Project Rewatch - ROH: The Good Shit

[SUPES]

Tag Wars 2006 - January 27, 2006



The DVD starts off with some promos. Jay Lethal promises to be a tag champion unlike Samoa Joe, and then the Embassy show tension in discussing who will dethrone Bryan Danielson for the top prize in the company.

Trios Tournament Semifinal
Jack Evans, Jimmy Yang, & Matt Sydal vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Adam Pearce, & BJ Whitmer

I have absolutely zero complaints about this opener. This is one of the best opening matches in ROH history, and probably the best structured one to date. It accomplished everything it needed to. Legalities got enforced in the finishing stretch. It started as a hot spotfest, then broke down into Sydal playing the Ricky Morton. The match was a house of fire after the hot tag, and the crowd erupted when Evans pinned Jacobs (who had taken his eye off the ball throughout the match due to his creepy infatuation with Lacey) with the 720 senton splash. This NEEDS to be on the inevitable Sydal comp that I'm sure ROH has planned to release once he returns in a few months.

Rating: ***1/2

Trios Tournament Semifinal
Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Jay Fury, Tony Mamaluke, & Sal Rinauro

Not as hot as the opener, but I didn't expect this to be. This was simply a great showcase for Fury's spotty style in his debut for the company, Mamaluke's technical expertise, and the scumbag nature of the Embassy. Once again, no complaints here.

Rating: ***

I FF to the middle of Ace Steel vs. Sterling James Keenan, and the segment that abruptly ended the match certainly held up all these years later.

Utter f***ing Chaos

Chris Hero & Necro Butcher are in attendance which gets Steel's attention, daring them to come to ringside, which of course they do. This brings out a bunch of jabronis from backstage, and then some actual stars too who take the CZW representatives to the back in order to throw them out. However, at least two brawls break out, and ROH having poor lighting at this time actually worked to conceal what was going on, which would help in a couple months (I will explain once I get to that moment in the future).

A variety of ROH guys are united to throw out Hero & Necro, from Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness to Generation Next to the creepy Jacobs to even the narcissistic, cold-hearted Low Ki (who is armed with a chair). Jim Cornette is shown walking around with a busted mouth, and runs into booker Gabe Sapolsky, who swears he didn't book the CZW stars. Cornette is blowing a gasket, swearing that Sapolsky had played him for a fool. After Hero & Necro are shoved out the door, Cornette comes to ringside with Adam Pearce watching his back.

Cornette then cuts one of the best promos of his career, which I am going to proudly analyze from a number of different angles. This was a passionate, furious, eloquent promo that did a fantastic job of elevating this apparent inter-promotional invasion to the next level (and the different ROH characters banding together did that too of course.) Cornette was on point here, not once dragging while making all of his points (however irrational and borderline unhinged they were) crystal clear. To state the obvious, the color Cornette had gave this the exclamation mark.

He buried Hero, Necro, and other CZW stars for being nothing more than garbage wrestlers, going far beyond (and doing a much better job btw) what Ricky Steamboat had preached during his terrible philosophy feud with Mick Foley in late 2004. He said that they couldn't hack it in ROH, lacked any true talent, had to resort to over-the-top blood and gore to get over, and leeched off of ROH. I'm sorry Jim, perhaps I saw a different main event than you did at Hell Freezes Over.

My favorite moment in this promo was actually Cornette playing off of some hecklers in the crowd, something I don't want to spoil. It involves a fan using a staple gun on himself. GET THIS DVD JUST FOR THIS PROMO.

At intermission, Austin Aries & Roderick Strong make it clear they're not thrilled with Sydal coming for the tag straps, but Evans says to focus on the trios final later that night.

TOMORROW NIGHT, BRYAN DANIELSON DEFENDS THE ROH TITLE AGAINST AJ STYLES. OH f*** YES~!

Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels

Both men ignore the ref's request to shake hands. Superb technical wrestling match here. Ki spent a significant portion of the match working on the torso of Daniels to take away his stamina. A key moment in the match was Ki going for the Tree of Woe double stomp, but Daniels shoved him outside the ring from the top rope. When Ki successfully hit it later as the match was coming to an end, the crowd f***ing erupted.

The finishing stretch was a sight to behold. Daniels went for the Last Rites but got kneed in the face, yet was still able to position Ki for an attempted Angel's Wings. Ki blocked it with his arms hooked, turning Daniels over for the three-count. A fantastic way to pay off the torso work done on Daniels earlier in the match.

Post-match, Daniels admits that he regrets his attitude during his Prophecy days, and offers a handshake. Ki brushes it off both out of revenge and because he had absolutely zero honor to show towards the ROH roster.

Rating: ***3/4

Trios Tournament Final
Jack Evans, Jimmy Yang, & Matt Sydal vs. Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley

If the prior match was splendid, this was just outstanding. The match started off with Yang owning Rave in every way. Rave was VERY underrated in terms of showing ass to make babyfaces look good. The Embassy did a phenomenal job of cutting the ring in half on Sydal once he got tagged in, also holding Abyss back until after the hot tag. Sydal just got his ass kicked in this match; that means this should be on his inevitable compilation as well.

With his ex-girlfriend Daizee Haze in the Embassy's corner, Sydal was just toyed with by Shelley, who was very vicious with his strikes and working on the neck (a nice follow-up to Sydal suffering an obvious sore neck at Hell Freezes Over), the highlight being a skullf***. Once Sydal got the hot tag, the match became an incredible spotfest, jut nonstop action all over the ring involving all six men. For this portion of the match, the highlight was Sydal going for a crossbody on Abyss and getting a spectacular spinning side slam for his troubles.

Once again, the ref enforced legalities in the closing moments, showing the type of professionalism that justified the hype ROH was getting at this time on all levels that this company was capable of. Shelley hit the Shiranui on Yang, but it appeared Rave got a hidden tag on Shelley, as he was able to get the pinfall after a follow-up Pedigree. With the lack of 16:9 footage in wrestling at the time, it appeared the commentators didn't catch the blind tag either as they made no mention of it. This match also showcased the simmering tension within the Embassy, even with a monumental victory that earned all three men future ROH matches of their choice.

Rating: ****

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Bryan Danielson & Jay Lethal

Tremendous main event here that would've been even better had Aries been involved more. But for completely understandable reasons, he was the least important character in this match, making me wonder why this match got included on on one of his compilations instead of for the other three.

Danielson trolled Strong to start and tagged in Lethal immediately. Strong hit a backbreaker on Lethal, but the ROH Champ refused to get tagged in. For about another 30 minutes, these guys just tore the house down while telling a great story.

Moments that stand out to me include: the crowd going crazy when Danielson finally got chopped by Strong about halfway into this classic; Danielson encouraging Lethal to mock Samoa Joe with the Ole Ole Kick on Aries; Lethal mocking Joe earlier by utilizing the boot-scrapes; and of course Danielson's trash talking.

Of course, this match came down to Danielson and Strong as it should have. After multiple backbreakers, Strong was able to slap the Liontamer on the ROH Champ and make him tap out, earning himself an inevitable title shot in the future. One could argue it was bad booking to have the champ tap out 24 hours before a defense against Styles, but this was the bulletproof Bryan Danielson, and it set up a money match in the future. Just a tremendous tag team match, and I can't help but wonder how much better Danielson & Lethal could've become had they tagged frequently throughout 2006.

Rating: ****1/4

Sydal says he needs another 24 hours to make his decision on going after the Tag Titles.

The DVD closes with Whitmer pointing out that Lacey had insulted him and Jacobs in a backstage promo at Buffalo Stampede. He ain't thrilled at all about Jacobs losing focus as well as Lacey's attitude as they are 24 hours away from a shot at the Tag Titles.

We have a VERY strong early contender for best ROH event of 2006. A fantastic tag team main event. A fantastic trios match. An outstanding opening match. A very intelligent technical wrestling match that I considered giving ****. Little tensions being laid out. And of course, that red-hot CZW segment. AMAZING show, easily the most under-appreciated in ROH History. Of course, having the enthusiastic Dayton crowd played a part too. This was the FOURTH straight Dayton event for ROH that delivered btw.

Up next - Dissension
Matches will include:
Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Delirious, Tony Mamaluke, & Sal Rinauro
Low Ki vs. Jack Evans
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles

[SUPES]

Dissension - January 28, 2006



The Embassy cuts a promo in in the dungeon of Abyss, once again showing dissension. Jimmy Rave says he's cashing in his match for the ROH Title at the Fourth Anniversary Show on February 25. Alex Shelley then says he's cashing in and getting his shot on February 11. Holy shit that February 11 card was STACKED on top. More on that later.

I FF to Adam Pearce after his victory over Jay Fury saying he will stay at ringside while Jim Cornette vents about what happened the night before in Dayton some more.

More f***ing Chaos

Cornette, with a tooth visibly missing, cuts yet another excellent promo, snubbing his nose at the "hardcore wrestlers" and conveniently forgetting that he's the one to give New Jack his first break in the business. Necro Butcher shows up at ringside and threatens to come over the guardrail for another melee. Cornette throws some FANTASTIC zingers at him involving masturbation and urine tests.

After another minute or two of shit-talking, Cornette says he'll fight Necro himself because "I ain't a wrestler, but you ain't either." Pearce then steps in to take the fight on Cornette's behalf. He gets fed up with Necro standing at the guardrail and comes to get him some tremendous brawling action. Out come the jabronis and even the Tag Champs of Austin Aries & Roderick Strong to throw Necro out.

Cornette & Pearce come back to ringside, with the commish saying that he knows Pearce is a cut-throat politician, but he appreciates what the Scrap Daddy had just done for him. Excellent segment, and I sit here still wondering when the SBG era fans of ROH will get the compilation they NEED of this CZW feud. And I'm only one month into this angle, folks.

Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Delirious, Tony Mamaluke, & Sal Rinauro

Good trios action here, not out to steal the show which was totally fine after the Embassy wrestling twice the night before. It simply got over the story of this faction having tension, with Shelley tagging himself in at the end to sabotage an Abyss high-spot. But before that this was good stuff all-around, and it was interesting to see the two masked but very different flavors of oddballs clashing in the ring. The babyfaces got the win, but most importantly, Delirious was not the one to win it for his team, still looking for his first victory as his two year anniversary in ROH inches closer.

Rating: ***

Low Ki's Last ROH Match
Low Ki vs. Jack Evans

More on Low Ki's legacy in ROH later. Not the classic for him to go out on, but a hell of a fun glorified squash, just beating the f***ing shit out of Evans. Ki was just awesome in this one laying the beatdown and no-selling the less aggressive Evans. But Evans was great as usual with his selling, being the mid-card jobber that was getting a reality check. I did enjoy that deep in the match when Evans got a chance to stun Ki, he did get to knock down the former ROH Champion a couple times thanks to getting some firepower behind his high-spots. But it was all over once Ki hit the Tree of Woe double stomp.

At intermission, Matt Sydal is shown chatting with AJ Styles backstage, obviously about going after the tag straps.

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer

Above average match here, nothing horrible, and I believe that was the goal. It was only humane for the champs to be put in a position to be bodies, practically faceless plot devices for the Jacobs & Whitmer story, after that grueling classic the night before. And this was definitely all about Jacobs & Whitmer, making me wonder why the entire match wasn't included on their compilation since this was a key match for them.

Jacobs of course got distracted at times due to his creepy infatuation with Lacey, and it ultimately cost his team in the end when he went down to the 450 Splash. The ego-maniacal Lacey seems to have no problem with what Jacobs is doing, basically saying Whitmer needs to be a professional, wanting to use this tension as a means to have more rule over what they do (in other words, a mid-20s attractive female version of Jerry Jones.) Whitmer has enough and gives Jacobs the wrist clutch exploder.

Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels

Outstanding performance from Daniels, as he had to suck it up early when he injured his right knee on a routine arm-drag bump. He made up for his sabotaged mobility by escalating his aggression on the smaller Sydal, tossing him around at times. But Sydal, coming off of a breakout match against Styles and involved in two firecracker trios matches the night before, was no longer a jobber that would go down easily. He pushed himself to step up his game against the more experienced, technically and psychologically superior Daniels.

However, Sydal had a sore neck throughout the match (from Hell Freezes Over) that Daniels went to work on. This paid off in the finish when Sydal passed out to the Koji Clutch, showing just what an all-around outstanding wrestler Daniels is in kayfabe and as an in-ring worker. Very good match, and I bet they can do even better without any freak injuries.

Rating: ***1/2

A pretty sweet highlight package airs, with the announcement that THE BRISCOES ARE RETURNING TO ROH. OH f*** YES~!

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles

Probably just a shade below their prior two ROH classics, but this is definitely one of the most under-appreciated matches in ROH history.

They have their tremendous aggressive mat wrestling to start off the match, with Danielson refusing to give clean breaks. Styles of course has none of that shit and unleashes a fury on the champ, staying true to his established in-ring character and likely wanting to put an end to any mind games like Danielson had played a few months earlier against Strong.

This was just storytelling greatness, back-and-forth heat segments aplenty. The big story was that the challenger would try to execute the Styles Clash, but the champion would find a way to evade it. In the third act, when Styles almost landed it, Danielson grabbed the left leg to take away the balance and force him to let go, then using that leverage to get a second Cattle Mutilation. Of course Styles had gotten to the ropes earlier in the match the first time Danielson got that locked in.

Another masterful piece of storytelling was early in the match, Styles almost got a picture perfect springboard moonsault reverse DDT. But the champ kneed him in the face for his troubles. Much later in the match, Styles didn't give Danielson the extra second, dropping him down right on the neck and shoulders within a fraction of a second.

There were a couple callback segments too. They traded leverage on a Muta Lock, but not getting into a stalemate as they did the first time they clashed at All Star Extravaganza. Later, Danielson found himself seated with Styles standing, using his feet to keep Styles at bay, just like the challenger went through in first title shot against Ki at Honor Invades Boston.

This was really a game of human chess just like Danielson's title win over James Gibson. It of course ended somewhat similarly to that classic. Styles escaped the Cattle Mutilation and used his body to get a hot nearfall and almost secure the top prize in the company, only for Danielson to immediately after the kickout use his positioning behind Styles to lock on the Crossface Chickenwing for the submission victory. Only a month into the year 2006 and we got our first genuine MOTYC for this company, my friends.

Rating: ****1/2

The DVD ends with two key segments, one for the short-term and one for the long-term. Whitmer tells Lacey to f*** off and reminds her of what he did to Allison Danger in the past. Meanwhile, Aries tries to play the "we gave you your big break here" card on Sydal, which only reinforces Sydal's decision to stand by Styles and go for the tag straps. I must point out that Sydal's acting was hilariously hideous here, but it leads to what should be a hot tag match, so it's all good.

