nasty stomps, vicious holds, those headbutts. Hell yeah. Bryan eventually gets busted open NASTILY from his left eye -- it creates for some awesome visuals, and I loved how AJ's urgency rose after he sees the cut; it's in full showcase in that Muta Lock sequence (grrreat one btw) that followed. They start busting bigger & bigger bombs from then on -- the back bodydrop by Bryan definitely deserved that "holy shit!" chant it got, because AJ's bump off it was pretty crazy. I absolutely ADORE the finish w/ the Styles Clash struggle too; AJ REALLY had to work to get that move in. It's the perfect way to close this tremendous, classic match. Just behind Danielson/Ki for the ROH MOTY honors. ****1/2

This is an absolute belter of a 6-man tag with everybody getting their shit in without going overboard with it. It gets hotter & hotter as it goes on; EVERYBODY gets plenty of time to shine & look great, but you can see that Joe is designed to be THE star of the thing, and he certainly comes off as exactly that with his killer work throughout. ***1/2

There already is a thread for the Danielson vs. London part of this, but I thought the entire thing deserves some talking. Merge this w/ that Bryan vs. London thread if it needs to be done. This is a GAUNTLET match. The first match of it is Michael Shane vs. the debuting CM Punk. It's good stuff! It actually surprisingly ends up being the longest match of the Gauntlet, but I ain't complaining about that, since it was indeed rock solid. Punk got to look very good in there, and Shane was his usual charming self. Really liked how Punk noticed Shane clutching the arm, which caused him to go work over it. PSYCHOLOGY~! and all that. Shane getting the win by grabbing Punk's shorts was nice too, a classic sleazebag move fitting for the man. Then out comes Paul London, and I'm definitely here for him & Shane duking it out. It's an all-action scrap, with Shane ultimately viciously beating down London -- only for him to fall into London's trap of acting like he's more hurt than he actually is, resulting in him delivering a quick DDT for the pin. Great callback to their Boston match where Shane faked an injury to small package London for the win. They went under 5 minutes, but all of it ruled. After Shane refuses to shake London's hand, out comes Tommy Dreamer for a pretty lengthy mid-match segment. I enjoyed it to be honest. Red vs. London is the weakest segment of the match, but it's still good. The best parts were London just roughing Red up, notably with that one pop-up forearm strike in the early going, and then swinging him into the barricade later on. The final entrant in the Gauntlet is the American Dragon, and unsurprisingly, his & London's match is the best of the bunch. Dragon dominates most of it, and he is so compelling w/ his matwork & hellacious strikes. That finish with him dumping London with that Dragon Suplex & then locking in the Cattle Mutilation was badass. Extremely fun match all around! Each segment was strong. Had a good time with the thing from start to finish. ***1/2

It's Samoa Joe's ROH debut, and he sure came to the company with a BANG. This is a complete strikefest with them beating the absolute shit out of one another right from the get go, with an occasional power move or submission, and it's the good stuff. I've never really been on the "it's a classic" boat for it, but it's definitely one helluva match. ***3/4

I actually had never fully watched this match prior to this, and I gotta say that I am pleasantly surprised. Everybody knows about the end result, and it certainly is the most memorable thing about this, BUT I think the match was actually really fucking good. Does Xavier's offense look weak as hell, especially compared to that of Low Ki's? 100%. In this case, it adds to the match though, as Ki just shrugs off most of Xavier's weak strikes & then shows him how it's done w/ those classic hellacious strikes of his own. It's such a charming dynamic -- Xavier wasn’t good. But he was still good. He played his part of the story told excellently. Ki on the murder is always great, and such was the case here. Xavier got his occasional power moves in, but ultimately, it felt like he was out of his depth in this title match, mostly getting the shit beaten out of him by the champ -- that is of course until Daniels came out to distract Ki & Xavier took advantage of that, going after the previously worked over leg, revealing that he had joined The Prophecy in the process. The plan came to fruition, and I gotta say that the journey there, in this 25-minute match (which didn't even feel that long at all!) was unique, charming & very compelling. Was it a bad booking decision? Maybe, but I do think this match straight up ruled. ***1/2

Incredibly wild & pretty innovative for 2002 standards, and it still is really effin' wild in 2020. Michael Shane & Paul London sure weren't afraid to go nuts with them added weapons. The birth of the "PLEASE DON'T DIE" chants too - it's always fascinating to hear Gabe's & the other commentators confusion upon hearing those, and the finish that followed w/ London delivering that Shooting Star Press off the ladder rules. An important match in the ROH lore, and it still stands the test of time. ***3/4

