Ring Of Honor
ROH Best In The World 2011 - June 26, 2011 by Alexander Assetta(Boston, MA)
I’ve
been watching ROH for only about a year or so now, but when I got the
opportunity to go to a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and seeing who was on the
card, I was definitely in for a treat. Making the 4 hour
trip from Boston was truly worth my first ROH live experience and I had
great seats, too (facing the camera, four rows back).
Pre-Show: After the promo stuff conducted by Kevin Kelly and WR host himself Eric Santamaria (who sounds sort of different in person..weird), we are presented with Cole/O’Reilly Vs. the former Young Bucks, Generation Me(This will be on the DVD). The match seemed very one-sided, with Cole/O Reily dominating the whole match butiIt was very fast paced, only tarnished by a DQ win for the Bucks after the Mean Street...err, the Bravado Brothers attack and they get destroyed by both teams. Both teams shake hands and it was a hot match to prepare the crowd.
Match 1: Colt Cabana Vs. Tomasso Ciampa w/Prince Nana :
I’ve seen Cabana matches on tapes, but seeing him live is truly a much different experience. I like his comedy stuff. As I expected, Cabana lost. The match was pretty short, likely to hide the weaknesses of Ciampa, who is ok but could use some more work.
Match 2: Jay Lethal vs. Mike Bennett w/ Bob Evans :
Lots of “Fuck TNA” chants from the crowd, funny. Bennett isn’t that great in the ring but I like his gimmick of being a “sports entertainment” wrestler. This match was also pretty short but it was cool to see Jay Lethal back in the ring again. It looked like he had some rust to him but he carried a good match. As expected, he won with the Savage elbow after the crowd initiated a “Thank you, Savage” chant, which was sort of heartwarming. I was really expecting him to cut a promo after the match but was disappointed.
Match 3: Homicide vs. Rhino w/ Prince Nana, Barrio Street Fight :
This match I did have a problem with, mostly just because the action was sort of weak. The match was pretty spotty. There was no blood, which was unusual with Homicide, and the fact it was a street fight, I guess they were trying to play nice for the new owners. I did get annoyed that a sunset flip ended a street fight. Rhino Goring Homicide through a table was nostalgic, though.
Match 4: Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini vs. Steve Corino w/Jimmy Jacobs :
This was the highlight of the undercard, and not for the match. The match itself was 'eh', but the aftermath is what everyone has been talking about and I LOVED it. Before the match, Kevin Steen attempts to come in to the ring invited by Corino but is stopped by Jim Cornette & security and taken away. After the match (won by Elgin with a powerbomb), Steen comes back, Cornette lets him talk, he says, “I’m Kevin Steen...and FUCK ROH!”, decks Jacobs and Package Piledrives Corino. He was carried out by security right next to me, it was awesome. Cornette then says that we will “never see Kevin Steen here again and I don’t care what any of you people think”. A lot of “Little Jimmy” chants. I was actually expecting a Jacobs heel turn but I was stunned by the Steen thing.
Match 5: El Generico vs. TV Champion Christopher Daniels©, TV Title Match :
After intermission, we get our first title match. Generico’s entrance is amazing and it was fun being a part of it. Daniels came out minus Martini but it didn’t matter; this match was arguably the best match on the card (more on that later). Lots of high spots, but notably, Daniels does the Jarrett strut - everybody booed, which I loved. Daniels throws Generico’s head into the barricade right near me. It looked like Generico may have been killed, then Daniels puts on the belt and celebrates. He goes for his Moonsault thing but Generico gets his foot up and hits the Brainbuster on the turnbuckle for the win. That spot always looks sick when he does it. Daniels also shows that at 42(43?), he is better than ¾ of WWE and TNA’s locker room, which is again the Steamboat effect of being unsettling.
Match 6: World Tag Team Champions WGTT© vs. The Briscoes vs. The ANX vs. KOW w/Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey :
The crowd was giving the Briscoes major heat but then cheered them the whole match - go figure. The crowd seemed to only really root for the KOW(who may be on the way out). I did too, they looked really awesome in this match. I had a feeling that it was gonna come down to the WGTT and Briscoes but was the only one in my section who applauded when the Briscoes were gone (because them winning was too obvious given the TV deal coming up and I liked they didn’t do the obvious thing). NO blood again in this match, surprising me since the Briscoes were involved…from MINUTE ONE, or, wait, that’s not it. As I though, the ANX was the next team gone after Hagadorn slips in an elbow pad and gets chased out by ANX. The way that the WGTT won was rather anti-climatic but I was glad to see them win. I must have been the only one since the crowd was sitting on their hands for it.
Match 7: Davey Richards vs. World Champion Eddie Edwards©, World Title :
This match has apparently gotten 5 stars already from Meltzer, and normally I would agree but I was a little disappointed in the ending, so I would give it like 4 ¾ stars. If Davey had used a wrestling move to beat Eddie then it would’ve been better, but I was good with him winning. I personally wanted Eddie to either win or draw because I didn’t think he should lose the title so soon. They could have saved this until Final Battle or some other show at the end of the year. When Davey got the pin the crowd erupted but then almost instantly muted themselves. I have a feeling it was sort of a combination of them being upset he won it a year later than he should’ve and the fact people really picked up sympathy with Eddie & didn’t think he should’ve lost it. This was almost Warrior/Hogan-like in the sense of the crowd reaction because it was LITERALLY 50/50 for each guy, but it seemed they migrated to Eddie mid-way through.
Overall this show was AMAZING. I am now hooked on ROH. I wanted to see it on TV…but it won’t air in the Boston area, which sucks since they come to the area and we get CW & My Network TV.
After the Show I ran into Prince Nana at a McDonalds and I got his business card, which was awesome. Before the show, I walked by the Manhattan Center listening to music (wearing my AMERICAN WOLVES shirt!!) and as I got close, I got freaked out because people were coming at me. I was scared shitless because New Yorkers scare me being a Bostonian and all, then I look to the side and I was walking with Davey Richards for like a minute & a half!! Wow, what a loser I am.
ROH 9th Anniversary Show - Chicago Ridge, IL - February 26, 2011 by Kori
Saturday was the ROH iPPV & one hell of a show!. This marked my 6th year as a Ring of
Honor fan, and ROH’s 9th year in operation. We saw a fun show in front of a borderline sell out crowd. Before
the first match, we ran out of seating! Some things were certainly done
differently. There was no pre-show, and the silver bleachers had been
set up. Before the show, there was a meet and greet with Haas, Benjamin
and Mr. & Mrs. Cornette(The Mrs. had on a GORGEOUS cheetah print
coat, BTW).
1. Davey Richards Vs. Colt Cabana:
Davey storms in, clearly not in ANY kind of mood. Crowd was mostly behind Colt Cabana, though Davey got a few cheers himself when he locked on his first of many submission holds. Davey targeted Colt’s shoulder during the onslaught. Colt was able to twist one of Davey’s moves into the Billy Goat’s curse, but Davey twisted out of it and moved Colt into another submission. Colt got out of it and later used the turnbuckles in a move against him, but the finish saw Davey suplex Colt into a pin for the win.
5. Sara Del Ray with Shane Hagadorn Vs. MsChif:
Unusually SHORT match, only lasted 3-4 minutes. Sara came out in a black trench coat. MsChif was gorgeous as usual. Sara hoisted MsChif onto her back, turned around slowly, smiled and waived at the crowd, then dropped MsChif for a 3 count. Sara then tried to start shit with MsChif. MsChif misted her!! Shane Hagadorn carted Sara up the ramp.
