supersonic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRekBfyQAVw

The Bitter End – November 4, 2006 Taped from Philadelphia, PA This show is horrendous outside the match I’m reviewing, so C&P treatment from Jake Ziegler & Brad Garoon once again. Matt Cross has a decent showing against Tag Champ Christopher Daniels in a losing effort. KENTA vs. Matt Sydal This seems to have obviously been booked due to KENTA and Joe causing real injuries to each other in their showdowns earlier in the year. Sydal is accompanied by Daniels. This was the obvious good match that never got to be blow-away, which was to obviously be expected as well. There are no complaints to be had about the work, and with Sydal not quite over enough yet to be truly taken seriously, they optimized the work, although admittedly this is a slight notch below his show-stealing match 10 months earlier in this building against AJ Styles. It was impressive to see Sydal win a strike exchange early, forcing KENTA to take a bump from one of his chops. That certainly seemed far more organic and believable as an attempt to raise Sydal’s stock than BJ Whitmer kicking out of Homicide’s Kudo Driver 3 years earlier at Main Event Spectacles. It was also impressive when Sydal got advantages later on via an ear clap head-scissors and moonsault to the outside. Ultimately though, despite Sydal’s remarkable improvement throughout 2006, he just couldn’t measure up in both delivering and withstanding as much punishment as KENTA. The kicks KENTA executed were just brutal, as were a number of suplexes, including a Tiger Suplex into the corner that saw Sydal fall on top of his head. KENTA also did a great job picking up on Sydal’s habits, countering a head-scissors attempt into a powerbomb near-fall. The biggest praise of the match would be the last 30 seconds or so, meaning this ended at the perfect time to elevate this into very good territory. Sydal managed to counter the Go to Sleep with a hurricanrana pin near-fall that had Philly rocking, although I wouldn’t say as much as he had done when countering Styles with the same move in this building at Hell Freezes Over. KENTA managed to withstand the surprise counter, blocking an aerial attack and countering it with an Ace Crusher, then finishing him with the Go to Sleep. In the post-match, Samoa Joe interrupts to say KENTA earned his respect throughout 2006, and wanted him to deliver a message to NOAH for 2007, particularly for Takeshi Morishima and even to Kenta Kobashi to grant him a rematch. What a crazy concept – Joe is deep down still unhappy about losing to Kobashi, rather than just be thrilled to have had the opportunity to push the Hall of Famer to the limit. That message was one Joe said would be universal across all languages; that would be a slap to the face, causing a pull-apart between the two. It’s a damn shame this match couldn’t happen, and a decade later seeing the careers of Bryan Danielson, Christian, and Corey Graves come to an abrupt end, it’s incredibly understandable not to have pulled the trigger and instead transition the KENTA vs. Joe direction into building up other matchups. Sydal was simply put not the optimal matchup for KENTA on this show, as he just wasn’t at the point in his career to have an off-the-charts, highly dramatic and competitive match with the NOAH juggernaut. So what would I have booked instead? Since Joe is off the table and looking at the card, my first instinct is to pick Nigel McGuinness for a dream match that had yet to happen, and would be a showdown between the two defeated men from the double main event of Glory By Honor V Night 2. A rematch against Danielson obviously has to be preserved for a bit, especially due to Danielson’s shoulder injury and lone big match remaining for 2006 against Homicide. Speaking of Homicide, he’d have been a great choice rather than tediously going to the Steve Corino well one too many times. A victory for Homicide over KENTA would’ve been an amazing chapter for the Notorious 187’s path to Final Battle 2006. I'm 99.9% sure that NOAH politics would've vetoed that result though, even with KENTA leaving ROH for many months after this. Perhaps a singles match then against Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli would’ve sufficed; KENTA’s victories over Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in singles didn’t taint their Tag Titles reign at all, so there was precedent. However, the best matchup for KENTA on this night sans Joe was actually glaring right there during this whole segment for both the live audience and DVD viewer. I refuse to believe that even a decade ago, anyone ever saw real money in Matt Cross, so instead of giving him a fantastic veteran to hold his hand, I’d have booked Cross vs. Sydal to open this show and have a **3/4-*** level spofest. My mentality would’ve been that it’s sink or swim for Cross; I’m handing you my roster’s best high-flyer, so go out there and put on a fun little spectacle. So that leaves a dream match that never happened, and both were right there interacting with each other to a small degree in the post-match: KENTA vs. Christopher Daniels. I imagine that ensuring Cross had a veteran hand in Daniels for his first ROH singles match is why this one didn’t happen, and I could see health playing a factor too. Politics seems like it could be a factor too, however that seems unlikely if I was forced to make a solid speculation. I firmly believe KENTA vs. Daniels would’ve torn the house down for Philly and been a great complimentary semi-main event to Homicide vs. Corino on this show. KENTA can win over Daniels without anyone’s stock being harmed, and I envision that KENTA’s physical style would get under the Fallen Angel’s skin, bringing out a cranky side not seen since he was the Prophecy’s leader. If Sydal getting a big match is a necessity, then there’s the compromise of Sydal & Daniels vs. KENTA & Davey Richards, which would present nothing but fresh matchups and be a surefire show-stealer. I’ll even take it a step further: with what we know now that was stirring behind-the-scenes which would lead to another major roster shift, I even think that KENTA vs. Daniels along with the post-match segment involving Joe could’ve made for an interesting dynamic. With AJ Styles now gone due to what was said both on and off-screen to be strictly financial reasons (no ill will in this instance), how about Joe and Daniels play the gimmick of uppity, high-maintenance TNA stars that are looking to stir shit up and use ROH as a means to sabotage NOAH? Homicide can do his own thing, but perhaps Joe tries to persuade him into thinking it was a mistake to back ROH against CZW, especially in light of Jim Cornette’s true colors coming to fruition, even pointing out Cornette’s position in TNA. Just spitballing ideas here and I’ll stop at this point. Very good match elevated by a fantastic finish; just obviously not the epic semi-main event that could’ve been presented had a booker not suffering from burnout been in charge. Rating: ***1/2 There is absolutely no fucking reason at all to get this show. Daniels vs. Cross is available for free on YouTube, and KENTA vs. Sydal is on KENTA’s compilation. Don’t waste your money on this shit-show; stay the fuck away and use the other legal avenues available to catch the good shit. Up next – Black Friday Fallout Matches will include: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Nigel McGuinness Delirious & Davey Richards vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels

Honor Reclaims Boston – November 3, 2006 Taped from Boston, MA ROH Video Wire – November 1, 2006 Important news/footage from the above video: ROH returns to Chicago for The Chicago Spectacular double-shot on December 8 and 9. While there was a bit of a wait between Vendetta and WrestleMania 22 weekend in late 2005 and early 2006, that was justified for the obvious reasons, plus the wait was more than worth it once the goods were delivered. This particular double-shot in December means that in the 2006 calendar year, Chicago will have hosted 7 ROH events. That is quite the burnout Cary Silkin is aiming both for such an important market and booker Gabe Sapolsky. In the opener, the mystery opponent for Nigel McGuinness is Boston native and former Pure Champion John Walters, making his return after an 18-month absence from the company in what would turn out to truly be a one night only return, as this would be his final ever ROH appearance. Historical value here for those who grasped what Walters brought to the table in terms of workrate and being a terrific hand to make Generation Next look like a million bucks on day one. If only he’d been around to help out the Embassy in 2005 against GeNext… Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal This match starts immediately after Castagnoli’s fellow Tag Champ and King of Wrestling Chris Hero is pinned by Sydal’s current regular tag team partner Christopher Daniels. Sydal gets the heat early but is eventually cut off by Castagnoli’s size and power advantage when he gets pancaked. At times Castagnoli lets the crowd get in his head, coming close to allowing Sydal comebacks. Sydal eventually makes brief comebacks thanks to quick strikes in the shortest opportunities, only to still keep getting cut off by the Tag Champ. Sydal of course eventually made a substantial comeback, including a running dropkick with enough force to knock Castagnoli to the outside. After some outside dives, it got brought back into the ring. The highlight would be when the artist currently known as Cesaro pulled out something that modern WWE fans have gotten to enjoy in recent years, that being the standing push-up counter into a European Uppercut. If anyone looks better at eating that than John Cena, it may actually be Sydal. Despite the power and size advantage, Sydal was still able to make more comebacks by being too quick and preventing Castagnoli from getting a hold of him during head-scissors attempts. Even in a corner, Castagnoli lost his grip on a military press move, allow yet another head-scissors so Castagnoli would lose his standing base advantage. After a Ricola Bomb would be a near-fal, Castagnoli went for a Super one on the top rope, but Sydal knocked him down to the mat and wasted as little time as possible going for the Shooting Star Press. Now that Sydal & Daniels have swept KOW, there’s no denying a Tag Titles match for them. Rating: ***1/4 ROH Title Match Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious Danielson tries to mock the running around routine of Delirious before the bell rings, so the challenger surprises the champ with a leg takedown. The champ has no answer early to cut off Delirious. After a couple minutes though Danielson targets the left shoulder of Delirious, setting him up for Cattle Mutilation and the Crossface Chickenwing. The match never got super heated as their prior 2 earlier in the year. That could be for a number of reasons. For one, nobody believed that a title change would be happening here thanks to Homicide’s chase and even the scheduled cage match against Samoa Joe to a smaller degree. It just wasn’t happening. So even a good story being told here, such as Delirious not being able to lock on the Cobra Stretch until the closing minutes of the approximately 20-minute match, these two were simply handicapped. I appreciated that both displayed they could withstand each other’s submission maneuvers, whether it was reaching the ropes or regaining consciousness. I even liked Danielson copying Bret Hart’s finish from WrestleMania VIII and Survivor Series 1996 while in the Cobra Stretch. This showed another layer of brilliance the champ carried to make the inevitable showdown against Homicide even more dramatic, while once again to an even smaller degree, sending a message to Joe, who had proven in the past to be susceptible to pinning combination counters against Colt Cabana. Rating: ***1/2 KENTA & Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong A shame we never got this match with Naomichi Marufuji involved instead of Richards, and I’m not just saying that due to the stark difference in quality in the Briscoes’ matches against them and KENTA at Time to Man Up and Glory By Honor V Night 1. Perhaps at some point in WWE developmental? This match is also a result of Aries & Strong wanting to get a victory over KENTA, and since they’re the obvious tag team of the year thanks to their epic Tag Titles reign, they rightfully believe a tag match will get them that victory against the former GHC Jr. Champion. This is truly among the greatest tags in ROH’s history, even better than I had remembered as just a MOTYC-level classic a decade ago. If there was any complaint to pinpoint in this match, and it honestly feels like it arguably shouldn’t be, it’s that the referee allowed the nonstop action to start a little bit too early into the match. It started about halfway into it, rather than in the closing few minutes. This was certainly on par with KENTA’s classic against Marufuji several days earlier, and this match truly felt like it was far more belonging on a bigger NOAH stage than in front of this sub-1,000 audience in the suburbs of Beantown. There were a number of things that set this apart from the majority of ROH’s vaunted tag matches. KENTA and Aries channeled one of my favorite moments of the only ROH tag match I have ahead of this one for now, that being Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi at Unforgettable. Like Joe and Kobashi in that electrifying work of art, the two of them had a staredown across the ring on the aprons, accusing each other of trying to get into the ring without being legal and threatening to offset each other. It truly sold the competitive spirit between the two stemming from their breathtaking classic at Chi-Town Struggle, and gave this a major league feel like Joe and Kobashi had done the year before. There were different types of psychology going on in this one. From a crowd perspective, these four were brilliant in popping the audience with numerous examples of strike exchanges, the participants doing their damnedest to prove whose figurative dick is bigger. Another layer of psychology was the ring being cut in half at different times, first on Richards to build to a hot tag for KENTA, showing a lesson had been learned from the complete mess at Time to Man Up. Later on, Strong would be the victim of cutting the ring in half, as KENTA & Richards just brutalized him and cut off any fighting spirit comebacks on his part. In addition, another reason this truly belonged on a major league stage is that tag legalities were remembered by all four participants. Unfortunately, the camera crew didn’t seem clued in on this, missing some outside action when KENTA continued working on Aries instead of staying in the ring to work on the illegal Strong. This would indicate that whoever was in charge of production needed additional training to be properly ready to showcase tag team wrestling when its rules are followed properly. It was a breath of fresh air during the bomb-throwing in the second half of this match for legalities to be remembered, and it presented opportunities for smarter wrestling than I’m used to seeing in indy tags. My favorite moment was in the near-fall extravaganza in the closing stretch. Richards went for the Shooting Star Press, only for Aries to knee him in the gut. Strong then immediately hit a gutbuster on Richards to follow up and allow Aries to attempt a dramatic near-fall. Aries & Strong’s mindset coming into this would then prove to be correct, as they divided and conquered the mentor/protégé tandem. KENTA would be damaged enough to the point that once he was knocked to the outside, he had nothing remaining to save Richards from the stomp to the back, kick to the head, flapjack slam, and 450 splash. This was a pleasant surprise in its excellence, strong enough that I recommend this event for it alone. The tag legalities playing so strongly into this one puts this ahead of Aries & Strong vs. Briscoes III, which is nothing to scoff at. Incredible action that had purpose, tremendous competitiveness, cutting the ring in half, this really had everything that I love to see in tag team wrestling. This is easily gonna be in my Top 10 matches of 2006 at the end of the year. I can only imagine if Marufuji had been in the match instead of Richards, but on this night, there was no reason to even think about that. Rating: ****3/4 Three quality matches of various flavors, including an all-time tag classic for the company to cap off this overdue Boston return make this an easy recommendation. Factor in this being the final ever appearance for hometown boy John Walters, and this gets a thumbs way up. Very, very refreshing after a largely cold October. Up next – The Bitter End Matches will include: KENTA vs. Matt Sydal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY92CUJ8rEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXPK4H7urOo