Daniel Bryan continues his Wrestler of the Year 2020 campaign with a yet another TV banger. I've always wanted to see a lengthy singles match between him & Corbin, and here they get a nice amount of time, and it was indeed pretty great. Bryan does what has worked against bigger men for him in the past -- he starts targeting Baron's leg right away, and his attack lasts through the entire match-up. These days nobody brings the kind of focus he does when it comes to gameplans & executing them, and it's truly a joy to watch. His work over that leg is great throughout with brutal sounding kicks & submissions. Corbin's selling is rock solid; he doesn't sell it in a very dramatic way or anything like that, but he doesn't do anything to imply that he ISN'T in extreme pain. Him scrapping his way out of Bryan's control periods by using his size advantage felt natural & was awesome -- his extended control segment certainly wasn't the highlight of the match, but I thought it was solid enough & didn't go on for too long, and the sequence that lead to Bryan mounting a comeback w/ that suicide dive n' all was fantastic. The DQ finish is what it is, but I loved the way we got there. The match was awesome, and the sequence leading to Corbin throwing that ladder was great; he grabbed Bryan by the throat in his suicide dive attempt, but Bryan immediately started kicking that worked over leg to get out of his hands. Like I said, I feel like there really isn't anyone wrestling with the kind of focus that Bryan has, and it's just one of the many things that make him the best in the world, in my eyes. ***3/4

I think the first Omega vs. Okada match from the Dome deserves a shout. It was happening already happening a lot before it, but after that it truly feels like many wrestlers are aiming for epic star ratings more than anything else.

Their first ROH meeting was good, but a bit disappointing considering it's AJ Styles vs. Low Ki. It was definitely better than this match though. I have a hard time coming up with anything that I disliked about this, but to put it bluntly, the middle just feels very hollow. I did like the beginning where they do some pretty great work on the mat, and then I did like the last 3-5 minutes of the match -- especially that one fantastic bit where Styles gets FIRED UP by Ki's Kawada Kicks and unleashes a hellacious, aggressive flurry on him, but when it comes to everything between that said beginning & that last 3-5 minute stretch of the match, nothing really registered or clicked with me. Not a bad match at all, but far from the quality I'd want out of this pairing, especially in a setting like this. **3/4

A pretty damn great showdown between the two brothers, and more-than great ROH debut for the younger one in Mark Briscoe. The early back & forth is really good, and once Jay gets busted open, things kick into a higher gear. Mark goes after the cut with those already-awesome looking punches of his, and Jay sells it greatly. Him getting back into things by briefly going after Mark's knee was very nice too, and it created for some neat moments w/ Mark selling it after delivering some of his bigger moves + him clutching the knee when going for that Moonsault gave Jay enough time to recover & get out of the way to swift the momentum, which I thought lead for a great sequence with Mark ultimately kicking out of that DVD. I think on surface you could call this a spotfest, but it's a damn good one to say the least + there's the storytelling of Mark, the younger of the two bros, wanting to show his older brother, even going as far as making him bleed & not giving him an inch w/ that cut. Definitely my pick for the MOTN honors. ***3/4

This goes to a 15-minute time limit draw, and it's some really good stuff. It's all about the battle of Morgan's superior power going against Dragon's technical expertise. That's always a very fun dynamic to work with, and these two definitely create a very nice story & match out of it. Love all of Bryan's work, especially all of that targeted towards Morgan's arm, and Morgan was on his element throwing Bryan around every chance he got. ***1/2

They have that famous Street Fight match at the next ROH show, but this is such an awesome match too -- one that doesn't get talked about at all. Michael Shane is such a compelling bastard in this, and London is of course a ROCKING babyface from underneath. All of London's comeback chains are really good, and so is Shane's work on top & cut-offs of those said comebacks. Him pushing London from the top rope into, and THROUGH the barricade was amazing in all of its viciousness. Also I loooooove the finish with him faking that ankle injury, only for him to small package London when he least expected it. ***1/2