So match quality wise, this show had an underrated MOTYC main event featuring two of the very best in-ring performers of the 21st Century. Other than Sydal vs. Daniels, nothing else stood out.

But this was still a VERY fun show with critical storyline segments all over the place. Sydal going for the tag straps. Jacobs & Whitmer having an ugly breakup. Another firecracker anti-CZW promo from Cornette with another chaotic little appetizer of a melee to get the crowd hot.

Of course, this show has unintentional historic value for ROH too. This was the final ROH appearance for Abyss, as according to Gabe Sapolsky he wasn't satisfied with his booking. It's a shame we didn't get Danielson vs. Abyss, as I'm positive Danielson would've given the monster the best match of his entire career.

But far more important was that this was Low Ki's final night in ROH, as the company got fed up with him off-screen, reportedly attempting to hold up for more money and being extremely reluctant to do jobs. I'm a big, big fan of Low Ki still in 2014, but I can understand why ROH put its foot down, and that's a real shame. We never got to see him in what would've been an incredible dream match against Strong in ROH for February 11, the stacked tag match pairing him up with Daniels against Danielson & Joe, and the long-awaited threeway rematch against Danielson and Daniels that was to be 99 shows in the making.

And knowing what would happen on the next show, that February 11 card, wow was it going to be stacked on top, with not just Strong vs. Ki, but also Danielson vs. Shelley as announced on this DVD, plus Nigel McGuinness putting the Pure Title on the line against Aries. But there was to be a surprise from mother nature to pile on the unfortunate Low Ki departure, forcing ROH to pull off a polarizing miracle that night as I'll detail on my preview at the end of this review.

There is no denying that Low Ki is one of the biggest stars in ROH history, and it's a shame to see him come and go with so many federations over the years. That Gabe Sapolsky has done business with him, but ROH hasn't eight years later after going through two more bookers AND a change in ownership tells me that his antics must have soured him permanently with then-owner Cary Silken, who still has some position in the company after selling it to SBG. I'll say it again, that's simply a shame.

But he can be proud of his performances in ROH. He was a critical figure in the birth of ROH, being the very first face of the company and having the honor of being the company's first ever champion. Who can ever forget his return and subsequent heel turn at Reborn: Completion? How many guys would be trusted to be picked for the debuts of two major indy stars AND a puro star? Who can ever forget that first main event in ROH history, turning all three participants into ROH stars in one shot and establishing the foundation that ROH would have for almost an entire decade?

I think it's safe to say that Low Ki will never return to ROH. Therefore, I present my picks for his ten best matches in an ROH ring.

Low Ki's 10 Greatest ROH Matches
Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Christopher Daniels - The Era of Honor Begins ****1/2
Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson - Round Robin Challenge ***** (Ki's greatest match in ROH)
Low Ki vs. Doug Williams vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Christopher Daniels - Crowning a Champion ****3/4
Low Ki vs. AJ Styles - Honor Invades Boston ****1/2
Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe - Glory By Honor ****1/2
Low Ki vs. Paul London vs. AJ Styles - One Year Anniversary Show ****1/4
Low Ki & Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe & Jushin Liger - Weekend of Thunder Night 2 ****
Low Ki & Homicide vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal - Punk: The Final Chapter ****
Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi - Unforgettable ****3/4
Low Ki vs. KENTA - Final Battle 2005 ****3/4

Up next - Unscripted II
Matches will include:
Bryan Danielson vs. Xavier
Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries
Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer
Bryan Danielson & CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave & Adam Pearce

[SUPES]

This review originally posted in July 2014.

Unscripted II - February 11, 2006



Going into this show, ROH had cut ties with Low Ki as I had discussed in my Dissension review. That cancelled the dream match of him against Roderick Strong as well as other big matches announced involving him. But then at the last minute a big snowstorm came through the NYC area on this weekend. This put TNA, set to broadcast Against All Odds 2006 on PPV the next day in Orlando, in a predicament.

TNA requested a number of guys who had committed to this event to cancel and fly early to Orlando to make the PPV. Those talents included Homicide, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, and ROH Tag Champs Austin Aries & Roderick Strong. Aries & Strong ignored the request, which I appreciate since they were in a meaningless match at the PPV anyway. This postponed Shelley's ROH Title shot though, robbing the fans of another big match that had been scheduled for this event.

With all this chaos, ROH promised a big surprise, stating that if fans were not happy after three matches, they could ask for a refund. Look at the bottom three matches on the DVD cover above. The surprise return of CM Punk certainly lived up to the hype, but how arrogant was Gabe Sapolsky to assume that one guy making a surprise one night only return would please everyone and offset those awful three opening matches? And I certainly don't understand the need for a company that during this time relied on moving DVDs not to just list and show CM Punk on the cover at all.

So as mentioned, CM Punk returning for one night only was the big surprise, which on paper was a very good miracle to pull out. Now him getting on the show was a story too. Tommy Dreamer, who apparently had some clout in OVW at this time, said the office gave the okay for Punk to appear. That turned out not to be the case and this miscommunication almost led to Punk being terminated from WWE. It was good (although not completely as I'll detail later) to have him back, but wasn't worth all of the headache.

As for the booking of Punk's return, he showed up to try to mentally help his friend Colt Cabana during the epic feud against Homicide. During this segment, Punk would be attacked by Prince Nana, Jimmy Rave, and Adam Pearce.

Also early on the DVD is Prince Nana promising his own surprise since Shelley can't make it for his ROH Title shot against Bryan Danielson. Jimmy Rave wants the shot, but Nana says it will go on as scheduled at the Fourth Anniversary Show.

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries

Very good match here and definitely match of the night, worthy of the DVD cover, although the next match could've been on the same level if it had been booked as well as this one. McGuinness worked on the left arm early, standard in the business yes, but also ingenious since Aries is actually left-handed. When Aries got his turn to control the match, he used that left arm to elbow the champ and then drop a power elbow, immediately selling it. Awesome moment of natural tendency costing Aries.

Aries did some work on the neck, although it couldn't match the work McGuinness got on his left arm. McGuinness did a masterful job of forcing Aries to use rope breaks. But there were also two great drama-building moments that every wrestler should watch and learn from. McGuinness blocked the standard springboard corner elbow of Aries, and then much deeper in the match Aries would actually hit to a great ovation. Aries blocked a Tower of London, but then McGuinness was able to land that for a great nearfall.

But after getting Aries to use up his rope breaks, McGuinness finished him off with the London Dungeon, a fantastic payoff for all the arm work done throughout the match. Really good stuff with Aries getting a standing ovation, and the first standout defense from McGuinness during this reign. I'd have made this the opening match to really kick off the show well and make sure nobody asked for a refund.

Rating: ***3/4

Roderick Strong comes out to ask when he gets his ROH Title shot since he made Bryan Danielson submit at Tag Wars 2006, but BJ Whitmer comes out instead. He wants Strong to face him in singles action with that title shot on the line, as he's fed up with being passed over and needs to step up like the rest of the company. All solid points on Whitmer's part, but he missed perhaps the biggest point possible to demand Strong to put the shot on the line against him.

Whitmer was now finally on his own for the first time in over two years. He had lost Christopher Daniels. He had lost Dan Maff. And now he had lost Jimmy Jacobs as his tag team partner when they failed to be on the same page against Aries & Strong at Dissension. Whitmer should've pointed out that he wants to take away Strong's opportunity as a twisted retributionn.

Of course, the ROH Champ Danielson comes out and he has a pull-apart with Strong. Out comes Prince Nana with a surprise challenger to utilize the title shot of the departed Abyss.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Xavier

I gotta say, I like this surprise and it was a good move to get the NYC native booked here. Would I have given him a shot at the title? Probably not (as I'll also detail later). HOWEVER, the former ROH Champ had yet to be granted a shot at the top prize after losing it to Samoa Joe three years earlier. Logically, he should've never had to be in contender's matches in 2003-04 or have to fill in for someone who stopped getting booked.

These guys worked hard, with Xavier especially bringing his working boots and having one of his best matches in ROH. I know, I"m shocked too, that one of his best singles matches would be against Danielson. Xavier did an exceptional job of working on the neck and shoulders, perfectly setting up the champ for his modified neckbreaker finish and signature transitional Kiss Your X Goodbye (a pumphandle facebuster). He would hit the latter, but never got to his finisher, as the all-around superior Danielson would get him in the Cattle Mutilation for what was to be the obvious finish. However, Rave interfered to go after Danielson. It was never explained, but I assume the Embassy used Xavier to weaken Danielson and/or Rave wanted the glory of ending his reign. That's the only logical reason I can think of for this match ending that way.

Rating: ***1/2 (and would've been higher without the Dusty finish)

Rave & Pearce continue to attack Danielson, which brings out Punk to set up a tag main event for the evening. Eight years later, it's somewhat poetic that Punk's last ROH match would be him getting paired up with the only other indy superstar to get on the same level of major-league success as him.

Supposedly taped at Dissension, a backstage promo from Jim Cornette is shown. Another f***ing awesome promo taking shots at CZW. I'm going to assume this was not taped in Cleveland, but VERY shortly after ROH told Low Ki to f*** off, cancelling what appeared to be a planned Rottweilers vs. Generation Next feud, and going all the way with an ROH vs. CZW program to make up for that and carry this company throughout much of 2006.

ROH Title Shot Match
Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer

Like the match prior, this was definitely a downgrade from the scheduled match Strong had. This was good stuff with Strong dominating the first several minutes and of course working the back. Whitmer's transition to gain control was good too, landing a neckbreaker on the outside and working on Strong's neck throughout the rest of the match. But despite the great psychology displayed in their offenses, neither did an exceptional job of selling the work done on them. Still good, but this could've actually been a GREAT singles match. And yes, Strong won of course to maintain his title shot since whoever he'd face would be a money match.

One thing I realized in this match was that Whitmer has never seemed to fully get comfortable using his larger stature on the indy scene. It stood out to me when he attempted a Frogsplash. Perhaps if he was in the larger WWE ring his body, which is built like an NFL strong safety, would feel more comfortable and he wouldn't look as clumsy, but we know that'll never happen.

Rating: ***1/4

CM Punk's Last ROH Match and One Night Only Return
Bryan Danielson & CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave & Adam Pearce

Good main event tag here, and since it involves three storytelling masters, no nearfalls were counted unless both participants were legal. Punk wanted Rave when he got tagged in, and manipulated Pearce's arm into making the tag, reigniting the great feud from 2005. The match would eventually turn into Danielson playing the Ricky Morton role, which is smart to protect Punk while under contract to WWE. The match's next segment would be a brawl outside the ring, with Danielson pulling out a springboard flip to the temporary Embassy in the audience.

The closing stretch broke down into all four men going at it in the ring, including a botched leaping hurricanrana from Punk on Pearce that seemed to hurt both of them. Punk and Rave would have a nice exchange, and the finish came when Rave, who by the way was scheduled to face Danielson for the ROH Title on the next show, tapped out to the Anaconda Vise while Danielson kept Pearce at bay with the Cattle Mutilation. I think my readers are smart enough that I don't need to spell out the flawed booking of that finish.

The file on my hard drive for this match abruptly closes shortly after the finish, so I miss Punk's post-match bonus East Coast farewell speech. And considering what an ass he made out of himself over one heckler, I'm glad I don't have it. Here's my quick rating before I expand on Punk.

Rating: ***1/2

So where do I begin with my actual assessment of this event and everything surrounding it? There are so many points of discussion involving this.

LOL at TNA for having a temper-tantrum at Aries & Strong over ignoring their request to leave early. There, that part's out of the way.

I think it's safe to say that Gabe Sapolsky, much like his mentor Paul Heyman, wasn't quite so super duper spectacular at composing an event that required numerous last-minute changes. I can't really fault him for that since hindsight is 20/20, but here's how I would've booked this show.

First, as I mentioned, McGuinness vs. Aries would've been the opener. Rave would've cashed in his title shot and lost here in a great semi-main. And I'd have tried so hard to have Punk job to Strong in a third and final match, to really deliver a classic main event. I am VERY thankful that Sapolsky didn't pull the trigger on Danielson vs. Punk doing a 90 minute Broadway though.

For the Fourth Anniversary Show, Danielson vs. Rave would obviously be off it'd be expedited to this night. But Shelley also wasn't booked for that show. So I'd have booked Danielson to defend the title against Lethal. The Lethal vs. Joe feud never really got over and didn't really need a conclusion, or could've been saved for later. It'd be a great way for Danielson & Lethal to follow-up on their great tag match together at Tag Wars 2006, with the motivation either being that Danielson is granting a shot to show appreciation, or they're pissed at each other, blaming one another for that Tag Title loss, and want a piece of each other. Let's not forget too that Lethal really did earn himself an ROH Title shot, as he had singles victories over both Low Ki AND Samoa Joe. That is title shot worthy, my friends. This also makes Lethal the defacto babyface challenging for the top prize in the company in his home state of New Jersey, making for an amazing atmosphere. This scenario still leaves Shelley to get his title shot the next time he would appear.

Now let's say I keep the card the same. Well, Xavier does the clean job to Danielson since there was no certainty about him coming back soon, and Pearce does the job to Danielson or Punk in the main event. There was no good reason for Rave to do the job here.

Speaking of the Rave & Pearce tandem, considering where they would be as 2006 came to a close, I'm really surprised that the former didn't align with Cornette or the latter didn't become a permanent member of the Embassy. Really would've given them something to lean on after both moved on from major chapters of their ROH tenure. But that's to dig in deeper when I come around to that.

I wanna make sure to mention that with the exception of a forgettable fourway match a year later, this was pretty much it for Xavier in ROH. He never, ever should've held the title, but he found his groove by 2003 and it's a shame his indy career didn't take off from there. I know he still attends ROH events, and I think it's a shame ROH does nothing to showcase him as a former champion that did have some great matches during the early years. I found his matches against Paul London and Christopher Daniels to be quite exceptional, and he definitely played his part in the main event at Revenge on the Prophecy. Sounds like a spiritual person too as Eddie Guerrero detailed in his autobiography.

Of course, that leaves one last big subject to discuss here, another former ROH Champion.

It's pretty ironic that when CM Punk fled WWE after Royal Rumble 2014, my rewatching got to the Summer of Punk right afterwards. Now as of this review being posted, I catch up to his final match in ROH ever, just days after WWE has officially moved him to its alumni section. This was not intentional on my part.

Punk returning was definitely a surprise that lived up to the hype, but to me wasn't presented well. I know this would've been impossible, but with hindsight, his East Coast one night only farewell would've been more poetic at the Fourth Anniversary Show. After all, that's an anniversary show. What better way to kick off The Milestone Series? And don't forget too, that was in New Jersey, the same region where he had that landmark career moment at Death Before Dishonor III. Just some "what if" food for thought.