Marufuji vs. KENTA – October 29, 2006 A significant improvement over their excellent singles encounter 9 months earlier, and even better than I had remembered. Marufuji’s early work on KENTA’s left leg wasn’t enough to keep the recently slain ROH juggernaut down, Unlike their prior match and the referenced masterpiece 6 weeks earlier between KENTA and Bryan Danielson, it was minor work thanks to a change in strategy for Marufuji. Instead of continuing the strategy of the left leg to take away KENTA’s most significant offense, which Marufuji saw didn’t work at all at Glory By Honor V Night 2 despite a greater effort from Danielson, he improvised with a slingshot DDT to KENTA on the apron. This not only played into a terrific story throughout the match, but was a way to taking a highlight from the Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit classic from Royal Rumble 2003, that being the apron DDT, and putting their own spin on it. The slingshot apron DDT caused damage to KENTA’s neck and shoulder, so that’s what Marufuji targeted with various submissions. KENTA would tease some comebacks out of desperation, only for Marufuji to cause KENTA to bend over and be prone to a neck strike to cut him off. After several minutes of this tremendous work, KENTA finally managed to make a successful comeback with desperate kicks, particularly striking Marufuji’s abdomen. This then became KENTA’s strategy to work on Marufuji’s core. KENTA was tremendous as well with his strategy, delivering many blows to Marufuji’s core and also applying a body scissors submission. When Marufuji would attempt a comeback, KENTA would quickly land a kick to the abs to cut off the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion. It would take a major error on KENTA’s part for Marufuji to regain the heat. KENTA would for a move on the apron but ended up eating a short-distance springboard shotgun dropkick from a desperate Marufuji. The champ then ran the ropes for an aerial attack to the outside only for KENTA to evade it. KENTA went for a roundhouse kick only for Maruufji to duck, and the momentum caused KENTA to spill over the ringside barricade when Marufuji capitalized. With KENTA down, Marufuji yanked the barricade closer to the apron and went for a moonsault that bloodied KENTA, but it came with a price as the champ’s face and/or throat struck the top of the barricade. This would lead to a good count out false finish for KENTA. Marufuji was able to overcome the pain he unintentionally gave himself thanks to KENTA’s dazed status and bloodied face, including hitting an intelligent face smash onto the top of a ring post. Eventually the fight would spill to the outside and they teased a number of moves off the apron ramp, including a Shiranui. Nothing would be hit successfully, as Marufuji landed on his feet when he got suplexed off of it and then surprised KENTA with a superkick. They continued battling outside though, eventually leading to KENTA hitting a Falcon Arrow off the apron onto the floor! This basically transitioned into a phenomenal closing stretch over the next several minutes with all kinds of bombs being thrown including strikes and suplexes aplenty. I loved that when KENTA hit the Go 2 Sleep, Marufuji intelligently made sure to bounce towards the ropes, showing another thing he learned from Danielson on how to slay KENTA. I also loved that a straightjacket Shiranui was just a near-fall, since it didn’t quite have the dramatic conclusiveness to properly wrap up this timeless masterpiece. Once Marufuji hit a Flux Capicator and then a Cradle Michinoku Driver, there was no way KENTA would manage to kick out. In a great touch, KENTA even has to have help walking to the backstage area afterwards, truly selling the devastation left by the champion and his former tag partner. It was a devastating finish, a proper end to a brutal match layered with fantastic psychology and the bombs serving as blockbuster special effects to compliment it. Without exaggeration, this match a decade later truly serves as one of the greatest matches in puroresu history, and having seen plenty of both men’s resume (although with a tremendous chunk yet to be seen of course), is my pick as the best match that these two have ever had. The consumers that decided to not buy tickets for this out of a misguided and/or preconditioned prejudice towards cruiserweights in the main event scene only did themselves a disservice. *****