It's a 60-minute Iron Man match, so it's a real long boy. It's compelling for the whole runtime though; some parts are interesting, and then some parts are VERY interesting. I thought that Doug Williams was the highlight of the first 20-something minutes w/ his great, submission-heavy work. He even started that attack on Low Ki's leg, which created for some nice little drama, and was indeed a joy to watch. That "Torture Device" submission looked superb. That legwork created for some other highlight moments for me as well, notably with Daniels stopping Ki's attempts at getting something going w/ those vicious looking chop blocks. If I had to name my favorite move of the match -- THE move of the match, I'd go for the 2nd one where Daniels counters Ki's Tidal Wave attempt w/ that said chop block. Shortly after that, the first fall is made, and it's been really good stuff so far. The next 15-17 minutes leading to the 2nd fall are some good stuff too, with the highlight moment of that portion being Ki breaking up Daniels' Koji Clutch on Williams w/ that diving foot stomp, and then immediately selling that worked over leg afterwards. After Ki gets his first fall, the urgency rises & the match kicks into more of a 2nd gear you could say, and that's where the story between Daniels & Ki gets to shine, but both Spanky & Williams also get plenty of time to look really good in there. When you, or at least every time when I look at this match on paper, I just think there is no way it will hold up. But it always does. The 4 men involved, Daniels, Williams, Ki & Spanky really went out there and had a fantastic 1-hour match. It's just terrific. Certainly worthy of being the first ever ROH Title match. ****

THE Matrix sequence that we see in the opening minutes is still pretty insane. Rest of the match is just great w/ Ki mostly being on top, roughing Red up, while Red busts out some hope spots & comeback bursts. It's such a natural dynamic between the two, because Ki was (& still is) such an ass-kicker, and Red looked small even compared to him. Some highlights for me were Ki just murdering Red with that rolling kick to stop his hot-streak, Red countering Ki's Tidal Wave attempt with an explosive dropkick, Ki stopping Red's dive-to-the-outside attempt with a KNEE to the head, Ki just aggressively smashing Red into the corner, making him spill to the outside, and of course then that finish w/ that sick SUPER Ki Krusher. Ki is at his best when he is eating his opponents lunch, and that's what he did here, for the most part. And the parts where he didn't do that are also great, so it's definitely a superb match all in all. Easy MOTN. ****

Very matwork & submission heavy, which was to be expected from this pairing. It's some very good stuff -- the dynamic of young American Dragon having to fight from underneath against the veteran Doug Williams & his many tricks was pretty charming. Good sense of competition, fun dynamic, great work by both men involved, a very good match! ***1/2

The future Londrick explodes! Totally loved this. It's an all-action sub-10 minute sprint with no downtime whatsoever. They go at a fast pace right from the get go, and it never lets up. Everything looks really good, crisp & pretty vicious + also comes with a nice sense of urgency. ***1/2

By the end, this went on for a few minutes too long. It felt like the two didn't have enough material to do a match this long at this point, as there's quite a few moments in the match where there feels to be a good dead minute or two. All in all it's enjoyable stuff though, as the two sure beat the crap out of each other, with Low Ki especially (unsurprisingly) being a great ass-kicker. Those Kawada Kicks of his are just nasty in the best ways possible. Definitely a more-than solid ROH debut for AJ Styles, and Ki continued his streak of strong performances. And it sure did set-up the inevitable re-match between them pretty much perfectly. ***1/4

A classic. It's mostly contested on the mat, and to put it simply, these two brought some of the best, most compelling matwork seen in the US in the last (at least) 20 years here. It might not even be their best match against each other either, which is quite SOMETHING to think about. Each hold looks tight, and the way they flow through with each transition & everything, is top notch. The selling is also tremendous throughout, with them selling each major "happening" in the match big. Of course there's also plenty of strikes, and all of them look great. Ki going after Bryan's face & that injured eye was some vicious, gnarly & lovely stuff. The last third where they start busting out bigger bombs w/ a bigger sense of urgency is superb as well -- the Ki Crusher from the top is still a legitimate holy-shit move. I also love the last few minutes w/ the Cattle Mutilation drama, and Ki ultimately passing out to it was a great finale to the thing. Overall it's an excellent match that still stands the test of time. One minor "gripe" would be that it does feel every second of its 30+ minute duration, but it's no biggie, because the wrestling is super compelling from start to finish for 99% of it. The Era of Honor Begins triple threat was a terrific statement, but this is the first real classic match in ROH history. ****3/4

