Johnny Sorrow Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 BJ being a part of the CZW feud made perfect sense as he'd been there forever. Pearce made sense as the "new guy", who was totally willing to attack Homicide at Cornette's behest after the match. The thing I laughed at the most was at the Ring Of Homicide show in Jersey where Pearce calls out Cide to do the right thing and Cide is all "Who the fuck are you, motherfucker?" I was thinking the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dragon Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 The only thing that makes me sad about the CZW feud is I imagine if the Homicide/Maff whatever didn't happen, how amazing Maff would have been in Whitmers role, and how much better the story would have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFoy Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 I hope you go on to 2007 because that ended up being a very good year in its own right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted April 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 The indies revisit project returns September 24. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 War of the Wire - November 29, 2003 No Rope Barbed Wire Match Homicide vs. Steve Corino Just a tad bit below their Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies epic for me personally, but this was still a classic nonetheless. Their initial fear of the barb wire, quickly being overcome by the pure hatred they had towards one another, was gorgeous to watch. This match, which on the surface just looks to be nothing more than an OMG gorefest, actually had a bigger purpose - how much pain would these men put their own selves through to inflict it on each other? This mentality they both displayed throughout the match, as well as how their previous match concluded, was nothing short of breathtaking as they reached the finish. These two awesome matches not only were masterful in terms of showing how much animosity there was, but also had both coming out as even more bad-ass than they were before. Rating: ****1/4 Just watched this, and I think I'd take it over their prior match. Better pacing, and a better finish, with an escalation of the violence instead of trading near falls. Far more creative and exciting than most barbed wire matches. An epic performance from both guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSR Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 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. Much better idea and far more chance of getting some discussion going this way as opposed to spamming the board with dozens of immediate back to back posts like last time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted October 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 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. The Briscoes are excited to get their hands on Homicide, even if it means they have to run through Roderick Strong to do so. Jimmy Rave interrupts their promo because he knows they’re tight with Jim Cornette. He’s upset that he came back from Japan only to find that Prince Nana and Sal Rinauro are nowhere to be found. The Briscoes tell him to man up before talking to them like that. 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 BG says: Dave Prazak hypes the main event before being interrupted by Jimmy Rave. He wants to know what’s going on with the Embassy and demands that Prazak find Jim Cornette for him by the end of the night. JZ says: Jimmy Jacobs’s music hits but Lacey comes to the ring and demands it be turned off. She wants Cabana and Jacobs to come out to Cabana’s music instead. Cabana and Lacey do some suggestive dancing, but when Cabana realizes that it hurts Jacobs’s feelings, he offers him a shot. Lacey denies him and then screams at him while the crowd boos. Poor Jimmy, he just loves Lacey so much. 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 Dave Prazak tells Jimmy Rave that Jim Cornette is leaving so Rave runs out to catch him. He asks where Nana is, and Cornette says that Nana tried to pull a power play so he fired him. That’s about the worst blow off to the Embassy I can possibly imagine. 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted October 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 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 Prazak catches up with Jimmy Rave after the show. He asks what the story is with the Embassy now that Nana is gone. Rave responds by throwing his royal robe into the trash and walking out of the building. 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted October 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted November 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 I've been enjoying these - that ****3/4 tag goes right up to the top of my viewing list for the #ROH50 project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted November 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 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. [samoa] Joe also says he has a going away present for KENTA and his NOAH buddies. This puzzles [his partner and] NOAH wrestler [Nigel] McGuinness. 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted November 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Black Friday Fallout – November 24, 2006 Taped from Long Island, NY ROH Video Wire – November 8, 2006 Important news/footage from the above video: ROH confirms for the DVD/YouTube audience the remaining live event schedule for 2006. Friday, November 24 – Long Island, NY Saturday, November 25 – Edison, NJ Friday, December 8 – The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 in Chicago Saturday, December 9 – The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 in Chicago Friday, December 22 – East Windsor, CT (Greater Hartford Area) Saturday, December 23 – Final Battle 2006 in New York City ROH Video Wire – November 16, 2006 Important news/footage from the above video: Roderick Strong has dethroned Bryan Danielson for the FIP Title at All or Nothing and has made some rules changes, including a 20 count for count outs and title changes in the events of counts outs or DQs. He will be defending it in ROH, starting against Shingo on November 25 in New Jersey. Yet another sign of burnout for booker Gabe Sapolsky, as he also had the book for FIP at this time. This reeks of a lame attempt to offset the Pure Title's retirement and the fact that Bryan Danielson's shoulder injury is preventing him from having nightly classic ROH Title defenses. Danielson being gone in late November and early December for a NOAH tour is another likely reason for this too. November 24 in Long Island - Delirious & Davey Richards vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels November 25 in New Jersey - Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries; Kings of Wrestling vs. Sydal & Daniels for the Tag Titles (if KOW still champs); Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide in a Survivor Series Style Elimination Hardcore Match Another overall lukewarm show here, so once again C&P treatment of Brad Garoon and Jake Ziegler. The Kings of Wrestling kick off the show with a press conference. The media in attendance are apparently not fans of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. They tell us to get used to them saying whatever they want, whenever they want as often as they want because they’re the tag champions. Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal are very over with those in attendance. Those two teams will be getting title shots, and so will the Briscoe Brothers. Tonight it’ll be a No DQ match against the former champions. KINGS OF WRESTLING VS. THE BRISCOES~! OH FUCK YES~! Gauntlet Match Final Jimmy Jacobs vs. Nigel McGuinness There is nothing on the line or up for grabs stipulation-wise in this. Yet another obvious sign of burnout for Sapolsky. Right before this final portion, BJ Whitmer went over Brent Albright to close out a tedious piece of shit segment in this gauntlet match, and the crowd’s reaction reflects that. Jacobs then makes quick work of Whitmer after hitting him with a low-blow, and the crowd is ecstatic! They fucking should be as Jacobs talks shit to one of his two career-defining archenemies, and the crowd chants his name before McGuinness comes out for a rematch from Generation Next. This was an improvement upon their prior singles encounter in ROH, expectedly so. This match makes me disappointed in retrospect that these two never had an actual program. Simply put in late 2006, there were no 2 better mic workers on the ROH roster than Jimmy Jacobs and Nigel McGuinness; not Hero, no the Briscoes, not Colt Cabana, not Danielson, and certainly not Aries yet. These two could’ve done some tremendous lengthy business, with either both continuing their roles at this time as creepy cunt Jacobs against freshly-turned bad-ass McGuinness; or possibly the other way around in the same vein that Danielson would have several years later against Triple H– the undersized babyface Jacobs standing up to the smug prick McGuinness. They certainly wouldn’t have had any issues taking risks and making each other look strong at this point in their careers either. There’s also the dynamic of how many verbal zingers McGuinness would’ve thrown at Lacey too. Nonetheless, this match was a good sample of what could’ve been. I loved that McGuinness outclassed Jacobs early by targeting the left arm, brilliant to set up the London Dungeon while also hoping to marginalize any Shiranui attempts. Jacobs was impressive though getting some control with a headlock later on, although never for a great length of time. More than his left arm being targeted, Jacobs perhaps cost himself a career-defining victory at this point by focusing on Lacey. McGuinness was clearly a hot hand even after losing his 2006 program against Danielson and then another big match against Naomichi Marufuji, so any wasted second was crucial. McGuinness was great selling the strikes of the smaller Jacobs, going out of his way to make his smaller but very talented colleague look formidable. That’s something I greatly appreciate and is a mentality that makes me miss both him and Batista as in-ring performers. I also appreciated that McGuinness was willing to pull the hair of Jacobs at times. This was him showing to Jacobs that he’ll play dirty if necessary, while also stating that he still had some ruthlessness in him from his Pure Title run. I liked later on when Jacobs countered the rebound lariat with a spear too, making we wish we had seen McGuinness or Dean Ambrose against Edge; McGuinness vs. Goldberg or Roman Reigns could’ve been super fun too. The highlight of the match was Jacobs avoiding a top-rope lariat while crotched by McGuinness, only to get hit with the Tower of London from that position for a near-fall. Lacey was going crazy at this point, and it created some sense of doubt that Jacobs could pull off the upset against one of the hottest hands on the roster at the time. But the damage to his left arm would be for naught, as when he went for the Shiranui, he didn’t have the strength to be as sudden with it as he’d hope. McGuinness used the mid-air positioning of Jacobs to crotch him , hit the top-rope crotched lariat, and finish Jacobs off with a traditional Tower of London. It’s no surprise that McGuinness was able to sniff out the Shiiranui, and perhaps he could’ve actually done so without even trying to marginalize it, thanks to his classic match 2 months earlier against Marufuji. If ROH ever releases another Jacobs compilation, this really should be on it starting with the end of the Albright vs. Whitmer portion of this gauntlet match, as this served as not just a good match, but quality character and storyline advancement for the Jacobs direction. Rating: ***1/2 Gary Michael Capetta and Shane Hagadorn make vaguely gay comments about Adam Pearce. GMC wants to know what Pearce is thinking, and I’m not sure why he doesn’t just ask Pearce. He will wrestle Homicide in a strap match in Chicago coming up. Speaking of Homicide, a major upset occurs on this card when Jimmy Rave cleanly defeats him via an inside cradle. This is yet another sign of Sapolsky burnout. While it’s very wise to have at least 1 challenger for Homicide when he very obviously enters 2007 as the company’s top singles champion, Rave doesn’t seem like the best choice now that there’s no more Embassy and Prince Nana is gone. It’d have been much wiser to go with Hero as a heel to cleanly beat Homicide, since Hero never needed a mouthpiece to elevate his connection level with the audience. I say that as someone who has presented a factual case that Rave is the greatest heel in ROH's history; that case isn’t true without Nana to have complimented Rave though. Now with my idea of Hero getting the nod instead of Rave, Hero doesn’t even need to win in 100% clean fashion; he can do something underhanded to give Homicide an out. With certain directions that would soon to be taken too, Hero going over Homicide here could be magnified very soon to build to a title match between the two in 2007. I’ve no problem at all with Homicide cleanly losing a singles match just once en route to Final Battle 2006. I could actually even see an argument for losing 2 singles matches tops (the other defeat would’ve been to McGuinness to set up a huge match for the planned UK return.) There’s the reason of grooming a challenger for Homicide, but just as important to me in storyline is showing that the Notorious 187 is mortal, no matter how much momentum he’s had in recent months. I speak on this from the perspective of a Seahawks fan, and it’s not a shoehorned comparison either. I’m not 100% sure that the Seahawks would’ve gone on to win Super Bowl XLVIII had they (with a playoff spot already locked up) not suffered a stunning, humbling defeat at home several weeks earlier to the Arizona Cardinals in December 2013. It’s a reminder that the favorite to win it all must stay focused, and that every opponent will bring their absolute best in every contest to make a statement and obtain the bragging rights of derailing that favorite. That’s what happened to the Seahawks 3 years ago, and I see the same thing happening here a month before the biggest guaranteed match of Homicide’s career. Tag Titles Shot Match Delirious & Davey Richards vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels The title shot stipulation is announced from the commentary team at the start of the match. The kneejerk reaction is to ask why it wasn’t announced beforehand, but the answer is obvious. Had it been announced going into this match or even to the live audience, then the result clearly would’ve been Sydal & Daniels going over since they were a regular team and had victories over the Kings of Wrestling. This dilemma is arguably another sign of burnout for Sapolsky. The bookerman has actually been on commentary for this event, so I presume that Jared David (Mister Saint Laurent) must’ve parted ways, and Sapolsky mistakenly references Gut Check instead of The Epic Encounter II when talking about the Delirious vs. Sydal rivalry. That’s not his only mistake as the match kicks off, as he erroneously states this is the first time Richards and Daniels collide, without specifying that he means in ROH. I sure hope he was only specifically referring to ROH. Richards and Daniels have trash-talk early while evading various blows. Delirious and Sydal get tagged in quickly and have a terrific segment that ends with Sydal finally getting the upper hand via a monkey flip to the middle of the ring. Daniels practically plays quarterback early when Richards tags back in, cutting the ring in half on him. Daniels even tries to taunt Delirious while he and Sydal work on Richards, which the crowd doesn’t seem to care about. Richards finally cuts off Sydal in a strike exchange with a spin kick to the gut, then following up on that body part by dropping Sydal on it on the top rope. This is when Richards went for what’s supposed to be a hot tag, although there’s no drama to it despite the psychology being mechanically sound and the Long Island crowd’s lack of reaction reflects that. Daniels practically confirms that he and Sydal are the de facto heels when he illegally comes in to cut Delirious off, but that doesn’t work out for him. I’m not a big fan of that story since Sydal & Daniels are supposed to be a babyface tag team that’s been gunning for KOW. This isn’t a hometown match for Delirious or Richards either to make an excuse for that, as they’re both Midwest and West Coast guys respectively at this point in their careers. Sydal would have the ring cut in half on him, which he’d finally break free of by countering a handspring kick attempt by Richards with a spin kick. Daniels was fine as a house of fire, but since Sydal never had a major FIP segment either, the crowd doesn’t get as hot as I would want at this point in the match. The highlights would come in the closing minutes as Delirious and Sydal were legal. Delirious dropped Sydal with a Richards-assisted draping DDT for a great near-fall. Sydal’s selling is acceptable as he’s unable to get a nonstop comeback due to the pain, and those split hesitations allow Delirious to block a Flux Capacitor and Richards hits a Super Overhead German Suplex on the future Evan Bourne. In addition, Sydal is easily cut off by Delirious due to his neck pain and playing the FIP earlier. As Richards and Daniels battle on the outside, the archrivals go at it. Daniels has gotten the upper hand and saves Sydal from a top-rope move, which leads to the finishing sequence. Delirious eats a Uranage, BME, and shooting star press, confirming the obvious that Sydal & Daniels would win this based on the KOW match already being announced ahead of time for tomorrow night, and then the added stipulation per the commentary team on this DVD release. This was a good match with tag legalities surprisingly being adhered to, yet a horrible choice to main event this show. Anytime a booker says “this is your chance to see new talent headline” is generally a red flag that the card and/or roster depth is weak, and this was no exception. This never got super heated as would’ve been hoped, and it makes me just wish that this match would’ve happened a few weeks earlier with KENTA involved instead of