6. World Tag Team Champions The Kings OF Wrestling(Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli with Shane Hagadorn) Vs. The All Night Express(Rhett Titus and Kenny King):
The fight opens up with an eerie “CLAAAAADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” from the crowd, as he opens up against Kenny King. These two teams solidify why the tag team division is so important to preserve. Claudio played to the crowd with a cartoonish appeal, as every one of his moves elicited a “HEEEEEEY” from the audience. Kenny & Rhett were evenly matched against Claudio & Hero. Both teams couldn’t keep the action to the ring only, as they frequented outside by the barricade. Rhett has come a long way these last few months, and he took every ounce of his training to Hero, who was more than ready to keep up with Rhett’s strength. Back & forth the two went, and it certainly looked as though Kenny & Rhett would walk out with the tag belts, but Hero’s loaded elbow pad awaited the two, and KOW would score another victory.
1. Davey Richards Vs. Colt Cabana:
Davey storms in, clearly not in ANY kind of mood. Crowd was mostly behind Colt Cabana, though Davey got a few cheers himself when he locked on his first of many submission holds. Davey targeted Colt’s shoulder during the onslaught. Colt was able to twist one of Davey’s moves into the Billy Goat’s curse, but Davey twisted out of it and moved Colt into another submission. Colt got out of it and later used the turnbuckles in a move against him, but the finish saw Davey suplex Colt into a pin for the win.
2. Mike Bennet Vs. Grizzly Redwood Vs. Steve Corino Vs. Kyle O’Rielly:
The crowd was LOUD for Corino. The first two things he did elicited a chant of “UNCLE STEVE UNCLE STEVE!!” Corino seems generally shocked that the Chicago crowd loves him. Grizzly gave it his all in this fight, delivering hard chops to Bennet. Grizzly has a broad move set, ranging from Lucha Libre to brawler to mat technician; he’s always a joy to watch. Kyle got a good reaction as well. Bennet dominated much of this match, much to the chagrin of the crowd. He’s still very rough around the edges so nobody was quite sure how to accept him. At one point in the match, all four men were on their knees in a circle, punching the man on his left. The spin-the-bottle punching was fun to watch. ^_^ The whole match long “Uncle Steve” was teasing the thumb, but each time it looked as though a wrestler’s behind would be subjugated to it, another wrestler would come up and nail Steve in the back. Corino almost scored a pinfall, but was surprised by Bennet, who himself scored a 3-count over Uncle Steve.
The crowd was LOUD for Corino. The first two things he did elicited a chant of “UNCLE STEVE UNCLE STEVE!!” Corino seems generally shocked that the Chicago crowd loves him. Grizzly gave it his all in this fight, delivering hard chops to Bennet. Grizzly has a broad move set, ranging from Lucha Libre to brawler to mat technician; he’s always a joy to watch. Kyle got a good reaction as well. Bennet dominated much of this match, much to the chagrin of the crowd. He’s still very rough around the edges so nobody was quite sure how to accept him. At one point in the match, all four men were on their knees in a circle, punching the man on his left. The spin-the-bottle punching was fun to watch. ^_^ The whole match long “Uncle Steve” was teasing the thumb, but each time it looked as though a wrestler’s behind would be subjugated to it, another wrestler would come up and nail Steve in the back. Corino almost scored a pinfall, but was surprised by Bennet, who himself scored a 3-count over Uncle Steve.
3. El Generico Vs. Mike
Elgin with Truth Martini:
Truth came out in a very classy, brown fur trimmed coat. Elgin is a very strong brawler with an old school physique. El Generico was back in his usual colorful outfit, a breath of fresh air considering that the current HDNet cards still have him with the dower, black mask. This match started off even, but soon Elgin tipped the odds into his favor by nailing Generico with a lariat, sending the Generic Luchador spinning 180 degrees in the air. To prove how tough Elgin is, he even used Truth Martini’s body as a weapon against Generico! But the Generic Luchador is a feisty one, and he soon scored an upset victory. After the match however, Roderick Strong came tearing down the ramp, and beat the hell out of El Generico, smacking him in the back of the head with the title. After a lengthy beat down, Roderick attempted to cut a promo about how he would go on to beat Homicide. Homicide wasted ZERO time in hunting Roderick down. He then proposed that they have the title match right away. Roderick couldn’t have a greed more, and then bell rang.
Truth came out in a very classy, brown fur trimmed coat. Elgin is a very strong brawler with an old school physique. El Generico was back in his usual colorful outfit, a breath of fresh air considering that the current HDNet cards still have him with the dower, black mask. This match started off even, but soon Elgin tipped the odds into his favor by nailing Generico with a lariat, sending the Generic Luchador spinning 180 degrees in the air. To prove how tough Elgin is, he even used Truth Martini’s body as a weapon against Generico! But the Generic Luchador is a feisty one, and he soon scored an upset victory. After the match however, Roderick Strong came tearing down the ramp, and beat the hell out of El Generico, smacking him in the back of the head with the title. After a lengthy beat down, Roderick attempted to cut a promo about how he would go on to beat Homicide. Homicide wasted ZERO time in hunting Roderick down. He then proposed that they have the title match right away. Roderick couldn’t have a greed more, and then bell rang.
4. Roderick Strong with Truth Martini Vs. Homicide, Heavyweight Title No Holds Barred Barrio
Street Fight:
An odd placement for a title match, but neither Homicide nor Roderick seemed bugged by it. Right away, the fight went to the crowd (I hope my pictures come out ok) and the two snatched up chairs where they could. The battled back to the ring rather quickly though, where Roderick then started taking chairs, and pushing them between the turnbuckles. He had planned to send Homicide into each of them, but Homicide got his second wind. Roderick shocked Homicide with the 3 Amigos for a 2-count. Homicide bounced back and clocked Roderick. He then sent Roderick into each of the chairs, sending the crowd into a cheering fit. Homicide brings up a table, and stations it in the corner. Truth tries to attack Homicide, to which the Notorious 187 kicks Truth in the nuts. Roderick and Homicide go through the table, breaking it at the bottom but due to more interference from Truth, Roderick scores a surprise 3-count. After the match, Truth walks Roderick up the ramp. Homicide lays waste to the table and debris in the ring. Intermission starts. During intermission, Kevin Kelly and Jim Cornette make their way to the ring. Cornette announces that Ring Of Honor is doing TWO back to back iPPV’s on April 1st and April 2nd in Atlanta, while they are set to return to Chicago Ridge on May 21st.
An odd placement for a title match, but neither Homicide nor Roderick seemed bugged by it. Right away, the fight went to the crowd (I hope my pictures come out ok) and the two snatched up chairs where they could. The battled back to the ring rather quickly though, where Roderick then started taking chairs, and pushing them between the turnbuckles. He had planned to send Homicide into each of them, but Homicide got his second wind. Roderick shocked Homicide with the 3 Amigos for a 2-count. Homicide bounced back and clocked Roderick. He then sent Roderick into each of the chairs, sending the crowd into a cheering fit. Homicide brings up a table, and stations it in the corner. Truth tries to attack Homicide, to which the Notorious 187 kicks Truth in the nuts. Roderick and Homicide go through the table, breaking it at the bottom but due to more interference from Truth, Roderick scores a surprise 3-count. After the match, Truth walks Roderick up the ramp. Homicide lays waste to the table and debris in the ring. Intermission starts. During intermission, Kevin Kelly and Jim Cornette make their way to the ring. Cornette announces that Ring Of Honor is doing TWO back to back iPPV’s on April 1st and April 2nd in Atlanta, while they are set to return to Chicago Ridge on May 21st.
5. Sara Del Ray with Shane Hagadorn Vs. MsChif:
Unusually SHORT match, only lasted 3-4 minutes. Sara came out in a black trench coat. MsChif was gorgeous as usual. Sara hoisted MsChif onto her back, turned around slowly, smiled and waived at the crowd, then dropped MsChif for a 3 count. Sara then tried to start shit with MsChif. MsChif misted her!! Shane Hagadorn carted Sara up the ramp.