Irresistible Forces – October 28, 2006 Taped from Chicago, IL ROH Video Wire – October 11, 2006 Important news/footage from the above video: ROH Champion Bryan Danielson agrees to face Samoa Joe in Chicago on October 28, but insists it be non-title and he’s only obligated to once title defense per month, already done against Austin Aries at Motor City Madness 2006. Commissioner Jim Cornette agrees to make it non-title, but it’ll be hardcore rules without any time limit this time and there must be a winner. Bit of a plot hole for Cornette to wanna see Joe take out Danielson. Although Danielson had pissed Cornette off with his antics at Death Before Dishonor IV, Cornette was being booked as Homicide’s foil at this time. Therefore, staying true to Cornette’s motives would’ve caused the commissioner to wanna make Joe, who had befriended Homicide against Cornette and company, go through Hell, while making Danielson, who Homicide was targeting to eventually dethrone, as fresh and crisp as possible for their inevitable showdown at Final Battle 2006. Another example of burnout for booker Gabe Sapolsky. Danielson’s horrific attempts at emoting during his promo must also be mentioned; WWE did a tremendous job of polishing him in that department in the final chapters of his career. The next time ROH returns to Detroit, it will be for a double-shot on WrestleMania 23 weekend! I’m sure nothing special is planned for that at all. ROH Video Wire – October 20, 2006 Important news/footage from the above video: On November 3 at the overdue return to Boston, Delirious will challenge ROH Champion Bryan Danielson in his third attempt at the title. The Briscoes claim to be somewhere in Florida and present themselves in a fashion that legitimately makes them stand out from the rest of the roster, which is that they’re rednecks that love to drunk and start bar rights. At the end of the video, they target Davey Richards in a building as apparently they’re feuding with him; this either hasn’t been properly teased in the 3 matches Richards has had against them in ROH before this, or I missed when skipping filler segments in the post-Glory By Honor V era. Of the mentioned matches I’ll bother watching, Richards will face Mark on October 28 in Chicago. Interesting that Richards has failed to defeat the Briscoes with 3 different partners, that being KENTA, Homicide, and Matt Sydal. On the prior night in Dayton, OH, ROH hosted Suffocation, easily one of the worst events in company history. There are 2 interesting little nuggets coming out of that show in terms of fresh talent, as Dragon Gate young lion Shingo has returned this month from injury to continue his excursion, and Brent Albright, the former OVW Champion who briefly competed on WWE’s SmackDown roster as Gunner Scott, made his ROH debut. Suffocation stock photo – https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4306/35807410731_078bc2a4ef_b.jpg Shingo vs. Roderick Strong The expected stiff match from these two with plenty of good cutoffs and comeback attempts. The big takeaway for me was how much of a cunt Shingo was being, intentionally trying to piss off both Strong and the Chicago crowd. Perhaps Shingo did his homework and saw Bryan Danielson go 4-0 against Strong thanks in large part to a similar approach. That also made sense for the crowd psychology due to Strong’s 2 classics against Danielson in the Frontier Fieldhouse, which really raised Strong’s stock in the Windy City. The finish was the obvious highlight, as Shingo blocked an attempted backdrop suplex on the apron. He eventually dropped Strong DDT-style off the apron through a table, knocking out the former Tag Champ and then wrapping it up with the Blood Fall. Shingo is very good at continuing to be a cunt, and no doubt it was good booking to have him go 2-0 on his return weekend against 2 top stars in the company, although I don’t see any overwhelming signs that he can get over to KENTA’s level in America. Rating: ***1/4 Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Colt Cabana Even with Prince Nana gone and the Embassy no more, Rave is still quite over with the toilet paper treatment. It’s mildly interesting that Rave & Rinauro also come to the ring to the tune of Miklós Rózsa's “Parade of the Charioteers,” not quite coming to grips yet that Nana isn’t coming back. Another good match for the evening with Jacobs & Cabana appearing to be having fun and on the same page. However, I don’t buy that Jacobs is being sincere whatsoever. There’s not much to go over in this match; it was executed just fine, paced well, and had zero tag legalities, while bringing a perfect final nail on the Embassy’s coffin thanks to Rinauro losing and Rave dropping him like dead weight afterwards. It’s quite stunning to see Rave so over, although I’d credit that to the Embassy still being fresh in the audience’s minds, especially for a market like Chicago. What truly matters is the post-match. Lacey proposes to relaunch Lacey’s Angels with Cabana as the centerpiece, to which he declines after describing the difference between business and personal, all while Jacobs pathetically stays in a corner like a depressed puppy. Cabana then says that despite the awesome sex, he finds Lacey to be a huge bitch, while also finding a genuine friendship with Jacobs. He tells Jacobs to stop being pussywhipped and says he has potential to become a top star; there’s no denying that as the crowd is behind Jacobs. Cabana fucks up by being a bit backhanded about it, saying Jacobs is like a “little sister” to him; this also displays that the Second City Saint quickly lost the sensitivity lesson he should’ve learned from Homicide. Cabana wants Jacobs to toss Lacey aside for reasons that are 100% logical, but Jacobs begs for one sign that Lacey cares because he still loves her, even if it’s not reciprocated right now. Rather than oblige, she demeans him even more. Jacobs lures Cabana into a false sense of brotherhood, pulling a middle rope into Cabana’s groin as they were about to leave the ring. Jacobs goes to work while Lacey keeps demanding and one of her heels is used like Homicide’s ghetto fork, carving up Cabana’s forehead. After threatening to Pillmanize Cabana’s ankle like had happened to BJ Whitmer 2 months earlier, Whitmer himself returns and then shoves Lacey down when she talks shit in an obviously attempted distraction. I certainly wouldn’t find Whitmer guilty if he was accused of domestic violence in this situation. Jacobs & Lacey scurry while Whitmer tends to Cabana, who is pissed and repeatedly calls Jacobs a pussywhipped little bitch. Easily the highlight of the night, and the highlight of the entire month for the company; in what was clearly a downswing from the company’s peak, this saga served as a reminder that there was still plenty of juice remaining to keep tuning in. Rating: *** (for the match) Brent Albright receives “Please come back!” chants after going over in an enhancement match against Trik Davis, so he’s getting over so far. Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels Nothing super special here which wasn’t the goal. Albright had targeted the left arm of Daniels the night before, so Aries made that his strategy with various strikes and submissions. Eventually he’d get the Fallen Angel in a Rings of Saturn. Despite doing plenty of damage, it wasn’t enough. My favorite spot was actually unrelated to that, as Aries scouted an Arabian Press, but was so sudden that by the time Daniels landed on his feet, Aries was already in the ring and hit a gorgeous suicide dive. After a good 15 minutes or so from these two, the finish came when a Crucifix Bomb attempt by Aries got blocked, so he hit a brainbuster and then went for the 450 Splash. Daniels scouted it though and blocked it as they had a battle on the top rope. A palm thrust dazed Aries, leaving him prone for the Angel’s Wings for the finish. Very similar to Strong vs. Daniels at Supercard of Honor IX for me. Rating: ***1/4 Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal Mentioned about a dozen minutes in is that Sydal will face KENTA next week in Philly. That pretty much gives this result away, but definitely looking forward to that one. Yet another good match with Sydal getting the early heat thanks to a Corkscrew Plancha and tosses into the barricades. Eventually Jay would get the heat in a moment that amused me. Sydal would get tossed into barricades and Jay went for a count out victory, but the crowd did its own chant to troll and confuse referee Todd Sinclair. When they hit 10, Jay wanted the victory, but Sydal yelled he had until 20. The finishing stretch was a good series of counters. After Sydal had scouted the Military Press with an awesome DDT earlier, Jay gave him no time on the second attempt, immediately turning it into a Death Valley Driver. Jay blocked a standing moonsault attempt and then went for the double underhook piledriver, only for Sydal to sweep the legs and make a quicker, successful attempt at the standing moonsault. They teased a Flux Capacitor, only for Jay to block it and hit a Super Gordbuster. As pretty much given away by the KENTA vs. Sydal news, Sydal got the victory when he evaded a clothesline and got a cradle pin. The Briscoes are none too pleased as Mark comes out for a post-match beatdown, only for Richards to come out for his match against Mark immediately. Rating: ***1/4 Mark Briscoe vs. Davey Richards Decent moves in this one, but it often didn’t pop the crowd or tell much of a cohesive story. This was simply the natural result of putting 2 talented guys in the ring that weren’t seasoned enough yet to be ring generals. This was simply an inferior, less smooth version of Shingo vs. Strong earlier on the card. Rating: less than *** Hardcore Match Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe Danielson gets some toilet paper treatment during his entrance, and he’s none too pleased. Joe doesn’t let Danielson get in the ring, punching him on the apron and hitting an Elbow Suicida for an early advantage, pissed about the past few months. Joe doesn’t let up on the outside, even throwing Danielson’s right leg into a barricade, and keeps it coming in the ring. After a few minutes, Danielson finally got the heat by being evasive and getting a stomach shot followed by instant European uppercuts. He goes after Joe’s left arm, then yells “This is how I street fight!” Joe is in agony when his left hand is awkwardly slammed into the mat and Danielson stomps on the elbow. Joe attempts a comeback only to eat an eye poke and axe handle smash from the cocky ROH Champion. Another comeback attempt by Joe, another eye poke for Danielson, but Joe scouts the follow-up aerial attack and hits a Uranage, only to get swept by the champ on a flying boot attempt. Joe goes to the outside so Danielson stands on the apron to hit some kicks, but Joe uses the positioning to sweep Danielson into taking an apron bump, then channels his ***** classic against CM Punk in this same building and his ****3/4 war against AJ Styles at Turning Point 2005, grabbing the champ powerbomb-style and throwing him into the barricade. After one Ole kick, Danielson runs into the crowd when Joe goes for it again. It’s a great strategy to have Joe follow him around, as he suckers the former ROH Champ with chair attacks. They then use the environment to continue brawling, and it’s thankfully done in a safe manner as there are no insane bumps or head shots, yet it still pops the crowd and plays into their effective strategy. Danielson teases taking it outside the building, only to tell the crowd to fuck off. He returns to his strategy of targeting Joe’s left arm with weapons and submissions. Joe’s comeback is brief as Danielson uses a Billy club to keep up the left arm damage, having lured Joe. He then uses the weapon for further damage in a Crossface Chickenwing, but Joe regains consciousness before his shoulder drops a third time. Sinclair is legally wrong when he tries to take Danielson’s weapon away, but the champ doesn’t lose an advantage during a slugfest, hitting another eye poke, only to eat a powerslam from Joe. Joe doesn’t have enough strength in his left arm on a Full Nelson, so it’s broken up and the champ goes for elbows and knee strikes to head. That’s turned into a cradle bomb and then Joe’s signature STF. After a Crippler Crossface that Danielson turns into a pin attempt, Joe goes for elbows to the head, only to eat yet another eye poke. This allows Danielson to go for a couple different pin attempts. Joe wins a slugfest via an Enziguri, but a lariat attempt is turned into a Cattle Mutilation. That’s bad news for Joe in his journey towards another title shot, since that very move finished off KENTA the month before. Danielson turns it into a pin attempt and then steals Sinclair’s belt, which is completely legal. The belt attacks are all to the back, but Joe doesn’t allow enough to his face, scouting the attacks to regain the heat and acquire the belt to deliver receipts to Danielson’s torso. A Musclebuster is blocked and Danielson kicks Joe in the groin, only to be choked with the belt in the Coquina Clutch! That isn’t enough to finish Danielson, but Joe is resilient even after the groin shot, locking the submission back on to choke out the champ and earn another title shot. Very fun main event that told a cohesive story and easily the highlight of the card. Joe wants his title shot the next time ROH returns to Chicago, but says it’s gonna be in a steel cage! Fantastic pop for that and after a match like this, I’m more excited than I would’ve been beforehand. When Danelson regains consciousness, he claims he didn’t tap out, not realizing he had lost consciousness, and then chases Sinclair with the buckle belt. Rating: ***3/4 Jimmy Rave has no time for a promo, and tells Sal Rinauro “I’m better off alone.” As teased at Glory By Honor V Night 2, Konnan is returning to support his LAX brother Homicide. The psychology doesn’t work in ROH as compared to TNA for reasons that I don’t need to get into, and what a shitty way to close out this DVD release after watching a show that brought back some faith in ROH for me. Fun event that is easily the highlight of a horrendous month. Too bad Dayton got fed a shit sandwich the night before. There are promising fresh talents on the scene and Danielson’s feud with Joe to keep him warm for Homicide has gotten interesting again (too bad Homicide’s journey hasn’t though.) Without question, the highlight of the night was the saga involving Lacey, Jacobs, and Cabana. In the coldest period of the year for the company, Jacobs has proven to be a playmaker and 2006 MVP candidate thanks to magnificent storytelling. Lord knows after the brawls Cabana had against the Prophecy and Homicide, and the ones Jacobs had against Whitmer and Alex Shelley, that I’m now looking forward to their upcoming battles. Recommended event. Up next – Honor Reclaims Boston Matches will include: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious KENTA & Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qFTYvc3HOs