Delirious. Richards could’ve taken the fall just like he had done against Austin Aries & Roderick Strong to not make him seem too over-pushed, while also further grooming Sydal & Daniels for KOW. I enjoyed Jacobs vs. McGuinness significantly more than this, and unlike that match, I’m not too surprised now that this match hasn’t been included on any compilations yet, although if a Sydal compilation is ever released, I’m sure this will be featured. I certainly would’ve just preferred another singles encounter between Delirious and Sydal on this card, with Richards and Daniels having a first-time ever singles encounter too. Rating: ***1/4 The DVD closes with Lacey berating Jacobs, as she puts herself over for winning her match and is unimpressed by him defeating Whitmer in the gauntlet match. She wants Whitmer to be maimed, and she expected Jacobs to pull off the upset against McGuinness. The brief segment ends with Jacobs, like a depressed puppy, saying “I love you” after Lacey has stormed off. Fucking creepy and pathetic, and an excellent choice to close the DVD release with this after a not-so-hot, yet mechanically good main event. This was an awful show, with a good but cold main event as stated. That isn’t necessarily the fault of anyone in particular. The crowd never fully recovered from an abysmally tedious piece of business between Albright and Whitmer, but the card didn't do any favors for itself either. Even with what I said earlier on this review, I’d have gone with Homicide vs. McGuinness as this show’s main event. It’d be a huge match between two of the hottest hands on the roster, in one corner the man seemingly on his way to the top, in the other corner the man who had recently been eliminated from competing for the tippy-top. McGuinness goes over in a shocker to groom him for a title match in 2007 should Homicide dethrone Danielson; Homicide faces mortality to keep him focused before his epic opportunity; and perhaps most importantly from a business perspective, Long Island has a match that’s worth buying tickets to see live. Long Island doesn’t continue to feel like a B-market, which has been the case for an entire year (having a memorial for Eddie Guerrero doesn’t hide that fact.) Have Delirious vs. Sydal and Richards vs. Daniels as I stated, and since Jacobs wouldn’t be facing McGuinness, I have him lose to Shingo. It accomplishes the same storyline goal of Lacey berating Jacobs, this time for failing to win a match that could’ve gotten him on Dragon Gate’s radar, and Shingo has a good match that he wins the night before challenging Strong for the FIP Title. I dare anyone to look at the card on the attached DVD cover and try to tell me that my alternative of Shingo vs. Jacobs, Delirious vs. Sydal, Richards vs. Daniels, and Homicide vs. McGuinness, along with the gauntlet match being completely scrapped, wouldn’t have significantly upgraded this awful event. Avoid this event, but find a way to catch Jacobs vs. McGuinness. Up next – Dethroned Matches will include: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer Kings of Wrestling vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted November 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 Dethroned – November 25, 2006 Taped from Edison, NJ Another overall lukewarm show here, so once again C&P treatment of Brad Garoon and Jake Ziegler. Some masked dude named El Generico returns for the first time in 15 months in a losing effort to Brent Albright. Must largely be due to his matches in a certain West Coast tournament or something that he’s been invited back after a cold 2005 from him in the company. Davey Richards is determined to finally beat Austin Aries. He’d already done that in the West Coast tournament I just referenced, and that was less than 90 days ago, so it isn’t impossible regardless of how much more acclimated Aries is in ROH. Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer There’s never an official bell since referee Paul Turner is attacked numerous times by both, including getting spiked on the forehead and cut open just like the combatants. This isn’t the typical brawl, as it’s lengthy and gets back into the ring eventually with a handful of actual wrestling moves being performer. The sickest moment of the early outside brawling is easily Whitmer powerbombing Jacobs on the top of a guard rail. The crowd ate this up as the two just wailed on each other with everything possible while Lacey urged it on for Jacobs, albeit from a negative reinforcement perspective towards him. These two very clearly despised each other and magically weaved in the occasional wrestling moves in a manner that didn’t detract from that fact. I even appreciated Whitmer’s selling here from when he hit a desperation lariat after being dropped head-first via a reverse hurricanrana. He used the momentum from that bump to smack Jacobs down, but sold his blood loss by being unable to follow up. Lacey eventually interjects and slaps Whitmer, who continues to sell the blood loss and can’t respond to her in any way. Daizee Haze comes out to even it against Lacey, and this catfight is certainly as over as Alexis Laree and Allison Danger at One Year Anniversary Show. Lacey takes a powder and Haze is concerned for both combatants, requesting assistance from the locker room to end this brawl. This was a hell of a chapter for the Jacobs vs. Whitmer saga, without either having to job yet. Rating: ***3/4 Tag Titles Match Kings of Wrestling vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels During the entrances, ROH’s on-screen graphic confirms every event through the first quarter of 2007, and an extra one too. January 26 – Boston January 27 – New Jersey February 16 – NYC February 17 – Philly February 23 – Dayton February 24 – Chicago March 3 and 4 – Liverpool March 30 and 31 – Detroit (WrestleMania 23 weekend) April 27 – St. Paul Easy highlight is after a hot tag, Sydal being pressed up by Claudio Castagnoli, landing on the champ’s shoulders, and then using the momentary stunned status of Castagnoli to plant him with a DDT. Referee Todd Sinclair enforced tag legalities as should be the case far, far, far, far more often in the minor leagues of the business. Then 2-3 minutes later, he inexplicably forgets about it. The highlight ignores tag legalities at the end, but is definitely spectacular. First, Castagnoli counters Sydal’s shooting star press with an uppercut. When KOW set up Sydal for a KRS-One, Daniels spears Chris Hero, which allows Sydal in mid-air to pin Castagnoli with a hurricanarana for a title change. I don’t have much very much to say about this match other than it was good but highly flawed and disappointing, which is a poetic book-end to KOW’s good but highly flawed and disappointing title change victory over over Austin Aries & Roderick Strong 2 months earlier. Although the fans in attendance gave KOW some heat, it never felt like visceral heat on par with the Summer of Punk or what Hero was getting during the white-hot CZW program. Even the pop for the title change feels very much like one that’s a result of a company that had done a phenomenal job building rapport with its audience in recent years, rather than for this being a historical moment on its own. This is a title change that nobody talks about and for damn good reason. This moment absolutely pales in comparison to much more significant moments that took place in the same building over the past year prior to this, including KENTA vs. Low Ki, CZW crashing ROH’s Fourth Anniversary Show, Homicide inserting himself against CZW, and even Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe bringing the crowd to a fever pitch at the end of a 60-minute Broadway. Sydal & Daniels never got over as a babyface team to any significant degree, but I can’t entirely fault booker Gabe Sapolsky here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were thrown together due to the departure of AJ Styles a few months earlier, who seemed a much more natural partner for Sydal earlier in 2006. That’s certainly a what if scenario – imagine Styles instead of Daniels being in this direction alongside Sydal, and how much little tolerance he’d have for KOW’s goofy heel bullshit and Poor Man’s CM Punk smugness. That would’ve given us Castagnoli colliding with Styles too instead of waiting so long for it to happen in WWE. I have to imagine Styles & Sydal winning the titles here would’ve been a much more exciting match, without the lameness of Daniels labeling himself as “Lords of the Ring” with Sydal in the post-match. Oh yeah, Sydal & Daniels say they’ll be honorable champs. We’ll see about that especially since there are major red flags in regards to their babyface stock. I know that shortly before this, Castagnoli and TJ Wilson (better known as Tyson Kidd) were offered WWE developmental contracts. A decade later, it’s poetic that the two of them would receive such opportunities simultaneously, having no idea of the natural chemistry they’d have as a tag team. Segueing back to tag teams, I still say that this particular title change was a bad idea, so I’ll offer an alternative in the overall show review. Rating: ***1/4 Nigel McGuinness defeats Jimmy Rave, then they actually kick off a program. After the match Nigel gets on the microphone and tells Rave that he respects him. He gave him a run for his money and now he wants to shake his hand. Rave shakes his hand and both men wave to the crowd. Nigel gets silly and throws a roll of toilet paper at him. Rave loses his temper and shoves Nigel around. The chatter between the two of them is exactly the kind of stuff you hear from people who are about to get into a real fight, which is another nice little touch. Christopher Daniels breaks it up for reasons I don’t understand. Rave gets his bags and leaves the building. Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries Another good match on the card but with a colder crowd than one would hope. Sapolsky on commentary really shoehorns out of nowhere that Aries is on the cusp of being a company legend like Ki, Joe, and Danielson. Not once do I recall this narrative being pushed in the recent matches I watched involving Aries at Survival of the Fittest 2006, Motor City Madness 2006, Irresistible Forces, and Honor Reclaims Boston. Putting Aries over to this degree isn’t a problem at all, as it in fact is quite accurate. It’s just something that should’ve gotten pushed immediately in the aftermath of Glory By Honor V Night 2 after he and Strong had their epic Tag Titles reign ended. Richards was very intelligent in targeting the left arm of Aries, since the former ROH Champion is a southpaw. This attempts to marginalize so much of the offense for Aries, including the brainbuster, pendulum elbow, slingshot corner elbow, Last Chancery, and crucifix bomb. While this brilliance on the part of Richards didn’t completely neuter Aries, it did a masterful job of containing a man that was now getting the respect he had earned since his main card debut at Reborn Stage 2. Aries would attempt to improvise due to his left arm being targeted, but he never had a real answer for Richards in this match. Even with the two having each other well scouted, Richards just had the superior game plan, fueled by losing so many matches against bigger-name opponents such as Aries, Strong, KENTA, the Briscoes, and even Sydal & Daniels the night before. Once Richards was able to get his version of the Kimura Lock comfortably in place on the left arm of Aries, there was no choice but for the established ROH legend to tap out. I’m not so sure about giving Richards his first big singles victory here, especially since the crowd didn’t react to it as a major deal. I wanna see the follow-up before completely commenting on this decision. Good match nonetheless though. Rating: ***1/2 Lacey is disappointed in Jimmy Jacobs again. She doesn’t care that he’s in the hospital getting stitches. She’s going to need someone bigger, strong and smarter to get rid of Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer. Hardcore Survivor Series Style Elimination Match Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide This holds up much better than I expected. This was just a fun, chaotic brawl to close out the event, and it was a good sign when near the beginning, the dream team hit a stereo Suicide Elbow and Tope Con Hilo on the Briscoes. These four just then threw each other around ringside on top of chairs, keeping the crowd entertained in the process. With this being a recreational arena that includes hockey set-up, Joe wore a helmet and used a stick at one point. While that was noteworthy to me, nothing compared to the highlight of the match, which was Mark walking the top of the entrance stage like a tightrope, and then hitting a Shooting Star Press. Although I don’t really mind moves being copied on the same card, because the storyline goal of everyone should be to do whatever it takes to win, including copying moves and game plans from peers, I gotta give kudos to whoever convinced Sydal to not hit an SSP earlier on the card so that Mark’s moment stood out there. As mentioned on commentary, this was actually more impressive than his SSP at Motor City Madness 2006 due to the walking balance he needed, although I say coming off of a box truck was more spectacular. Julius Smokes lit a cigar and gave it to Homicide, who used it on a Briscoe and put him in position for a Kudo Driver. The Notorious 187 waited for Joe to get his hands on the other Briscoe that was seated on a turnbuckle, so they could be in stereo like they were at the beginning, simultaneously hitting the Kudo Driver and musclebuster for the victory. In the post-match, Homicide promises a party come December 23 in NYC at Final Battle 2006. Joe says it will be a party, but Homicide will be facing him for the ROH Title, reminding everyone that no matter how unlikely it seems Danielson will be dethroned by anyone but Homicide, anything can happen. Rating: ***1/2 Much better show than the night before, albeit a B-Show with numerous flaws. Jacobs vs. Whitmer is a must-see segment, but for the rest of the card, I’m not sure what a better alternative would’ve been for certain puzzle pieces. I guess the only alternative I could see since Sydal & Daniels weren’t truly clicking, while the Briscoes were gonna remain over despite being swept by Joe & Homicide, would’ve been to cancel the Tag Titles change on this card. Just go with the KOW vs. Briscoes dream match at Final Battle 2006 and have the title change take place there; make that show even more special to have what would’ve then looked to be more than one title change that night. It’d be a redemption to close out 2006 for the Briscoes, and there’d be the ready-made challengers in Aries & Strong, who they had failed to beat in 4 other title attempts during their reign. Yes, Castagnoli was on his way out thanks to WWE recruiting him after a tryout the month before in Deep South Wrestling. I don’t accept the excuse of having Sydal & Daniels dethrone KOW on this night just to avoid a supposed lame-duck status of the belts, or that it’ll become too obvious that they’ll be dethroned soon. Have KOW go over here, and they can borrow a part from CM Punk’s farewell tour ROH Title reign. Since Punk threatened to take the belt hostage once he got bored, do something similar with KOW. But rather than taking it hostage, KOW vows that WHEN they close out 2006 still the tag champs of this company, they will simply force the company to retire the belts just like the Pure Title a few months earlier. Hero can explain that they won’t relinquish the titles to crown new champions, oh no no. Instead, Castagnoli’s advancement to WWE will allow the Kings of Wrestling to forever reign supreme as the final tag champions in wrestling history. I’ll go into a bit more detail once I get to ROH’s final weekend of 2006, but at Final Battle 2006, the Briscoes complete their babyface turn by stepping up as the last resort and dethroning KOW as mentioned, bringing their 2006 run in the company, which had started with their long-awaited return at the Fourth Anniversary Show and their Tag Titles intentions being made clear that night, to its proper culmination. Up next – The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 Matches will include: Matt Sydal & Shingo vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted December 1, 2016 Report Share Posted December 1, 2016 This has totally got me back into ROH. I bought DVDs from Highspots and everything which I would recommend since they have a quite a few for 5-8 bucks.. Anyhow, I have really been into the feud with the Embassy esp. w/ Gen Next. It seems ROH started to turn down once the group fizzled out. Abyss was phenomenal in his appearances. Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelley were underutilized and underappreciated at the time IMO. Rave was a good hand who made everyone he worked with look great as well as brought heat and a nice offense to the table (vs Punk and vs Styles especially). Shelley had these skills as well the mic talent and versatility to hold a belt. With that said, switch he and Aries in '04 and '05...It makes more sense now...Aries is so one dimensional that begging for forgiveness and joining the Embassy gives his character something and Shelley stays the cocky innovative dickhead heel (which he played in the MCMG even as faces) that has the belt for Punk to win and to piss on the fans with thus preserving the Summer of Punk. Anyhow Prince Nana and his group may be a footnote in ROH history but, they had some great matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 The Prince Nana Lil Kim entrance music is one of my favorite things from that era of ROH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted December 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 This has totally got me back into ROH. I bought DVDs from Highspots and everything which I would recommend since they have a quite a few for 5-8 bucks.. Anyhow, I have really been into the feud with the Embassy esp. w/ Gen Next. It seems ROH started to turn down once the group fizzled out. Abyss was phenomenal in his appearances. Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelley were underutilized and underappreciated at the time IMO. Rave was a good hand who made everyone he worked with look great as well as brought heat and a nice offense to the table (vs Punk and vs Styles especially). Shelley had these skills as well the mic talent and versatility to hold a belt. With that said, switch he and Aries in '04 and '05...It makes more sense now...Aries is so one dimensional that begging for forgiveness and joining the Embassy gives his character something and Shelley stays the cocky innovative dickhead heel (which he played in the MCMG even as faces) that has the belt for Punk to win and to piss on the fans with thus preserving the Summer of Punk. Anyhow Prince Nana and his group may be a footnote in ROH history but, they had some great matches. So you're proposing Aries eventually join the Embassy? Am I correct in assuming that this would eventually lead to Evans & Strong winning the Tag Titles too since Aries and Strong aren't stablemates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 I'm thinking Shelley and Roderick would have the tag belts if Shelley would stay with Gen Next...didn't consider that wrinkle... I guess I'd be more interested in having Aries be with the Embassy perhaps out of frustration of having Shelley win the title instead of him...It certainly would have made the Embassy more formidable with Aries. He just doesn't strike me as a fully formed singles wrestler in '04-'05 compared to Shelley's verbal skills and in ring details. Overall, I guess I felt Shelley had a more developed character at the time than Aries. And the Nana circus kinda overshadowed that where Aries might have benefitted for a time. Aries and Strong were a hell of an action packed tag team though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 – December 8, 2006 Taped from Chicago, IL ROH Video Wire – December 1, 2006 Important news/footage in the above video: In a promo filmed at Dethroned, Samoa Joe vows to finally dethrone ROH Champion Bryan Danielson in their cage match at The Chicago Spectacular Night 1. He then vows to bring the “Ring of Homicide” era to an end at Final Battle 2006. Pretty cocky for someone who just got humbled on live PPV by Kurt Angle. Samoa Joe cuts another promo from the same location. He’s fed up with NOAH imports padding their resumes in ROH, and dares that company to send someone to face him. He claims there’s yet to be a response since he slapped KENTA at Burnout The Bitter End. Homicide also cuts a promo, and the way they interact in support of each other is very lamely acted. Credit must be given to booker Gabe Sapolsky, as Joe vs. NOAH along with everything involving Jimmy Jacobs is keeping this company from being utter trash creatively at this point. New Tag Team Champions Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels cut a promo also from Dethroned, reiterating that they’ll take on all-comers. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong request a title match in Chicago, and the champs agree to it for The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 as reciprocation for Aries & Strong providing a shot during their reign at Gut Check. Post-match footage of Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness airs from Dethroned. McGuinness is a fucking douche-bag. The two of them had shaken hands, only for McGuinness to mockingly throw a toilet paper roll at Rave, who is justifiably pissed over it. That’s an awful route to have taken to heat up their program. While McGuinness still has a bit of a cutthroat nature to him since breaking out a few months back, the way he treated the respectful Rave was completely disrespectful. Awful booking when the obvious goal is to groom McGuinness as the face of the company by 2007. Unlike Homicide a year before this, who was a psychotic piece of shit that had a long way to go in his journey to the tippy-top, McGuinness was already a babyface here, with very little tweaks left to officially complete that turn. How the fuck did us ROHbots miss all these cracks in Sapolsky’s booking in late 2006? Another overall lukewarm show here, so once again C&P treatment of Brad Garoon and Jake Ziegler. Bryan Danielson just got back from putting down half the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster and he gets thrown right into a cage match for the title. He’s going to debunk the Samoa Joe myth. He has to pick partners for his six-man tag match tomorrow night and his first pick is Jimmy Jacobs. He picked him because of what he did to BJ Whitmer on the last show. Lacey tells Jacobs to forget about tomorrow right now and think about destroying Colt Cabana. He’ll do anything for her. Brent Albright faces Homicide in a first-time ever match on this card. The match ends when Albright is disqualified for refusing to release the Crowbar submission. Samoa Joe comes out to help his friend, and Danielson arrives to pay Albright a now obvious bounty placed on the Notorious 187. Rave pulls off the upset in a rematch against McGuinness via the heel hook submission. Rave gets on the microphone and reminds Nigel that he disrespected him at Dethroned by throwing toilet paper at him. Tonight he made him tap, “like a little bitch.” Nigel responds with what I assume are some harsh words but he’s pretty much whispering and I can’t understand him. When Nigel turns his back Rave shoves him down and puts the heel hook back on. Nigel obviously went to the Kurt Angle school of selling a submission because that’s the most convincing display of pain I’ve seen in a while. BG says: Dave Prazak asks Bryan Danielson backstage during intermission if he paid off Brent Albright to injure Homicide. Danielson won’t answer that question and he isn’t worried about Samoa Joe. He announces that Jimmy Rave is his other partner for the six-man tag match tomorrow night. He likes Rave’s new vicious streak, and Rave is eager to finish Nigel off for good. Colt Cabana wins his match against Jimmy Jacobs via disqualification when Lacey tosses powder into his eyes, then the post-match has quite a bit of angle advancement. Daizee Haze runs out and hits Lacey with the heart punch. Jacobs pulls her off and Lacey catches her with a neckbreaker. She tells Jacobs to hurt her so he spears her across the ring. Cabana gets back to his feet and goes after Lacey but Brent Albright runs out and suplexes Cabana off of her. Albright and Jacobs hold Cabana’s legs apart and Lacey stomps on his groin with her high-heeled shoe. BJ Whitmer makes the save after the fact. Delirious comes back out and asks Whitmer to be one of his partners in the six-man tag match tomorrow night. Whitmer will take any chance he can to get his hands on Jacobs so he accepts. Nigel McGuinness staggers out and asks to be on the team as well so that he can get some revenge on Jimmy Rave. The match may not have been much but the angle got a lot accomplished. Why is this Team Danielson vs. Team Delirious trios match just being mentioned now instead of on a Video Wire before this? Dragon Gate Rules Match Matt Sydal & Shingo vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Yet another indy tag in which tag legalities aren’t properly enforced, when it’s actually supposed to be much easier in this instance: tag legalities change either by traditional tagging, or when the legal man leaves the ring, meaning his partner can then become legal. Referee Todd Sinclair had already officiated these types of matches 8 months earlier, so there was no excuse this time. The big takeaway from this is that Sydal looked like he hurt his right knee at the beginning and then gutted through it, then really came up limp once the match was over. The other takeaway is that he and Shingo had become Dragon Gate stablemates in the Blood Generation faction, so that combined with Sydal being Tag Champ now had him very cocky. The highlights as far as sequences both involved Sydal and Strong. By the way, Gabe Sapolsky on commentary once again neglects PWG when he says that Sydal has yet to get a victory against Aries or Strong in any kind of match. Sydal boasted after a corner moonsault dropkick “That’s what champions are made of!” This triggered Strong to come in and just deck him from behind. The other was Sydal hitting a phenomenal DDT counter on Strong, and I believed because of the reaction it got, it actually saved the match for the crowd, who applauded at the end. The result was obvious due to Aries & Strong challenging Sydal & Christopher Daniels tomorrow. They finished off Sydal with various blows and a 450 Splash, then told him afterwards the titles are coming back to them. He still acted cocky in defeat. Mechanically good but very disappointing match that can’t just be blamed on Sydal’s injury. Rating: *** ROH Title – Cage Match Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe While this is a good cage match, it’s disappointing on multiple levels. The first is that this failed to be a great cage match, and I won’t blame that on any booking. Both were dealing with severe injuries sustained a few months earlier, Danielson with his right shoulder in this very building, then Joe with sciatica a few weeks later. What makes this even more disappointing outside of the vacuum scope is that this was the final chapter of one of the defining underground rivalries of the 2000s, a rivalry that had started 4 years earlier in a four-way main event also involving Low Ki and Steve Corino at Final Battle 2002. Such a rivalry-ender would ideally strive to be an all-time epic, especially since this had become such a grudge feud that it was ending inside of a steel cage. Without question, as soon as Danielson put his own interests ahead of ROH’s when he targeted Joe’s right knee in the Cage of Death feud-ender against CZW, this was officially a grudge feud. So it’s disappointing that this conclusion turned out to be one of the weaker chapters of their rivalry. A decade later, I’m no longer bothered by the finish, which was Danielson breaking a choke hold due to profuse sweating while hanging on the outside fence, and then falling to the floor for the escape technicality victory. Danielson had 15 months of established credibility going over a who’s who of contenders; it was time for him to show some true vulnerability, much like Joe did 2 years earlier by putting his feet on the ropes at All Star Extravaganza II. With Joe’s rematch against Kurt Angle rushed to this same weekend by TNA, it wouldn’t surprise me if that caused this cage match to suffer a tad bit, nor would I blame Joe at all for holding back a bit considering his circumstances. Sapolsky on commentary presented the story in exceptional fashion, explaining that more than Joe being out for blood, the reason he had an advantage is that Danielson was used to taking powders to stall his opponent’s momentum and play mind games. That was an important, polarizing factor in their 60-minute Broadway at Fight of the Century actually. Danielson was stuck in here unless he found a way to escape, or he’d have to dig down deep in this more rigid environment. I wish that when Homicide showed up to give Joe a fork, that Joe was actually recovering from a blow and the utensil had just been tossed towards him. I’d have preferred for Danielson to be greeted by Homicide while attempting to escape, because then Danielson could get irritated that Homicide is giving him a sabotaging receipt, while also reminding Homicide of who came out on top when they fought in a steel cage environment. Just something extra to make Danielson more of a cocky prick in the company’s final weekend of events before Final Battle 2006 weekend. This cage match didn’t come close to the spectacle of the one I just referenced from The Final Showdown, nor the one the night after that in this same building between CM Punk and Jimmy Rave. At no point did this match hit a fever pitch, and the crowd deep-down knew, no matter how much they enjoyed these 2 titans colliding, that Joe was not gonna dethrone Danielson 2 weeks before Homicide’s obvious career-defining moment. It didn’t matter that Danielson had been busted open, it didn’t matter how clever he got in his attempt to modify his game plan, this match had no chance of being a classic. But with Danielson the victor, it is now official in the ROH canon: ROH’s closing match of 2006, in the main event of Final Battle 2006 at the Manhattan Center, will be Danielson defending the ROH Title against Brooklyn’s own Homicide. It’s the match that’s been 16 months in the making, ever since New Jersey went crazy hijacking Night of the Grudges II in favor of Homicide. History will be made, for either the greatest title reign in the history of underground wrestling will reach its conclusion, or a company legend will be forced per his own stipulation to bid farewell in his hometown. Rating: ***1/4 The only reason whatsoever to get this show is for the most die-hard Sydal marks that wanna see him play heel for the first time in ROH. That’s it. Shingo and Aries would collide at least a couple more times for those who are disappointed like me that they never faced off in a singles dream match. While there’s some decent angle advancement on the undercard, I won’t be surprised if it’s all on the follow-up Video Wires that are free on YouTube. Danielson vs. Joe is on the Year Five compilation, so there’s your way to see that final chapter while getting a fuck-ton of amazingly superior shit from ROH’s 2006. I’ll point out the obvious way to have improved the undercard: Sydal vs. Strong and Shingo vs. Aries in singles action with the latter in both matchups going over. Also instead of a four-way, Christopher Daniels vs. Davey Richards in singles. There you go. Up next – The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 Matches will include: Christopher Daniels & Matt Cross vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Homicide vs. Adam Pearce Jay Briscoe vs. Davey Richards Team Danielson vs. Team Delirious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted December 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 – December 9, 2006 Taped from Chicago, IL Due to Matt Sydal’s knee injury the night before, he’s off tonight’s card. The scheduled Tag Titles match pitting him and Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong will obviously be rescheduled. The injury has triggered major changes throughout the card, and per PWInsider’s report a decade ago, booker Gabe Sapolsky stayed up until deep into the early hours of Saturday morning rebooking this event. That’s definitely a positive sign in light of his recent decisions that display obvious burnout. If I was in charge and considered making a booking change (which I would’ve legitimately been looking into actually had I been owner Cary Silkin), this kind of dedication would likely convince me to remain loyal to the bookerman that’s been around since Day 1. Adam Pearce vows to properly punish Homicide tonight in honor of former ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette. Shingo says he has friends coming in soon from Dragon Gate. Lacey says that since he’s booked against Colt Cabana tonight, she’ll pay him if he hurts the Chicago native. He accepts the offer. Missed opportunity not making Shingo & Brent Albright as a brief team as the Mercenaries. Cabana kicks off the show pissed about the night before, daring Jimmy Jacobs to come fight him. The request is obliged as he’s accompanied by Lacey, who meets her equalizer in Daizee Haze yet again. Haze takes out Lacey, only to be targeted by Jacobs. Cabana is down after Lacey strikes his freshly sore groin, so since he’s down BJ Whitmer comes out to protect Haze and get a piece of Jacobs. Whitmer’s come a long way since putting Allison Danger in harm’s way a couple years earlier. Shingo, Jimmy Rave, and Bryan Danielson come help out Jacobs, then Delirious and Nigel McGuinness come out as equalizers. I’m not sure what beef Delirious still has with Danielson, but everything in this is clicking. Whitmer and Cabana want Jacobs, McGuinness wants Rave, and Cabana makes the blasphemous statement that it’s time to eliminate Shingo’s flawless mullet. Shingo vs. Cabana in singles action is thrown out, as tonight will be an 8-man Survivor Series Style Elimination match pitting Danielson as captain with Shingo, Rave, & Jacobs against Delirious as captain with Whitmer, Cabana, & McGuinness. That whole opening segment was fucking fantastic and a major positive for Sapolsky. It was an FIP segment with ROH’s superior polishing, with the direction making sense and everyone playing their roles perfectly. Shingo and Danielson even showcase their camaraderie from FIP as DP Associates stablemates, although Dave Prazak isn’t getting involved in this at all. Huge thumbs up here and I’m looking forward to this main event, as it teases all kinds of matches and has major storyline advancement potential. I let the DVD just keep playing for a few minutes into the opening match, and Sapolsky claims on commentary that Sydal & Daniel vs. Aries & Strong was actually gonna be the main event. That’d have been interesting, but oh well. Aries & Strong will have to wait a bit longer for their title match, but will still face Daniels tonight as he teams with a TBD partner. Also, when ROH returns to Chicago on February 24, it’ll be at a different building in the actual city of Chicago instead of Chicago Ridge. Due to scheduling problems and other issues, Jared David (Mister Saint Laurent) has stepped down as commentator on good terms. “Lenny Leonard, if you’re out there, please take my job!” That tease obviously means LENNY LEONARD IS FUCKING RETURNING TO THE COMMENTARY BOOTH SOON~! OH FUCK YES~! Sydal & Daniels have a promo, and Sydal is very cocky about protecting his athleticism. Daniels doesn’t seem on-board with his shit. Daniels then reveals that Matt Cross will be his partner tonight. Sydal is then condescending to both. While I understand the need to make new stars, I’ve made my feelings quite clear about Cross. So why not just throw Sydal’s stablemate Shingo in as his replacement? It’d have made more sense for Albright to be in the main event since he’d just done business with Danielson, Lacey, AND Jacobs the night before, and it’d get someone who has some potential in a top match. While I’m not fully sold on Albright, I see far more money in him than I do Cross; at least Albright has some cache from his time in OVW. Pelle Primeau gets beaten up after his match by Shane Hagadorn & Adam Pearce, then the latter grabs a mic to call out Homicide for their strap