To state the obvious, it certainly appears that Punk has retired, as he has made it pretty clear. One thing though I've noticed is he has not directly said to the public that he is done for good. And I sense that is intentional. I selfishly hope he finds the passion and gets healthy enough to come back to the ring one day, and I get the sense based on what he said several months ago that he probably thinks that's a possibility in the back of his mind. He had stated shortly before fleeing WWE abruptly that he didn't want to directly say what his decision would be, as he had made it clear he was done in 2011, but we know what happened then of course.

If Punk ever returns to the ring, I highly, highly, highly, highly doubt it will be for ROH. If he never returns at all to the ring, I certainly don't blame him. But after making an ass out of himself on this show, that was the ROH equivalent to another Chicago icon coming out of retirement for the Washington Wizards. Punk: The Final Chapter was the perfect storytelling farewell for Punk in ROH, and there was no need for him to have a sentimental East Coast goodbye, just like Michael Jordan's Wizards tenure felt unnecessary after having his perfect fairytale ending in 1998.

Luckily, this is wrestling and not actual competitive sports, so if Punk were to ever return to ROH for just one night, perhaps even cash in what should be his rightful shot at the ROH Title as a former holder of that title, that'd be a great way to make sure his antics on this snowy night in the NYC metro area were not his final moments for Ring of Honor, and I don't think any of us can imagine just how electric that would be after everything he has accomplished in WWE.

With all of that out of the way, I don't need to spell out how important CM Punk is in ROH history. He had absolutely everything during his three years in ROH that makes someone a legend on this stage, and I am thankful for the memories. Here are my picks for the ten best matches he had during an absolutely stellar chapter of his career in ROH.

CM Punk's 10 Greatest ROH Matches
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe - World Title Classic ****1/2
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe - Joe vs. Punk II ***** (Punk's greatest match in ROH)
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe - All Star Extravaganza II *****
CM Punk vs. Alex Shelley - Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 ****1/4
CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave - Nowhere to Run ****1/4
CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong - The Future is Now ****
CM Punk vs. Austin Aries - Death Before Dishonor III ****3/4
CM Punk vs. Jay Lethal - Sign of Dishonor ****
CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong - Escape From New York ****1/2
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe vs. James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels - Redemption ****1/2

Up next - Fourth Anniversary Show
Matches will include:
Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe
Homicide vs. Colt Cabana
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal

[SUPES]

Fourth Anniversary Show - February 25, 2006



This is the first event in a seven-part Milestone Series for ROH.

Jim Cornette is shown from his home/office in Louisville. Love that little tape/DVD shelf library he has, would be very interested in seeing some of that stuff.

The show is about to open with a meaningless jobber tag match, but then a blast from the past shows up...

Briscoe Bros. vs. Jason Blade & Kid Mikaze vs. Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro

Not the all-out squash I was hoping for to make the returning bad-ass Briscoes shine (much like I had hoped for when Generation Next formed at Generation Next), but I can see why. Blade & Mikaze I believe were a project at the time, while Mamaluke & Rinauro were former Tag Champs (that they weren't over in such a position is a different topic.) Having the Briscoes wipe the mat with these teams would've made Austin Aries & Roderick Strong as well as Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer look really weak for having hard-fought matches against Mamlauke & Rinauro.

The action itself is decent, but ultimately means nothing because the Briscoes are the real stars. The best parts were the starting and closing segments, which isn't a coincidence as those were the segments in which the Briscoes just smashed it.

Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe



Above average match here; this feud simply put just didn't get over. Perhaps had Lethal not been presented as the asshole, but the federation and commentary had pointed out that Joe was a f***ing prick at A Night of Tribute, this would've been a layered feud to polarize the audience. Instead Joe is the face-of-the-company hero and looked to be taking it easy while Lethal controlled the match. There were some moments when it looked this would really heat up, especially when it transitioned to Joe being in control, but it was way too quick to get some real drama going. For a monster babyface vs. smaller but still credible chickenshit heel, this certainly was not in the same league as Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels in 1997.

Rating: less than ***

I FF to the BJ Whitmer vs. Christopher Daniels match getting thrown out as they have an extended brawl in the audience, leaving the ring open for a gang of ultraviolent predators to exploit...

"Happy Birthday... f*** You"

Chris Hero & Necro Butcher lead a group of CZW wrestlers in hijacking this historic event, with the former cutting an excellent promo and mockingly singing "Happy Birthday" to ROH. This draws out a f***ton of ROH stars and jabronis, including Aries, Strong, the Briscoes, AJ Styles, Adam Pearce, and also Whitmer, who drops his brawl immediately with Daniels. A phenomenal brawl ensues with Hero left in the ring, who talks some more shit and questions if anyone in ROH can stop him.

Out comes Joe to step up for ROH for the first time, and the crowd goes f***ing berzerk. He has a great brawl in the ring with Hero in a battle of true superstars to represent their brands. That caused the interpromotional brawl to pick back up again, resulting in another frenzied crowd.

Aries, Strong, and the Briscoes would be left in the ring, with the Tag Champs about to leave, but the Briscoes attack them!!! Another huge pop from the crowd and pull-apart here. What brilliant booking, as the Briscoes took advantage of the champs' involvement in the ROH vs. CZW brawl to get their hands on the champs and establish they were back to reach the mountaintop.

But if the audience thought that was it, they were sorely mistaken, as out comes two hated enemies from the curtain to ringisde, tearing at each other and getting yet another frenzied pop from the crowd...

I Quit Match
Homicide vs. Colt Cabana

I really appreciate the effort these two put into making this program work, but they were too violent in this match, and I can't imagine they look back at this and would completely disagree with me.

Homicide dominated this as expected at this point in the feud, just f***ing Cabana up left and right, even with a bad right shoulder (injured in a match against Steve Corino at Steel Cage Warfare). This was vicious, it was hard-hitting, and it told a fantastic story that no matter how much pain Homicide dished out, Cabana would refuse to go down. Cabana would get his moments in with some great transitions, but that would always be short-lived. The match is stopped when Homicide makes him pass out with a coat-hanger around the throat.

Cabana, gasping for breath and wearing a crimson mask, demands the match be restarted, and it just gets better. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher, which turns out not to be all that beneficial as it ignites the pain in his right shoulder. Cabana, having been established as an outstanding technical wrestler that had been pushed to getting even better from his feud against Nigel McGuinness, smells the figurative blood and takes advantage of it, even f***ing biting on it like a savage.

Julius Smokes has to grab Cabana's feet to bail Homicide out of this jam, reinforcing just how soulless Homicide is and putting over Cabana's mettle to step up in this environment. Ricky Reyes helps them out as the Rottweilers tape Cabana's wrists to a top turnbuckle, and the referee again gets fed up and stops the match out of concern for Cabana's well-being.

But yet again, Cabana refuses to let it end this way, trolling Homicide by telling him that his son will never respect him if he walks away from this. They have one more brief segment that both told a fantastic story and went over the top with the violence as I mentioned earlier. The match finally reaches its merciful conclusion when Cabana is knocked out taking a piledriver off an apron onto the table. However, the table didn't break and both men slid off it to the floor.

Post-match, Homicide throws chairs around and boasts with pride about his psychotic violence. As he is about to walk through the curtain, he looks into the camera and tells both ROH and CZW to f*** off, this is Rottweilers territory. Excellent storytelling brawl here.

Rating: ***3/4

Jim Cornette is informed in Louisville about the CZW interruption. He blows a gasket and cuts another absolutely splendid promo on CZW, and shows off his Louisville Slugger that he'll be bringing when he makes return in Chicago for the WrestleMania 22 weekend events. EARTH TO CURRENT ROH: make a f***ing comp of this feud already, and while you're at it, throw in a documentary reflecting on it too. The majority of those involved are available, and I"m sure you can work out something with Cornette and Gabe Sapolsky to be interviewed for it.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave

Excellent title match as expected here. Rave really stepped up, although to me his performance wasn't quite up to par as exactly one year earlier against Styles or in the cage match against CM Punk. After being dominated on the mat early, he tried to offset it with some pie-faces in order to piss off the champ. He also relied on chops which is smart, as both men had come off being victimized by Strong's brutal chops shortly before this, and nobody to this point had come as close to dethroning Danielson as Strong had.

Danielson of course, being technically superior, would find ways out of just about everything Rave threw at him. But the match really got interesting about halfway through. Danielson attempted a superplex, but Rave threw him off and then baited Danielson to the outside. Rave threw Danielson on some guardrails, wearing down the champ but also inflicting some damage on the back and shoulders (which are connected to the neck), a very good strategy to soften him up for the Pedigree and swinging neckbreaker. It also established that although Danielson had won the feud against Homicide in 2005, he didn't go through the quantity of extensive brawling as Rave had in his feuds against Punk and GeNext.

Rave would copy Danielson's established Cattle Mutilation to followup on the shoulder/back work, but lacked the proper arch to fully clamp it on. This allowed the champ to escape and they had a very hot finishing stretch, helped out when Prince Nana pulled the ref out, igniting the crowd. They had great nearfalls and tapout teases, including, but of not course not limited to, a sleeper, proper Cattle Mutilation, and Shining Wizard. Danielson finishes Rave off with a Regalplex and then his elbows that had finished off Strong while locking the challenger in a crucifix position. An overall excellent match and best on the show.

Rating: ****

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal



Very good action all-around and this had a hot finish. When it got to the closing moments, everyone was allowed to throw bombs on one another, but everyone involved (not just the ref) kept track of who was legal. What a crazy professional concept.

The ring got cut in half of course, but here's the odd surprise: the larger, more powerful Strong and Styles were the ones to play those roles for their respective teams. That didn't seem to maximize the fullest emotional connection to the audience, but the match was good for what it was. My favorite part of the entire match was actually right when the end was coming. Sydal had taken a gutbuster from Strong; when he hit a Shooting Star Press on Aries moments later, he sold the ribs and was delayed from going for the immediate cover.

As all four men embrace to close out this historic show, the Briscoes come out and attack all four, this time making it clear for anyone who hadn't figured it out that they wanted the straps.

Rating: ***1/2

An excellent kickoff to The Milestone Series. No MOTYCs or consensus multiple great matches, but the key matches all delivered, it had an amazing segment that escalated the CZW program, marked the return of the Briscoes and put them in a program for the tag straps, and was paced exceptionally well. Get this shit.

Up next - Arena Warfare
Matches will include:
Austin Aries vs. Matt Sydal
Bryan Danielson vs. Alex Shelley

[SUPES]

Arena Warfare - March 11, 2006



ROH Video Recap - March 2, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
Gary Michael Cappetta interviews ROH Champion Bryan Danielson and reveals for the first time in the DVD universe... DANIELSON & SAMOA JOE VS. KENTA & NAOMICHI MARUFUJI. Nobody bothers to mention the date and location but whatever. Danielson is worried that Joe won't be on the same page and may attack him based on ROH Title reign pride. Not completely unwarranted.

Remember when getting booked at the ECW Arena was instilled into the indy smarks to be a prestigious milestone? Man, those were the days.

BJ Whitmer storms to the ring after the opening match concludes and demands CZW to step into an ROH ring, specifically calling out Necro Butcher. Apparently the Christopher Daniels issue was important to him and CZW ruined it. Whatever, I'm not in the mood to break down why that program meant nothing. I'm just glad to see Whitmer booked into something that's clicking for him finally.

Prince Nana & Alex Shelley cut a backstage promo, with Shelley promising Bryan Danielson that he will fulfill his destiny established at Generation Next, which is to take the top spot and ROH Title from the champ tonight. He once again references being trained by Brian Kendrick as an expert on the Shiranui. Danielson already beat Naomichi Marufuji after taking that move, but whatever.

The promo is interrupted by footage going back to ringside, with Whitmer not taking no for an answer and wanting a fight immediately. Out comes Necro and they have a nice brawl that has the crowd in a frenzy, only for Super Dragon to come to Necro's aid. After mugging Whitmer, the ROH locker room gets fed up and runs off the CZW duo. That the Briscoes led the ROH charge makes me suspect Gabe Sapolsky was going to eventually book them against Necro/SD. Probably beneficial for all four men's health that it never ended up happening.

Austin Aries vs. Matt Sydal

Really good stuff here, telling the great story that Sydal was on the brink of singles stardom. Sure, he got a victory over Jimmy Rave at Unforgettable, which is nothing to scoff at. Rave was a phenomenal heel at the time in the top mix, but beating him would be like going over Randy Orton in recent years. It's a big victory, but it's not quite as meaningful as going over the likes of someone like John Cena, CM Punk, or Daniel Bryan. In this case, Sydal was looking for that type of victory over someone that had truly been established as one of the kings in ROH.

Sydal did a great job of trading holds with his Generation Next leader, keeping a headlock on early and doing a good job of bringing back memories of Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21. Sydal would even do a great job of avoiding the signature headscissors escape into a dropkick spot signature of Aries, but the Tag Champ and former ROH Champ still found a way to get it done.

Sydal also attempted to do some work on his GeNext buddy's left arm, but was unable to be a master at it like Nigel McGuinness had been the month before. Therefore, Aries was able to land his trademark left-handed spots (since that is his dominant hand) such as the corner elbow counter from an Irish Whip as well as the leaping elbow on a fatigued Sydal in the corner.

I also appreciated the tension both men showed on occasion when it appeared the match had reached a potential stalemate midway through, talking some trash to each other. Shortly after this as Aries was on the outside, Sydal went for a corkscrew plancha and ended up taking a back bump on the cold Alhambra Arena concrete. That must have been a ton of fun.

In pain from that bump, Sydal dug down to keep the match even, busting out some quick burst counters and chops as hope spots agiainst the larger Aries. But Aries, being larger and more successful, was able to use his strength and leverage to come out on top. One spot near the end was Sydal going for a crucifix, only for Aries (who would know how to counter that with it being one of his signatures) to turn that into a Finlay Roll. As the match was nearing its end, Sydal landed a unique-looking tornado DDT on Aries. They then had an awesome exchange at the end with both men collapsing, only for Aries to beat Sydal to the figurative punch, landing a kick to the head, followed by the brainbuster and 450 Splash.

This didn't have the pacing to be a great match, but that wasn't the goal. This was really good storytelling, perfect for its mid-card position on the show, with the established superstar in Aries elevating his friend's stock in the company. After losses in great efforts against Aries, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels, Sydal was sitll looking for his first A-list victory.

The Briscoes attack both men post-match, drawing out Roderick Strong. f*** I can't wait to catch up on the Briscoes working with these guys.

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Alex Shelley

This has been one of the most anticipated matches on this rewatch project for me.