6. World Tag Team Champions The Kings OF Wrestling(Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli with Shane Hagadorn) Vs. The All Night Express(Rhett Titus and Kenny King):
The fight opens up with an eerie “CLAAAAADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” from the crowd, as he opens up against Kenny King. These two teams solidify why the tag team division is so important to preserve. Claudio played to the crowd with a cartoonish appeal, as every one of his moves elicited a “HEEEEEEY” from the audience. Kenny & Rhett were evenly matched against Claudio & Hero. Both teams couldn’t keep the action to the ring only, as they frequented outside by the barricade. Rhett has come a long way these last few months, and he took every ounce of his training to Hero, who was more than ready to keep up with Rhett’s strength. Back & forth the two went, and it certainly looked as though Kenny & Rhett would walk out with the tag belts, but Hero’s loaded elbow pad awaited the two, and KOW would score another victory.
7. Eddie Edwards Vs. TV Champion Christopher Daniels ~ 2 out of 3 falls match:
"The best laid schemes of bookers and writers go often askew, and leave wrestler’s heads nothing but grief and pain, for promised title defense. Still you are blessed, compared with me! The present only touches you. But oh! I backward cast my eye, On contracts TNA! And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear!"
If Robert Burns had written his 1785 poem about wrestling in
2011 instead of his original topic, I could guess that more than a
stanza would be written like this. And certainly I was thinking of this
writing when I saw the finish of this match. Eddie Edwards began by unleashing Bob Holly-esque chops to
Christopher Daniels, and attacked with great fury. Both men would
wrestle as though the first fall was the only fall that counted, and
they wasted no time in trying to top the other’s submission attempts.
Christopher attacked Eddie with much passion, and the two trades chops & blows. There was only a 30 minute time limit, and they made each
minute count. Christopher scored a pinfall in the first 20, but then
Eddie’s second wind hit and he shocked Christopher with a 3 count
himself. By now, we were heading into the last several minutes, and both
men stepped it up. The fight continued in and out of the ring, but
that’s where things got dicey. Eddie flung Christopher into the
turnbuckles, then himself took a SICK landing onto the Fallen Angel…who
slumped over.
The bell rang. The 30 minute time limit had expired, and neither
man had scored a 3rd victory. Eddie realized that his opponent had not
gotten back up, and he crawled over with referee Paul Turner to check on
Christopher. Christopher tried to get up on his own, but could not. He
was in and out of consciousness.
Cornette ran down with wrestlers. The
wrestlers, ref and Cornette agreed that the match had to stop, so
Cornette made the announcement that the final decision of both ref and
time keeper would stand. This match ended at an even draw. Christopher
was rushed to the back.
8. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team(Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) Vs. Jay & Mark
Briscoe:
Though it’s unusual that a non-title match would close out the iPPV, nobody was complaining. Shelton wrestles like he’s always been in ROH, though he still has fewer than 5 ROH shows under his belt at this point. Haas was able to adapt to The Briscoes’ stiff style. The two teams brawled. WGTT seemed shocked at the resilience and sharp blows that Jay & Mark have been known to deliver. The two teams kept most of the action in the ring, save but for a short segment on the outside, where Haas’ endurance was tested as Mark Briscoe front flip splashed onto WGTT and, inadvertently, Jay. The crowd was HOT for the fight, and I ended up missing some spots due to fans leaping to their feet in front of me. By this point, the Briscoes had Haas and Benjamin under control, as they were setting Haas up for The Doomsday Device when, from out of nowhere, Haas reverses the move! Jay attempted a Jay Driller, but Haas reversed that too! Benjamin leaps in and helps Haas deliver their own Doomsday Device, which lead to a stunning 3 count for Haas and Benjamin. Before leaving the Frontier Fieldhouse, I had the rare chance to say hi to Angel Armani, who was there visiting friends. Angel used to do shows for ROH in 2008 and is a PHENOMINAL legend in Milwaukee. And an absolute joy to talk to as well. ^_^ I had last seen him at PWKrush back in November.
Though it’s unusual that a non-title match would close out the iPPV, nobody was complaining. Shelton wrestles like he’s always been in ROH, though he still has fewer than 5 ROH shows under his belt at this point. Haas was able to adapt to The Briscoes’ stiff style. The two teams brawled. WGTT seemed shocked at the resilience and sharp blows that Jay & Mark have been known to deliver. The two teams kept most of the action in the ring, save but for a short segment on the outside, where Haas’ endurance was tested as Mark Briscoe front flip splashed onto WGTT and, inadvertently, Jay. The crowd was HOT for the fight, and I ended up missing some spots due to fans leaping to their feet in front of me. By this point, the Briscoes had Haas and Benjamin under control, as they were setting Haas up for The Doomsday Device when, from out of nowhere, Haas reverses the move! Jay attempted a Jay Driller, but Haas reversed that too! Benjamin leaps in and helps Haas deliver their own Doomsday Device, which lead to a stunning 3 count for Haas and Benjamin. Before leaving the Frontier Fieldhouse, I had the rare chance to say hi to Angel Armani, who was there visiting friends. Angel used to do shows for ROH in 2008 and is a PHENOMINAL legend in Milwaukee. And an absolute joy to talk to as well. ^_^ I had last seen him at PWKrush back in November.
The after party was a more quiet affair, as only a few people
showed up. Still, I got a thrill when I presented Eddie Edwards with a
cartoon I had made him:
Eddie seemed very happy to see it. :D He shared the cartoon around with everyone. This is the kind of reaction that makes me want to draw more. Christopher Daniels made an appearance, though he asked everyone to lower their voices because of his head. He was already sporting stitches and had to be very careful, though I’m happy to say that he was cleared by his doctor. Not even a concussion! Christopher, Kenny King & Rhett Titus sat at my table and had pizza with Mama, Orion & I. ^_^ Dave Prazak snapped a pic of me with MsChif. I thanked her profusely for defeating Screech at AAW two weeks prior. She has such a sweet smile! Haas and Benjamin also attended, though they both were somewhat shy. They both had to be reminded that it’s OK to speak with Homicide and Christopher Daniels. Poor guys. This was a fun experience!
Eddie seemed very happy to see it. :D He shared the cartoon around with everyone. This is the kind of reaction that makes me want to draw more. Christopher Daniels made an appearance, though he asked everyone to lower their voices because of his head. He was already sporting stitches and had to be very careful, though I’m happy to say that he was cleared by his doctor. Not even a concussion! Christopher, Kenny King & Rhett Titus sat at my table and had pizza with Mama, Orion & I. ^_^ Dave Prazak snapped a pic of me with MsChif. I thanked her profusely for defeating Screech at AAW two weeks prior. She has such a sweet smile! Haas and Benjamin also attended, though they both were somewhat shy. They both had to be reminded that it’s OK to speak with Homicide and Christopher Daniels. Poor guys. This was a fun experience!
ROH - Chicago Ridge, IL - July 24, 2010 by Kori
Cornette opened the show by informing the crowd that there will be a Ring Of Honor Internet PPV in Chicago, but a date cannot be released just yet due to scheduling difficulties. He put over the crowd’s atmosphere and plugged the September 11th PPV in New York.
Main Show Matches:
1. Erick Stevens and Necro Butcher beat Grizzly Redwood and “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown in a Tag Wars match. ~ Necro’s primarily bald now, but still retains his beard. He now wears Jimmy Rave’s old robe, as the current Crown Jewel of the Embassy.
Right off the bat, Rasche dominated the attentions of the crowd while Erick fearlessly attacked. It wasn’t long before Skullkrusher gained the upper hand, prompting Necro to tag in. Grizzly tagged in, wanting a piece of his former ally. Grizzly attacked Necro, but Necro was able to overpower Grizzly quickly. Grizzly was tossed to the outside, where Erick took a few swings. Necro followed, thwapping Grizzly against the barricade. He brought Grizzly back to the ring, with Grizzly bleeding from just near the temple. Necro tried to pry the wound open further, prompting Skullkrusher to invite himself to the party. Soon he was tagged back in legally, as Necro tagged out. Skullkrusher hoisted Erick over his head, and flung him to the outside. Grizzly would also take flight, as soon as Necro was on the outside. Skullkrusher was about to take flight to the outside, but just as he was taking his run ~ FROM OUT OF NOWHERE ~ Erick had come back up to the ring from the side, caught Skullkrusher in a rollup, and used the tights to gain a pinfall.