match right now. Homicide obliges and Pearce powders to leave Hagadorn to be destroyed. Homicide vs. Hagadorn becomes an official match and I hate seeing Homicide sell for Hagadorn even for less than 30 seconds. Homicide should utterly, absolutely steamroll and obliterate Hagadorn like Steph Curry going up against a beer-leaguer. What I’ve said about Matt Cross lacking star power potential? He’s Randy Savage compared to a total scrub that brings nothing to the table whatsoever like Hagadorn. After Homicide has finished Hagadorn, he says the strap match scheduled between him and Pearce is “pussy shit.” He says the cage fencing from the night before is still available in the truck outside, so they’re doing a fucking cage match tonight. Chicago goes apeshit for that, so I don’t see the issue. I left the DVD going again into Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe, and Sapolsky announces that Claudio Castagnoli will be bidding farewell at Final Battle 2006. The night before that on December 22, ROH will make its Hartford debut, and as part of Castagnoli’s farewell weekend, a dream match that looks to be once-in-a-lifetime has been booked between the Briscoes and Kings of Wrestling. OH FUCK YES~! Another reason I’m glad I let this match play is because Joe called out NOAH as he finished off Mark, then cuts a post-match promo demanding an answer from what was the #1 wrestling federation in all of Japan a decade ago. “Come get some.” Chicago breaks out in an “ROH” chant. McGuinness comes out as he’s tired of Joe shitting on NOAH, then lays down the zinger of “You don’t like Japanese people ‘cause you got your ass kicked in Zero-One?” McGuinness says he’s proud to have become a regular in NOAH, and will happily step up to answer Joe’s challenge in the future. Now this is a much better way to showcase McGuinness as a babyface. Joe accepts that they’ll fight in the future, and I’m looking forward to whatever they end up doing. ROH continues its formula of having multiple directions for various characters, and I find this as a MUCH more effective direction to get McGuinness over as a tippy-top babyface going into 2007. I’ve gotta comment here. I haven’t reviewed any matches proper on this show yet, and I’m already digging the shit out of it just based on booking alone. Christopher Daniels & Matt Cross vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong The on-screen graphic has some news: December 22 in Hartford – Briscoes vs. KOW; Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards for the FIP Title; Sydal & Daniels vs. CIMA & Shingo for the Tag Titles. Damn I’m getting hard. Final Battle 2006 – Danielson vs. Homicide for the ROH Title; Sydal, CIMA, & Shingo vs. Delirious, Aries, & Strong. Holy shit, have mercy on me. ROH returns to Long Island on April 13, and will be in Hartford on May 11. Aries wishes Cross luck during the pre-match handshake, welcoming him to the big-time. He and Sydal are awesome exchanging barbs. Daniels and Strong started the match with the former trying to evade chops, but that didn’t last long. Cross got tagged in pretty early and was given the chance to be in control. As Steve Austin would describe Cross years later on Tough Enough, Cross was fine here mechanically during his control segment, but nothing he did connected emotionally with the audience. I honestly felt at times like I was watching someone that would be featured on current-day NXT as enhancement talent. The same could be said when he played the FIP and had the ring cut in half on him by Aries & Strong. They decimated him as he paid his dues, and never at any point did the crowd rally behind Cross. Once he eventually got the hot tag to Daniels, there was no big joyful reaction to it, even with Daniels being a tremendous house of fire. A shooting star press from Cross to the outside impressed this Chicago audience enough for them to forget that he failed to connect with them emotionally or display a personality whatsoever. For all the valid concerns expressed about Aries & Strong a decade ago, they worked in ways that actually showed personality, be it aggression, cockiness, smugness, arrogance, ruthlessness, selling underneath, etc. I saw nothing whatsoever, despite this being a good match overall thanks to the 3 proven veterans, that told me Cross was worthy of this spot coming in. I’m not fooled by the crowd chanting for him in the post-match. Sydal and Aries jaw-jacking yet again only further displays what a tedious chore Cross is. I love that Aries was respectful albeit intense to everyone else, but wouldn’t bother shaking Sydal’s hand, sick of his former friend’s newfound Blood Generation conceitedness. It was absolutely the right call of course for Cross to eat the fall, so kudos for that. Rating: ***1/4 Dave Prazak interviews Jimmy Jacobs at intermission, and he has a cut on his left eye. Lacey isn’t concerned whatsoever about his life or health, and just wants him to take out Whitmer and Cabana. Jacobs says his blood comes from his soul, displaying a completely twisted, pathetic viewpoint. He ends it by saying the blood is “my bleeding body, my bleeding soul, my bleeding heart.” Cage Match Homicide vs. Adam Pearce This was honestly some weak, disappointing shit. With that said, it has to be acknowledged that Homicide’s connection level with the audience here is something WWE absolutely wishes it had for Roman Reigns today. Even with all the weak storytelling in the aftermath of ROH vs. CZW, this crowd was fully behind him against their native Pearce, anxious for him to complete his journey in 2 weeks. When Sinclair got knocked down and Homicide discovered that he had his missing fork, the crowd popped huge for it like Mick Foley whipping out Mr. Socko in 1999. I don’t wanna pile on this match too hard, as it’s certainly not an awful cage match, nor is it close to the worst I’ve ever seen, or even in 2006. This was Ric Flair vs. Triple H compared to Joey Ryan vs. B-Boy earlier in the year, and even that fucking awful cage match pales in comparison to Pearce’s steaming pile of dog shit a couple years earlier against Frankie Kazarian. If there was anything I hated in this match, it was when Homicide got a sleeper on Pearce and they teased a knockout submission with it. For someone like Pearce who’s supposedly a smart worker compared to his colleagues that tend to be much more critically acclaimed, why would HE be in this position instead of the other way around? Why wasn’t Homicide teasing a submission and then making a comeback to get the crowd behind him? At no point did this ever feel like a serious grudge match either like Homicide’s classics against Steve Cornio 3 years earlier, or even other all-time classics from the cage genre like Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA, Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker (both.) While the fork came into play and both wore a crimson mask, this lacked the visceral body language that I was expecting. These two should absolutely despise each other, as this is a layered backstory of Pearce pretending to care about ROH against CZW only to be exposed as playing politics under Cornette, while Homicide had found a sense of justice in his soul along the way, albeit with negotiation demands that he was more than upfront about. With them being stuck in a cage, I wanted to see these two talking shit to each other, referencing their history and why they hate each other. Pearce can definitely hold his own as a trash-talker, while Homicide although a bit weaker knows how to verbally express himself in a way to either rally a crowd or be presented as a menacing threat. I ultimately don’t think the cage match was the best idea in hindsight. I agree with the strap match being scrapped. Of course I have an alternative. My first instinct is to suggest a Falls Count Anywhere match with the intention of recreating the magic of Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan from Great American Bash 1996. But honestly that isn’t a dynamic Homicide ever had with Pearce; he had that kind of animosity with Corino, which was on full display in their work of art at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies. So I end up with changing this to a dog collar match. It keeps the two together at all times, allows the whipping and choking with a steel chain instead of a leather strap, and allows the two to get creative in the leverage they use on each other with the chain and collars. This has the additional benefit of not being used in Homicide’s feud-ender the month before against Corino, and it hasn’t been used to settle or advance a feud since Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk at Manhattan Mayhem. Homicide wins by choking out Pearce, reinforcing that despite his recent clean loss to Rave, he’s not to be fucked with in route to facing Danielson. Instead, we got a cage match that lacked a cohesive story, had a backwards submission false finish, and a completely forgettable finish with Homicide just hitting a couple lariats. None of this resonated other than the reaction to Homicide’s fork discovery. Rating: less than *** Jay Briscoe vs. Davey Richards Richards dominates early when a strike exchange spills to the outside and he tosses Jay around onto some barricades. It continues inside the ring as he targets the neck area to soften Jay up for the Butterfly Brainbuster. After Jay has some control, it spills outside again when Richards suplexes him over the ropes, hitting his own neck on the top rope. That’s not good considering Jay’s finisher. Richards continues with more suplexes, softening up Jay’s neck and shoulders and then going for the Butterfly Brainbuster, but it’s blocked and then brought to an even point when Jay gives him a Death Valley Driver. Richards gets an Alarm Clock and then a Hammerlock Brainbuster for a near-fall, once again softening up Jay. Jay blocks a Superplex and drops Richards with a Gordbuster which the crowd loves. Richards blocks the double underhook piledriver and hits a double underhook DDT then places Jay in the Kimura Lock, and they’re both very exhausted at this point. Jay feels fighting spirit after getting kicked repeatedly, so they have another strike exchange that ends with both down and the crowd giving applause. Mark comes to ringside at this point to provide moral support for Jay, and the Briscoes surprisingly don’t do anything dirty. Jay gets fired up but shoved off and Richards attempts a shooting star press only to eat knees to the abdomen. Jay then hits a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall, but the double underhook piledriver is all he needs to finish Richards off. Good match that the crowd loved, and one has to wonder where Richards goes from here. With the Briscoes very clearly not splitting up, it would’ve seemed so obvious that Richards would’ve won this program-ender. This was an important chapter for Richards, which makes it surprising that this hasn’t been included yet on a compilation. Rating: ***1/2 Survivor Series Style Elimination Match Bryan Danielson, Shingo, Jimmy Rave, & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious, BJ Whitmer, Colt Cabana, & Nigel McGuinness Team Danielson is accompanied by Lacey, while Team Delirious is accompanied by Daize Haze. Brilliantly booked match here, although certainly not a favorite of mine. Where this match really deserves credit is that there was no telegraphing like WWE so frequently does in this type of gimmick match in recent years. It was very difficult to foresee who would eliminate who. My biggest complaint is that once the match got down to Danielson & Rave vs. Delirious, the crowd wasn’t completely behind Delirious like I’d have hoped. I wanted a rabid audience during this come-from-behind portion of the match, but I guess I’ve gotta remember that not every babyface can be on the same level as Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat, and Danielson during his days as Daniel Bryan. The takeaways from this match were the advancement in the saga involving Jacobs, Lacey, Whitmer, and Cabana, and that ROH really seemed deadest on setting up new top stars going into 2007. Jacobs pulled out a spike to use on Whitmer, but Cabana prevented that and Whitmer got the weapon. Lacey tried distracting Whitmer only to get distracted by Haze, and so when Jacobs evaded a spike attack, it ended up hitting Lacey! Jacobs cradled her to the back and then reinserted himself minutes later, going for the intentional disqualification by targeting Whitmer’s right ankle with a chair, clearly not giving a shit about winning this match. He needed to satisfy Lacey’s demands, and now had extra motivation to do so. Rave took full advantage of Whitmer’s damaged right ankle, eliminating him with the heel hook. He would then go on to do so once again to McGuinness too, and then eventually eliminate Cabana as well. A victory over Homicide plus this weekend’s booking really comes across as overcompensating to get Rave over as a top heel in the wake of Prince Nana’s departure. Danielson and Delirious had a good closing portion once it came down to them at the very end. They countered each other’s usual finishers and signatures, but once Delirious hit a Cobra Clutch Suplex and then returned to the Cobra Stretch, Danielson had no choice but to tap out. This reinforces to Homicide that Danielson is vulnerable, and also tells me that perhaps Danielson had to take this loss to keep himself ready for Final Battle 2006. It’s really obvious that Danielson will finally take time off to rest his damaged right shoulder in early 2007, so Delirious going over here is an attempt to groom him for something marquee as a babyface in the coming months. Crowd was ecstatic when Danielson tapped out btw. Rating: ***3/4 Davey Richards has decided that going forward, he needs someone watching his back. This would make more sense if Mark had intervened tonight to help Jay and Richards not been the defeated participant in his tag matches alongside KENTA. Recommended event for the booking overall, which across the board was actually interesting. Two new eras are about to begin. One is advertised and for the long-term over the next 7 years, while the other is felt almost immediately but unadvertised. In addition, a familiar voice returns to the commentary booth... Up next – International Challenge Matches will include: Eddie Edwards vs. Austin Aries Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Homicide vs. Nigel McGuinness Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA & Shingo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted December 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2016 International Challenge – December 22, 2006 Taped from Hartford, CT ROH Video Wire – December 14, 2006 Important news/footage in the above video: Homicide cuts a promo from backstage at one of The Chicago Spectacular events, and he sounds like he may have a cold. That could be an extra explanation as to why the cage match against Adam Pearce was lacking in substance. He says he’s been screwed over since Day 1. Not entirely accurate, but his character is irrational so it works. Either he reaches the mountaintop, or he’s done at Final Battle 2006. ROH Video Wire – December 21, 2006 Important news/footage in the above video: ROH Champion Bryan Danielson says he’s chosen to ignore his right shoulder pain since Gut Check, then incorrectly says Homicide hasn’t had time to adapt to his own shoulder injury. That took place a fucking year ago at Steel Cage Warfare. Danielson states that Homicide’s shoulder, recently weakened by Brent Albright, is perfect for the Crossface Chickenwing and Cattle Mutilation. He also claims that nobody has kicked out of the small package, conveniently ignoring that KENTA had just done it in their rematch earlier this month in NOAH. I sure hope Homicide studied that match. Danielson puts Homicide over for being such a key player in ROH since Day 1, but never to the level of Danielson, citing their most recent match at Destiny. He should’ve also referenced who came out on top in their 2005 feud. In what is very ironic all these years later considering how Danielson reached WWE’s mountaintop, he buries New Yorkers for threatening to riot if Homicide doesn’t end 2006 as ROH Champion. Homicide will have to do what James Gibson, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Naomichi Marufuji, AJ Styles, Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Lance Storm, Delirious, Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe, SUWA, KENTA, Jimmy Jacobs, BJ Whitmer, Christopher Daniels, and the Notorious 187 himself have failed to do for the past 15 months. We will get our answer in the next 48 hours at the Manhattan Center. FIP Champion Roderick Strong and Davey Richards have a pull-apart that airs from this past Saturday at FIP’s Florida Rumble 2006. Richards has come across as a major cunt in that federation recently, but he finally gets his championship opportunity on December 22 in Hartford. A sweet little video package airs highlighting CIMA for his return this weekend. The Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness post-match segment from The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 airs. McGuinness is terrific selling the heel hook. Such a shame he never broke through to WWE. Tag Champions Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels kick off with a backstage promo. Daniels is totally boring, while Sydal annoys him with his portion and says he’s ready to carry the load for the team since he’s more familiar with the Dragon Gate style as they face CIMA & Shingo tonight for the belts. LARRY MOTHERFUCKING SWEENEY DEBUTS IN THE NEXT BACKSTAGE PROMO~! He implies we will find out his purpose in ROH soon. At this point, I should quickly point out that when Alex Whybrow, better known to the fans as Larry Sweeney, met his end in April 2011, I was very much a cunt about it, bitter about something trivial in the scope of such a tragedy that affected many people as friends, colleagues, and members of the media. It was a learning experience for me that when being let down, not to hold onto bitterness, but instead understand that people make mistakes, often because they may be in a difficult place in their lives and aren’t in the position to come through. As someone who at times has let others down in the years since, I’ve