Danielson cuts a phenomenal extended promo before the match starts, trolling the CZW marks that irrationally can't appreciate his in-ring gifts. I won't spoil it all, but anybody who questions if Danielson can be a dynamic character must see this promo. He played off the CZW-friendly environment, poured fuel on the ROH vs. CZW fanbase fire, had fun pointing out a child in the crowd, and compared himself to other technical wrestling legends who had wrestled in this venue for ECW.

After the bell has rung, Shelley gets annoyed with the CZW fans who bitch that the match is boring, and lays out some phenomenal zingers about what he believes said fans do for a living. So we got not just what promises to be an excellent in-ring match, but a battle of two major douche-bags. Works for me. Btw, these promos were done to give Samoa Joe time to get to the arena, as he was running late from a show in Mexico. This is how you kill time, folks.

They of course go on to have a classic match, playing off of their character work to start, just being vicious douche-bags to each other. It eventually turned into Shelley working on Danielson's neck to set up for the Shiranui and Border City Stretch. Danielson meanwhile just applied different strategies, including splendid legwork or just being a cheating bastard such as going to the eyes to break a submission or using the ropes for leverage while applying an abdominal stretch.

Shelley of course would have his share of cheating as well, including in the third act distracting the ref so that Prince Nana could get in a couple cheap shots on the champ. It was in this part that Shelley had a scare going for a tope suicida and hitting the barricaded guardrail, similarly scary to Lita's ringside bump on Raw in December 2004. But in some ways, that made this match even better from a logical standpoint.

With Shelley's back and neck certainly sore from that botched tope suicida, it only made sense that Danielson came out the victor in this one. But how it happened was an abrupt thing of beauty. After having a nice back-and-forth exchange which had the crowd rocking, Shelley finally seemed to be able to hit the Shiranui on Danielson (the champ had evaded numerous attempts during the match.) However, the viewer could see that Danielson ran with Shelley to give him the momentum, then showed his brilliance ny releasing his head partially from Shelley's grasp while being flipped over. Danielson then immediately used his back-rolling momentum to get on top of Shelley, lock in the Cattle Mutilation, and then surprise Shelley with a pin, giving the challenger absolutely no leverage to kick out, especially with what I assume was a sore back and neck.

Just an absolutely outstanding technical wrestling match that played off of a divided crowd. What really put this into MOTYC territory is that this wasn't just two guys having a great technical match. These were CHARACTERS that carried themselves as stars and emotionally engaged the crowd. This is what I imagine Ric Flair in his prime colliding with late 1997 Shawn Michaels would've been like.

This match also backed up Danielson's claim in his pre-match promo of cementing his technical wrestling legacy for this venue. As great as the likes of Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero were in ECW, I'm not sure they ever had a match this fantastic at the ECW Arena. Post-match Danielson thanks the ROH fanbase for appreciating great wrestling and mocks the CZW fanbase.

I want to point out that Danielson's facial expressions and body in this were just tremendously perfected. I still give the nod to his match against Roderick Strong at Vendetta as a better heel performance from him and as an overall match, but his character work in this match was a sight to behold, genuinely must-see stuff.

Rating: ****1/2

I FF to the end of the main event, a meaningless match whether Joe had arrived on time or not. Whitmer comes out and wants a fight, but the segment is temporarily interrupted when a mark throws toilet paper at Joe, which pisses him off and security escorts the mark from ringside. Whitmer plays off of Joe's anger from this and says it looks like he's still ready for a fight, and he calls out CZW once again.

Out comes an army of CZW superstars, which brings out an army of ROH superstars in a chaotic brawl that has this Philly crowd in an emotional frenzy. It looks like ROH may be getting the upper hand until CZW owner John Zandig walks to ringside with a barbed-wire bat and accompanied by someone that is brandishing a f***ing WEED WACKER. Just a surreal moment for ROH.

Needless to say, this scared off the ROH crew, although the brawl kept going backstage and outside the building, while about 15 of the top CZW names ambushed Whitmer alone in the ring, brutalizing him. And I mean they f***ing brutalized him, taping him to the ropes in a crucifying position and using a staple-gun on him, including his back, forehead, and stomach. Probably not worth all the trouble just to get an indy program over, but hey, I can't deny that it worked.

Whitmer is of course spray-painted with CZW on his spine, and Zandig spray-paints the CZW initials proudly over the ROH logo on the mat. As he's about to cut a promo, Gabe Sapolsky says to turn the f***ing tape off.

The rest of the footage is from the very beginning of the Best in the World 2006 DVD, and of course I'm going to review it here for continuity. Zandig cuts an irrational promo on ROH, mirroring Jim Cornette's irrational promos from the recent several weeks leading up to this show. He says that this venue is CZW territory and basically says ROH can go f*** itself, including daring Sapolsky to come to ringside. Of course that doesn't happen.

What an absolutely amazing emotional masterpiece of an angle to close out this event. Just f***ing phenomenal.

This show isn't quite stacked with quality matches left and right, but this is certainly worthy of being included in The Milestone Series. And that has nothing to do with this being ROH's first event hosted inside the former ECW Arena.

This show had a very good mid-card match that served its purpose in elevating an up-and-comer, a classic title match with absolutely excellent promo and character work, and one of the iconic closing segments in company history that made Whitmer a legitimate star in one night. This is an absolute must-own.

Also on this show is the calm before the storm for the Homicide vs. Colt Cabana feud, as they are kept away from each other but in backstage promos promise that the inevitably violent end is nearing.

Up next - Best in the World 2006
Matches will include:
Alex Shelley vs. Christopher Daniels
Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros.
Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji

[SUPES]

Best in the World 2006 - March 25, 2006



ROH Video Recap - March 17, 2006



Important news/footage on the above video:
Adam Pearce challenges some CZW guys to show up and face him on March 25 in NYC
Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe are interviewed by Gary Michael Cappetta, confirming that the date and location for their tag match against KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji is March 25 in NYC. Video highlight packages are shown of both men's reigns as ROH Champion, but Joe insists that although he will be coming for the ROH Title again after he takes care of CZW, all the NOAH guys coming from overseas, and his on-again, off-again feud with Christopher Daniels, he will not backstab Danielson in the dream tag match.

After airing the unseen footage from Arena Warfare, Gabe Sapolsky dares anyone from CZW to come ruin tonight's show.

About 45 minutes into the show, Jason Blade & Kid Mikaze come out to see who will accept their own challenge, and it turns out to be Chris Hero & Necro Butcher. Hero cuts another great promo shitting on ROH, taking out Mikaze while Necro destroys Blade outside the ring. Adam Pearce comes out and his sanctioned impromptu match against Necro gets thrown out when Hero reinserts himself back into the picture.

Hero calls out his tag team partner and established ROH superstar Claudio Castagnoli to help out with the CZW cause. Castagnoli instead takes both Hero & Necro out, which is actually quite smart, as the CZW representatives were not expecting their invitation to be declined via violence AND reinforces that Castagnoli is a threat for his match later in the evening, a final Pure Title shot against Nigel McGuinness, AND on top of that, should make him an even more sympathetic, beloved babyface for that match. Pearce says now that the odds are even, for Hero & Necro to come back for another fight, which they of course don't do. Pearce & Castagnoli leave the crowd in a loud, passionate "ROH" chant.

Alex Shelley vs. Christopher Daniels

Really good stuff as expected. Shelley was tremendous at being a disrespectful douche-bag to Daniels to start the match. Daniels however would gain the advantage working on the left arm for a few minutes, although not enough to cause pain in that limb for Shelley throughout the entire match. Shelley would gain the advantage and the crowd abruptly went for a "Y2J" chant. Shelley, obviously influenced by the HOFer, struck Chris Jericho's "King of the World" pose to a massive pop.

They had some more nice back and forth stuff, nothing super spectacular, but all very well paced and making the viewer wonder who would win this first-time matchup in ROH. But once Shelley got planted with the Angel's Wings, everyone knew it was over. That booking was best for business considering the directions of both stars coming out of this. Good stuff all around, and hopefully these two will get to collide in a couple dream tags for ROH, PWG, and/or NJPW in the near future.

Rating: ***1/2

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli

As stated earlier, this was Castagnoli's last shot at the Pure Title while Nigel McGuinness was reigning. They had another good match, not quite on par with Shelley vs. Daniels, but certainly the best out of their five singles matchups in ROH up to this point. Castagnoli wasn't as over as I would have expected after the red-hot ROH vs. CZW segment earlier in the evening, which made the match suffer a bit. Without visiting any of their IWA-MS work, I'm going to guess that they hadn't quite captured whatever magic they had shown in 2004.

Before the match, the crowd was heckling referee Todd Sinclair as he was explaining the rules, and McGuinness attempted to brown-nose him. Castagnoli had none of it, interrupting the blatant ass-kissing with a European Uppercut to start the match and having the early heat. They had some really good back-and-forth heat segments, and Castagnoli had a major moment for his ROH tenure when he kicked out of a Tower of London.

In the end though, despite Castagnoli putting forth a great effort and unloading numerous uppercuts plus an Alpamari Waterslide or two, McGuinness found a way to knock out his greatest challenger to this point with the rebound lariat. This time, there was no cheating, no manipulation, no bullshit whatsoever. McGuinness was clearly the better wrestler, and there's no way to spin it: Castagnoli choked, which had to eat at him after knowing he had proven to be better than the champion in their prior matches.

Rating: ***1/4

At intermission, a special music video gets aired by Jimmy Jacobs, called "The Ballad of Lacey."



Just brilliant stuff displaying his creepy infatuation over his agent Lacey, including a MySpace mention, plus him pouring wax on himself while wearing leopard skin boxers and thrusting his pelvis in the direction of a Lacey photo that he was holding. The song itself is badly produced and edited, with his singing being horrific, only making this even more brilliant. The lyrical highlight is easily "there are no other candidates... together, we're the match of the year!"

In a backstage scene that has no lighting whatsoever, Nigel McGuinness cuts a great promo, saying that he's legitimate, he still has the Pure Title around his waist. He declares that he's the best pure wrestler on the roster, specifically calling out the ROH Champion Bryan Danielson. He says that he'll be in NOAH putting the Pure Title on the line, and THAT makes his belt the real world championship. I'm loving this.

Ricky Reyes gets DQed in his match against Austin Aries when he refuses to break the Dragon Slepper hold (why on Earth did Reyes have to get this strong of a push?), drawing out Roderick Strong & Jack Evans to save their Generation Next leader. This also brings out the Briscoes.

Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros.

Here are the positives: the spots were very nice for the most part, and after the structurally messy several minutes to kick off the match, the Briscoes did a nice job of turning Evans into the Ricky Morton for the next quarter of the match. It was painfully obvious that should've been the primary plot of the match. I did like seeing Strong pull out a standing moonsault, something I don't believe he'd ever shown in ROH. That is a nice subtle message to Danielson.

Now on to the negatives.

I don't care that the crowd reacted well to this match. Quite frankly, this NYC crowd was f***ing clueless and unsophisticated on this night, and their attitudes only got worse in the main event. There were NUMEROUS times when the referee just counted a pinfall on whoever was in the ring, not caring one iota about who was legal. This match just had no structure outside of the heat segment on Evans. NONE. And I'm not going to give this match a pass for being a shallow spotfest just because it happened to be in ROH during the aesthetic hey day. This was just like the tons of matches I shit on in PWG that got cheap pops out of the crowds in Los Angeles.

I also have no f***ing clue why the Briscoes did the job in this one after saying that they were coming for the tag straps. WHAT THE f***? And it was Evans to get the pin too, not Strong, who was scheduled as the next challenger to face Danielson for the ROH Title.

Rating: less than ***

Homicide and Colt Cabana are both not booked for this event, surprising not to have the former, a Brooklyn native, and just a week before the big triple-shot. But a pre-taped promo from Cabana airs. He uses some great analogies to explain his feud with Homicide. Surviving a car crash and then getting back in the driver's seat, putting the key in the ignition. Getting drilled by a baseball while up to bat, and then returning for another at-bat. Having a finger bitten off when going to pet what appeared to be a friendly dog, and then keeping an open mind about animals.

He says that he will face his face his fear, and it's time to end this, it's getting too violent and has been going on for too long. Detroit and Chicago, the big triple-shot on WrestleMania 22 weekend, this feud finally comes to its conclusion. Really good promo.

Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji

Great tag team main event, not the all-time classic that many expected, but awesome nonetheless.

So I started with the positives in the prior match. In contrast, I'm going to get the negatives out of the way first for this one.

This NYC crowd f***ing sucked, treating Danielson and Marufuji as after-thoughts. Now don't get me wrong, KENTA and Joe colliding was a dream matchup. Their work against each other in this one was quite the doozy, and they probably should've just faced each other in a singles match to main event this show. But this crowd only seemed to give a f*** about names, spots, and stiff moves, with no appreciation and patience for storytelling and technical wrestling. I firmly believe this match would've hit the MOTYC mark in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, or Philadelphia.

The match these four put together was great stuff as I mentioned. KENTA refused to shake the opposition's hand before the match, drawing an ooh from the crowd, but the commentators seem to only catch on to him refusing to shake Joe's hand. Danielson and Marufuji start the match with the usual good wrestling and reach a stalemate. Marufuji tags in KENTA and the crowd is SCREAMING for Joe to get tagged in. Danielson though refuses to make the tag, fitting his f***-off gimmick at the time.

After a collar-and-elbow tie-up that had Danielson bring KENTA to the ropes, the then-current GHC Jr. Champ hit a Yakuza kick on Joe, who was standing on the apron, drawing a huge pop. Danielson agreed on the second request to make the tag, although KENTA demanded it. Joe and KENTA then had a great strike exchange segment, just as good as their work against Low Ki and Kenta Kobashi in late 2005.

KENTA & Marufuji tried to pull out their double-team stuff that many of the ROH faithful had not gotten to see yet, with Marufuji going for a corner charging move on Joe after using KENTA as a springboard, only to get met with a Uranage Slam. That got another great pop from the NYC crowd. Marufuji also attempted to cheat at times, although that couldn't drive the passionate ire from the ROH team that KENTA had drawn from Joe. Marufuji even showed some attitude towards the referee a couple times.

The rest of the match, about another 20 minutes or so, was intelligently worked. It also had the nice story that the former GHC Jr. Tag Champs had far more chemistry than the ROH team. Sure, Danielson & Joe had teamed up a couple times before this in ROH, but they didn't have the established chemistry and tag team foundation of KENTA & Marufuji. This was very obvious when Joe completely ignored Danielson's request for assistance later in the match.

KENTA also did a nice job of knocking Joe off the apron a couple more times, both for trolling purposes and to focus on the ROH Champ. Danielson had a great finishing stretch with him. KENTA went for the G2S, only for Danielson to counter with a crucifix, positioning the GHC Jr. Champ to eat the elbows that had taken out Jimmy Rave and Roderick Strong. But KENTA was able to absorb them, taking only a few, and position himself to roll back and get Danielson back on his shoulders, planting a G2S for the victory. Now THAT is brilliant booking unlike the other tag match on this night.