After the match, Skullkrusher raised Grizzly’s hand, and helped him to the back. Grizzly has since had 10 staples to close the wound.
2. Amazing Kong defeated Sara del Rey. ~ For those who haven’t seen it on HDNet yet, Sara’s entrance consists of Hero, Claudio and Hagadorn bowing to her and singing her praises as she enters the ring. She wore a cute blue/green ensemble.
At first, Amazing Kong would NOT budge when Sara punched and kicked her. Every kick just seem to bounce off of Kong, or make her giggle. Sara realized that Kong wasn’t looking for your standard female match, she wanted a knock out drag out FIGHT. Sara took Kong into the corner, and toughened up her kicks and strikes, then aimed for Kong’s head. Now Kong got pissed.
Sara was soon flung to the ropes as Kong began to hit her HARD. The two were now exchanging LOUD strikes, but each time Sara bounced, Hero and Claudio would take turns distracting the ref and hitting Kong. Shane even tried to trip Kong, but this just made her mad. She sent Sara to the outside, where Claudio caught her.
As Claudio and Hero were checking on Sara, making sure she was okay, Kong FLEW. Sara moved as fast as she could, leaving her men in the path of Kong. They were unable to evade.
Once back in the ring, the two SHIMMER girls continued dueling. Sara gained the upper hand for a short time, but was ultimately rolled up for a clean pin by Amazing Kong.
3. The Briscoes beat House of Truth (Christian Able and Josh “Jug” Raymond with Truth Martini) in a Tag Wars match. ~ This was a very technically sound match. The Briscoes kept to more catch-style moves this time around, taking turns beating on Able. Then Jug tagged in, and pulled off an absolutely stunning move.
Once he got to the top rope, Jug leaped off, arms cross-crossed over his shoulders, spinning for 6-7 rotations in the air, before landing on his target. It was a graceful move that stunned the Chicago crowd. Jug is an agile wrestler who used several sensational flips and moonsaults in the fight.
However, it wasn’t long before Jay and Mark regained momentum. After catching Truth helping his boys to cheat a little, the Briscoes took to the air, landing on Truth and Able at full force. The brothers later returned to the ring, double-teaming House of Truth for the win.
4. Pick 6 Series Challenge Match~ Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) beat Austin Aries. ~ Truth was back to the ring almost immediately, still adjusting his neck. Roderick and Austin had a great back and forth match, after all this time. The two wrestlers beat the hell out of each other, refusing to back down. Roderick started strengthening his strikes, knocking Austin into the corner.
Truth held down Austin, prompting the ref to eject him from ringside. Truth didn’t want to go. Paul Turner came back out to encourage him to leave. On the ramp, Adam Pearce stood, staring down Truth, motioning that a beating would occur should he fail to comply with the ref’s wishes. Truth walked to the back.
But Roderick was able to keep up without Truth, as the finish came when Roderick reversed Austin’s brainbuster into a backbreaker for a pinfall.
But Austin was NOT done. Not by a long shot. He quickly took the mic as Truth returned to retrieve Roderick, and Austin insisted that the match was only so good because “Roddy” was facing A-Double, and he offered Roderick the chance to join him again.
Then Austin put his coat back on, noting that his team (Kenny King and Rhett Titus) were about to come out to face Delirious and Jerry Lynn. He then informed the crowd that before coming to Chicago, he had kidnapped Daizee Haze! He bragged that he could have done “anything’ he wanted to her, but instead he sat her down and showed her that Delirious is a man who will always leave her in danger, whereas she needs to be with “a real man like me”, noting that Daizee “bag o’ bones” Haze would not be in attendance.
5. Rhett Titus and Kenny King (with Austin Aries) beat Jerry Lynn and Delirious. ~ Rhett and Kenny came out first, then Lynn and Delirious. Delirious bypassed the boys entirely, sprung through the ropes and landed on Austin, then proceeded to beat A-Double as though he owed him money.
Lynn coaxed Delirious back into the ring, where he began to take his frustrations out on Kenny. But Austin wasn’t finished. He slowly walked to the back, seemingly deserting Rhett and Kenny. The boys continued on without him, as Lynn got tagged in.
Lynn couldn’t wait to unleash a hurricanrana on Kenny, showing off his speed and agility. Lynn made his moves look effortless as he and Delirious began to double team Kenny and Rhett respectively. But that’s when trouble surfaced ;
Strutting to the ring returned Austin Aries…. In Daizee’s clothes!!
Daizee Aries kept adjusting himself every few seconds, distracting every single person in the crowd and in the ring. Rhett and Kenny even looked over like, “Are you trying to get us maimed?” The hellfire in Delirious’s eyes was unmistakable. It wasn’t long before he once again jumped Austin, leaving Lynn to be subjected to Kenny to hit a backbreaker, and Rhett hitting a knee drop from the top rope.
It was Kenny’s birthday, so a win was a great way to celebrate.
After the match, Delirious again began attacking Austin, beating Daizee’s shirt off of him. Austin retains the skirt.
Announcer Kevin Harvey came back to the ring. The fans began chanting “INTERMISSION *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP* INTERMISSION” So Kevin yelled “IT’S INTERMISSION TIIIIIIME!!”
Intermission was of a moderate length. Mr. & Mrs. Cornette signed autographs and hung out with fans while the ring was being wiped down. For fun, Paul Turner and the girl they got to wipe down the ring took turns. Everytime the girl would wipe the ropes from side to side, the crowd would go “OooOOOOOooooOoOoooooooooo” but if Paul did it, they just booed. But both were applauded for the work.
6. Colt “BOOM BOOM” Cabana and El Generico defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) in a Tag Wars match. ~ Colt and Davey got the loudest reactions from the crowd. In lieu of the standard pre-match handshake, Davey spat at Colt. So after the first two moves Colt spat back. The crowd asked them not to do it again. XP
Davey decided to pull out some comedy. He flung Colt into the corner, then hoisted up his own arms yelling “FLYIIIIIIIIIING ASSHOLE!!” But by the time he had run over there, Colt had walked away, leaving Davey to land butt first on the turnbuckle. Nobody expected the usually serious Davey to start the match like that.
But soon the comedy gave way to a more serious back and forth fight, as Colt was able to keep up with Davey’s strikes. Davey tagged Eddie and Colt tagged Generico. Eddie and Generico were just about even. The two teams each ignored the ref’s rules, double-teaming left and right. The crowd got wild, unable to pick a winner. The two teams gave it their all.
Colt finally got the upper hand, and despite many attempts to slow him down, Colt was able to make Eddie Edwards tap out to the Billy Goat’s Curse.
7. The Kings of Wrestling(Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) defeated Young Bucks/Generation Me(Matt Jackson/Max Buck and twin Nick/Jeremy) in a non-title match. ~
Hero spent most of the match just staring down at the twins, who by this time were just plain “Young Bucks” because both the roster and the fans had decided to use their Indy names, and NOT their TNA titles.
Nick started by trying to cut Hero’s legs out from under him, and wildly swinging. The twins tried to out speed the KOW each time Hero or Claudio tagged, even taking the fight outside the ring. But all this really did was annoy the current Tag champs, who soon gained the upper hand, a statement made apparent by Claudio ripping off part of the barricade. (To be mentioned again later.) Back in the ring, it was Claudio’s turn to abuse Nick, and then Matt, and as usual, his moves were met with “HEY” from the crowd. At one point, Claudio had hoisted Matt up for an airplane spin, and actually did this with NO hands! Claudio just spun around, sticking his tongue out as his opponent was held down just by inertia.
Even double-team moves could not even slow down KOW, as each time one was down, the other King would pop back up. Finish saw Hero hit the KRS-1 on Matt, then cover for a three while Claudio submitted Nick.