Bound For Glory 2006 October 22, 2006 Taped from Detroit, MI X-Division Title Match Low Ki vs. Chris Sabin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6uUH9riYIc This match reminded me that Ki would be a PERFECT face for WWEs currently resurrected Cruiserweight Division instead of TJ Perkins. Anyone more well-versed on Kis career can correct me, but Im 99.9% certain hes gotten over in every federation hes worked, so this was a depressing reminder that he never got past the underground stardom and mainstream curtain-jerking that many of his indy peers were able to pull off in the past 5 years. It was also quite poetic to see the Mortal Kombat: Armageddon advertisements on the canvas knowing Kis influence from the Liu Kang character. Despite Sabin being a Detroit native, the crowd was pretty split because of how fucking excellent Ki is. They had a damn good lockup early bringing back memories of the 2/3 falls masterpiece between Paul London and Bryan Danielson, and the champ would get the advantage with stiff kicks. Sabin cut that off pretty quickly thanks to an arm drag and La Magistral cradle, but Ki cut that off with another kick, triggering another chant. The match truly got hot when Ki had a clear advantage midway through. After stunning a standing Sabin on the apron, Ki ran the ropes, only for Sabin to take advantage and hit a springboard missile dropkick to pop the Motor City. Due to Kis delivered punishment however, Sabin couldnt follow up immediately for a pin or other attacks. This gave Sabin the extended head though, allowing him to launch at Ki on the outside and then eventually hit a Cradle Shock after blocking a Ki Crusher attempt. This would be an incredible near-fall, one I had no problem with because at this time, TNA was intending for this to be its annual Granddaddy of Em All, no matter how flawed the efforts were proven to be in the long run. Sabin attempted to top that with a Super Cradle Shock, but Ki blocked it and then managed to maintain balance on just his left foot on the middle rope, while cutting off the challenger with more stiff right kicks to the chest to an incredible pop. The finish was a bit anticlimactic, as instead of going on to end with the teased Super Cradle Shock, which wouldve gone a long way in cementing this event as the companys Super Bowl AND Kis status in replacing Joes role as the divisions bad-ass juggernaut, Sabin won with a surprise small package. So instead of being a terrific match, one that couldve defined this event both on its own and its long-term branding, and one that couldve defined the division and company too, this settled on being just a very good one. The crowd was quite enthusiastically on board with taking this one over the top, its just a shame a fitting finish wasn't utilized to maximize it. ***3/4 Hardcore Match Rhino vs. Christian Cage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqlq_nVEbC8 This could be viewed as tasteless in a world after Chris Benoit, as this storyline was based on Christian causing Rhino to suffer a number of concussions. Its ironic that it wasnt the other way around considering where both men stand a decade later. The Detroit crowd didnt seem to care about Rhino as a hometown guy, instead rooting for Christian to have underhanded advantages, including one involving a straightjacket. This was somewhat similar to what the Motor City had seen just a couple weeks earlier involving the Briscoes against Samoa Joe & Homicide. Whereas in that one it started in the ring, led to a brawl to the outside, and then came back into the ring, this one started outside the building and then came to ringside. I found the Zamboni part that transitioned the match from backstage towards ringside to be a nice nod to another terrific moment in the Motor Citys rich wrestling history, that being 8 years earlier on Raw involving Steve Austin. This was quite the plunder match at ringside too, as these guys took some hits in this one but also mixed in some nice cut offs and transitions. Theres an understandable degree of difficulty in watching Rhino take unprotected plunder blows to the head in a post-Benoit world, although the drama they provided honestly cant be denied. It appeared that this match surprisingly didnt lead to Christian being forced into retirement many years later, as I didnt notice any obvious blows to his head. If there was one, it wouldve been in the highlight of this spectacle when Rhino piledrove him off the apron through the table, which cranked up the crowd drama in an instant and deservedly so. The finish came when Rhino was down and Christian stacked a bunch of plunder on top of Rhino, then channeled Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven, just delivering numerous blows with a chair as Mike Tenay screamed about concussions on commentary. Based on what I could see, I dont believe this particular finish actually delivered any blows to Rhinos head actually. This was definitely the right finish to establish Christian as a ruthless motherfucker, and he obviously had far more upside to eventually get reinserted back into the top mix. *** Tag Titles Cage Match AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. LAX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4HK11FwMeI For once, a tag match wont be penalized by me for tag legality reasons. Instead, this shouldve always started as a free-for-all, rather than a standard tag match involving tags at the beginning. This is after all a cage match to end a true grudge feud. I enjoyed Homicide bringing a fork into this match to cut the forehead of Daniels open; Im not sure if the TNA audience had seen this part of the Notorious 187s arsenal yet at the time. Daniels would reciprocate later, only to get choked with a coat hanger, which would play into the finish. Before getting into the finish, the easy highlight of the match wouldnt be a missed splash from the top of the cage by Hernandez. Instead, it would be Styles blocking Homicides Superplex attempt from the top of the cage; this caused Daniels underneath Homicide to backdrop the red-hot ROH star while Hernandez powerbombed Daniels. With Styles on top, that gave the future Hall of Famer the opportunity to surprise Hernandez with a crossbody from the top of the cage, bringing Detroit to a frenzy. With Daniels eventually taken out of the equation by Konnan using the coat hanger, that left Styles prone to double-teaming, causing him to fall victim to the Kudo Driver. I was happy that was the finish, as I wouldve been so pissed off, even with this being advertised as TNA's biggest annual event, had the Kudo Driver's inevitable false finish moment not been saved for ROHs Final Battle 2006 still a couple months away. While Im glad LAX won this feud to hopefully become the cornerstones of the tag division, I do wonder where this leaves Styles & Daniels individually. Theres a bit of a log jam at the top with Joe, Sting, Christian, and Kurt Angle, along with the now totally overpushed Jeff Jarrett thanks to those 4 mentioned names in the company, but the two of them are also above the current X-Division scene involving Ki, Sabin, Jay Lethal, Jerry Lynn, and Sonjay Dutt. ***1/2