Post-match, Joe says KENTA did a good job, but he hadn't beaten Danielson for the title, and he for sure would never beat the former champ either.

This match only further reminded me that I wish we had gotten to see KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Super Dragon & Davey Richards for ROH in 2006.

Rating: ****

Lance Storm says that Danielson's open contract has him contemplating about coming out of retirement. Why not just make it official that Storm would be coming in to face Danielson the next weekend, whether it's for the title or not?

Prince Nana is with Rave & Shelley, who bury each other for their recent losses. Nana tells him to cool down, then threatens to garnish their paychecks. That causes them to get focused on business, with Nana now aiming for the Tag Titles. I should note that the Tag Titles declaration portion is shown on the next DVD due to the annoying cliffhanger formatting of The Milestone Series.

I did like this overall, but so far it was the weakest of The Milestone Series due to weird formatting, a shitty ADHD crowd, and questionable booking. This is definitely a must-have for a great main event and as an important piece of the puzzle for bigger moments to come for ROH in 2006, plus the Shelley vs. Daniels match is much better than what they put together in PWG.

Hindsight is 20/20, and here's what I would've booked. KENTA vs. Joe as the main event, and Joe could've done the f***ing job by TKO (thus still somewhat protecting him.) Rather than be wasted in a singles match against Reyes, I'd have Aries challenge Danielson for the ROH Title in the semi-main. That could've been used to enforce the Best in the World bragging name for promoting this show, AND teased that Strong either gets to face Danielson for the strap in a money match, or must face his GeNext leader and fellow Tag Champ Aries for the biggest prize in the company, a first-time ever singles matchup in ROH and rematch of their finals at Survival of the Fittest 2005. I'd have Daniels in a dream match against Marufuji. And I'd have Rave vs. Shelley with the story being that they were becoming so irritated with each other that they needed to see who was the true alpha of the Embassy. I'd have that be a draw, with Nana talking sense into them afterwards and making the Tag Titles chase declaration. The other two matches that mattered would've stayed the same, albeit one of them formatted and booked differently.

And now I've reached what might very well be the aesthetic pinnacle of ROH. There are no TNA, PWG, or NOAH matches for me to watch before the ROH triple-shot. I will not be going through any Dragon Gate projects either. That's because a major factor in the Dragon Gate superstars getting over and stealing the show was that it was largely an introduction of them to the ROH audience. That's a magical dynamic I want to experience as best as I can in this project.

I sometimes wondered in the back of my head when I did start this project if I would ever stick with it after about 20-25 shows, and I'm glad I have. Time for me to be reminded that I made the mistake of not flying to Chicago just to see ROH on WrestleMania 22 weekend.

Up next - Dragon Gate Challenge
Matches will include:
Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer
Bryan Danielson & Delirious vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley
AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi
Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans vs. CIMA & Speed Muscle
Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

[SUPES]

Dragon Gate Challenge - March 30, 2006



Lacey wants Jimmy Jacobs to destroy BJ Whitmer tonight, and she doesn't give a f*** about wins and losses, just Whitmer getting his ass kicked for having the temerity to call her out for her bullshit. She promises a reward to Jacobs, who is googly-eyed over her, and he wants to selflessly give her a foot massage. She rolls her eyes at this, clearly expecting him to ask for something far more demanding, and gladly says yes.

Colt Cabana interrupts the show introduction from Bobby Cruise, demanding Homicide to come out. He wants to end the feud right now, and they have a short, brutal brawl masquerading as an actual match with Homicide winning after chairshots to a ladder wrapped around Cabana's head. Not a memorable match at all, but this served its purpose of showing how heated the feud had gotten (one of the wrestlers unwilling to wait for later in the night) while saving the goods for Chicago. THIS is how a certain match booked for Battleground 2014 should've been laid out, although toned-down of course.

Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels have some backstage promos that bookend the second match on the show, putting over what a thorn they've been for each other over the years.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer

These two just have unreal chemistry together. Whitmer beat the f*** out of the Detroit native Jacobs, who took his beating in this one with great stride. Of course, Jacobs did a great job of displaying his overwhelming infatuation with Lacey. He had some great hope spots, using his tenacity, psychology, and smaller size to evade some of Whitmer's offense. There was a great segment early in the match with Whitmer tossing Jacobs around on the guardrails, the first time ending with Jacobs taking a bump neck-first on the concrete floor. That must have been lovely.

Jacobs really showed his tenacity established in 2004 during his matches against Generation Next, but this time it was amplified emotionally with his motivation to please Lacey. Unfortunately, that same motivation caused him to take his eye off the ball at times, such as blowing kisses at her instead of going for a pinfall attempt on his former fellow Tag Champ. But this match really should be seen, because for all of Whitmer's weaknesses as an in-ring performer, he did a great job of making the offense of Jacobs look credible.

Jacobs took a beating on his neck and back in this one, including a transition for Whitmer to regain control with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex counter when getting charged at by Jacobs. Jacobs took some nasty head-drops in this one, but managed to get some tremendous nearfall attempts that had his hometown crowd rocking. They had a delayed vertical suplex that had them spill to the outside, which allowed Jacobs to temporarily regain control, but an attempted head-scissors off the apron would be for naught. That spot was countered with Whitmer catching him and landing a powerbomb on the top edge of a guardrail.

The most memorable portion of the match was also the most legitimately terrifying. Whitmer was going to hit a super powerbomb on Jacobs, but his foot slipped and it took them backward. Jacobs had his head hit one of the ropes, then his head and neck hit the apron before crashing to the floor. Whitmer came up limping from this too. To say this got quite the reaction would be like saying that Saints and Seahawks fans like to make noise.

With the crowd red-hot, both men suck it up and get back in the ring. Jacobs is able to land a Shiranui to the crowd's delight, which he'd been unable to do a number of times earlier in the match. But Lacey got on the apron and said to keep dishing out punishment, not giving a shit about Jacobs getting a landmark victory. Jacobs obliged but also wasted time paying attention to her, allowing Whitmer to finish him off with a super overhead belly-to-belly suplex followed by a lariat.

An outstanding, awesome match with a botch that fortunately didn't kill either man and only made the crowd even hotter. They earned great respect as shown in the reactions from the crowd afterwards, both men's stock being elevated greatly. I'm sure if Gabe Sapolsky had known how much these two would've clicked, this would've been the last match before intermission.

Whitmer wants to shake hands with Jacobs, having earned even more respect for his former fellow Tag Champ despite their tension. But Jacobs refuses, choosing to leave with Lacey. Whitmer can't believe it, calling Lacey a "skanky piece of ass." This draws Jacobs to the apron and he teases a handshake, only to spit on Whitmer before leaving.

Rating: ****

With Jacobs & Lacey gone, Whitmer turns his attention to CZW, since this was his first appearance in ROH since getting brutalized like a prisoner of war at Arena Warfare. He says the war isn't over, he's ready for a fight, and he's glad to hear that Chris Hero & Necro Butcher are rumored to be in the building. Good smoke-and-mirrors promo from Whitmer to hide his verbal weaknesses that got a fantastic reaction from the crowd.

Bryan Danielson & Delirious vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley

With the Embassy still bitter about losing to Danielson in singles for the ROH Title, they've set their focus on the Tag Straps and challenged Danielson to a tag match. Danielson was so confident when the challenge was made before this show that he told Nana to pick any partner for him. Thus, Danielson's partner is Delirious, the most lovable established jobber on the roster.

This was really good stuff, with Shelley in particular getting great heel heat in his hometown. I wonder if Gabe Sapolsky had thought of having him cash in his ROH Title shot in front of his hometown crowd (as if that match could've been that much better than it already was in Philadelphia.) There were some cool moments in this, such as Shelley first not knowing how to react to Delirious, which is funny after he had picked Delirious to be his partner the previous year against Roderick Strong & Jack Evans.

The highlight of the match was Delirious giving Rave an airplane spin. Danielson got tagged in and did an extended, far more graceful airplane spin, while Delirious ran around it in the opposite direction in the ring. That got a tremendous reaction. What also stood out is that Danielson surprisingly played the Ricky Morton role in this match, which is something I wouldn't have expected at all since he had two big title matches booked for the weekend and Delirious was still a curtain-jerker. Delirious was a house of fire once the hot tag was made, but ultimately proved to still be prone to losing when he got pinned. Danielson left unimpressed and irritated with his partner.

Rating: ***1/2

Cabana cuts a promo outside the building at intermission, likely concussed. He says the feud with Homicide MUST end this weekend in Chicago, and he's not backing down.

Claudio Castagnoli makes quick work of Shane Hagadorn, and Hero & Necro finally appear afterwards. Castagnoli stands firm on the side of ROH, helping out Whitmer after he came into the ring with a chair. Another great little ROH vs. CZW segment that had the enthusiastic crowd passionately marking out.

AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi

Food for thought: be glad that this match wasn't booked by Vince Russo or Jim Cornette. Why do I say that? Styles is a documented homophobe, and Horiguchi is a character blatantly aimed at homosexuals.

This was a fun tag, although Styles seemed to have some difficulty gelling with the Dragon Gate team. Sydal was definitely up to par. What surprised me is that this match had no issues with tag legalities being reinforced for pinfalls, as the wrestlers actually kept track. I was going to overlook that since this involves Dragon Gate talent and I'm aware that federation likes to utilize lucha rules (legalities can change either by tagging OR a partner coming into the ring as his partner rolls out.) Styles was able to hit the Styles Clash on Horiguchi to finish off the match. I'd like to have seen Styles & Sydal collide with Speed Muscle, as I imagine that matchup would've gelled better.

Rating: ***

Dragon Gate Rules
Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans vs. CIMA & Speed Muscle

The commentators make it clear that this is under Dragon Gate rules this time, which is fine with me. Be upfront about this kind of stuff.

This was simply an amazing, phenomenal match. The action was f***ing incredible with the exception of Evans missing a blow on Naruki Doi. Other than that, this match absolutely stole the show and had me wondering how Joe and Daniels could possibly follow this. Strong did a great job of pummeling Blood Generation; a favorite moment for me was when Masato Yoshino was in, having shown off his incredible speed when running the ropes. He no-sold a chop from Aries while in GeNext's corner. Once Strong got tagged in, Yoshino basically shit himself, dreading what was to come, and took a VICIOUS chop from Strong. Yoshino did just an excellent job of selling that chop.

Blood Generation managed to take this fantastic trios action and cut the ring in half, working on Evans. Now some may be wondering why GeNext didn't just get involved since this was Dragon Gate rules. As stated in the prior match, legalities change either by tag OR coming into the ring when a partner rolls out. Blood Generation cut the ring in half on Evans, AND kept him inside the ring, so GeNext could not legally get involved during this segment of the match.

However, after this heat segment, and the match reached its third act, the legalities got thrown out the window. With this likely being Todd Sinclair's first time officiating a match of this style, I can empathize with him forgetting who was legal. I as a nit-picker couldn't keep track. The last third of this match was absolutely amazing, fantastic, phenomenal, incredible, jaw-dropping, spectacular shit. Just nonstop action, big moves one after another. But this wasn't bullshit from the RF days of ROH. This third act was a spotfest, but all of it was executed and laid out incredibly well.

When CIMA landed the Schwein (also known as White Noise when used by Sheamus) on Evans, after having done some work on his neck, I knew it was over. This got a rousing standing ovation from the Detroit crowd, many of them never having seen this kind of action before. This match must be seen to believed, and I imagine ROH will be including it on the Year Five compilation whenever that inevitably comes out. An absolutely splendid MOTYC.

Rating: ****1/2

Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

An extended video of their rivalry/feud is shown that goes on a bit too long (one of the audio tracks even has to start over abruptly), but does a great job of showcasing how these men are able to hit spots and make them matter.

Joe and Daniels had their work cut out for them after the trios match right before this, but they managed to put on a great main event. Joe came out first, which was unusual for him during his time in ROH. However, it became crystal-clear why that happened. Daniels came out and stopped on the ramp, with "Disposable Teens" being turned off. "The Champ is Here" then began playing, and Daniels revealed the NWA-TNA X-Division Championship to remind Joe of how his reign for that title had ended earlier in the month. Masterful trolling.

They had a nice brawl at ringside due to that entrance from Daniels, and once they got in the ring the bell officially rang to start the match. Joe did his usual brutal offensive work on Daniels, but Daniels had an extra focus on this night, knowing this was their last singles match against each other in ROH. Joe went for a musclebuster early in the match, but Daniels was able to use that position on the turnbuckle to body-scissors Joe out of the ring, following that up with an Arabian Press.

Joe would regain control and dominate with his vicious offense as stated earlier, both in strikes and submissions. But Daniels made sure to get his hope spots in to make sure this segment of the match was engaging, only to get cut off quickly. Joe though did a great job of selling the pain from the offense of Daniels, even while having control. Joe cut off another brief hope segment for Daniels when he dropped the X-Division Champ with a Uranage Slam. He then brought Daniels to the outside, delivering TWO Ole Ole Kicks to the crowd's monster approval. Sure, that's a trademark spot for Joe, but very brilliant to soften up the head for the musclebuster and get the crowd to pop. Joe would also work in the Crippler Crossface later to soften up the neck, a neck btw that had documented damage on it from the dying days of WCW.

Joe attempts a seated choke while on the turnbuckle, but Daniels blocks it and lands the Fall From Grace for a nearfall, but only maintains brief control. He blocks an attempted senton with the knees, although that's Samoa Joe landing on someone's knees, so it's no surprise that Joe stops Daniels shortly afterward with a trademark powerslam. After the Crippler Crossface spot as mentioned, Allison Danger helps out Daniels by grabbing his foot. This allows Daniels to regain the advantage, but it's teased that could be brief again with a chokehold.

Daniels is able to break that chokehold and land the Angel's Wings for a great nearfall, shocking Daniels after putting Alex Shelley away with that (and only have to do it once also) on the prior show. Completely focused and with it sinking in that Joe doesn't go down so easily, Daniels hits three consecutive BMEs and finally gets a pinfall over Joe in a one-on-one match, their last ever in that format in ROH. Just a great match that was intelligently worked and smoothly paced.

Rating: ****

Hero & Necro immediately run into the ring afterwards and ruin this magical moment for Daniels, but Danger pleads with him not to take the bait, wanting him to stay out of this violent ROH vs. CZW issue. This didn't exactly make Daniels look like a team player which he seemed to have become for ROH by this point and I wish Daniels had gotten a minute to shine after this great match and big win, but I could see Danger talking him out of being involved with this situation after a grueling main event. I wonder if Daniels, an established manipulative character, will find a way down the road to get a taste of retribution over Hero and/or Necro for this in the future.