8. Main Event ~ Tyler Black defeated “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen to retain the ROH Title. ~ Anyone who says Tyler Black isn’t a real champion can shut the hell up. Tyler was taken to the limit in this match, and still came back for more.
At first, the crowd cheered against Tyler, craving Mr. Wrestling’s first title. But Steen being the effervescent heel than he is, turned on the crowd immediately, flipping them off as he tried to submit Tyler.
The two were back to their feet, and Steen flung Tyler to the outside. Remember the barricade Claudio ripped? Well Steen did. He THWAPPED Tyler’s head into the busted barricade, then like the closing of a book SMACKED the two parts of the barricade against Tyler, causing the boy to bleed profusely. Steen then drug Tyler back into the ring, took a handful of Tyler’s blood, licked it and then smeared it all over his own face! Crowd erupted into chants of “YOU SICK FUCK!!”
Tyler recovered. The two traded chops, each one teasing his finisher. All the way to the ropes where Tyler gained an advantage. Steen landed on the lip of the ring, and Tyler took to the top turnbuckle. He did a HUGE double-stomp onto Steen, and the two landed through the announcer’s table, grossing out timekeeper Giuseppe Di Lorento, as when the two returned to their feet, Steen was bleeding like mad.
The two were back in the ring, where Tyler pulled strength out of nowhere to pick up and toss Steen from across the ring, into the turnbuckles! Tyler climbed the top rope, but Steen climbed too, and the two took a nasty spill to the center of the ring. Back on their feet, they traded punches, then chops then SICK kicks to the head, refusing to back down. They each attempted their finishers, but Tyler could not pin Steen nor could Steen submit Tyler.
Every move led only to a two count, prompting the crowd to chant “THAT WAS THREE, THAT WAS THREE” to senior ref Todd Sinclair.
Somehow, Tyler managed to kick Steen again, and then make him submit to a sharpshooter. A hard fought victory.
Saturday was AWESOME!! XD I was a small part of an amazing street fight, I got pics with most of the ROH crew, hit an incredible sale, went to an after party which turned into a birthday party for Colt, and I was
During the wait in line, I got a hug from Prince Nana, and a glimpse of a shy new ref named Carley Rae. She hails from SHIMMER and would be ref for the last two pre-show matches. 6:30 came really quickly, and we were inside. Orion had saved up enough money for some DVDs, just in time for the 5 for $60 sale.
Orion had spent the last few months saving up enough money to buy some ROH DVDs, just in time for the 5 for $60 sale! So now Orion’s caught up. ^_^ As I was putting the DVDs in my backpack for him, Davey Richards stopped by to say hi! Davey and Orion fist-bumped. Really sweet friend! He watched over the younger wrestlers that came in for the show, from the crowd.
There was a free Mr. and Mrs. Cornette meet & greet before the show, so for my friends Jimmy Falcon and John Soley I snapped a picture of the couple.
Pre-Show started soon after a majority of the fans began to sit down. Attendance was around 800 I think, but I stopped counting before the bell rang. The speaker was sort of off until the main show started, so I couldn’t hear the names of everyone who wrestled. I’M SORRY!! I’m usually really good at catching wrestlers’ names early, especially during the preshow, but I wound up not hearing too many names.
Pre Show Match #1 ~ The Hybrids (With Sly Stetson) Vs. Zero Gravity ~ Sly knows how to get under everyone’s skin as a heel. And the best part is that he doesn’t have to cut a promo or make too many motions! There aren’t many heels I can say that about these days. The Hybrids and Zero Gravity are pretty evenly matched, some fans said it was like watching a mirror image in the ring. But the match was really good. Finish saw one of the Hybrids pinning a Zero gravity member by tugging on his tights. Both teams got applause from the crowd.
Pre Show Match #2 ~ Kyle O’Rielly Vs. ? ~ Man I’m sorry I didn’t get this kid’s name. Kyle’s opponent looked a lot like Super Crazy when he was younger. Blue tights, came out to some great music, had a muscular build and a bit of a booty. Not as much as 2008 Christopher Daniels but a little one. Since I still can’t find the kid’s name, I’m replacing it with ?. Kyle & ? butted heads and locked up really early. ? tried to evade Kyle’s kicks by utilizing Lucha-inspired flips, but Kyle kept up. Soon like the match previous, it became too hard to pick a winner. Kyle with his insanely hard kicks & chops, and ? with his speed. SOOOOOOO The Dark City Fight Club picked a winner FOR us. Kory and Jon came out, tossed ? into the barricade FROM the ring, then proceeded to whomp on Kyle. The announcer then said “Here are your winners…. Dark City Fight Club!!”
Pre Show Match #3 ~ Bobby Dempsey 10-person Battle Royal Challenge ~ The speaker started clearing up, but only a little, so again I am ashamed to admit that I did not get a chance to write down all of the names. I can still remember when I first met Bobby at the door back in Feb of 2005, and now he has his own cult following. That’s cool. The battle royal consisted of 9 men and one female! I think her name was Malia or Maria, but the speaker still hadn’t cleared up so I’m not sure. One of the 9 men was Prince Mustafa Ali, a well known Indy wrestler in the Midwest. Another man was Lamar Titan, whom I first saw last year.
Bobby pretty much cleaned house, though each of the other wrestlers did a great job in the battle. The girl was third one to be eliminated. Bodies kept flying until there was just Bobby, a muscular black wrestler, and Prince Mustafa Ali. The 2nd wrestler tried to hit Bobby, but Bobby hits THIS AMAZING flying head-scissors/hurricanrana move from out of NOWHERE, prompting the Chicago crowd to erupt in cheers.
Bobby went to eliminate the 2nd wrestler, but accidentally fell over the top rope with him. So Prince Mustafa Ali was announced the winner!
The main show started right after the boys cleared the ring. Jim Cornette came out and asked “Has anybody heard any good gossip lately?” The fans chanted “FUCK VINCE RUSSO” clap clap clap clap clap. Which led into “FUCK TNA, FUCK TNA” Cornette then ran down the card and returned to the table.
Main Show Match #1 ~ "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown Vs. "The New Horror" Sami Callihan ~ Skullkrusher had his ribs all taped up, and had to take time to catch his breath during the fight. Sami wore a black and red singlet, matching the ring. A vast improvement over the cheetah print. Sami showed no fear. He stood to Skullkrusher and hit him as hard as he could. Skullkrusher didn’t move. Just looked down like he wanted to say “The hell is your problem?” Sami didn’t back down. He hit Skullkrusher again. Skullkrusher got pissed.
*L*A*R*I*A*T*
Sami did a 360 in the air before landing, but Sami kept at it. He attacked Skullkrusher’s ribs, pulling off the tape. The fight even went to the outside where Sami tried to run his opponent into the barricade, the ring post and even into unsuspecting crowd members. But this was just pissing Skullkrusher off more & more, and he was quick to drop Sami on his head. Once back in the ring, Sami tried again to take down his opponent, but Skullkrusher was just getting his second wind. He took Sami into the corner and reared back.
*CRACK*
He delivered one of the LOUDEST chops in history. Sami was hit so hard on his chest that you could see the handprint from the back of Sami too!! Sami knelt down and turned bright red. The ref asked him if he was okay. Sami nodded, but couldn’t make the “yes” sound. When he took in a breath, the pain shot through him, and even the crowd said OW. Sami eventually got back up, but it was just in time for Skullkrusher to deliver the burning hammer. Skullkrusher wins.
Main Show Match #2 ~ The Bravado Brothers Vs. Dark City Fight Club ~ Back in December, Harlem and Lance surprised me with a black/purple Bravados t-shirt, which I was wearing on Saturday. ^_^ THANK YOU!! Harlem has let his hair grow out quite a bit since I last saw them back in December, and Saturday they were wearing a cheerful shade of green. The boys did all they could against DCFC. Harlem attempted a few high spot maneuvers against Jon, while Lance went for more technical spots against Kory. But DCFC never let up for a minute. Jon cracked a chop over Harlem’s chest, sending him into the corner to tag in Lance.