grown a great deal of empathy and compassion. At the time I met Whybrow on WrestleMania XXV weekend in Houston, he was very much a lost, troubled soul in desperate need of help. There were incidents he was involved in that I didn’t witness, but the talks I had with him definitely seemed off, even from someone lacking in social awareness like I was at the time. As a result, I wasn’t surprised by the tragic news that came 2 years later. I’ve long let go and forgiven Alex Whybrow for what happened between him and me. It helped nobody in how I acted at the time of his death, and it’s a lesson I learned in being selfless when others are suffering from grief, struggling to put the pieces together of a puzzle that has been eternally destroyed. In addition, I’ve recently been given a reality check about how many people and animals are suffering on a daily basis, and it has both given me perspective while re-evaluating what’s worthy of hostility. I pride myself in compartmentalization as well. While I have yet to review any of Chris Benoit’s work, if I ever end up doing so, I will be as objective as possible in only judging him as a performer and contributor to the industry that he very much loved. The same will go for the performer known as Larry Sweeney as I continue to revisit the “glory days” of ROH. Samoa Joe kicks off the live portion of the event with a promo of his own, noticeably not walking at 100%. He’s unable to compete tonight due to a knee injury recently suffered in TNA I believe. While the reason is obvious to why it was deleted, I really wish ROH would’ve included his comment that he suffered his injury in TNA due to tripping over bad booking. Maybe not include it on the proper feature presentation since it breaks kayfabe, but have it as a DVD extra for the LOLZ. LENNY FUCKING LEONARD HAS RETURNED TO THE MOTHERFUCKING COMMENTARY BOOTH~! Apparently, he fucked up both of his knees several months earlier while playing softball, and he puts over his insurance carrier to tie into the fact that Hartford is America’s insurance capital. Mister Saint Laurent did an exceptional job filling in, but Leonard brings a flavor that accentuates the product’s vision; I very much consider his contributions in ROH as parallel to that of Jim Ross in WWE. In a time in which I believe that quality commentary has become an endangered species for all sports programming, both real and fictional, he’s a reminder that it isn’t quite extinct yet. The ROH Debut of Eddie Edwards Eddie Edwards vs. Austin Aries Edwards is sporting a dreadlocked mohawk at this point in his career for God knows what reason. Good showing from Edwards in his debut, as he dominated most of the match to make him shine. With the exception of failing to prevent the trademark dropkick counter of Aries while applying a head-scissors, Edwards had the former ROH World and Tag Champ scouted on a number of signature moves. But once Aries kicked out of a backslide and Edwards hadn’t gotten up yet, that left him prone for a kick to the skull, brainbuster, and 450 splash. I don’t see anything that special out of Edwards yet, but this match’s structure would seem to indicate the company sees potential in him. Jimmy Jacobs claims to live in a blood-tinted world, and he now has dripping blood painted out of his left eye. Lacey was his diamond in the rough since she recruited him last year, and now he’s both torn and livid after BJ Whitmer stabbed her in the face with a spike. Her blood’s warmth and smell along with her pain now had her seeing the world as damaged as he does, and he wishes he would’ve been stabbed a thousand times to protect her. He vows to change Whitmer and Colt Cabana forever this weekend. This will not be their first rodeo, that’s for sure. Daizee Haze & BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Mercedes Martinez Based off of the Jacobs promo earlier, I decided to watch this for the storyline advancement. This is easily ROH’s worst match of 2006 that I watched. This makes the Briscoes vs. KENTA & Davey Richards look like an arguably flawless work of art on par with Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi. Perhaps society has simply evolved too in terms of misogyny and violence towards women. Perhaps the tragic events that were 6 months away from this final ROH weekend of 2006 made presenting such directions in the world of professional wrestling too taboo, too sensitive, too painful to be accepted as a digestible piece of theater. I don’t fully buy into that rationale, because Prince Nana’s antics towards Jade Chung throughout 2005 still hold up a decade later. It can be argued that it’s because the malice on her was more emotionally based, that the violence was more implied. Maybe it’s because unlike most of the participants in this segment, Nana has the charisma and mic skills to make a segment like that so effective for building heat. Simply put, I was taken aback when Whitmer viciously clotheslined Martinez. It was within the rules of the match, yet I felt that it truly served no purpose, and ditto for when Jacobs attacked Haze. Stephanie McMahon getting speared at AT&T Stadium was accidental, as was Whitmer spiking Lacey a couple weeks before this. They were simply victims of self-interested attempts to insert themselves into or distract from violent battles between men. When Brent Albright also appeared after the match and put his hands on Haze, there was no charm to it. Instead of seeing a villain that needed to be conquered, I saw something that likely resembled the tragic events to come 6 months from the very date of this event involving his former on-screen WWE mentor Chris Benoit. I didn’t wanna see Albright get his ass kicked for implying that he was going to assault Haze; I wanted him to be fucking arrested and served with charges. I felt just as uncomfortable with this segment as PWG’s tolerance of exploiting the Benoit family massacre while the wounds were still fresh with the entire wrestling community. The presentation of the violence from men towards women in this segment ultimately didn’t seem to serve any kind of substantial purpose; none of those moments enhanced the Jacobs vs. Whitmer saga whatsoever. Now when Jacobs and Whitmer went at it, they were fine as always. They could sleepwalk their way an acceptable brawl if assigned such a task. The performances of Haze and Martinez are a much different story. This match isn’t just a piece of shit for ethical reasons. Both women were absolutely abysmal in this. Whoever’s fault it is, I don’t care, but very early, Haze stood in the corner for way too long while Martinez was about to launch at Whitmer to the outside, and it made Haze look like a dipshit for not taking advantage to cut Martinez off. The strikes that the women threw on each other made them look like they must’ve been trained by the same person as Shane McMahon too. These ladies were simply business-exposing on this night, and Martinez’s total lack of malicious presence did no favors for her performance. This match would’ve been a perfect addition to booker Gabe Sapolsky’s burnout showcase known as The Bitter End. Rating: less than *** Dream Match – Claudio Castagnoli’s Farewell Weekend? Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling These two teams showed a good amount of chemistry. The hot tags needed a bit of work by the Briscoes, but this was definitely on its way to being the best match on the entire card. The cut offs were good, tag legalities were being adhered to, the ring got cut in half, this had the recipe. Sweeney then inserted himself and struck a Briscoe with a steel briefcase to allow Chris Hero to get the victory for KOW. Hero & Sweeney celebrated together as they went to the back in utter jubilance, while Castagnoli followed behind them. I’d have preferred for this match to hit a more dramatic point before the sports-entertainment booking kicked in, but Sweeney joining up with Hero gives both something to do entering 2007, a necessity with Castagnoli apparently on his way out. With Sweeney now as a mouthpiece for Hero, this solidified Hero as my pick for a heel that would defeat Homicide in late 2006. Try telling me that’s not a huge bragging point for Sweeney and something he can use to politic for better opportunities on Hero’s behalf. Rating: less than *** Delirious is feuding with Adam Pearce. For God knows what reason, this is Sapolsky’s best idea to keep Delirious warm until whatever big plans are in store for him (as indicated by beating Danielson on the prior event.) Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Homicide vs. Nigel McGuinness This is a match that would be perfect to headline a go-home episode of TV, and since this is the penultimate event for Final Battle 2006, it makes sense why it got presented here. This match was never anything special, serving as nothing more than adequate storyline advancement. Danielson and Rave briefly worked against each other. Homicide and McGuinness briefly worked against each other. Then it basically become a tag match pitting the heels against the babyfaces, thankfully with tag legalities being adhered to. The big takeaway is in the final minute, as Danielson rams Homicide’s injured right shoulder into a ring post and Joe comes to check on his friend. The ref focuses on Joe’s plea for Homicide to get medical attention, which McGuinness perceives as sabotage from Joe based on their NOAH-rooted issue. With McGuinness distracted, he falls victim to Danielson’s small package. Sapolsky is really hammering all month long how weak and vulnerable Danielson has become. FIP Title Match Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards This was another match on the card on its way to being best on the card. It was the usual good match between the two with various quality strikes and submissions. In particular, I enjoyed their modified homage to Benoit’s classic against Kurt Angle from Royal Rumble 2003, in this case Richards hitting a tornado apron DDT, rather than just a standard one on that particular part of the ring canvas. That led to a count out false finish that didn’t come within a fraction of what Strong pulled off with McGuinness 5 months earlier at Death Before Dishonor IV. Speaking of count outs, that’s how this match ended when Strong gave Richards an overhead suplex on the steel entrance ramp. Once again, the crowd didn’t give a shit. So why did it fail here, while McGuinness got mega heat for it during his Pure Title reign? It’s because McGuinness clearly had the charisma and personality to make count outs meaningful, especially with him playing the cutthroat, sometimes chickenshit heel role. Also McGuinness held the title for a LONG time before making this finish work against Strong, Danielson, and Homicide, and that time was done in an ROH ring. The FIP title hasn’t been given the time in ROH to be meaningful in any way at all, so the end result is an apathetic finish that dragged down a good match and had a wrestler take an unnecessary bump on steel. Rating: less than *** Joe gives a medical update on Homicide, saying that Julius Smokes has already headed to Brooklyn with the Notorious 187. Homicide will be ready for tomorrow night, and that Danielson will no longer be able to run away. The running finally ends in the “Ring of Homicide.” I like that Joe cut this promo, dead serious on behalf of his friend. Homicide and Smokes wouldn’t have been able to convey the same message as effectively as he did. Tag Titles Match Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA & Shingo Super disappointing match here. Tag legalities got totally ignored halfway into the match, which is unacceptable. This wasn’t being held under Dragon Gate Rules. Even with Sydal being transitioned into an arrogant little shit, all the dynamics were right there for him play a legitimate FIP and optimize this match’s potential. While his Blood Generation stablemates did target his left knee, with CIMA also targeting the right knee to take away his aerial attacks entirely, they played too cute to be the heels they were aiming to be. CIMA particularly needed to go above and beyond as a piece of shit to turn the crowd against him, who were totally marking out based on his fantastic work on WrestleMania 22 weekend. Had CIMA & Shingo been absolutely vicious to Sydal, regardless of their direct affiliation with him and the fact they were teaming together in a trios match the next night, this could’ve truly been off-the-charts shit. They should’ve been absolute total cunts, taking a page out of Super Dragon’s book, mocking Sydal for having too much damage in his knees to make the hot tag to Daniels. Of course, Blood Generation can get in the head of Daniels, who has proven to be a thin-skinned character at times. They can even illegally run around the ring and yank Daniels off the apron to prevent the hot tag. Just go all in on being fucking scumbags, while mixing in high-impact offense in the most devastating, vicious fashion possible. They can also play mind games with referee Todd Sinclair, who had been victim to such tactics in their state-of-the-art trios classics that had taken place 8 months earlier. I froth at the mouth imagining CIMA & Shingo taking complete mental control over this match, even going so far as to slap their own hands to falsely indicate a legal tag. There’s no excuse for Blood Generation not working in a heel fashion like SD, not after CIMA had watched SD’s work in person 3 months earlier at the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles weekend. Had they done so, it also would’ve truly sold the importance of winning the titles were to them, especially after CIMA’s failure to do so alongside Naruki Doi at Better Than Our Best. Instead, this just became a pile of moves that while mechanically sound and popping the audience, didn’t tie together in any kind of truly cohesive, substantial fashion. This match deserves some credit though, because no matter how shallow it was, it never bored and angered the live audience, who broke out in a “Please come back” chant for CIMA after it ended. Maybe that’s also a result of seeing a very underwhelming night of in-ring action, so like CIMA’s dream match against AJ Styles, at least the action, much like special effects in a not-so-great film, looked impressive. This match is another reason I hate Sydal & Daniels getting a reign in hindsight. Rating: less than *** Danielson has a backstage promo saying that he and Homicide are now truly even with right shoulder injuries. The title belongs to Danelson, and tomorrow night in New York City, Homicide will NOT be leaving with it. Period. The DVD closes with a brief vignette of many top highlights from ROH’s history, ending with the announcement that 6 events spanning from February 16 to March 4, taking place in NYC, Philly, Dayton, Chicago, and Liverpool, will be collectively known as the Fifth Year Festival. Neat idea, but I’ve seen very little as 2006 closes that would indicate it’ll be more than a poor man’s Milestone Series. My friend Aaron Glazer was in attendance for this show and I remember him stating he left incredibly unimpressed. I couldn’t believe he had a takeaway like that. After all, look at the matchups on paper that I reviewed. Briscoes vs. KOW. Strong vs. Richards. Danielson vs. Rave vs. Homicide vs. McGuinness. Sydal & Daniels vs. CIMA & Shingo. How could a card with all of that be any worse than pretty damn good? Well, here’s the recipe. Keep treading water with Delirious by having him in a program against Shane Hagadorn & Adam Pearce that has been going on for 3 fucking months. Book the Briscoes vs. KOW dream match to have a sports-entertainment finish before it ever reached a dramatic point, instead cutting off in extremely premature fashion. Make a four-way with nothing but established main-eventers just a nothing-special storyline advancement match, rather than a highly dramatic affair to bring the final night of Homicide’s journey to the same fever pitch seen at Night of the Grudges II, Better Than Our Best, Ring of Homicide, Destiny, Death Before Dishonor IV, and even The Chicago Spectacular Night 2. While planting doubt about Homicide the night before his career-defining moment is a solid direction on paper, the end result was so fucking obvious, especially due to Danielson’s legitimate injury, that I would’ve just made Homicide look fucking hot as shit coming out of this event, possibly at the close of the live event portion, to have everyone fucking HYPED on the go-home show of all go-home shows for 2006. For a good example of what I mean, see more than 7 years later for Danielson during his time as Daniel Bryan, when Raw was in Washington, DC the week before WrestleMania XXX. Like Homicide here, Danielson was also suffering from a storyline shoulder injury with the most important match at the Superdome on the horizon. Oh, I’m not done with the recipe. Take what was gonna be another good chapter of the Strong vs. Richards rivalry, and water it down with a finish for a championship that had never been given the proper time to get over with the audience. Present a men-on-women violence segment in a manner completely lacking of any substance. Then watch the women in that match put forth a dreadful performance that exposes the business as a work. Allow a very, very promising Tag Titles main event to be worked in a highly flawed, dime-a-dozen fashion that failed to enhance any of its characters or the very titles that they were battling each other for. If I had attended this live event, rather than see the DVD release with good backstage promos to soften the blow a bit, I’d have been fucking livid. While ROH had been to Connecticut a handful of times in the past, this was the company’s debut in the Hartford metro area. To me, it’s always critical to make a damn first impression. When I think of wrestling history in Hartford, it’s admittedly not the deepest. I still say it’s deep enough, because the first event that pops in my mind is Triple H. Cactus Jack. Hell in a Cell, Mick Foley’s planned retirement. No Way Out 2000. That match and that event turned out to be a classic, and there was nothing on this show that came close to that. I also think of the Undertaker character’s debut at Survivor Series 1990, a moment that will live forever. Likewise, this show had the historic debuts of Edwards and Sweeney. Those are cool trivia points in