Joe steps into the ring to fight off the CZW duo, and gets help from Whitmer of course. ROH students keep the CZW stars from getting back in the ring after being thrown out, and Joe cuts a fantastic promo to represent ROH, He "officially" declares war on ROH, saying he's ready to fight and dares CZW to bring its various weapons again, he'll win with his fists and wrestling ability, as well as the incredible locker room that ROH has put together. This was a great way to finish off the show, and had I been in attendance and didn't plan on going to Chicago to see the other 2/3 of this triple-shot, I'd at least be reconsidering.

Lance Storm reminds us that he's interested in facing Danielson for the ROH Title. Why not just announce that it's booked?

A tease of Jim Cornette is shown talking to someone on the phone. I'll discuss this in my next review.

This show, while recognized as an excellent show, gets overshadowed by the Chicago events that followed it and that's unfortunate. This was an absolutely magnificent wrestling event, with a couple good tags and three genuinely great but very different flavors of matches, one of them being a show-stealing, jaw-dropping MOTYC. It also managed to move forward three great angles in Homicide vs. Cabana (fantastically placed as storyline advancement disguised as an opening match), Jacobs vs. Whitmer, and ROH vs. CZW. This show was also paced incredibly well, one of the best ever during the Gabe Sapolsky era in that regard.

LIke I said, had I attended this event, I"m pretty f***ing sure I'd have gotten a vehicle ready by the next morning to take a trip to Chicago. This event is a must-own and one of the greatest shows that ROH has EVER hosted. This would be standing head-and-shoulders over about 99% of the ROH events between 2008 and 2014. GET. THIS. NOW.

Of course, the next event. Oh, what can I really say? If you're not aware of what ROH was like at this time, be ready for lots of praising from me.

Up next - Supercard of Honor
Matches will include:
Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Yang & Claudio Castagnoli
Austin Aries & Jack Evans vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal
CIMA & Speed Muscle vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi
Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong

[SUPES]

Supercard of Honor - March 31, 2006



Jim Cornette is informed by an unnamed eyewitness via phone as to who exactly knocked his tooth out with a chairshot during the chaotic melee at Tag Wars 2006. It is none other than Low Ki, who receives a lifetime ban from ROH, with Cornette citing all the previous chaos and high-maintenance demands from the ROH cornerstone as the sundae to this figurative cherry back in Dayton. This was a great way to give a kayfabe explanation for Ki’s departure, and also remember that the ROH and CZW brawl last time in Dayton had poor lighting, so Cornette and the viewer had no idea Ki was the one responsible.

A video package airs for tonight's main event, showcasing the brutality Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong have laid upon each other in the past five months.

Earlier in the day, Chris Hero talks shit to some fans waiting in line outside the Frontier Fieldhouse.

The camera gets to ringside, and this looks like quite the capacity crowd, significantly more packed than any prior Chicago event for ROH. Bobby Cruise announces that Colt Cabana is out for tonight due to a suffered concussion the night before in Detroit.

Jim Cornette comes out to start the show for the live crowd. He’s accompanied by BJ Whitmer, who is on crutches and has a cast on his right foot. Supposedly that’s due to a CZW brawl, but that had to have been from the botch in the match against Jimmy Jacobs. Cornette then cut a childish promo about CZW and then introduced two masked jobbers pretending to be CZW stars. Samoa Joe and Adam Pearce came out to squash them. I wish Low Ki had shown up to knock Cornette’s grill with another chairshot after watching this shit, and I’d have saved this trolling squash segment for an East Coast event in front of rabid CZW fans.

I FF to the end of the next match, and now I’m reminded why Ricky Reyes got a substantial undercard push, including Austin Aries being unable to break out of the Dragon Sleeper the week before. Delirious fell victim and Reyes refused to let go here. He and Smokes mugged him and left him laying, completely cocky thugs ganging up on the loveable established jobber.

Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Yang & Claudio Castagnoli

Some fun stuff but never truly clicked. I’ll pinpoint that on Yang, who played the Ricky Morton role. Now some may believe that’s a good formula with Castagnoli being the taller, more aggressive partner, and the Embassy were fantastic cheaters especially with Prince Nana & Daizee Haze in their corner to help out. But Yang, fine wrestler that he is, lacks the charisma and facial expressions to be truly sympathetic and get the crowd behind him.

Post-match, Hero shows up and he’s bitter that his fellow King of Wrestling refuses to join the CZW cause.

Rating: less than ***

Homicide & Julius Smokes berry (and that’s not a typo on my part) Cabana, saying that this is what he gets for f***ing with the wrong people and he should be afraid. Homicide is ready to move on in another direction.

Austin Aries & Jack Evans vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal

The referee forgot who was legal for one temporary moment about 3/4 of the way into this match, keeping it from MOTYC territory.

But this was a tremendous tag match nonetheless. Evans and Sydal started off with Sydal winning that battle after hitting a dropkick, and he tags in Styles. He manhandles Evans and tosses him in GeNext’s corner, demanding Aries to get in. They too have a nice but brief exchange, as Sydal wants to test himself against his GeNext leader. Their exchange is also great, trading leverage and arm-drags. Sydal hits the headscissors escape-into-a-dropkick spot, showing his leader his continued progression. Aries would pridefully look to return the favor, only to fake out the dropkick on a blocking Sydal, who drops his arms and gets a stiff kick instead.

Styles & Sydal eventually cut the ring in half on Evans, who takes a nasty head-drop from a release German Suplex. I was happy to see them focus on his neck afterward, double-teaming him left and right, and Styles made sure to charge at Aries a couple of times to keep the numbers game in his team’s favor. The highlight of this segment for me was Styles gorilla pressing Evans, then the Tacoma native getting dropped and bumping like he took a spinebuster. Evans did a MUCH better job of playing the Ricky Morton role than Yang in the prior match.

Once Evans got the hot tag, the match turned into a spotfest, with one missed legality as I mentioned before. However, the action was so great that I could somewhat see why the referee allowed this to turn into a spotfest, similar to officials in sports leagues that don’t want to get ticky-tacky with being rulebook sticklers during the dramatic closing moments of games. During this action-packed third act, Sydal somehow got a broken nose and bled from it, but gutted through it.

With Styles on the outside, Evans sucked up whatever pain he had and went for a handstand somersault corkscrew plancha, landing in precise position to deliver a hurricanrana to the then-TNA superstar. Styles though, not having been through as much pain and also being a bigger, stronger, more aggressive, and more successful competitor, blocked the hurricanrana, planting Evans with the Styles Clash on the gym floor. That got a MASSIVE pop.

Aries was briefly distracted out of concern for Evans, which allowed the bleeding Sydal a moment to fight him off as they were on the turnbuckle. Evans got brought back in by Styles and Sydal finished him with a gorgeous shooting star press, bringing this show-stealer to a conclusion that had the crowd giving all four men a standing ovation.

Rating: ****

Dragon Gate Rules
CIMA & Speed Muscle vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi

I can say for sure now that I regret not booking a flight to Chicago for WrestleMania 22 weekend.

Both trios units come to ringside and get respectful ovations, even some streamers, but it’s obvious that most of the fans in attendance are not familiar with these Dragon Gate superstars.

Referee Todd Sinclair had difficulty completely enforcing the rules, but he was obviously put in a situation in which he was still becoming familiar with these guys, and the heelish Blood Generation took advantage like the night before. That’s something I can appreciate after the antics of Generation Next in 2004.

I would not have booked Naruki Doi to take the fall in this one, since he would be teaming with CIMA the next day to challenge Aries & Roderick Strong for the Tag Titles. But with that said, this match is another one of the rare magical occasions that fans get to have the privilege and pleasure of experiencing. To deem this match to be a show-stealer would not be doing it justice.

The match was paced incredibly well, getting more intense with each minute passing by. Guys came in and out as they pleased, but unlike so many of the geeks that plague the independent scene, there was a grace, timing, and fluidity to this spotfest. These guys had such an impressive professionalism to their movements as they delivered the nonstop action for the last 10 minutes or so.

This match also had another ingredient that it didn’t require to have been voted as the 2006 Match of the Year by the readers of the Wrestling Observer. That would be SELLING. Deep into this match, CIMA went to work on Horiguchi’s back, and this came into play later during the extended action-packed third act. Horiguchi dropped a member of Blood Generation with a modified piledriver-type move, and then sold his back that had been worked on. This delayed him from going for the cover, causing a nearfall that got a red-hot reaction. Horiguchi would continue to sell the back throughout the rest of this instant, timeless classic.

Speaking of red-hot nearfalls, the third act was dripping with them. The match would look to be over, but a kickout would occur or someone would make the save. This only increased the crowd’s red-hot enthusiasm, which became white-hot, and the commentators eventually said “this action speaks for itself,” which was the right call to make. When Dragon Kid hit the second hurricanrana pin on Doi, it brought the emotionally satisfying end to this work of art.

This match was simply magical, on par with numerous other magical moments involving CM Punk, Kenta Kobashi, Eddie Guerrero, Jushin Liger, AJ Styles, Low Ki, Paul London, Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, KENTA, and Generation Next. It was a much different flavor of magic, and I so badly wished I had made the trip just to see this match. These are the days I miss in independent wrestling.

Is this the best match of ROH in 2006, let alone the company’s best match ever? I can’t really say at this point about 2006, but I’d have it just a notch below the London vs. Danielson 2/3 falls match at The Epic Encounter. This is DEFINITELY a top ten match in ROH’s history, no doubt about it for me. Get yourself a copy of this or the Japan’s Finest compilation if you’ve yet to witness this.

Rating: *****

The first disc concludes with a Nigel McGuinness promo, bragging about being gone on this historic weekend because he’s in Japan defending the Pure Title. He reminds the viewers that doing this, along with him slaying such names as Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Claudio Castagnoli, makes him the best pure wrestler and best overall champion in the company, the true world champion in fact. He again calls out Bryan Danielson. I’m so ready to see these two f***ing collide.

Homicide makes quick work of Mitch Franklin, and then proceeds to shit on Chicago's beloved Cubs as well as their native Cabana. Even with a concussion, Cabana comes to ringside and has a hardcore match masquerading as an unofficial brawl. He dominates Homicide early through anger and determination, but the Notorious 187 is able to seize back control. He once again hits multiple chairshots on a ladder wrapped around Cabana's neck and head. Concussion angles nowadays can be very polarizing for obvious reasons, and I hope no company ever books a concussion angle this violent again. That said, it worked for the story.

Right as Homicide & Smokes are leaving, and with Cabana outside the ring getting help with leaving too, out comes Hero with Necro Butcher. Necro grabs the ladder in the ring and tosses it outside, with Hero saying that what the fans just witnessed was practically child's play compared to the hardcore lengths that CZW superstars go to. Pearce comes out to have a great brawl with Necro, and I roll my eyes when I see Necro take a Ric Flair backdrop on the gym floor from the apron. Meanwhile, Castagnoli had come to ringside and chased Hero away, who had taken a powder.

After a few minutes, Hero manages to get involved again, this time drawing out the ROH Commissioner Cornette, who is brandishing a baseball bat. Hero is able to take him down with an arm submission though. Not bad for a supposedly untalented hack, huh James? This draws out Joe & Whitmer, who together with Pearce fight off the CZW duo. This was a phenomenal crowd-popping segment, getting passionate chants for both ROH and the individuals representing the brand.

Joe is left in the ring, saying he came to chew bubble gum and lay down some ass-kickings. He's now out of bubble gum.

Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Christopher Daniels

Lacey dismisses Daniels to not bother coming to ringside, as this is a huge opportunity for Jacobs to pull the biggest upset of his career against Joe. Of course Daniels comes out though. He and Joe try to ignore Jacobs at first, but he makes his presence known. This was well-timed, not much to be anything special, but it was good and not bad for a breather before the big money main event. My favorite spot was Daniels about to hit the Angel's Wings on Joe, but he saw Jacobs coming. So he planted Jacobs on top of Joe with a Uranage, while using the other arm to drop Joe with a reverse DDT. But once Joe got the choke locked in on Jacobs later, that was obviously the finish.

Rating: ***1/4

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong

Danielson is disrespectful early as expected, and takes a couple powders in the early stages of the match to maintain control and composure while also talking shit to the fans. Having learned from their masterpiece at Vendetta, Strong stays inside the ring. Even when Danielson threatens to just walk out, even going all the way backstage, Strong stays in the ring and calls out Danielson, not playing into the mind games.

It took awhile, although not as much as in his matches before this against Danielson and CM Punk, for Strong to get some chopping sequences, only getting the occasional one planted on the champ. But Danielson was able to get in his own chopping sequences, obviously trolling Strong to show off what he could do. Danielson would go on to dominate Strong on the mat throughout most of the match, but there are of course some things I should point out in this classic that have stood the test of time.

Danielson just dominated Strong, who of course would get his chops in. His strikes and submission work were splendid as usual, just softening up the challenger and testing him for what was sure to be another grueling test of stamina between them. But the match got REALLY interesting, getting into actual MOTYC territory, when Strong attempted to plant his body on Danielson's back when the champ was leaning on the middle ropes. Danielson moved out of the way, causing Strong's right knee to awkwardly strike the rope.

Danielson went to work on that right knee, charging it on the mat and putting it through the submission grinder, including an Indian Death Lock, Boston Crab, and figure four leglock. Strong would manage to bring the match back to neutral, but his right knee was shot the rest of the match, which went on for about another 20 minutes. They brawled to the outside and Strong had Danielson positioned against a ring-post. Strong landed a chop, but then his second attempted chop got his hand to meet the steel when Danielson got out of the way.

Strong did just a terrific job of selling his right arm and right leg in the rest of the match. Like in his classic against James Gibson at Unforgettable, he would only chop with his left arm, and used the damaged right arm only to deliver vicious forearms to rock Danielson. In a sequence I'm sure was influenced by Strong studying KENTA's defeat over Danielson just days before this, Strong was able to absorb the crucifix position elbows of Danielson, rolling back and putting the champ in a fireman's carry position. Strong then delivered a perfectly timed gutbuster on the champ.

But Strong's right knee took some more damage just from that move, forcing him to briefly tend to it before going for the cover. This very brief moment was all the time needed for the champ to kick out. Strong, knowing that this would likely be his last chance at the ROH Title while Danielson held it, delivered numerous backbreakers to Danielson using his right limbs, telling his pain to f*** off so that he could obtain the top prize in the company. Danielson still kicked out though, making these for more great near-falls, while also causing more damage to Strong's right limbs.