Once Harlem had recovered, he and Lance attempted a few double team moves against Jon, but soon Kory tagged in, and helped Jon send Lance out of the way. Then Jon sat on Harlem, smacking his head repeatedly into the canvas, until the referee called for the bell. After their win, DCFC retrieved Lance, and dropped him onto the canvas in a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo.
Main Show Match #3 ~ Eddie Edwards Vs. The Metal Master ~ Metal Master is a snazzy dresser. His costume reminds me of Ultimo Dragon. This was a very technical match. Eddie and Metal Master spared no expense with the scientific moves. Eddie only threw in a few high spots, and Metal Master attempted a few Lucha moves, but for the most part, this was an old school wrestling match. The two were primarily even, which seemed to frustrate Eddie in the early part of the match. Metal Master stayed close to the mat, catching Eddie at each turn. But it proved to be fuel for the fire, as Eddie won by making Metal Master submit via a single leg crab.
Main Show Match # 4 ~ Shawn Daivari and Erick Stevens (with Prince Nana) Vs. Christian Able and Josh “Jug” Raymond (with Truth Martini) ~ Truth was wearing a black suit with a white shirt. Able was wearing his usual pantyhose outfit in blue, and Jug has gotten a super short haircut. There was an asshole fan who took Nana’s being a heel WAY too seriously. The dude was heckling all of the wrestlers and pissing off the other fans. Nana threw a water bottle at him to cool him off, but the dude tried climbing the barricade! O_O Seriously? Needless to say security man Zach kicked his ass out, and police were standing at the door to make sure this bastard didn’t return. Match was decent. Able put a lot of effort into the fight with Daivari, who himself has shown MAJOR improvement since his TNA stint. Daivari has become more flexible, and no longer is tied down by his old storyline. He’s treated the same as everyone else and it’s a beautiful change. ^_^ Jug and Able double teamed Daivari where they could, but Daivari was seemingly ready for each move. Erick wasn’t in the ring as often as Daivari but when he was used he kept Able pretty much at bay. Nana was playing with the crowd when suddenly Truth Martini stepped into the ring. He tossed something shiny and metal at Daivari, who quickly tossed it to the outside. Truth then performed a flying head scissors, thus getting The House of Truth disqualified, though the ref didn’t stop the match until almost a minute later. Truth started wreaking havoc on Daivari and Erick, then made the mistake of pissing off Prince Nana. Truth took to the top rope but Nana knocked the rope, causing Truth to land crotch first onto the turnbuckle.
Main Show Match #5 ~ Davey Richards Vs. Roderick Strong ~ WOW. Just plain WOW. This is the match to buy the DVD for. This is the match that will turn your non-believer friends into true wrestling marks. If you’ve ever lost your faith in professional wrestling, then I encourage you to buy the DVD when it comes out and see this match. Davey and Roderick worked a technical, catch as catch can, heavy strikes hybrid match. This was the match that most rookies study from. When you think pro wrestling, you think of this match. I wish the ROH Pure title was still around, because this would be the match to solidify it’s legacy. Davey opened up with a strong grapple. I like saying that word by the way. Grapple. If Grapple was a fruit, it would be the sweetest, juiciest round fruit ever. Say it with me ~ Grapple. Anyway, Davey opens with a strong grapple to Roderick, and soon the wrestlers are locked up in the middle. Davey and Roderick were soon trading chops and kicks, then they locked hands. Davey spotted me in the crowd. Just like at the last two shows I saw Davey at, once I was spotted, he started applying some of Bryan Danielson’s techniques to the fight. Roderick caught onto Davey’s game this time, and himself took a few moves from Bryan. The two took turns putting each other into situations in which the man on the ground would bridge out, then they traded sharp, fast kicks, then smiled at the crowd. But soon the two men went from having fun to getting serious. The two took the battle to the outside, where Davey accidentally landed on an unsuspecting group of fans. Roderick also had a small crowd spot, freaking out some newbies. (HA HA funny.) Back in the ring, the two began trading finishers, trying to KO the other. Japanese style kicks were hurled at each other, and the two went for umpty-zillion pin attempts. Unable to put the other out, Davey and Roderick went for broke, aiming for the head. But just as it looked as though there might be a winner, the bell rung. “Ladies and gentlemen the 20 minute time limit has expired. Therefore this match has been declared a DRAW.” Davey took the mic, and was like “Roderick. We just went at it for 20 minutes solid. I know you can do it, let’s go for 5 more minutes. C’mon!!”
Roderick took the mic. “I have a title match on the 8th. Chicago, I mean no disrespect…. But NO.” Davey pitched a fit, the crowd begged for another 5 minutes. Roddy said NO.
Main Show Match #6 ~ Final Countdown Tour Chicago Rematch ~ Petey Williams Vs. Rhett Titus ~ Petey’s hair is growing out, so now he has a whole head of hair again. It’s not as long as Eddie Edwards yet, but Petey looks like himself again. Rhett and Petey started the fight with a bit of comedy, then the kicking began. Rhett put a lot of effort into the fight, absolutely refusing to take another fall. Petey kicked Rhett several times, and used just about everything he learned in TNA on him, but Rhett was prepared for all of it. Part of the match was fought on the outside as Petey nearly took out half the crowd when he lept through the ropes. It looked grim for Rhett, and the crowd was almost certain of Petey’s victory. The longer the fight went, the more it seemed that Rhett was passing out. Petey went for the Canadian Destroyer when from out of NO PLACE IMAGINABLE, Rhett reverses the move, leverages his body on the ropes and scores a pin fall over Petey!!
Main Show Match #7 ~ The Briscoe Brothers Vs. Kenny King and Austin Aries ~ Before the match, Austin (in his pink Muppet coat and matching sparkle man-panties) insisted to the crowd that his relationship with Kenny was just fine, that they had worked out their problems since the last Video Wire. However, Austin had also informed the crowd that the previous night in Dayton, the Briscoes had gotten drunk and were butting heads, and had even fought each other! Austin called them out on it. The bell rings and the Briscoes at first are arguing with each other, butting heads. Austin attempted to take advantage of this, but the brothers were just FAKING AUSTIN OUT, as they flipped Austin into the air. Kenny tagged in after much battling, and tried to KO Mark Briscoe, but all this did was piss him off of course, so the two went back and forth with the action. Jay would tag in, and soon the brothers were taking turns on Kenny. But Kenny has gotten stronger, so he kept up with every blow. This became a knockdown, drag out fight as Austin and Kenny tried everything to beat the Briscoes, but soon all four men were in the ring at the same time causing a bit of confusion. Kenny thought he had Mark on his shoulder, but actually caught Austin! Kenny dropped Austin, then looked down in shock, realizing too late what he did. Jay laughed at him, then hit a Jay Driller on Kenny. The Briscoes win!
After the match, Austin and Kenny got into a shoving match, and started arguing. Rhett Titus came out, and tried to calm them both down. At first it looked like Kenny was going to hit Austin, but then the two made up, and there was a group hug in the ring. Aww! ?
Main Show Match #8 ~ ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match ~ Tyler Black Vs. Chris Hero (with Shane Hagadorn) ~ This match was breathtaking. The crowd was split in half over who they wanted to win. Tyler and Hero traded strong kicks, it’s a wonder nobody lost a tooth that night! A majority of the match saw the two trying to see how hard they could kick the other. Hero used different elbow strikes, even the rolling elbow to take out Tyler, but Hero forgot to bank on Tyler’s HARD head. Resilient Tyler bounced back from each hit. So Hero knocked Tyler into the crowd! Tyler landed weird on his neck, and security was out immediately to ensure that Tyler would get back up without the fans bugging him. (I still got a pic in though.) Tyler barely made it over the rail, but soon regained his speed. Hero and Tyler continued striking each other, there were so many near falls! Once Tyler was draped over the top rope, Hero went for his rolling elbow to the back of Tyler’s head, the same way he KO’ed Bryan in Dayton. BUT Tyler has a *H*A*R*D* head, so his body bounced off the canvas, and he landed on his feet like a cartoon! Tyler aimed for a superkick, then took out Hero with God’s Last Gift for a 3 count. Amazing.