Horror Business – October 21, 2006 Taped from Los Angeles, CA TJ Perkins vs. Rocky Romero Good exhibition match that as expected delivered zero emotion. There’s not much to dig into here as it was just a crisp back-and-forth match, with submissions, kicks, and strikes being traded. At no point until the finish did either get a definitive advantage to tell a deeper story. The best part would be the finish, as it made a nod to the finish of the Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit classic from Royal Rumble 2003, with Romero not allowing Perkins to escape an ankle lock; where Perkins was very much a diet version and lacked the pain threshold to stay in the ankle lock before tapping, Romero gave his own touch by kicking the spine of Perkins to quicken the decision. Rating: ***1/4 Scott Lost vs. Davey Richards Superior to Perkins vs. Romero, as this one had more personality, although still flawed in that regard due to the lack of charisma of both participants. In particular, for all of Lost’s smooth transitions, none of it was timed to emotionally connect with the audience, with plagued a significant portion of his career. The same criticism is often thrown on Randy Orton, Christopher Daniels, and Alberto Del Rio/el Patron, but they are Shawn Michaels and Kenta Kobashi combined when compared to Lost. The most noteworthy thing about the match to me was a commentator mislabeling a Stretch Muffler as a Half Crab; totally inexcusable when the moves look nothing alike and don’t have any history of being confused with each other. The finish was fine as Richards hit a double underhook DDT, then followed that up with a shoulder submission, although such a story wasn’t really told throughout the majority of the match, even with an Omoplota shoulder lock being teased early. Rating: ***1/2 Tag Titles Match B-Boy & Super Dragon vs. Kings of Wrestling Yep, Richards fucked up by not using his Battle of Los Angeles victory the month before to focus on a singles run to the top, instead waiting for SD to return from a concussion to reclaim the Tag Titles. Speaking of that SD & Richards tag team, this was surprisingly better than the God-awful match 8 months earlier involving Richards instead of B-Boy. Then again, Braun Strowman could work a 30 minute Broadway with a broomstick and it would’ve been vastly more gripping than that dog shit at Card Subject to Change 2. With that said, while this was good, B-Boy’s lack of charisma really showed here, especially with him being so visually similar to semi-partner Homicide, who was crazy over at this time a decade ago on the underground scene. It was weird to see KOW play the default babyfaces to the champs, although SD did his part in being a cunt to help out with that. The champs gave KOW a taste of their own medicine from their actions in ROH, resorting to trolling and illegal eye-pokes behind the ref’s back. KOW really should’ve known that was coming anyway; after all, SD had helped out their CZW cause in the war against ROH 6 months before this, so they know damn well how ruthless and dirty he’s happy to get. The biggest opportunity coming out of this match is one I often see plague PWG during this time period. Perhaps I’m just so accustomed after years of golden age ROH and modern day WWE, but all of the matches I reviewed on this card lacked a dramatic finishing stretch to put this over-the-top into something memorable like SD & Richards vs. Daniels & AJ Styles earlier in the year. At no point was the crowd jumping up-and-down out of their seats for this one, which I firmly believe was possible even with B-Boy’s participation. Instead, it was an anticlimactic small package win, nothing developed to be a respected finisher like Bryan Danielson had done throughout the year in ROH, and of course, there were tag legality issues here and there in this one, although not the most damning I’ve seen. Rating: ***1/2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnpp2VFO-VA

Motor City Madness 2006 – October 7, 2006 Taped from Detroit, MI This is another largely cold B-Show, so that means hard drive plus some C&P from Jake Ziegler and Brad Garoon. A brief but damn good video package chronicling the history of the Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries rivalry airs. Simple and effective. Matt Cross makes his ROH debut on this event. He has been competing on the independent circuit under the name of M-Dogg 20. Not exactly Michael Elgin in 2007, but important enough to mention here nonetheless for what’s to come in the future. ROH Title Match Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries Aries earned his title shot by pinning Danielson at War of the Wire II, and this was originally scheduled for Glory By Honor V Night 1 until Danielson’s shoulder injury necessitated he be preserved for KENTA at the Manhattan Center. Standard tremendous mat wrestling early with Danielson being a cocky prick as usual during this part of his career. He'd eventually target the left arm of Aries since the former Tag Champ is a Southpaw. There were a few instances in which the champ also wouldn't provide a clean break, whether he was on offense or defense. Danielson showed his scouting skills when he prevented the signature head-scissors escape by Aries; instead of Aries hitting a dropkick from a headstand, Danielson just hit a dropkick of his own to knock him down. Another great counter came much later in the match when Danielson prevented a crucifix bomb attempt by Aries. Danielson would intelligently use the position to apply an airplane spin, only to get a taste of his own medicine with elbows to head and then Aries following up with a Rings of Saturn submission. When Danielson reached the ropes, Aries copied his "I have 'till 5" trademark to a mild pop. At another point, a Danielson diving headbutt would be for naught, as he runs into a boot to the face to allow an Aries comeback. Later on, Aries would his back after a beautiful Frog Splash. He missed a running corner dropkick, allowing Danielson to regain the advantage with an eventual Half Crab. Danielson had worked on the back of Aries as mentioned, so he hit a Super Back Drop Suplex when Aries when for a 450 Splash, then followed that up with his own elbows to the head, then locked on the Crossface Chickenwing for a very good false finish. Aries did his damnedest not to allow the Cattle Mutilation to be locked on, only to eat more elbows to the head for his trouble, but he then gave a receipt. A brainbuster got blocked so they had a slugging exchange; Aries finally hit the brainbuster for a great pop and tease a 450 Splash, but that's countered for the Small Package for Danielson to retain! Damn good finish to tease a title change and a good, but my pick for the worst so far, chapter of this incredible rivalry. Rating: ***1/2 As Danielson celebrates, Joe interrupts to give a receipt for the prior night's post-match activities, but then the Briscoes come out to double-team Joe for an early advantage; credit must be given as the crowd chants for Homicide, so the Homicide push isn't a complete failure at this time. Hardcore Match Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide Much like the Shield vs. Evolution at Payback 2014, this starts as a standard tag match at the beginning for reasons unknown. I’m with the referee in not giving a shit about tag legalities once this becomes a brawl, as the rules of the match are clearly designed for that. This was a clear contrast to the prior match, which was a purist’s dream. In this one it was just all-out chaos. The ringside brawling would make Cactus Jack and Super Dragon proud as the Briscoes took an absurd quantity of unprotected chair shots to the head. It cannot be denied that no matter the long-term risks, this was definitely a gripping spectacle. While still inside the arena, the highlight would be Jay looking to give the seated Joe an Ole Ole kick, only to eat a powerslam through the chair onto the floor. My body legitimately shuddered seeing that, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Jay was protected on it and they professionally just give it a dangerous allusion. The brawl spilled outside the arena and the crowd followed. This portion of the match brought back memories of Rey Mysterio vs. Juventud Guerrera from their days in ECW a decade earlier. The easy highlight of this portion and the match overall wouldn’t be someone getting powerbombed on a car though; instead, a nearby heavy-type truck would be utilized. Joe gave Jay a Splash Mountain Bomb on the side of the truck, only for moments later, Mark to top that with an all-time moment in company history, coming off the top of the truck to hit the babyfaces and some students with a fucking shooting star press!!! Absolutely fucking unreal highlight there. The SSP would in storyline cause Joe to suffer a knee injury, forcing him out of the fight and leaving Homicide to fend for himself. The Notorious 187 gave a valiant effort, utilizing his ghetto fighting roots and hatred for Cornete’s muscle team to keep himself in the fight. But once it finally got back into the ring, Homicide was proven mortal like any other individual on the roster, succumbing to a Spike Double Underhook Piledriver for the win. That makes total sense as any other result would’ve buried the Briscoes; nobody, not even Steve Austin or Brock Lesnar, would be able to single-handedly defeat the Delaware natives. Period. Rating: ***3/4 The double main event totally saved this otherwise shit show. Par for the course in late 2006. Both matches are on compilations, so skip this event. The next event is an EASY top contender for the worst ROH event during the Rob Feinstein and Cary Silkin eras. It can easily be considered a top 10 shittiest ROH event to this day, and that includes humdrum episodes of SGB era TV tapings. Not one good match, not one quality moment of booking. Just drizzling, tedious shit with zero redeeming long-term value. So I’m skipping Suffocation entirely, although I’ll include the DVD cover stock photo and mention the fresh talents on that card in my next review. Up next – Irresistible Forces Matches will include: Shingo vs. Roderick Strong Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Colt Cabana Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal Mark Briscoe vs. Davey Richards Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe

Self-Titled – October 6, 2006 Taped from Los Angeles, CA Cape Fear vs. Motor City Machine Guns This suffered from the usual non-legal pin issues on the indies, but that took this down from potentially great to merely a good to very good match. MCMG dominated El Generico early, with very little answer from Cape Fear. However, despite the domination, there wasn’t a clear segment of cutting the ring in half, thanks largely to tag legalities being ignored by the ref. The most interesting part was the second half, as the wrestlers themselves expressed more concern about honoring tag legalities than the ref. That wasn’t the only part that made the second half brighter though; it was simply action-packed with all kinds of immediate cut-offs, while staying true to the assumed legalities after the messy first half from that perspective. An assisted Standing Shiranui by Shelley, Yakuza kick cut off by Generico, modified bombs by Quicksilver, the closing stretch was quite spectacular with all kinds of terrific moves. The best part was the end as should be with every match. Quicksilver launched himself towards Shelley on the outside, allowing Generico to go for the Super Brainbuster on Sabin. The Detroit native sniffed it out though based on their singles encounter the month before, blocking it and finishing Generico with a Super Cradle Shock, and thus keeping Cape Fear from having any case for a shot at the NWA Jr. Tag Titles. Very good, and with more polish under WWE guidance, would’ve met its full potential. It’s amazing looking back a decade later and knowing that it would be Generico, not the highly creative, charismatic Shelley (who many compared to Chris Jericho) that would hit the big time. Rating: ***1/2

Survival of the Fittest 2006 – October 6, 2006 Taped from Cleveland, OH ROH Video Wire – September 22, 2006 Important news/footage in the above videos: Colt Cabana hosts the first ever Video Wire and is interrupted multiple times by Lacey. Amusing innuendo ensues from Cabana, while Lacey has secured a Tag Titles shot for him and Jimmy Jacobs. It’s hilarious to see Jacobs bite his tongue as he apologizes and says they should team up because “it would mean a lot to Lacey.” The recap ends with Jacobs stewing on the same couch as the two fuck buddies sit together in non-platonic fashion. Without question, this storyline was THE gem of a lackluster final quarter in 2006. This being the beginning of Gabe Sapolsky’s downswing and lackluster final quarter as mentioned for 2006 means this got the hard drive treatment, so there will be some C&P from Jake Ziegler and Brad Garoon. Survival of the Fittest Qualifier Briscoe Bros. vs. Homicide & Roderick Strong Survival of the Fittest Qualifier Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe This was 20 minutes of nothing special autopilot mode. With these two involved that equates to a good match. The most blame has to be pointed to their fresh injuries; Danielson had just torn his right shoulder several weeks earlier, while Joe had gotten sciatica a few weeks after that. This was the epitome of a B-show as well, and the Cleveland crowd seemed to know that. Cleveland is pointed to by some as well-versed as I am on ROH’s rich history for being not quite an elite market for the company. I call bullshit on that. This was the same crowd that went BONKERS for Jim Cornette’s promo on Necro Butcher, what would turn out to be the final chapter ever in the Danielson vs. AJ Styles rivalry, the first ever singles encounter between Danielson and McGuinness plus its rematch, and the Generation Next’s final stand. This time, the audience seemed to grasp that after the prior 90 days had seen the Cage of Death, Danielson vs. McGuinness II, Generation Next’s last complete match together, a historic unification, a GHC Heavyweight Title match, and Danielson vs. KENTA, they were getting saddled with an inferior event. In particular, the crowd had little reaction to Danielson’s Rick Rude-inspired taunting, and didn’t seem to be engaged that much by Joe’s greatest hits, and yes, that’s exactly what this was for Joe. The most damning lack of reaction was the library level silence when Danielson attempted a La Tatipia surfboard, then stomped on Joe’s knees. To say that got zero reaction would be a factual statement. For whatever reason, despite not being all that jazzed during this rematch of their Fight of the Century classic, the crowd demanded 5 more minutes when the 20-minute time limit was reached. At some point, audiences should smarten up and demand sudden death, that way their real wish comes true, which is for someone to win the match. Danielson immediately clocks Joe with the ROH Title belt after their post-match handshake, then says the crowd can kiss his ass in regards to the request for 5 more minutes. He didn’t seem the most convincing as a heel in this segment, perhaps because deep down he knew this was just another day at the office, and his body was failing him after going through Hell against KENTA. Six months earlier, Chicago went absolutely insane when Joe challenged Danielson; now here, the crowd is treating this actual feud like any other common one. Rating: ***1/4 Survival of the Fittest Elimination Match Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Delirious vs. Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries This couldn’t live up to the original, which as the years pass by seems to become even more of unsurmountable task. With that said, this was still a good addition, albeit flawed. In the first act of the match, which would be the Aries portion prior to his elimination, it was no surprise to me that the ref stopped giving a fuck about legal pins. It was a good booking that Aries went down to the Briscoes tandem though as a reminder that no individual can overcome the two of them. With Aries out, the best part of the match came to be as Delirious convinced Sydal to form a temporary partnership against the Briscoes. It became quite the impromptu tag match within this main event, as the Briscoes did a good job of cutting the ring in half rather than deliver the typical spotfest they were more renowned for a decade ago. I was surprised Jay got eliminated before Mark, as not only is Jay objectively better in every facet, but his swagger and confidence backing up his desperate anger would’ve far more engaging, doing his damnedest to not be a victim of the numbers game. The third act would be the next chapter of the Delirious vs. Sydal rivalry. This came nowhere close to Aries vs. Danielson 2 years earlier, however this was still an effective final stretch in an attempt to create new main-eventers in the wake of a sensational 365-day period. At the same time, this portion was far more of a spot-fest, just like their singles encounter 2 months earlier. It worked, as the crowd actually got gripped by this unlike Danielson vs. Joe. I appreciated the teases in this match that would be delivered. Sydal went for a standing moonsault, only to get booted in the face. The crowd wouldn’t be cock-teased though, as Sydal successfully hit it later. Delirious made multiple submission attempts with his Cobra Stretch submission, teasing very good falsh finishes; once he got it locked for a third time IIRC, I knew that was the end. There was no way in Hell that such a finishing move would be diminished by being utilized for 3 false finishes. Danielson vs. Delirious III doesn’t seem quite necessary after the decisive, electrifying classic at Ring of Homicide, but there could be worse choices, and with big moves months away, it’s critical to try making new top talent. Rating: ***1/2 Per PWInsider a decade ago, Prince Nana’s departure was due to a financial disagreement from ROH, and thus didn’t allow for a properly satisfying storyline finale for the Embassy. Definitely the end of an era, and yet another example of ROH’s creative downswing after Glory By Honor V weekend. While the good shit on here hit ***+, this show perfectly exemplified the nosedive of booker Gabe Sapolsky, and kick-started the beginning of the end for him, which nobody could foresee at the time of course. Weak crowd, mostly weak directions, questionable match structures, iffy arc turns, a downgrade for the Tag Titles with the Kings of Wrestling as champions, and the attempt to launch new top stars at the show’s end (which came nothing close to similar booking at Generation Next), make for a glaring booking performance in retrospect. One word can easily sum it up already: burnout. Up next – Motor City Madness 2006 Matches will include: Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide

Capital Punishment – September 29, 2006 Taped from Richmond, VA Tag Titles Match AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. LAX Good house show main event as would be expected. Magnum TA had appeared earlier on the card, so Konnan shit on him and Richmond in a pre-match promo, with Daniels then responding minutes later by saying “we’re gonna kick your punk ass, bitch” followed up with a pie-face to the HOFer. The champs got the heat early as Daniels took a page from Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21, using constant headlocks to throw Homicide off. Eventually the heel challengers would gain the advantage though, cutting the ring in half on Daniels and getting Konnan’s assistance occasionally for distractions. Homicide even pulled a babyface move, but it worked due to LAX’s Latino pride gimmick at the time – Eddie Guerrero’s “Three Amigos” suplex chain, followed up by a frog splash attempt. Once Hernandez and Styles got tagged in, the match fell apart a bit as the ref counted non-legal pins. While this didn’t kill the match dead, it dragged it down from very good to potentially great territory. The highlight of the match was a flawlessly fluid springboard inverted DDT by Styles on Hernandez, not giving LAX’s muscle even a fraction of a second to block or counter it. Modern WWE viewers would be familiar with this spot, as Styles also pulled it off in March 2006 against the New Day on Raw. Konnan’s shoving of the referee and attempt to use the flapjack backfired, as he accidentally struck Homicide. This allowed the champs to double-team Hernandez and finish him with a Styles frog splash. I appreciated that the actual legal men at the end, that being Styles and Hernandez, was the deciding pin fall in the match. If only the ref had enforced tag legalities for this match to reach its optimal storytelling potential. ***1/4

No Surrender 2006 – September 24, 2006 Live from Orlando, FL Tag Titles – Ultimate X Match LAX vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels Hell of a spoffest here. The early highlights were Homicide hitting a Tope Con Hilo to Daniels, then Styles answering with a Fosbury Flop on him. Homicide was in pain in his right shoulder stemming from his match against Steve Corino at ROH’s Steel Cage Warfare, but that didn’t play significantly into this match overall. The match was largely a bomb-throwing contest, with of course various attempts by all the participants to reach the center of the X and bring down the solo title belt hanging. Another highlight was Styles & Daniels taking turns on Hernandez with various bombs, including a Uranage, frog splash, Best Moonsault Ever, and Spiral Tap. (In fact, thinking about it a decade later – and only as of August 2016 viewing – I don’t believe Styles has pulled out the Spiral Tap yet on WWE television, and perhaps that should be preserved for a certain major event the company has planned for Orlando as a nod/middle finger to TNA.) Homicide would unfortunately never land the Kudo Driver, which likely cost his team ultimately. Hernandez was unable to hit the Border Toss to Styles from the ring through an outside table too, which certainly didn’t help LAX’s cause. He did however hit a Jackknife Powerbomb on Styles that could probably even make someone as cynical and condescending as Kevin Nash pop. Styles would take out Homicide via a Styles Clash through that outside table from the apron, and then Konnan attacked him with a flapjack. Konnan failed to hit Daniels in the ring with it after the Fallen Angel shoved Hernandez off. Instead, a company highlight occurred as he climbed the top of a corner structure of the X and then jumped to the center, landing safely to hang on (both in reality and from the kayfabe bad intentions of Konnan), bringing down the belt to reclaim the titles. At the time a decade ago, there was some uproar (mostly from Bryan Alvarez) about how dangerous this move was for Daniels. While it certainly wasn’t the safest, perhaps from being desensitized by far more insane stunts over the years, it didn’t look to be quite so risky under 2016 lenses. Definitely a memorable finish. ***3/4 Of course, the big, big, BIG historic news coming out of this event a decade ago…

Looking back on a very special match and event that unknowingly marked the end of an era... https://cattlemutilationnet.wordpress.com/2016/09/18/a-decade-later-rohs-absolute-creative-apex-concludes/

We are a week away from this project returning, starting with TNA's No Surrender 2006. Going forward, all retro reviews of TNA, ROH, and PWG will be posted on the 10th anniversaries of the dates they occurred. The goal is to avoid forum posts for this in favor of archiving them on Cattle Mutilation, but that's unlikely for a awhile as modifying it from a blog to an actual site (with organized navigation) is even more of a monumental, time-consuming task than I had imagined. The annual Road to WrestleMania project will be coming in the near future as well.

Styles and Nakamura in 2016 will forever be gold standards for debuts. Styles in NJPW should count as well. Kevin Owens must also be mentioned. Angle was amazing interacting with Joe in TNA a decade ago. It's one of the rare instances in which a TNA debut was actually buzzworthy. Bagwell in WWE is a no-brainer on what to avoid. I'm excluding any surprise debuts as the topic seems to address advertised ones instead, so that'd disqualify the Shield.

Per Voices of Wrestling's Joe Lanza, Ambrose did a disservice to himself with his behavior on the Stone Cold Podcast in WWE's eyes.

Many people say that Paul London's overinflated ego and lack of professionalism is why he never became a big name in WWE, and in fact only once performed on a SummerSlam PPV card and NEVER for a WrestleMania PPV card. During his time in WWE, London was a victim of bad timing and signing way too early. Before he came into the company, he was the Shawn Michaels of the underground wrestling scene. He knew how to draw sympathy, his selling was elite, he could play subtle heel when necessary, he could pull off highlight reel spots, he could do it all from bell to bell. While London lacks mainstream-level mic skills and does deserve blame for his failure to navigate behind-the-scenes and win over anyone of importance to have his back, the fact is that someone with his skill set should've been this generation's Ricky Steamboat. Had Paul London waited for CM Punk to break down the barriers in 2011, there's a damn good chance he would've come into the company with the same level of red carpet treatment afforded to Prince Devitt, Kevin Steen, and Shinsuke Nakamura. At the very least, he would've come into NXT at the same level of El Generico - a legend with an absolutely loaded underground legacy and body of work, coming in with a clear "pay your dues" journey. When London signed with WWE in 2003, he came in during a time when the company was too busy having its head up its own ass and masturbating over winning the Monday Night War, instead pushing generic scrubs as the future of the company, rather than indy sensations such as London. A decade later though, he would've come into a much healthier, open-minded work environment, and likely with someone behind the scenes who would've had his back as well. There is no doubt whatsoever that if London had come into WWE after the behind-the-scenes aftermath of Money in the Bank 2011 settled in, he would've been as highly sought as Will Ospreay and Ricochet have been in 2016. I will always argue that Paul London is the biggest casualty of WWE's primitive hiring and pushing philosophies during the 2000s decade, despite him actually being there during that period and winning multiple championships. Those who roll their eyes at this assertion would be wise to set aside the time and watch his 2002-03 body of work in ROH, as well as his post-WWE work once he got motivated again. It isn't just London's loss that he never became a substantial star in WWE, but it's also the loss of WWE, the wrestling industry, and most importantly, the fans.

A Decade Later: ROH vs. CZW

This seems accurate and well-described from my memory of it. Anecdotal evidence notwithstanding: the amount of heat Nigel had lost six months later was a topic of discussion in live crowds, as was Vader-Monster Morishima coming off as anything but a killer heel when you realized he wasn't nearly as big as he looked working KENTAFuji, and that he was a soft dude in pastel t-shirts who'd take grinning photos with everyone outside the Manhattan Center. It was a misfire at a time when ROH felt more "on the rise" than they have since. McGuinness had a poor chase to the title that year as well. I will be going more in depth when my ROH reviews return this fall, and then later on I will also undergo my own podcasts that rebook ROH both in 2007 and 2009.