Strong would also be unable to fully turn Danielson over during a Liontamer, giving the champ leverage to get out of the hold. Danielson would attempt some Cattle Mutilation submissions, but Strong also found a way to get to the ropes for the break. He would then go for the Crossface Chickenwing, but Strong broke that too. Danielson went for another trick in his bag, crotching Strong on the top turnbuckle. Strong would use that positioning to land a super gutbuster on Danielson, getting another massive pop on a night when there were many of them. Strong again told the pain in his right knee to f*** off, making a last-ditch effort more than 55 minutes into this classic to take out Danielson with another Liontamer, this time locking it completely in.

But Danielson would position his way out of the properly applied Liontamer, forcing Strong to stand upright and allowing Danielson to use his legs to roll up the challenger for the pinfall. Strong's right knee had nothing left, leaving him unable to kick out after more than 56 minutes had passed in this excellent main event.

My only problem with this match is that Danielson didn't sell the back work to the best of his ability. Other than that, I think I've made it pretty clear that this match f***ing delivered and closed out this great show in splendid fashion. The match had started shortly before midnight, more than 4 hours passed for this show, and nearly an hour later these two men had the Chicago crowd in a f***ing frenzy. I assume this will be included on the inevitable Year Five compilation. I don't have this as high as Vendetta, but overall it's better than This Means War.

Rating: ****3/4

It's official: Lance Storm challenges Bryan Danielson for the ROH Title tomorrow night.

I'm with most longtime ROH viewers in that I prefer the shorter but equally if not greater events in ROH's history, such as the night before and after. But this show was tremendous, even though some matches didn't deliver much of a star rating. This was formatted to be similar to NOAH's events at the Tokyo Dome, going very long with all kinds of various styles across the board. This once again advanced some white-hot programs, and it was obvious that Homicide and Cabana would finally be bringing their violent, epic feud to an end the next night to close out the weekend.

This is definitely a must-have, not just for the storylines, but for having two all-time classics in ROH, one of them considered by many to be the greatest match in company history, that same match winning the Match of the Year Award in the Wrestling Observer. Don't forget that other great show-stealing tag too, which should be included on a Sydal compilation once he makes his ROH return in the near future. A long but VERY amazing night of professional wrestling.

Up next - Better Than Our Best
For the first and what might be the only time for me on this project, I'm not watching certain matches. I'm watching and reviewing the entire f***ing show.

[SUPES]

Better Than Our Best - April 1, 2006



Colt Cabana comes to ringside during the preshow, reiterating that he must end his feud with Homicide and get peace after the violence of the past several months.

Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Matt Sydal vs. Ace Steel vs. Jake Crist vs. Dave Crist

Just a spotfest, nothing truly special, but I expected that going in. This got the crowd's blood flowing and set a nice pace for the rest of the evening. Evans gets the victory before heading to Dragon Gate for three months.

ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette comes out to announce that Adam Pearce has been assigned as security to keep out Chris Hero & Necro Butcher. He's about to ask a young talent to come to the ring, but Colt Cabana interrupts. He begs for a hardcore match ("Chicago Street Fight" for the hometown pop) and Cornette grants that wish. Cornette then calls out Delirious.

Cornette puts over Delirious as a great, entertaining in-ring talent. But he says Delirious needs to win a match in order to maintain a spot on the ROH roster. He grants Delirious any opponent of his choosing, but only if Delirious agrees that this is do-or-die for him. The masked man cuts a gibberish promo that has the crowd in a frenzy, before he finally say something understandable. "Bllllllat!!!" Over and over again, followed by "Ricky Reyes! Ricky Reyes!" Cornette says it's on.

Before I get to the match: that segment included Delirious, Jim Cornette, Adam Pearce, and Colt Cabana. No politics, no bullshit, no rambling promos, no meaningless brawling. I miss the days before this company got overly petty.

The ROH Tenure of Delirious on the Line
Delirious vs. Ricky Reyes

A match that accomplished every single goal it had. Reyes dominated, while Delirious had some hope spots to show off his anger and desperation. Delirious got to be the one to break out of the Dragon Sleeper, which Austin Aries had been unable to do the week before, and finally clinched his first singles victory to maintain his spot, forcing the bully to submit to the Cobra Clutch after hitting him with the Shadows Over Hell. Poetry with a great reaction from the crowd. The first magical moment of the evening.

Dragon Gate Rules
Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, & Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi

Very good trios action but not the nonstop jaw-dropper of the trios matches earlier in the weekend. That's totally understandable since Rave & Shelley weren't trained for that style. I have to point out that while I enjoyed Brian Kendrick character-wise as a one night only member of the Embassy, Yoshino just completely smoked him in that regard and put forth a far superior in-ring performance to boot.

I really enjoyed Rave & Shelley at first being antsy when working with Do Fixer, taking powders and tagging in Yoshino, who was happy to be an asshole to his archrivals and get some vengeance after the Blood Generation loss the night before. He got to yet again show off his incredible chemistry with Dragon Kid, the two of them putting on some dazzling sprints.

Do Fixer was great in getting to show off their triple-team moves since only one of their opponents was familiar with them. But eventually Rave & Shelley did get comfortable and the last third of the match was tremendous action. The booking was perfect too for the Rave-hating Chicago crowd: the Crown Jewel finished off Horiguchi with the Pedigree! That meant the Embassy went 3-0 for this huge triple-shot, solidifying themselves as the #1 Contenders for the Tag Titles.

Rating: ***3/4

Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Yang vs. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Another match with impressive action, although not quite as much as would be expected, and was plagued by tags not being logically enforced in the third act. This wasn't a Dragon Gate or Generation Next trios match, so it should've been easy for the referee to keep track.

Daniels had no interest in being involved early, and it seemed that Styles was to be the target in this match, but Joe would play that role in the second act. Everything in this match was crisp, getting the crowd to pop and everyone worked hard. Although neither man was actually legal, Joe finished off Styles with a rear-naked choke.

Rating: ***1/2

Afterwards, Joe stays in the ring and announces that it's time for him to get an ROH Title shot, calling out Bryan Danielson. The champ comes to the ring and talks shit, with a nice "If I can be serious for a moment..." dig at Lance Storm. After some nice crowd-engaging mic work, Danielson says he'll be happy to grant it after he's done kicking Storm's ass.

As Danielson heads backstage, out come Hero & Necro to throw Joe out of the ring. Pearce immediately storms to the ring and brawls with them. Cornette comes out with Claudio Castagnoli. The Swiss native fails to inflict any damage on the CZW stars, missing a baseball bat swing and appearing to land awkwardly on his knee on the gym floor. Cornette is taken out and Pearce is left laying, allowing the CZW stars to have the last laugh on ROH's historic weekend. This drew incredible heat as expected.

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi

Not the classic match I remembered, but still very good stuff. There was no clear announcement that this would be under Dragon Gate Rules, and with it being a title match, I assume this was to be held under ROH rules. Therefore, there was no reason for the referee to forget who was legal, and like the trios match earlier in the evening, this didn't have the breathtaking pace of the trios matches earlier in the weekend. All the more reason that the referee should've remembered who was legal, as it would NOT have been ticky-tacky or ruined the pace.

Strong was great laying down some brutality less than 24 hours removed from a grueling ROH Title shot against Danielson. CIMA did a phenomenal job of selling a chop from Strong, just absolutely perfect for someone not accustomed to Strong's physical style and popping the crowd even more in the process. Blood Generation would eventually get the advantage on Aries though, who would end up getting busted open on the face.

Aries found his face getting targeted, further showcasing that no matter how awesome CIMA & Doi were, they were still pricks on par with Danielson. Strong was great when he got the hot tag and laying down the fire on Blood Generation. This was the third act and the ref unfortunately forgot who was legal. But this was still very, very good action and worth checking out. All four men certainly deserved the standing ovation they got from the 1600-1700 fans in attendance.

Rating: ***3/4

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Lance Storm

Similar to Matt Hardy, the bandwagon for Lance Storm is long-gone, and it's obvious he's not an all-time great grappler as ROH marketed him as being during this time. With that said, he brought his f***ing working boots on this night and more than held up his end in making this a great match, a true technical classic that stands the test of time. He was treated like a star by the Chicago crowd and gave them their money's worth. This is a match that I wish I had experienced live.

Danielson of course carried the personality portion of the match, which was the right decision to make since by now we all know how charismatic he truly is. But he didn't carry Storm, as both men were equally impressive with their mat wrestling and storytelling. The first couple minutes saw them having a teeter-totter of a technical showcase, struggling to get an extended advantage and exchanging arm twists, arm drags, hammerlocks, and snap-mare takeovers. It was f***ing beautiful mat-work and managed to be engaging.

Danielson would attempt to get in the veteran Storm's head with a slap, only for minutes later to get a receipt from the former WWE/WCW/ECW superstar, as this obviously wasn't his first rodeo with a cocky and disrespectful young pup. They had more great wrestling with Storm getting an advantage, causing Danielson to take an extended break outside the ring and cautiously getting back in. A particular spot that stood out was when Storm rolled a running Danielson into the half-crab, getting a tremendous reaction and showing just how seriously he was taking this opportunity to hold a title that had been treated with such high regard.

After more great wrestling, Danielson would lock in the Crossface Chickenwing, but Storm broke it by reaching the ropes, building up the drama and getting the crowd even more behind the challenger. Storm would pull out a trick from his peer Jerry Lynn's playbook, planting the champ with a cradle piledriver. When that doesn't put down the champ, he locks in the half-crab again, and this time the crowd is hoping/sensing that a title change is about to unfold in front of them, but the champ rolls him for a nearfall, the same position which had finished off Strong the night before.

The third act would continue to be great stuff, leading to a fantastic finishing sequence. Storm got out of the Cattle Mutilation and positioned Danielson into a rollup for a hot nearfall. Danielson managed to almost finish off Storm with a Tiger Suplex, then locked it in the Cattle Mutilation once again for the submission victory. After shaking hands, Danielson leaves Storm to get the spotlight he earned after an excellent effort.

I don't know if this is the best match of Storm's career, as the only work I've seen of his was some WCW and then his WWE career. This is definitely in the conversation though and holds up incredibly well. Excellent match.

Rating: ****

Hardcore Match
Homicide vs. Colt Cabana

I might be in the minority, but I absolutely love the music used in their pre-match video. Struck me with a nostalgic WCW feeling before that federation went down the shitter.

Cabana starts with the early advantage, fueled by his anger, hometown crowd support, and knowing that this is the end of a violent chapter of his career. He f***ing tossed Homicide around at ringside, getting his first taste of what he hoped would be the satisfying closure he had been wanting for five months. Smokes is able to distract the Chicago native to allow Homicide to regain the advantage.

Homicide was f***ing brutal to Cabana as usual for their feud. In this match he brought in a ladder, then much later a barbed-wire board (last seen in ROH for the previous "Chicago Street Fight" inside the same building at Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2), and then as the match was reaching its conclusion, asked the fans to throw chairs in the ring in another spot not seen since that same previous "Chicago Street Fight." I'm glad nobody got badly hurt there, although a chair did bounce off of Cabana.

Cabana was able to bust Homicide open, and drew the trademark fork out of the Notorious 187's boot, scraping at his forehead. But also introduced into the match, in true moments of poetry, was a coathanger and even a bottle of Drano. Cabana teased he would use the latter, but that thankfully never came to fruition. Homicide would then have his Bernie Williams jersey removed by Cabana. They had a great little tease of who would get the other onto the barbed-wire board, an obvious sign of things to come.

Instead, after having scraped the forehead of Homicide, Cabana poured a bunch of rubbing alcohol on the crimson mask. Homicide screamed in absolute agony, twitching outside the ring to sell the pain. Fantastic stuff. After being thrown in the ring, Homicide begged off, asking Cabana to end it, but of course that was bullshit and Cabana knew it. Cabana would be victim to a lowblow, and this would allow Homicide to toss in a chair, followed by the chair riot.

Having about a minute to recover from the lowblow, both men went at each other in the chair-canvas ring. Homicide would unfathomably kick out of a superplex that had both men landing on the steel. Cabana would clear the chairs out, as would Homicide, but not before Homicide utilized CM Punk's Pepsi Plunge for another great nearfall. This would get the fans to temporarily slap the barricades to the early part of "Miseria Cantare." Homicide asks Smokes to come after Homicide, but finds himself getting accidentally charged out of the ring.

Cabana takes advantage and ties Smokes to the ropes and take him out of the equation. With Homicide recovering on the outside, Cabana set up a table on top of the barbed-wire board in front of the corner. They have a back-and-forth to tease who would take the barbaric bump, with Cabana winning that battle, forcing Homicide to eat a super powerbomb on it. Homicide would kick out of that and a follow-up lariat, then had absolutely nothing left when that was followed up with a Colt .45, a move Cabana had not used for an extended period of time in ROH.

Cabana gets a great reaction from the hometown crowd, but is mugged by Smokes & Reyes, who threaten to hang him with a noose like it's Mississippi Burning. Homicide has regained consciousness and tells them to back off, that he will end this his way on his own. The Rottweilers have an extended argument, and they finally listen to their leader. Homicide says he is obligated to at least respect Cabana after everything they've been through and finally beating an ROH legend.

"You want your goddamn peace? I'll give you your f***ing peace!"

Homicide apologizes for everything and offers his hand, falling to his knees. Cabana accepts and Homicide says it's over, that he respects him. After everything they had been through, an unnecessarily violent turn but with their issues settled, they shake hands and embrace, with Homicide reassuring that the feud is history. Confetti falls at ringside as the crowd chants "ROH!" Smokes half-heartedly shakes the hand of Cabana, not agreeing with his leader but respecting his wishes.

Cabana is left to a monster celebration in front of his hometown, the perfect ending to the best weekend ROH has ever hosted. And that's not hyperbole.

I'm sure both men, now in their mid-30s and not quite etching HOF careers on the big stages, reflect back and regret some of the violence in this feud and this particular closing match. It was f***ing brutal. But if they can compartmentalize that like I am, they should still be able to appreciate and be proud of this hardcore masterpiece they put together. There was no better way to close out the show than to bring this underrated feud, a great feud in retrospect, to a conclusion in Cabana's hometown, with him finally slaying the demon.

This was storytelling magnificence and a classic hardcore match. I'm not sure if wrestling will ever be able to deliver something like this again. A genuine MOTYC. Both men should be STRONGLY considered to get a shot at Danielson, and I hope those CZW stars who boast about using weaponry got a look at this, and should be VERY concerned that ROH has guys who went through this length and could feel this depth of hatred.

Rating: ****1/2

Is this the greatest show in ROH history as many claim it to be?

If you watch this with that expectation, you won't find it to be quite that head-and-shoulders epic. The mid-card matches that I had remembered as being excellent didn't quite hold up almost a decade later, although they were all VERY good stuff, with two of the matches bordering on greatness. That's nothing to be ashamed of and they did an incredible job of doing what they needed to do for their spots on the cards.