a vacuum, but in no way do they save this show. If that’s the case, I should be going a bit softer on Suffocation 2 months earlier since Albright debuted that night. That doesn’t offset the abysmal effort presented up and down the card for the live audience. What would my alternatives be then? Firstly, as mentioned in my Dethroned review, KOW are still the Tag Champs coming into this show. They are the defending champs in the main event against CIMA & Shingo. Since the crowd loved CIMA too much to probably ever give him heel heat, I let Blood Generation be default babyfaces and throw KOW’s taunting bullshit right back at them to get in their heads. I’d be really curious to see how creative such a match would’ve gotten too. The Briscoes face Sydal & Daniels, with the winner getting a future Tag Titles shot. These 2 tag matches EASILY set up KOW vs. Briscoes for Final Battle 2006. This one is kind-of hindsight, but since it was clearly not the right time yet to introduce FIP storylines into ROH, I make a modification. The Strong vs. Richards singles matches stay in FIP, but Richards wants a piece of Strong still. He’s also looking to find an ally as stated at The Chicago Spectacular Night 2, so on this night, I combine 2 matches: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards. This is a huge, HUGE debut for Edwards and a chance to see if also has chemistry with Richards. Of course, we know the answer to that question today. But here’s the kicker: I have the tag team that we know as the Wolves actually go over in a huge, HUGE upset, with Aries taking the fall! I will explain why this is once I reach 2007 on this project. I’d keep the four-way match as is, but just book it as a chaotic segment like I had mentioned. Instead of the intergender garbage, I just have Jacobs cut a promo in the ring about Lacey’s recovery from her facial damage, sparking a brawl with Whitmer that would also involve Albright and Cabana. So to reiterate: Aries & Strong vs. Richards & Edwards Jacobs promo leading into a Jacobs & Albright vs. Whitmer & Cabana brawl Briscoes vs. Sydal & Daniels for a Tag Titles shot Danielson vs. Rave vs. Homicide vs. McGuinness, but as a chaotic segment to enhance the momentum of Homicide’s ROH Title chase KOW vs. CIMA & Shingo for the Tag Titles C’mon now, don’t tell me that doesn’t get you the reader, either wet or rigid. With all that said, this show is certainly better than Suffocation though. So would I go with How We Roll, The Bitter End, or International Challenge as the #2 shittiest ROH event of 2006? That’s a tough call to make. I believe those who completely shit on How We Roll easily forget the very good match between Aries and Jay on that card, plus it did help set up the big takeaway that would come the next night at Ring of Homicide, although to not any kind of significant degree whatsoever. The Bitter End also has a very good match between KENTA and Sydal, something lacking on this show. On the other hand, this show didn’t generate the kind of anger, even at its lowest point as I explained in detail, the way that everything involving Jim Cornette did on his last night as ROH Commissioner. My ultimate verdict: skip this show, as it contains no matches that I gave even three snowflakes, all the big takeaways are easily explained the next night, and the Edwards debut can be found both on YouTube for free and his ROH compilation. The journey to this point ever since Glory By Honor V Night 2 hasn’t been the most pleasant obviously. But I’ve reached another point that I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to when I started this project in April 2012. It’s the match that has been building for 16 months, ever since James Gibson had won the ROH Title with his ink still fresh on a new WWE contract and the crowd hijacked Night of the Grudges II in Homicide’s favor, elevating him to a level Sapolsky never saw him at. This isn’t the same level as Better Than Our Best or Glory By Honor V Night 2, but it’s the closest thing to it in these bumpy last 3 months of ROH’s 2006. It’s time to revisit one of the defining moments of my wrestling fandom, a time that will never return to the business… Up next – Final Battle 2006 Matches will include: Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Rave vs. El Generico vs. Davey Richards Brent Albright & Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer & Colt Cabana Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness Matt Sydal, CIMA, & Shingo vs. Delirious, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted December 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Final Battle 2006 – December 23, 2006 Taped from New York, NY The DVD release begins showing Homicide and ROH Champion Bryan Danielson arriving in the building, giving this a major sporting event feel. Love it. Some ROH students dress up in Christmas gear and hand out gifts to kick off the live event. They do not get a warm reception. “Fuck you Santa!” The segment comes to a screeching halt when the Briscoes show up, with Jay giving Santa Dempsey an open chair shot on the head. Yeah, a chair shot to the head is DEFINITELY worth the downside in THIS segment. The brothers decimate the students to a “Thank you Briscoes!” chant. Jay brags a mic and wishes the crowd a “Merry fucking Christmas!” Tonight, the Briscoes want a rematch against the Kings of Wrestling after last night’s finish. Crowd is hyped. Jimmy Jacobs cuts a backstage promo, feeling lonely in New York City. Apparently he’s generally been very introverted and unsocial, until he found love in Lacey. He’s still pissed about what’s happened to Lacey, but tonight he’s alone, even with mercenary Brent Albright as his partner against BJ Whitmer & Colt Cabana. “He’s not my friend.” Jacobs feels he has very little to live for, but his opponents “will have a lot to die for.” Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Rave vs. El Generico vs. Davey Richards Generico is quite over already as the crowd breaks out in “Ole!” chants before the bell even rings. Rave has some good heat, but nowhere near his peak when Prince Nana was with him. Generico and Richards start the match off, and Generico is clicking on all cylinders in terms of connecting with the audience. No shocker there for anyone who’d followed him in PWG, CZW, IWA-MS, IWS, and numerous other indies at this time. Daniels and Rave is pretty heated, with the Fallen Angel having little tolerance for the former Crown Jewel’s heel tactics. That’s short-lived as Rave takes a powder, returning it to more work between Generico and Richards, only for Daniels to get back in to work on the Generic Luchador. Once Daniels is tossed out and down momentarily, Rave of course tags in to take advantage. He gets an extended Abdominal Stretch on the Tag Champ, only to finally get cut off with a Death Valley Driver. Richards tags in to reignite his program from a few months back against Rave. Generico tags back in only get dominated by Richards. Everything in this match so far is on point as the crowd chants for Richards. Geenrico tries some hope spots but gets cut off, so Daniels breaks up the pin and tags in, knowing Richards would’ve had Generico finished off. But Richards scouts the Angel’s Wings and tags Generico in to work against Daniels, and once again the match has been a perfect opener. It’s come down to Daniels, Generico, and Richards trading work with each other while Rave remains on the outside. Generico successfully hits a Yakuza kick on Daniels, but Richards has it scouted on the next attempt, turning it into an overhead T-Bone suplex into the corner. Rave is shown waiting for an opportunity to jump in, and he does as he tags Richards, who eats a Top Rope Brainbuster from Generico, and then finishes the future Sami Zayn with the heel hook submission. The crowd breaks out in “Bullshit!” chants, but Rave says he’s aiming for the ROH Title. Nigel McGuinness arrives and kicks his ass. Even with Rave being arrogant and opportunistic, this seems like a bitch move for McGuinness after Rave had just competed. Crowd is fully behind McGuinness. Perfect opener that guaranteed Generico would return in 2007, stayed true to Rave’s character, and had zero tag legalities as well. Rating: ***1/2 Ricky Reyes vs. Adam Pearce is just a storyline segment. Pearce & Shane Hagadorn give a spike piledriver to Julius Smokes, still wanting to use any way possible to undermine Homicide tonight. Brent Albright & Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer & Colt Cabana Whitmer & Cabana dominate early, with the heels getting very little offense. Jacobs even eats an Exploder Suplex on the entrance ramp. A table gets set up outside the ring and Cabana backdrops Jacobs to set him up for a Whitmer powerbomb throught it, only for Albright to cut it off. This opens the door for the heels to turn Whitmer into a FIP, with Jacobs getting vicious. Once the hot tag is made, Cabana takes care of business, with the heels having little answer for him. Jacobs finally cuts off the babyfaces with a Shiranui on Cabana and then spinning head-scissors on Whitmer. The dazed Whitmer is victim to a Splash Mountain Powerbomb from Albright onto a table, and this time Cabana cannot overcome the odds. That table spot certainly was spectacular although obviously questionable. Jacobs says this is vindication, and I like that Albright is trying to be congratulatory with Jacobs, reminding me of villainous alliances in films. Claudio Castagnoli’s ROH Farewell? Briscoe Bros. vs. Kings of Wrestling Chris Hero introduces his agent Larry Sweeney, which is a good idea since not everyone was in Hartford the night before. I love Sweeney’s reaction when the crowd breaks into a “Sweet 'N Sour” chant. Hero also says he had a special farewell planned for Castagnoli, but instead they will “man up” in a rematch against the Briscoes The Briscoes waste no time, being on KOW like white on rice before the opening bell even rings. This is some hot shit, especially when Jay hits a senton to the outside, and they just continue dominating. KOW has no answer for the Briscoes, who are dead set on making an example out of their opponents tonight. That onslaught finally ends though when Castagnoli blocks a head-scissors by Jay, allowing Hero to dropkick his head and begin dominating. Jay attempts a comeback only to eat a Fall Away Slam and continue having the ring cut in half on him. Hero’s arrogance comes at a price it looks like when Jay gives him a Fisherman’s Buster, only for Hero to prevent the hot tag by yanking Mark off the apron. It finally happens when Jay blocks a double suplex and counters that with a double DDT. The crowd doesn’t pop at all for the tag, just Mark’s house of fire. I’m glad this wasn’t treated as a turning point in the match, as KOW regained control by having Hero counter a springboard splash with knees to the torso, a scouting from the night before. Castagnoli’s Ricola Bomb on Mark is just a near-fall. Jay gets tagged back in, having regained some endurance. Everything is mechanically good so far, but there’s been very little to be considered highly dramatic. Rather than create a match that would crack the crowd emotionally, it’s been a moves exchange with dueling chants for the most part. That finally changes when Mark hits a Top Rope Doomsday Rana on Castagnoli, who then eats a splash near-fall from Jay. The crowd breaks out in ROH chants at this point. Jay tags in Mark in a different corner than they had established, which pisses Sweeney off. Sweeney is technically correct, although I’m happy to see the tag legality is being adhered to at all. The Briscoes’ dominance gets cut off when Hero prevents Jay from hitting a Springboard Doomsday Device, then Castagnoli moments later swings BOTH Briscoes around as their legs are tied on his shoulders for a great moment. KOW stack on Mark for a near-fall, and Sweeney is in disbelief that wasn’t the finish, then the crowd breaks in “This is awesome!” chants as moves start happening like there’s no tomorrow, including the Double Underhook Piledriver, Alpamari Waterslide, and Cutthroat Driver to the crowd’s delight. I love that everyone is selling the finishing moves, so when Mark crawls to Castagnoli for a weak near-fall, it made sense that Castagnoli kicked out. Hero and Jay have a strike exchange, then Sweeney distracts the ref so Hero can deliver an eye poke, but that backfires. Castagnoli uses Sweeney’s steel briefcase to try knocking Jay out, only for Hero to be shoved in the way, allowing the Briscoes to finish them off with a stereo Guillotine Leg Drop and Shooting Star Press. The crowd is very happy, but this would’ve meant far more had it been a Tag Titles change as I’ve stated before (KOW would’ve threatened to “retire” the belts had they left tonight as champions since Castagnoli was originally leaving.) Very good match, although not as great as I had remembered. This wasn’t as hot as the similarly structured classic the Briscoes had against Austin Aries & Roderick Strong a few months earlier, so in this instance I’d have liked to have seen the hot tags be more meaningful. Rating: ***3/4 The crowd thanks Castagnoli and chants for KOW too, but he reveals that he’s sticking around! The crowd is supportive when he stumbles on his English, which I love. He implies that 2007 will be even more historic for KOW, only for Sweeney to say that only Hero is his client. “When you changed your plans, you killed the Kings of Wrestling, and they ain’t coming back.” Hero then begrudgingly sides with Sweeney, leaving Castagnoli all alone in the ring. He doesn’t have any time to digest his broken friendship, as Samoa Joe arrives immediately once Hero & Sweeney go to the back. Castagnoli tries to be cordial with Joe, only to be told “This is my space, bitch, and I’m not your friend. Get out of my ring.” Castagnoli obliges as he exits through the crowd, completely dejected. Joe is disappointed he can’t compete tonight in his scheduled singles match against McGuinness. Some of the crowd breaks out a “Fuck Umaga!” chant, but Joe squashes that quickly with pure logic. Joe then says that when ROH returns to this building on February 16, he wants NOAH to send someone, whether it’s Takeshi Morishima, Naomichi Maruufji, or “I’ll tell you what, old man, send me Mitsuharu Misawa.” He then even mentions Doug Williams and Scorpio, plus McGuinness. He promises a fight in 2 months, and then McGuinness comes out to say something. McGuinness wants the match on February 16, but Rave shows up to give him a receipt for earlier on the card, only to get bitch-slapped by Joe. The former ROH Champion then suggests they have a match later tonight. Not keen on Rave doing double-duty in principle, nor since he’s supposed to be a heel too. Why not just have booked the singles match as soon as Joe was unavailable, and let the opener just be a three-way? The apparent over push of Rave, along with the splitting of KOW, comes across as desperation to manufacture individual stars going into 2007. It must first be pointed out that the KOW breakup was a HUGE mistake on booker Gabe Sapolsky’s part. KOW are very similar to the Hardyz to me, in that they’ve never been very impressive opponents against each other, and thus it’s always better to keep them paired together. Why WOULDN’T Sweeney want both as his clients too? After all, they are a just a month removed from being Tag Champs. The three of them together had the chance to also be the greatest tag team and managerial combo since Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express as well, but instead Castagnoli, who lacks the mic skills and overwhelming charisma to be a completely solo act without a partner and/or mouthpiece, is thrown in the deep end, rather than protecting him and enhancing Sweeney’s on-screen shrewdness. In addition, Castagnoli’s weaknesses that I just pointed out are very glaring considering he’s now in the same position as Alex Shelley 2 years ago, someone who DID have the traits to pull off the “man without a country” direction. Lastly, at the time of this show, the tag division is looking quite stale without KOW, as it’s now the Briscoes, Aries & Strong, and Tag Champs Daniels & Matt Sydal as the champs. That’s it. That's you’re tag team division going into 2007, folks. Even with KOW having a weak title reign, the division still NEEDED them until at least 2-3 more teams were formed or introduced and got over to a significant level. At intermission, Pearce tells Gary Michael Cappetta that Smokes has gone home due to cracked vertebrae, so no way does Homicide dethrone Danielson tonight. Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness McGuinness dominates early, targeting Rave’s left arm and shoulder, but is finally cut off when a running corner uppercut attempt is blocked with a knee strike to the head, and he’s then driven down Uranage-style on the apron. I certainly don’t feel any discomfort whatsoever a decade later when McGuinness hits a barricade head-first, and then Lenny Leonard says “This guy might have a concussion right now. His eyes rolled to the back of his head when he hit that barricade…” Honestly though, McGuinness may have gotten his hands in front when he hit the barricade, so who knows in this instance. Rave continues dominating for awhile, not allowing the hope spots of McGuinness to stop him. But McGuinness finally regains control with a Hammerlock Takedown. They exchange strikes which McGuinness obviously wins, and Leonard is right to point out that wasn’t the best idea for Rave. McGuinness continues targeting Rave’s left arm and shoulder. However, that work is cut off when Rave spears him. McGuinness has a hope spot near-fall when he counters the Gonorrhea with a small package, but Rave spears him again while following up with a Shining Wizard. Rave scouts the rebound lariat, but McGuinness scouts his scouting, hitting a clothesline to regain control. This time the control is extended with various strikes and then a Tower of London, which is a near-fall. The crowd reacts in lukewarm fashion to that, which is disappointing. This wasn’t Rave getting a limb on the rope; he actually kicked out. That’s a huge deal for someone long established as a chickenshit heel. Rave cuts McGuinness off in the corner, finally hitting the Gonorrhea for another near-fall that had a lukewarm reaction. That’s followed up with a Pedigree near-fall, and now the crowd is waking up as McGuinness kicked out at one and has insult-driven fighting spirit. McGuinness wants more, but it ends up with a Crippler Crossface. (Little did we know what was just 6 months away…) This is a great false finish when McGuinness gets a rope break, as the crowd actually reacts. McGuinness eats a Saito Suplex and hits a rebound lariat, but the pain from the suplex delays him going for a cover. At this point the crowd is actually engaged in dueling chants which surprises me. Rave prevents another Tower of London and dumps McGuinness out, only to eat one on the apron just like Marufuji 3 months earlier in this building, and then Rave kicks out! Crowd actually treats that as a big deal, but not in overwhelming fashion. Rave kicks out again when he eats a crotched clothesline, and the crowd is pretty damn surprised. They have a strike exchange and Rave scouts the rebound lariat, securing his second victory of the night with the heel hook. “You still suck!” chants are directed at Rave, who spits on McGuinness as a receipt for earlier. Rave then says he wants to face tonight’s ROH Title match winner on February 16. Good match, no complaints about it really. They were limited without Nana being around, so of course the crowd wasn’t white-hot. This Rave push is getting really heavy-handed though. Instead of feeding so much to Rave, this was the opportunity to have McGuinness go over; instead of saying he’d face Joe on February 16, which wasn’t the plan at all anyway, he wants the winner of Danielson vs. Homicide. Joe vs. Morishima, which was the obvious plan, can be the closing match that night, with the obvious Homicide vs. McGuinness for the ROH Title underneath to have a controversial finish, leading to a rematch when ROH comes to Liverpool in March. Instead, we have what I consider the equivalent of the Maryse-less Miz’s push that resulted in him headlining WrestleMania XXVII. Without Nana around, Rave’s stock as a heel drops, and that’s the brutal reality of the situation. He’s still valuable as an mid-card to upper mid-card heel, but under no circumstances should be challenging for the ROH Title at the Manhattan Center without a charismatic mouthpiece to elevate him. Rating: ***1/2 Danielson is shown preparing, reminding me of Steve Austin looking in the mirror at WrestleMania X-Seven. Dragon Gate Rules Match Matt Sydal, CIMA, & Shingo vs. Delirious, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong This review will be much shorter than I would’ve expected a decade later. Simply put, I was not impressed by this match whatsoever. Perhaps this should’ve been the pre-intermission main event so that Todd Sinclair, who had experience in this kind of match, could’ve been the ref instead of Mike Keener. This match overwhelmingly ignored its very easy tag legalities, which could change by standard tagging, or the legal man exiting the ring to allow a partner to insert himself. With Blood Generation, especially Sydal, being such dicks, this was a major missed opportunity to actually build some tag psychology. Let Blood Gen dominate the match and take advantage of Keener’s inexperience in this environment, with Aries playing the FIP. Aries eventually makes the comeback against Sydal, who he’s had an issue brewing with, in very testy fashion. Delirious & Strong then go crazy at the hot tag, and the match becomes a spectacle as Keener makes a judgment call to let the action fly while adhering to the tag legalities. Undoubtedly, the action in this match was incredible, as proven by how insane the Manhattan crowd went throughout much of it. The reception CIMA got afterwards was incredible. With that said, I even hate the ending of CIMA pinning Delirious. This was the opportunity for Aries & Strong to humble Sydal and give the cocky champion a sense of vulnerability, building to the former champs getting their Tag Titles shot, which based on Sydal’s Dragon Gate schedule, would happen in this building on February 16 at the very earliest. I am excited that CIMA says he’ll be back in 2007. Rating: *** Homicide is shown having his last warm-up moments. Jack Evans is returning in 2007. Reflecting back, perhaps his absence in the last quarter of 2006 is another reason the product lost a significant chunk of its aesthetic peak. Matt Cross has certainly been a downgrade, and Evans has proven to be incredibly versatile thanks to his style and personality. ROH Title vs. Homicide’s ROH Career Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide Todd Sinclair is assigned this main event, which explains why he was unavailable for the prior match. New York City is obviously crazy for Homicide, as they should be. The entire pre-match presentation has an intimacy that is often missing in much of today’s professional wrestling; this simply feels like a historic match, in fact everything that Hulk Hogan vs. Sting was supposed to be in terms of crowd hype 9 years earlier at Starrcade 1997. This feels like what Game 7 of the past NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Warriors would’ve been had it taken place in Cleveland instead of Oakland. Danielson refuses Homicide’s gracious handshake at the beginning, instead giving the challenger a middle finger. This sparks a “Fuck you Dragon” chant. Awesome. Danielson eventually targets Homicide’s taped right shoulder, but neither gets an extended advantage early. The champ’s cockiness is amazing here as he applies the La Tatipia twice, then drives the knees to the canvas on the third time. Homicide brings it to an even point when they exchange strikes though, only to eat an uppercut from the champion, who’s happy to brag about outsmarting the challenger. They exchange straightjacket submissions, which allows Homicide to gain control. Danielson cuts that off with a chinbreaker, and then chokes Homicide on the ropes while showboating to the crowd and taking full advantage of the 5 count. Danielson got too cocky though, as Homicide evaded a choking strike and then hit Eddie Guerrero’s 3 amigos suplexes. Then all of a sudden, Shane Hagadorn & Adam Pearce arrive to attack Homicide, including a spike shoulderbreaker. This ensures Danielson leaves as champion via DQ. Homicide’s various friends including Monsta Mack are fought off, only for Julius Smokes to return and drive both out despite his pain from the earler spike piledriver. The heels scurry to the back, but then Sinclair says this match will NOT end in a DQ; Danielson is livid. The cynical would say Sinclair was trying to avoid a riot and ass-kicking; the logical would see this as evidence that Sinclair never had a vendetta against Homicide over the years whatsoever, despite Homicide’s irrational claims. Homicide is a house of fire despite his right shoulder hurting; that’s all Danielson needs to cut him off and target that joint again. Homicide finally cuts off Danielson with something I don’t recall if Chris Benoit ever did with DDP and Randy Orton, which was counter a diving headbutt with an Ace Crusher. He eventually tosees Danielson out with a vertical suplex, then follows that up with a Tope Con Hilo as Smokes shows concern and tries to give his support to the Notorious 187. Homicide blocks a forearm strike from Danielson, causing Danielson’s right arm to hit a ring post, making him extra vulnerable when considering his injured right shoulder too. They then tease a great false finish when Homicide hits a Super Overhead Hammerlock Takedown, then locks a submission on the right arm. The crowd is displeased when Danielson cuts off Homicide with a boot, he gives the crowd a middle finger, and hits a diving headbutt. Danielson is showing more pain in the right shoulder than Homicide. Homicide continues going after Danielson’s arm when he kicks out of a German Suplex. They then exchange strikes, Danielson with forearms, Homicide with boots, with Homicide winning that battle. Danielson avoids a Tope Con Hilo and clotheslines Homicide over a barricade, then hits an insane springboard aerial attack considering his shoulder. After exchanging some near-falls, Homicide takes too long getting on the top rope; this allows the champ to hit a Super Backdrop Suplex for another near-fall. The champ then goes for elbows to the head, but the challenger does his best to shake them off, and then finds himself in the Crossface Chickenwing after a terrific struggle. They have an excellent false finish when Homicide’s arm drops a third time, but he holds onto Sinclair’s pants to prove he’s still conscious. Homicide gets a rope break but Danielson refuses to break, the champ obviously wanting a DQ, but Sinclair refuses. Homicide elbows out and throws a right hand, obviously in pain, then locks on an STF, dragging the champ to the middle of the ring to apply it again. Danielson rakes his eyes to break another submission attempt. Danielson avoids the Kudo Driver, only to eat a boot, but then takes advantage of Homicide’s lariat attempt, using the momentum to apply Cattle Mutilation! Homicide rolls out, kicks out of a Tiger Suplex, and then is still victim to another Cattle Mutilation. Danielson goes for more elbows to the head, then reapplies Cattle Mutilation for a third time in the middle of the ring. They have a great near-fall when Homicide uses the Tiger Suplex position to roll back on Danielson, and then the match hits a fever pitch when Danielson gets his hand on the ropes after a successful Kudo Driver! In shock, Homicide goes shirtless and grabs a ring bell, but the crowd begs him not to use it. Sinclair won’t let him, and Danielson takes advantage with a low blow and small package, but Homicide kicks out for another awesome near-fall! Danielson blocks a lariat, only for Homicide to tell his pain to fuck off just like in their first ever match at Reborn Stage 2, and hitting the lariat for the victory, and finally ascending to the top by ending the greatest title reign in underground wrestling history! A number of babyfaces are in the ring to congratulate Homicide, including Roderick Strong (that’s something to remember MUCH later in the future.) If there’s a missed opportunity here, it could be that Homicide isn’t selling the fresh low blow, but perhaps it can be argued that while Danielson struck him, it landed NEAR the groin, not actually on it. Homicide is selling his right shoulder, but is then congratulated by the former champion Danielson, who graciously gives him the belt, but makes it clear he’ll want a rematch at some point. The crowd is going crazy here, because on the underground wrestling scene, this IS as historic as a hometown team winning Game 7 of the World Series, NBA Finals, or Stanley Cup Finals after suffering an extensive drought. Homicide takes the time to put over the backstage crew and the NYC crowd, saying that this is for them. He then pays homage to the Notorious B.I.G., ending it with “Brooklyn, we did it!” The ringside celebration then plays to the tunes of Jim Jones’s “We Fly High” and even more epically, Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” from what I can tell. A terrific main event that while not even close to the greatest in ROH’s history, is a staple in the history of underground wrestling, that wrapped up years of storylines. Since Homicide would never reach a level of significance in TNA that matched up to this, and he would unfortunately be one of the numerous victims of WWE’s primitive hiring philosophies until CM Punk was the first to break that barrier at Money in the Bank 2011, this is, like the match I just referred to, a career-defining moment for its victor. This is also one of the defining moments of my 19-year wrestling fandom, a rewarding experience that the underground wrestling scene stopped delivering years ago. Danielson should NOT have kept wrestling when he got hurt at Gut Check; with that said, his decision to keep going for another 4 months, in what primarily looks to be because he was a total team player throughout his career and wanted Homicide’s moment to be as meaningful as possible, is yet another reasons why a decade ago, there was no championship I respected more in North American wrestling than the Ring of Honor Title. This was a great, emotional ending to the greatest reign in the history of underground wrestling, a title reign that significantly defined Danielson’s Hall of Fame career and the 2000s decade in general. It was a match that paid off many of the finishers Danielson had established since dethroning James Gibson at Glory By Honor IV, making all of them meaningful when they took place on this magical night. It is the moment that made sitting through the awful booking of Night of the Grudges II a worthy venture, for this moment would likely have never happened had New Jersey not hijacked that show in Homicide’s favor. Lastly, this was yet another final chapter for a great underground wrestling rivalry for the 2000s decade in December 2006. Unlike Danielson vs. Joe 15 days earlier, this was a fitting end to the Danielson vs. Homicide rivalry that had started with a fantastic, highly under-appreciated dream match at Reborn Stage 2, and became an actual feud that spanned half a year. Rating: **** The match is followed by a video chronicling Homicide’s time in ROH since Day 1, showing his greatest moments and his worst moments (including the fact that Low Ki and Boogaloo were both excommunicated from the company), clearly stating how badly he wanted to become the ROH Champion; every decision of his since 2003 has been centered around winning this title, which even further elevated the importance of the belt as a box office attraction for the company. This video truly reminds me of what I miss so much about the Golden Age of ROH. Do I need to spell out why this show is a necessity for fans of Homicide, Bryan Danielson, and underground wrestling? Do I need to point out that the match quality on this is on par with The Final Showdown? Even with the booking red flags becoming more frequent, this gets my strongest recommendation possible. The historic main event alone would’ve made this a must-have, but the quality undercard gives this the depth to be considered just a notch below the most elite events in ROH’s history. There will be 2 separate columns coming as holiday gifts to compliment this review; one will chronicle Homicide’s journey to what turned out to be his career-defining moment, while the other will chronicle the greatest title reign in the history of underground wrestling. It’s difficult to really say if 2004, 2005, or 2006 has a stand out amongst the three as the greatest calendar year in ROH’s history. Some will pick 2004 because that’s when the switch got flipped in response to Rob Feinstein being forced out of the very company that he had founded. Some will pick 2005 because of its overall consistency, with peaks in February, May, almost all summer, and the majority of the last quarter. Some will pick 2006 because of its first 9 months, featuring all-time epic title reigns, all-time epic storylines, all-time epic rivalries, and excellent usage of special attraction talent. I for one cannot pick between the three; it’s obvious that they are collectively the true peak of ROH’s 15-year history, a peak that will never be duplicated on the underground. What I do know is that even with so many red flags popping up in the last quarter of 2006, it was one Hell of a historic, unforgettable year for the company. In a “normal” year, the breakthrough character work of Jimmy Jacobs and everyone else involved in his saga would be the angle of the year; but that’s not the case in a year featuring the greatest inter-promotional feud of all-time, which is also the greatest feud in ROH history, and my pick for the greatest feud of the 21st Century to date. In a “normal” year, when there isn’t a definite easy one or two contests to point to as the MOTY, it’s because there are great picks aplenty, but none that stand head and shoulders above the rest. That isn’t the case here; in a rarity, it was difficult for me to pick the MOTY because there were so many all-time classics in 2006, the kind that in a “normal” year, would stand head and shoulders above the competition. In a “normal” year, there would be an easy moment or two to point to as the most unforgettable, but like WWE in 2016, there are too many historic ones, just like the absurd quantity of historically great matches. Let’s also not forget that 2006 featured what is, nearly 11 years later now, the greatest event in underground wrestling history, that being Better Than Our Best. From start to finish, it wasn’t just a consistent event in the ring; it featured interesting directions across the entire card, wrapping up angles, advancing angles, and kicking off angles that had viewers dying for the next chapters in ROH’s canon. It was a show that truly displayed the variety that ROH was once so defined by, from tag team wrestling to trios action to spotfests to hardcore matches to scientific artwork; from career-advancing victories to outsider domination to championship ramifications to violent finales; and all done with talent that came in to bust their asses to put on an awesome show and steal WrestleMania 22 weekend, whether they were hoping to get WWE’s attention, had already been in WWE and WCW, or visiting from the Land of the Rising Sun. What must also be mentioned is that Better Than Our Best was the peak of the 7 events that compiled The Milestone Series. If I could use a comparison, I’ll go local here in the state of Washington. If The Milestone Series is the Cascade Ranges, then Better Than Our Best is Mount Rainier. Simply put, a fucking drop-dead gorgeous collection of artwork with a clear, distinct, breathtaking peak that like Mr. Rainier does for the Seattle and Yakima areas, is a defining staple of ROH’s history and reputation. I would like to think that one day, I will have the time to once again revisit the golden years of ROH. I’m not sure if I ever will though, as much as I really would like to. I’ll still move forward with this project for now; but there are a number of things going on in this world that I know I’ll have to eventually prioritize over my consumption hobbies of various entertainment, whether it be pro wrestling, films, television series, sporting events, or even retro video game playthrough viewings on YouTube for nostalgic purposes. It isn’t to say that I don’t love, enjoy, and appreciate these hobbies, but they are ultimately leisure activities that I know deep down in my heart, consume time that I can instead use to assist those who don’t have the same kind of leisure as I and many other of my fellow first-world citizens do. That decision, if, or more plausibly when, will be a topic for another time when I reach it. Not even taking THAT life-changing decision into effect, I will be honest. The last 3 months of 2006 for ROH have not impressed me overall. Sapolsky’s burnout has become apparent, and I’d be surprised if owner Cary Silkin didn’t notice the red flags too. Surely, he had to notice the mixture of anger and apathy displayed by the Philly crowd at Burnout The Bitter End. Surely, he had to see how dead the crowds were in Philly, Long Island, Hartford, Dayton, Cleveland, and Chicago. Surely, he cringed like I did when Christopher Daniels declared himself and Matt Sydal as “Lords of the Ring.” Like I said, I will continue this project. But the truth is that I’m not looking forward to 2007. Sure, I’m excited to see Joe go up against Morishima and McGuinness. Sure, I’m excited to see the final months of the saga involving Jacobs, which obviously will have him end his portion against Cabana in Chicago on February 24, and then against Whitmer in Detroit on WrestleMania 23 weekend (I could see those coming a mile away a decade ago.) Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Generico after his successful “tryout” at Dethroned and Final Battle 2006. Sure, I’m excited to see Evans return and notice if he’s had anymore improvement from spending even more time in Dragon Gate. Sure, I’m excited to see Shingo continue his excursion. Sure, I’m looking forward to what else Sweeney has up his sleeve, as he oozed a charisma that very few of his contemporaries could match up to. But I’m not looking forward to a Nana-less Rave get shoved down my throat. I’m not looking forward to Castagnoli being left on his own in an effort to replicate Alex Shelley’s role from 2 years earlier. I’m not looking forward to whatever Sydal & Daniels are gonna do next with the Tag Titles. I’m not excited for the tag team division at all with them as champs, and now KOW broken up. I’m not looking forward to Matt Cross, get the same if not better opportunities when it’s clearly obvious Generico brings much more to the table, already gotten over as a character and not just for spectacular moves. I’m not looking forward to B-shows that will be so unevenly slapped together by a “GM/head coach” that is clearly displaying signs of exhaustion after nearly 5 years in the position. And I’m also not looking forward to an ROH without Bryan Danielson, who obviously will finally take the time off he’s procrastinated for 4 months. Maybe the reputation that 2007 has will be a flawed narrative. Maybe I’ll find out that the unfavorable history of that year for ROH has been rewritten to an unfair degree. Maybe my reservations will be wrong. But based on every red flag I’ve seen, which honestly started showing at Fight of the Century and then became incredibly glaring at Survival of the Fittest 2006, I can’t bring myself to be excited. I know that I’m glad ROH’s next event would be 5 weeks away, which is pretty much the same amount of time for me to have a break based on my 10th anniversary shtick I got going with this. But rest assured, every problem I’ve just pointed out about ROH, has ONLY been based on what I’ve come across from late 2006. I’m not even including anything that hasn’t been alluded to yet and is still to unfold in 2007. With that said, the first 3 quarters of 2006 are enough to make this a fucking phenomenal year for ROH. Without further ado, I give to my readers… SUPER DUPER ROH 2006 AWARDS Wrestler of the Year: Bryan Danielson Runner-up – Jimmy Jacobs, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong Debut of the Year: Chris Hero @ Hell Freezes Over Breakout Performance of the Year: Matt Sydal @ Hell Freezes Over Feud/Rivalry of the Year: Ring of Honor vs. Combat Zone Wrestling Runner-up – Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness and Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (including Colt Cabana’s involvement) Show of the Year: Better Than Our Best Runner-up – Dragon Gate Challenge and Glory By Honor V Night 2 Moment of the Year: Homicide declines CZW’s offer @ Ring of Homicide and Bryan Danielson gets his foot on the ropes after KENTA hits him with the Go to Sleep @ Glory By Honor V Night 2 Match of the Year: Team ROH vs. Team CZW @ Death Before Dishonor IV ***** Runner-up – CIMA & Speed Muscle vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi @ Supercard of Honor ***** ROH’s Top 10 Matches of 2006 (in chronological order): 1. CIMA & Speed Muscle vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi – Supercard of Honor ***** 2. Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong – Supercard of Honor ****3/4 3. Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, & BJ Whitmer – The 100th Show ****3/4 4. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – Weekend of Champions Night 2 ****3/4 5. Homicide vs. Necro Butcher (entire segment) – Ring of Homicide ***** 6. Austin Aries vs. KENTA – Chi-Town Struggle ****1/2 7. Team ROH vs. Team CZW – Death Before Dishonor IV ***** 8. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – Unified ***** 9. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA – Glory By Honor V Night 2 ***** 10. KENTA & Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong – Honor Reclaims Boston ****3/4 Up next – Dedicated Matches will include: Davey Richards vs. Rocky Romero Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness Briscoe Bros. vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 Finished Motor City Madness & Honor Reclaims Boston, liked them pretty well for B-Shows. Motor City's best matches to me were a six man mayhem spotfest and the main event tag between the Briscoes and Joe & Homicide. Its not labeled as a Fight without Honor on the box but, it surely was. I thought it really delivered in terms of a main event. It was very much like an ECW pay per view main event style match so, if that's your thing then, check this match out. Can't really rate it as this was such a flashback to 99-00 ECW but in those terms, this was pretty great The surprise of the show was that Aries vs Danielson was not memorable...other than they had to wear other wrestlers' gear since theirs got lost or something. Just very slow and deliberate match if I recall. The crowd was getting tired of Danielson as champ, perhaps? Or maybe the injuries were catching up to him? Reclaims Boston had the very good Nigel vs blast from the past John Walters and Claudio vs Sydal undercard. Delirious gave his best against Dragon but it wasn't enough. This had a couple nice moments but, was simply on par with expectations. The main event was truly an excellent closer for the show. It wasn't a classic as I felt the guys were holding a little back since the next night was going to be in Philly. Still, it was stiff as shit and had some very nice sequences. Everyone looked very good especially Richards who was the low man on the totem pole at the time. I liked this one quite a bit...maybe 4 1/4 stars. Gonna watch The Bitter End & Dethroned next to see if those are any good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted January 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2017 Dedicated – January 26, 2007 Taped from Boston, MA ROH Video Wire – December 28, 2006 ROH Video Wire – January 19, 2007 Important news/footage in the above video: Jimmy Jacobs has debuted his latest music video, titled “kiss2kill.” He has clearly lost his mind over Lacey, forcing himself to drink cranberry juice mixed with alcohol, which causes him to vomit, and also pours blood all over his face in another scene. The best part is him holding a spike; this is very clearly equivalent in significance to Homicide’s favorite weapon of choice, that being a fork. The first ROH live event of 2007 has yet to occur, and we’ve already got an early MVP candidate, folks. The live event immediately explains this show’s name as it begins with a 10-bell salute to Doug Gentry, who passed away earlier in the day. He was an important figure in ROH’s first 2 years, creating the company’s preview video shortly before its birth, serving as a cameraman, and providing commentary under the stage name of Ray Morrow. Gentry deserves just as much credit as Jim Cornette would get later on. Per PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, ROH was bleeding money after its first anniversary, so like Cornette would do to help facilitate the company’s purchase by SBG in 2011, Gentry reached out to Cary Silkin to invest in ROH. Had this not happened, ROH would’ve gone out of business after Night of Champions. A year later when original owner Rob Feinstein’s ephebophilia scandal was caught on camera, Gentry would be in the vehicle as Feinstein bailed from the scene. Silkin phased out RF Video, and Gentry chose to remain loyal to Feinsterin, for better or for worse. Before ROH was even born though, Gentry was a staple in the Northeast scene, and seemed to be an equal to what George Carroll, Jr. is today, as he helped international stars such as Tajiri, Super Crazy, and Masato Tanaka get bookings in ECW. There’s no certainly that any of those 3 would’ve developed such a cult following in America, let alone any of them ever reaching any level of success in WWE, had Gentry not gone to bat for them. While certainly not polished in the least, I’ve grown to appreciate Gentry’s efforts in the commentary booth throughout 2003 for ROH. Beyond the nostalgic value from watching so many hungry talents steal the show such as Homicide, CM Punk, Paul London, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Christopher Daniels, his enthusiasm was contagious and a key reason why I fell in love with the company when I first discovered it. It certainly helped that he was a tremendous improvement over Donnie B. in 2002, who was absolutely wretched. The wrestling industry is a better business because of Doug Gentry’s contributions. May God rest his soul; he’ll never be forgotten as ROH’s early days grow in cherished value with each passing year. I’m really disappointed that there was no mention of Bam Bam Bigelow during the 10 bell salute, as he passed away the week before this event. The actual show begins at ringside with Bobby Cruise announcing Becky Bayless has returned as the company’s latest interviewer, and her first assignment is to interview the new ROH Champion Homicide. This is an awful segment saved only by Larry Sweeney coming out to put his client Chris Hero over; Hero shows up to give the champion a big boot and then helps Sweeney leave Julius Smokes laying. Sweeney totally saved this otherwise hideous portion of the segment, as Bayless was a total deer in the headlights. This Homicide vs. Hero match would’ve once again meant so much more had Hero actually gotten a victory over Homicide in late 2006 as I’ve mentioned before. Rocky Romero makes his return after being gone from ROH throughout its entire 2006, so Hero & Sweeney decide to immediately leave. He asks his fellow Rottweilers why there’s been a lack of communication for such a long time, apparently having lost touch throughout 2006. Homicide & Smokes are none too pleased as they leave, and Romero wants his return match against Davey Richards now. Davey Richards vs. Rocky Romero Good opening match for 2007. I’d liked to have seen Romero sell his back and abdomen a bit more as Richards did quite a bit of work on it, but not too devastating to make the no-selling extremely frustrating. Richards trying to be alpha showed that he was trying to really stand on his own and not get lost in the shuffle, but his overzealous nature would backfire. They had some good segments outside the ring, the most crucial being when Romero ducked a kick, causing the left lower leg of Richards to strike a ring post. That left Richards vulnerable to Romero’s ankle lock, which he’d fallen victim to before in PWG just the month before this actually. Richards gave a valiant effort, including a well-timed Enziguri to pop the Beantown audience and surprise Romero. But the ankle lock submissions were just too much, and once Richards failed to roll out, he had no choice but to submit. Rating: ***1/4 One of the worst staples of ROH’s 2007 immediately comes in the next segment, as the viewer is treated to the company’s first side view promo from Jimmy Rave. This was a horrendous production idea at the time a decade ago, and doesn’t age well whatsoever. Eddie Edwards gets a good pop from his hometown crowd in a defeat to the returning Jack Evans. This guy may really have some potential. The Briscoes haven’t lost their sights on winning the Tag Titles in 2007, and make the declaration they’ll sweep Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in their 2/3 falls match tonight. That’s definitely a bold one. At Lacey’s request, Jimmy Jacobs gives Daizee Haze a senton through a table, allowing Lacey to get the pinfall in their hardcore trios match with Brent Albright against Haze, BJ Whitmer, & Colt Cabana. This can’t possibly end well for Jacobs. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness Revealed on commentary early in the match is the following: Takeshi Morishima will be making his debut matches for ROH at The Fifth Year Festival stretch of shows. OH FUCK YES~! Easily the match of the night, with this being structured as another breakthrough for McGuinness and obviously grooming him to be ROH Champion at some point. This would’ve just been better with McGuinness going over clean to groom him for dethroning Homicide, rather than have Joe go over the night before a cold title match against the Notorious 187. Long-term booking issues aside, this was good stuff from start to finish, although not completely blow away and that’s a minor disappointment. This was a slugfest with McGuinness eventually targeting Joe’s shoulders, but nothing he did could be enough to marginalize many of Joe’s trademark signature finishers such as the musclebuster or even a scoop slam for a comeback. Joe dominated early after they exchanged non-clean breaks on the ropes, just tearing McGuinness up on the outside with numerous Ole Ole Kicks. Joe taking his foot off the gas momentarily would be all the London native needed, hitting a spin-around lariat on the outside to gain control and work on the former ROH Champion’s shoulders back inside the ring. After good back-and-forth stuff with both exchanging hope spots, comeback attempts, and control segments, all of them engaging unlike numerous other matches from this time period in FIP and PWG, they got to the finishing stretch. Rather than a rope break, McGuinness actually kicked out clean in the middle of the ring to the musclebuster! Boston went fucking insane for that; without looking back to see, I don’t even recall Kenta Kobashi being put over that strongly against Joe! McGuinness then even kicked out of a follow-up lariat for good measure to put him over even more strongly. If that wasn’t enough, he passed out in the Coquina Clutch, never once giving in. A spectacular protection of McGuinness in defeat while also showing that maybe Joe’s time in the company should start winding down; this could be a potential sign that Joe’s time as a cornerstone might be fading as never before had his signature offense looked so breakable. In the post-match, Rave appeared and gave Joe a heel hock, then got shoved out by McGuinness. This Rave push was just relentless as has been mentioned; the babyfaces meanwhile exchange respect and leave to a standing ovation. Had this been booked with the correct long-term vision and the closing match of the evening, this probably gets put over the top into greatness territory. Rating: ***3/4 Becky Bayless goes backstage at intermission and sees that Daizee Haze has a fucking hematoma on her forehead. So ludicrous on any level of this business, let alone the underground. Colt Cabana cuts a passionate promo, pissed about the misogynistic actions of Jacobs. In an ROH product that almost feels as its booking gets more flawed with each passing event, this has been the arc of hope that there’s still some magic left in Gabe Sapolsky. Jack Evans claims 2007 will be his year and he wants some championship gold. 2/3 Falls MatchBriscoe Bros. vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Revealed in the commentary is that tomorrow night will be Battle of the Icons with the Briscoes taking on the Havana Pitbulls while Evans, Aries, & Strong will reunite against Delirious, Shingo, & Richards. The latter should be stellar as long as it’s not just a pile of moves. This match saw a significant chunk dominated by Aries & Strong, cutting the ring in half at first on Mark and then on Jay. Neither hot tag got a huge pop which was disappointing; I think an audible for Aries & Strong to play default heels may have been wise, as this match lacked the atmosphere from Ring of Homicide and Unified. I appreciated that this match strictly stuck to its tag legalities, including the participants remembering who was legal and it costing falls at times. This really came down to the Briscoes managing to divide and conquer Aries & Strong to hold true to their 2-0 sweep declaration. They were relentless when the opportunity was available to go for a spike double underhook piledriver. Aries & Strong were very aware of this, doing their damnedest to avoid it, but once it happened on Aries while Strong was taken out of the equation, it was all over. I appreciated Mark as the legal man putting his arm down when Jay went for the pin on Aries to ensure the pin was legal, and the crowd was in a stunned silence that this didn’t reach a third fall. This would seem to indicate Aries & Strong will undergo a major direction change soon, perhaps a split. Rating: ***1/4 Decent but skippable event, as Joe vs. McGuinness and Briscoes vs. Aries & Strong are both on compilations. Richards vs. Romero is good but not must-see at all. Up next – Battle of the IconsMatches will include:Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinnessJimmy Jacobs vs. BJ WhitmerShingo, Delirious, & Davey Richards vs. Jack Evans, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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