Main Show Match #9 ~ Chicago Street Fight ~ Colt Cabana and El Generico Vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino ~ Before I start, I just want to point out that ROH brought in a fun new announcer, whose name I didn’t catch. The announcer looked to the crowd and says “If you have any bags, purses or any other possessions near you, PLEASE pick them up NOW and keep them WITH YOU for the rest of the night. Parents, if you have small children, PLEASE hold them tight to you RIGHT NOW. This is a Chicago Street Fight, I know these guys, there WILL BE people flying from the ringside area. PLEASE for the love of God, be ready to get the HELL out of the way.” The newer fans laughed. “Oh he’s funny! This guy’s joking right?” Ah you silly newbies. You guys are chewy, and taste like cherries. Silly silly newbie fans, you’re all so adorable! *Pats newbies on the head* There were newbie cops too courtesy of the Chicago Ridge Junior Squirt Division, who were not told about the level of bloodshed about to cover the evening. Now I’m used to street fights, so I know the protocol. “Get yo’ shit an’ RUN” is the general mode of thinking, which is why I now carry a clear backpack with me, instead of my usual purses. That way I have all the space I need for DVDs, T-shirts, and I can run with my hands a little more empty, save for my disposable camera of course. Steve Corino wore a white suit to the fight, just begging for it to be bled on. Steen, Colt and Generico wore regular clothes.
Colt Cabana is probably the LAST person on Earth you want pissed at’choo, so it goes without saying that the fight went to the crowd almost immediately. I ran ahead with my camera just as Steen was about to hurl Generico over the railing. Orion wanted to help Colt out with a chair, but the newbie cops (whom I don’t believe are wrestling fans) threatened to arrest my little brother if he tried! So I sent him back to Mama, which is good, because bodies were starting to fly and if he had stayed where he was for another moment, he would have been squished. Behind the rail by the ring, Corino had broken a fan’s beer bottle, and began stabbing and scraping Colt in the head with the broken end. At the same time, Generico’s body was sent flipping over the barricade. Steen beat his body, then *PLOPPED* down to the ground, put all of Generico’s *junk* into his mouth AND CHEWED!!! >_O Probably one of the top three sickest things I’ve seen live so far. Todd Sinclair pried Steen off and started yelling “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?! WE DON’T DO THAT HERE!!” To wit Steen grabbed Todd’s head and SNOGGED HIM!! O_O;; There was slobber everywhere and Todd turned blue & almost hurled on everyone. Then sick-ass Steen turned around and tried to kiss the camera dude! Camera dude yelled “HEY! I will hit you with this camera, we can make this a SHORT match right now!!” Steen backed off. Steen and Corino had started to kick Generico again, but Colt fought them off and began dragging them through the crowd. As the crowd, cops and security followed Colt, I noticed that nobody was tending to Generico. So I leaned over. A cop was like “DON’T YOU TOUCH HIM!!” And I looked over like “He’s my friend, back off.”
Me: Generico? Generico?
*No answer*
Me: Generico?
*whimpers*
Me:….. Yo Amigo you okay?
Generico: …. (High pitched voice) I would like to beeeeee…..
I got him to roll over. He started crawling. I just kept telling him to breathe, and that it would be okay. Generico started to stumble up, so I helped him back up. We walked over to where the hard camera WAS.
I say “was” because Steen had climbed up there, and the camera guy with his equipment were now missing!
Colt was on the ground, and Corino was stationed behind the yellow structure, laughing. Generico takes a breath. “OK time to fly.” He puts a foot and a hand on my side, and springboards off of me, through the yellow structure, and lands on Corino, flying through like a comic book superhero! Generico gets back up, climbs the structure and prepares to fight Steen. Steen hits a Michinoku Driver onto the scaffold. The structure started to wobble. Myself and a few other fans started a “PLEASE DON’T DIE” chant, because Steen kept losing his footing. Luckily, the two made it down alive, but the match was only warming up. Chairs were randomly snatched from ringside and used to thwap the other man’s head with. At one point, Generico had hit Steen so hard with a chair, the seat part flew OFF! Once back in the ring area, Steen and Corino set up a table on top of another table, but they were quickly dragged back into the ring. By this time I was standing on a chair across from the ring and behind a few fans, just so I could get a good shot with my camera. There were more chairs in the ring, and a table was placed in the corner. Steen was sent through the outside tables by Generico, but Steen bounced right back up. Colt had gone through the table, but also could not be brought down. Steen brought a ladder in the ring, and did some REALLY SICK SHIT with it to Generico. Corino tried to kill Generico, but totally forgot Colt was behind him. Colt punched Corino while Steen grabbed a baseball bat covered in barbed wire. He went to use it on Colt, but Generico snatched it from Steen, and knocked him out of the ring. Colt put the Billy Goat’s Curse onto Corino. Corino was screaming “I’m ECW bitch! You can’t make me tap!!” So Generico used the barbed wire bat on Corino’s head, making him bleed all over the place. Then, Generico shoved the bat under Corino’s head. Steen started screaming because he couldn’t get to Corino in time. Generico grabbed a chair. Corino’s blood shot out EVERYWHERE, spraying the fans a bit. Todd knelt down. Corino had passed out. Todd rang the bell, declaring Colt and Generico the winners!
After the fight, Colt took Generico to the back. The refs all came out with the new wrestlers, and began to sop up the blood and pry the wire out of Corino’s head. A fan beside me asks “Hey I couldn’t see, what happened?”
Me: Corino’s head was on the barbed wire baseball bat, then Generico THWAPPED him with a chair.
Fan boy: What? No way.
Me: WAY!!
Fan Boy: well, who are these other people and why are they here?
Me: Those are the young wrestlers from earlier and the refs. They have to wake Corino up and get him ready for the ambulance ride.
Fan Boy: ….. HOLY SHIT IT’S A SHOOT?!?! OMG OMG It’s REAL?!?! OMG the blood’s all real too?!?!
Newbies. They’re so adorable.
On my way out to Rosa’s, I actually got to catch Kidd Russell! :D Kidd is responsible for Colt, Rhett & Steen’s music, and the theme song for ROH’s HDNet program. Kidd was with this INSANLEY cute and gorgeous lady, who just had the prettiest smile. ^_^ She looked like a doll! I’m sorry I didn’t catch her name.
But before we had the chance to chat too long, we were all group kicked out. The newbie cops were ready to shoot, so we were ushered out of the building. But not before I waved over to Bobby and the Bravados.
Off to Rosa’s we went for the after party. A table was set up for Colt, because his birthday is May 6th, so this was an ROH party that became a birthday party too!
Dark City Fight Club, The Briscoes, Roderick, and Kenny King were the first ones in. Then Kidd and soon most of the roster began piling in for dinner. Kenny King made time with every single fan in the building, proving that even a heel knows class. Adam and Mrs. Cornette took turns on karaoke. Synn warbled through Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” as more wrestlers piled in. As soon as I was done with my dinner, I reached into my backpack to fetch a drawing I had made Colt.
And these are the nights that I live for. ^_^ Saturday was amazing!!
Ring Of Honor on HDNet by Chris
By now the results are all over the internet so you can look them up for yourself, there is no point in me typing them up for you but this will still contain spoilers.