Early on Low Ki just totally kicks Daniels' ass all over the place Low Ki style, but once Daniels' gets out of his flurry, he goes back to what worked for him earlier on the night -- he starts going after Low Ki's neck. Brainbusters, submissions; much like in that match vs. Bryan, Daniels' focus on the neck absolutely rules here. He is terrific dishing out the punishment, and Ki is really good from underneath with his hope spots -- the highlight of his work here sure was that tremendous finish w/ him spinning out of Daniels' hold, and locking in the Dragon Clutch for the win. With the big focus being on the neckwork, it's easy to say this was very similar to that Daniels vs. Dragon match from earlier, and it's true, but it also came with its own, awesome Low Ki twists & touches. I'd put both of the bouts on the same level. This was great. Ki & Danielson obviously went on to have that classic main event just a bit later, but Daniels' performances were extremely impressive on this night as well. ****

Not as amazing as I thought it was in 2017, but it's still an excellent gem. Everyone knows about Dragon's match vs. Low Ki from this same show, but this is quite a gem as well. The early stuff w/ both guys looking to gain true control of one another is some really, really good stuff, and I especially loved how Dragon was so insistent on using that headlock to wear Daniels down. Once Daniels gets a groove going, he pays Dragon's plan of wearing-him-down-by-the-neck back, and he does it oh-so viciously. He is super focused on beating Bryan by dropping him on his neck & slapping on those submissions for good measure. It's a great, compelling-to-watch gameplan, and Dragon's selling of it is really good. Loved him not being able to hit his suplex, and then later on in the match not being able to lock in the Cattle Mutilation, 'cause of the damage done to that neck. Daniels getting the win w/ the Crossface was a great pay-off & ending to the thing, too. Excellent match. ****

The perfect way to finish off this historic show. Three hungry wrestlers going out there & giving the fans 20-minutes of non-stop action. That said action is compelling from bell-to-bell -- each man involved got plenty of time to shine & showcase their styles; Low Ki with those deadly strikes & explosiveness of his, Dragon with also his vicious strikes + terrific submission-game, and then Daniels with his great subtle veteran-shtick. Some highlights for me were Bryan's submission where he looks to be going for the Muta Lock, but instead he chickenwings the both arms of his opponent, Ki going ham w/ those Kawada Kicks on Bryan's face, the submissions on the top rope -- abdominal stretch by Daniels, Ki with that hanging Dragon Sleeper. So much submission & striking greatness in this! Also loved the bit where Bryan & Ki try to one-up one another by repeatedly kicking Daniels. Oh and of course there's also the legendary spot of Bryan having Daniels locked in the Cattle Mutilation, only for Ki to climb up & Phoenix Splash him to break the hold. It is largely a "get-your-shit-in" spotfest, but that is to be expected from 3-ways, and it still stands out in 2020 as a truly phenomenal one. The Era of Honor has indeed begun! ****

This is a fantastic match where Bryan continues his incredible hot streak & Cesaro gets his greatest showcase in the WWE up to that point. The Uppercut slugfest, in which Cesaro absolutely DESTROYS Bryan was terrific, and quite possibly the highlight of the bout. It's filled with great action from start to finish though, namely I reaaaally loved Cesaro trying to slow things down with his fantastically tight looking headlock -- it made Bryan's classic comeback sequence feel all the more explosive right after it, Bryan's little German Suplex into a head kick sequence also ruled, as did him trapping Cesaro in a tree of woe, resulting in him kicking the crap outta him, followed by that running corner dropkick, KENTA style. And then those leg-trapped forearm strikes, damn. Also some real good memories about this, as I did watch it live, around 5 to 6 AM in Finland, going crazy for it :') ****

After some early back & forth, Rey starts yelling about his finger being fucked, and he starts walking towards the doc sitting ringside, but of course that won't fly well w/ Murphy, who comes in and attacks Rey there. After that the target is clear, as Murphy starts dishing out punishment to that finger & hand; plenty of nasty stomps, slamming it to the post, slamming it on the steps, standing on it -- it's wonderfully vicious stuff. The empty arena makes each mentioned slam and stomp sound all the more brutal, too. Other than that great work on Rey's finger/hand, Murphy was overall very solid on the offense. He is awesomely explosive & impactful with each big move he busts out, and while he is a bit annoyingly thigh-slappy with his strikes (which stands out, in a non-good way in these empty arena matches), he still throws good ones for sure. Rey of course also delivers with his terrific comebacks, having to fight from underneath & all. I especially really loved that sliding head-scissors deal he did to Murphy, who got slammed into the barricade HARD 'cause of it. A very good match. ***1/2