I may have mentioned this on the show but by 2001, I had completely stopped watching wrestling. The InVasion had completely turned me off and with the exception of occasionally checking in on Raw, I didn't watch regularly until 2005. By 2006 I was already growing restless with WWE again and started to search for something else. I tried TNA, but at this point they were on FSN at 2am and then they disappeared for a while until the Spike TV deal. I had started to hear about ROH on the internet, particularly Bryan Danielson, who was champ at this point. CM Punk was talked about everywhere but he left for WWE by now and Danielson was on a roll with title matches against Nigel McGuinness, Colt Cabana and KENTA. I picked up a copy of ROH's first show "The Era of Honor Begins" mostly because it featured Danielson, Christopher Daniels and Low Ki in the main-event and I was familiar with the last two from TNA. I was immediately blown away by Danielson and I went to my first live show shortly after; "Battle of the Icons". I was living in an apartment less than five minutes away and the opportunity to see Samoa Joe, Homicide and Christopher Daniels was what interested me the most. It was not the best show but getting to see guys like Austin Aries, Delirious, Jack Evans and Davey Richards was a great way to get to see what ROH was all about. Since then, I've been to probably 20 shows and I've gotten to see some of the best matches in recent memory in person. I was at the first pay-per-view, "Respect is Earned" in the Manhattan Center and it was really no different from any of the other shows I had been to, but going into the debut tapings for HDNet I was very skeptical.
ROH getting on pay-per-view, although a huge step for the company, wasn't really a big deal to me. The shows are the same length when you go to any live show and the few matches that are taped but not aired on PPV are still put on the DVD. There was really nothing groundbreaking about this since they are taped months in advance and until this year I wasn't able to order the PPV's so I had to go see them live or wait for DVD's. But the transition to weekly television was a huge step for ROH. They have always had the freedom to basically do whatever they wanted on their shows. They could have hour long draws on a regular basis or bring in Japanese talent that really only hardcore Puro fans will appreciate. Now they have 1 hour a week to show fans what they are all about.
In many ways, ROH has long been compared to the original ECW and I never got the comparison until now. I was one of the lucky minority to have been able to watch ECW before almost anyone had ever even heard about it. I lived in a town that was basically halfway between Manhattan and Philadelphia so I was surrounded by wrestling. I stumbled across Hardcore TV sometime in early 1996 when it was on public access and one of the first guys I was exposed to was Chris Jericho. I was amazed at the stuff he was doing in the ring and although many of my fellow panel members on The Wrestling Roundtable have grown tired of him, Jericho has a free pass for life from me. I was able to follow most of his North American career from ECW to WCW to WWF/WWE, and if I was forced to make a list of my top 5 wrestlers ever, he's #2 behind Bret Hart. Getting to see someone like Chris Jericho evolve over the years and knowing that I believed in him when he was wrestling Sabu in the ECW Arena, then getting to see him last year at WrestleMania 24 in the Money in the Bank match with thousands of others in the Citrus Bowl just gave me a rare special feeling I don't get from wrestling anymore. Besides Jericho, I was able to see Raven, The Dudleys, Taz and (one of my other top 5 guys) Rob Van Dam tearing up the place before just about everyone else. ECW grew over the years and I was there to watch it all from the first PPV to the TNN show. Here's where the comparisons to ROH are going to come in. ECW and ROH both have passionate cult following *but* will that translate to television viewers? The answer in ECW's case was 'sort-of.' They did decent numbers on TNN but the show was not what it once was. Paul Heyman had to try to please both the old fans, new fans and the network. We all know what happened next so I won't bother going into details but ROH now has the same dilemma on it's hands.
I went into the ROH tapings with a pessimistic attitude. ROH has had it's shares of ups and downs over the past few months and I didn't believe that they could pull off an ROH show in what will amount to about 44 minutes a week after commercials. I was wrong. The spirit of ROH was there the whole time. The entire roster delivered for that first night, from the young guys like Rhett Titus and Dark City Fight Club to the veterans like Jay Briscoe and Bryan Danielson. Every single wrestler gave 150% and even if the show fails in the ratings they can say they tried their hardest. From the moment this show starts and you see Jerry Lynn taking on Delirious, Lynn is a familiar face to most of the casual crowd and Delirious is one of the best guys on the roster. Lynn may have made his name elsewhere but this is still an ROH show with ROH wrestlers and ROH fans that is easy for anyone to get into. In many ways this is the show that Paul Heyman couldn't do. ROH is showing us exactly who they are without having to change the majority of the product. The only real difference that I saw was the matches were shorter than what we have grown accustomed to in ROH but perhaps this for the better if guys aren't killing themselves in the ring every night for long periods of time. Every week will feature four matches and the interviews/promo's will be taped backstage. The live audience won't be able to see them until they are broadcast on TV.
If you've enjoyed TNA's Knockouts division then you will probably like the women of ROH. Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey had one of the best womens matches you're going to see on free TV this year. I've seen these two lock-up many, many times but I still enjoy seeing them go out there and work their hardest to win over one of the toughest wrestling crowds anywhere. ROH won't be able to get by on these two alone so I'm assuming they will be bringing in more of Shimmer's talent, which is just fine with me.
I did have a few complaints about the show but my biggest one was that Necro Butcher lost to Chris Hero. Though I'm not a Chris Hero fan at all, this is not my biased opinion coming into play. Necro Butcher got the loudest reaction of anyone the entire night. He had just been in the movie "The Wrestler" and he was name-dropped 6 days before at The Academy Awards by Seth Rogen and James Franco. The crowd even chanted; "Where's His Oscar?" But Hero cheated to win in what I think was the biggest mistake of the night. ROH should be pushing Necro to the moon right now with all the recognition he is receiving for his role in "The Wrestler" and I hope they fix this immediately. Another complaint is the first main-event which features Tyler Black facing his old tag team partner Jimmy Jacobs. For new fans turning in they may not remember these two from WSX as D.I.F.H. and Jimmy Jacobs is one of the smallest guys I've ever seen get in the ring. I think this might not look that great when you're trying to win over new fans. You don't need guys the size of Batista in the ring but you only get 1 chance to make a first impression. The match itself is fine so maybe ROH is going to let the wrestling speak for itself and not the characters but I would not have let this be the first main-event had I booked the show. My last complaint - Nigel McGuinness is ROH's world champ, he's had the belt for almost 18 months and he didn't wrestle until the second episode. The champ should have headlined the first show and he should have put the belt on the line, which he did not when he faced Jay Briscoe. It would have been something a little more special for the live crowd to see a title match and the fans at home will get to see a preview of what they can expect should they order a PPV.
The third main-event was my absolute favorite match of the night. Austin Aries faced Bryan Danielson in a great match. These two have had a series of excellent matches over the past year and a half, their match from "Take No Prisoners 2008" was my pick for match of the year. The friendly rivalry they had from fall 2007 through spring 2008 produced 4 great matches and in between those they were teaming up in tag matches that were also spectacular. If you want to see one ROH match, make this the one to watch. Danielson is a master of his craft and Austin Aries will prove that he is much more than TNA's Austin Starr. Danielson has a variety of different finishers and he used a triangle choke to submit Aries in a back and forth battle. You will hear the crowd chant "Best in the World" during every one of his matches and you better believe it is true. After the match Danielson thanked us all for making the past 7 years so great for him and he put over the entire roster as the best it's ever been. On the show we've talked about him having one of the best entrances in all of wrestling and we were treated to "The Final Countdown" one last time now that the band Fucked Up has donated a song for him to use. To bring this full circle with ECW, I just want to say this; I see in Bryan Danielson the same exact thing that I saw in Chris Jericho 13 years ago, and even though it would hurt ROH if he were to leave, I'm looking forward to the day that I see him get his match at WrestleMania should he choose to go to WWE down the line.
Lastly, I just want to say congratulations to everyone in ROH - the wrestlers and everyone behind the scenes that keeps it running. After 7 years you've made it to television and I wish you nothing but success. I especially need to congratulate a friend of our show, Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne. He has sat in our panel for some of our discussions and now you will get to see him take on Claudio Castognoli in the second edition of ROH on HDNet. It was a great match and I hope all of you reading this will take the time to watch it. Unfortunately not everyone is going to be able to get HDNet on their cable/satellite but for those of you who do at the very least set your DVR's and give ROH a chance. These are 3 great shows and you are not going to see anything else like it on free TV. For more on ROH, visit rohwrestling.com