A key thing that makes this show stand out among the many great shows during the Gabe Sapolsky era was the pacing. Sapolsky managed to pace this event in a way that anyone in attendance seeing the federation for the first time would be able to digest it while also being blown away, AND also delivering the quality of matches that the frequent customers of ROH at this time had become accustomed to. Pacing was always an issue for him, but on this night, it truly clicked for him in that regard. Adam Pearce and Delirious have gone on to pace events that are digestible for newbies, but not quite delivering the frequent match quality that quite captures the detail-oriented, demanding eye of folks like me.

The two money matches to headline this event both delivered as expected, with them obviously being two completely different flavors. An established superstar in the big leagues came in and put forth a career-defining performance against one of the greatest in-ring technicians the business has ever seen, adding another layer of prestige for the ROH Title. A violent feud finally reached its appropriately timed, emotional conclusion, the hometown boy finally getting the last laugh after being driven away from his standard comedy routine. And afterwards, Homicide made his babyface turn after two years of absolute malice and bitterness controlling his actions.

But it's not just the mid-card and main events that make a show get held in such high regard. You gotta have that meaningful undercard. The opener was just a spotfest, but that's all it needed to be. In a sign of what was to come in the main event of the evening, Delirious, an established comedy style freak, slayed a member of the Rottweilers to save his career in ROH, a victory that meant more after Austin Aries had been unable to overcome the Dragon Sleeper of Ricky Reyes prior to this event.

But that's not all, folks. On this event, we got to see CZW leave with the final say on ROH, leaving them laying on such a historic weekend for the company before ROH would head back to the East Coast, where the fanbases may not be quite so slanted towards ROH. In the same segment, the iconic Joe would make it known that he was ready to challenge Danielson and regain the top prize in the company, finally teasing a match that many fans had been hoping to see since their ***** classic at Midnight Express Reunion.

Nowhere to Run had a slightly better match quality on paper, and had key storyline progression just like this one too, even the hometown guy getting the final say in a feud-ending gimmick match that followed a phenomenal technical match contested over the top prize in the company. I'm also sure that as I continue this project, I will have the pleasure of revisiting shows that are more stacked with truly high-caliber match quality. But this night was a truly magical night, with flawless pacing, storyline progression left and right, stars from other federations coming in and busting their asses, and getting capped off with two incredible matches. This also had the key ingredient that I love so much in wrestling: VARIETY, not just in matches, but in storylines as well.

Now imagine with all of that I mentioned, and taking into account both Dragon Gate Challenge and Supercard of Honor, if ROH had managed to book the Briscoes, Low Ki, and Nigel McGuinness for this magical weekend.

I want to take the time in case any wrestler involved in the matches I reviewed for WrestleMania 22 weekend ever reads this: Thank you for your hard work and determination. I know that having three nights like this back-to-back-to-back could not have been a breeze, and I appreciate everything you guys did to give the fans in attendance and those watching on DVD more than their money's worth. I'm sure the paydays were nowhere near what NJPW pays for the grueling G-1 Climax.

With a day to sleep on this and grasp everything that this card accomplished, I can clearly make the declaration.

Not only do I wish I had a time machine, but Better Than Our Best is the greatest event in ROH history.

Up next - The 100th Show
Matches will include:
Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious
Briscoe Bros. vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal
Team ROH of Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce vs. Team CZW of Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher

[SUPES]

The 100th Show - April 22, 2006



ROH Video Recap - April 5, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
Exclusive footage from Arena Warfare after the Briscoes attacked Austin Aries and Matt Sydal. Sydal has challenged them to face himself and AJ Styles on April 22 in Philly for The 100th Show!
KENTA is confirmed to return for 3 dates - June 17 in NYC, June 23 in Detroit, June 24 in Chicago!
Commissioner Jim Cornette has challenged CZW owner John Zandig to a glorified verbal debate at The 100th Show. f*** that trash. Another good Cornette promo here though in a vacuum.

ROH Video Recap - April 15, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
Homicide and Colt Cabana have finally settled their grudge, so they now focus on winning championships. The 100th Show gets even more depth (on paper) with Cabana challenging ROH Champion Bryan Danielson and Homicide teaming with Ricky Reyes to challenge Tag Champions Austin Aries & Roderick Strong.
More depth for the same show - Lacey is fed up with Jimmy Jacobs not winning matches, so she won't accompany him, but insinuates she'll go topless on ROHvideos.com should he win.
And the biggie - ROH and CZW finally have a sanctioned match with Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce colliding with Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher in what promises to be a chaotic main event! OH f*** YES~!

Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli

The split ROH and CZW crowd is amazing already in the opening match, with split chants over Chris Hero, who isn't even involved in this match.

First-time ever matchup that is also a Pure Title Shot opportunity for Daniels. Glad I decided not to skip this one. They have a stalemate early trading arm submissions and arm-drags. The match develops a story when Daniels hits a basement dropkick on Castagnoli's left leg. Of course Daniels would go to work on it, to which Castagnoli did an exceptional job of selling it.

Castagnoli would get the heat back when he was seated on the turnbuckle and used his right foot to push Daniels off, then following that up with a diving European Uppercut. However, Castagnoli would land on his left knee when delivering that move, which he continued selling. After several more minutes of back-and-forth work, Castagnoli is unable to land an Alpamari Waterslide due to his left knee. This allow Daniels to roll him forward and hold onto that left knee for the pinfall.

Post-match, Daniels announces he has a milestone of his own, offering to follow the Code of Honor, which Castagnoli accepts unlike Low Ki at Tag Wars 2006. The fans react very well to this, and Daniels leaves Castagnoli in the ring to get his spotlight. Hero immediately interrupts walking through the fans and cutting a promo. He spews much negativity while walking through the hated ROH section, then changes his tune about overcoming adversity when reaching the partial CZW section before f***ing off. Castagnoli leads a passionate "ROH" chant for the majority in attendance.

Rating: ***1/4

I FF to the closing minutes of the next match, which is Delirious vs. Jimmy Yang vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs has Yang finished off but refuses to pin him, which allows Delirious to make him submit to the Cobra Stretch. This serves multiple purposes to be revealed later in the night. Considering that Yang would be getting an ROH Title shot on the next show though, I wouldn't have booked him to look so vulnerable.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

Both men are coming off huge victories in the two main events at Better Than Our Best. Danielson has Bobby Cruise announce that he's the "least overrated wrestler in the world" in response to the CZW section; he also moons them. He and Cabana have very some nice wrestling for several minutes, with this looking to be a potential classic, only for Cabana to get rolled up less than seven minutes into this match, a big shocker after his landmark victory just three weeks prior.

Jacobs reveals in a backstage intermission promo that he wasn't going to allow the fans to see Lacey strip naked on ROHvideos.com as she insinuated if he had won, which is why he allowed himself to lose the match. Meanwhile, Cabana refuses to be interviewed, distraught after choking in his big match.

Bryan Danelson comes out after the students match, for some reason wearing one of the Tag Titles, but nobody acknowledges it. ( My theory on this mishap was to play a rib on Gabe Sapolsky.) He cuts a phenomenal promo on the CZW crowd, completely mocking and burying them for their irrationality. This is one of the best promos of his entire career, one that shows just what a great character he is for the business.

Danielson then says after making quick work of Cabana, "not even breaking a sweat," he will put the title on the line again tonight against someone who won in the first half. He'd already beaten Daniels. He'd already beaten Austin Aries. He'd already beaten Roderick Strong three times. So that left Delirious. I'd have laughed if Aries had come out with the actual ROH Title.

Delirious comes out and after being mocked by Danielson, cuts a gibberish promo that has the crowd rocking. He hymns to the tune of the "Final Countdown"...

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious

... and Danielson slaps him to start off the match. He dominates early, just absolutely schooling Delirious and of course trolling the CZW fans more. In a moment that makes me believe even more that Sapolsky was planning for Danielson to have a title defense against Super Dragon, Danielson even hits a curb stomp directly in front of the CZW audience to antagonize them even more. (How perfect it would've been for SD to cash in that open contract by technically representing PWG?) He follows that up with a Rick Rude sexy pose, then does another one because apparently a female in the audience likes it. And just to be even more of a dick, already having the advantage, the champ uses the ropes for leverage when applying the abdominal stretch.

Crotched on the top rope, Delirious would fight off Danielson to get some control. This would be short-lived after a few moves as the champ used the momentum from an attempted clothesline to position the challenger as victim for the Cattle Mutilation. Delirious would quickly get to the ropes to break it, and also block an attempted Crossface Chickenwing, following that up with an airplane spin, kick to the hand, and then the Cobra Stretch, but the champ would of course reach the ropes.

Delirious followed that up with a tope suicida, landing awkwardly on his right shoulder. Danielson would throw him into the guardrail to regain control, not feeling much effect from the highspot. He would toss the challenger into the guardrail after teasing an airplane spin, refusing to pull out the signature move as a f*** off to the audience. Danielson would batter Delirious, splitting the mask open and revealing blood underneath the mask.

The champ would go after the cut Delirious had, but another Cattle Mutilation would end up with a ropebreak once the action got back inside. Danielson would miss a diving headbutt, allowing Delirious some control and giving the future HOFer numerous clotheslines in the corner. Danielson blocks an attempted superplex, crotching Delirious for a super back drop suplex, then finishing him off with the elbows to the bleeding head.

Delirious would get a standing ovation from the crowd for this breakout effort as he got helped to the back, leaving the champ in the ring with the majority of the ROH crowd chanting "He's our hero!" Not a super great match, but perfect in accomplishing its goals, which were to make Danielson look like a ruthless dick and elevate Delirious.

Rating: ***

Briscoe Bros. vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal

Really good action, ruined only by the ref somehow forgetting one tag legality. The Briscoes would decimate Sydal in this one as they should've. Styles of course was great in his aggression and also would get trolled to allow the Briscoes to cut the ring in half. This got heated and a bit wild, with the ref allowing leeway in the closing stretch, but thankfully the participants remembered who was legal after hitting Sydal with a spike double underhook piledriver. Very good stuff overall, but I'd have booked Styles to do the job since Sydal was getting a title opportunity on the next event. Glad to see the Briscoes get momentum though after immediately declaring that they were coming for the tag belts.

Rating: ***1/2

A short video of many of the greatest moments of ROH's first 99 shows is aired. Good stuff but still missing a lot of essential clips, such as Styles vs. Paul London @ Night of the Grudges and the Danielson vs. Strong trilogy (only three singles matches between them in ROH up to this point.)

Team ROH vs. Team CZW - Hardcore Match
Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce vs. Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher

This match is officiated by ROH's #1 referee Todd Sinclair and a CZW referee I don't recognize. There is also no commentary for this match as it would be unnecessary.

The heat in this match was just unreal, just right behind Joe's singles match against Kenta Kobashi in NYC and Aries vs. CM Punk @ Death Before Dishonor III. f***ing brutal hardcore match, just stiff shit and unprotected chairshots all over the place. I should note that Joe and Hero, the true captains of their respective teams, took by far the least amount of punishment in this instant storytelling classic. But what those two brought was extra crowd heat for their segments with the other participants, and specifically against each other.

Pearce appeared to get busted open early on his scalp, showing the most crimson of all the participants. His blood would stain Necro's neon CZW shirt. Those two had a great moment in the ring. They had a literal slugfest, exchanging punches to their bodies, and Necro won that little battle much to the CZW section's delight. Moments later, Pearce would deliver a receipt in another slugfest, winning that battle.

Every matchup in this was f***ing great. Joe and Necro got big pops. Joe and SD did as well.

After about 25 minutes of just brutal, brutal action in front of this excellent crowd in attendance, CZW owner John Zandig attempts to insert himself into this masterpiece, drawing Joe to come beat the shit out of him, but Hero & Necro come help out. Sinclair isn't happy about this, wanting this to be a fair fight. After conducting themselves without altercation up to this point, the CZW ref gets in Sinclair's face, somehow rationalizing that "this is CZW!" to justify this becoming an unfair fight, and Sinclair ain't taking his shit. Necro knocks Sinclair out from behind.

Out comes Castagnoli, wearing a glittery ROH jacket, and I should note that he had appeared earlier in the match to take a barb-wire baseball bat away from Zandig, drawing him to the back. Castagnoli throws Zandig out of the ring and grabs Hero, holding him for Joe. When Joe runs to the ropes for momentum to strike Hero, Castagnoli pushes his trainer away and gives Joe a European Uppercut, just hours after having the honors of getting the first genuine handshake Daniels had delivered in ROH.

The Kings of Wrestling embrace, but this is interrupted seconds later when Pearce dropkicks Castagnoli. As this is going on, the ROH crowd is chanting for Homicide, the man in ROH who has shown to thrive better than anyone else in this type of environment.

Also during this match, in what has to be the most insane spot, SD took out Whitmer with an Argentine piledriver from the apron through a table laid out on the concrete floor. An all-time highlight reel spot in ROH's rich vault.

SD & Necro take out Pearce, who then gets finished off with what looks like a double-team swinging gut-wrench Ace Crusher from KOW. The CZW referee gladly counts Pearce down for the three. The CZW representatives walk over to their section and celebrate as a pissed-off Joe glares at them while standing besides his fallen ROH colleague. He says to let the CZW theme music play, as it'll be the last time it's heard in the ROH environment.

Whitmer is carried out on a board while Pearce is dripping blood. Meanwhile, Zandig poses with CZW fans and the CZW stars take the back door out of the building.

With the exception of a totally illogical officiating moment when the refs were doing a 10 count on guys knocked down in the ring, this was f***ing epic and deserving of the "Match of the Year" chant coming from the crowd afterwards. Excellent, excellent, EXCELLENT brawl and the booking was top-notch, giving CZW the last laugh yet again.

Rating: ****3/4

Cabana does a backstage interview and he believes he "forgot how to wrestle" during his extended feud against Homicide. He says he will start at the bottom with the goal of challenging for the ROH Title.

The DVD closes with Pearce getting medical attention on his head, showing two deep gashes on his scalp. I can appreciate the pain he put himself through to get this program over.

What an absolutely phenomenal end to The Milestone Series. A timeless storytelling hardcore classic right in the thick of the greatest feud in company history. A fun, action-packed tag match. A moment 99 shows in the making to kick off the show. Danielson wrestling twice and doing a masterful troll job of the CZW fanbase, elevating an undercard wrestler and further cementing his legacy in the process. And let's not forget the rocking Philly crowd split between their federations of choice, making for an amazing atmosphere throughout the night.

It's a shame we didn't get the rematch of The Era of Honor Begins main event that was 99 shows in the making. But this was one HELL of a f***ing plan B.

ROH had amazing stretches in 2004 and 2005, and has gone on to do so yet again in the coming years. But the seven shows that compiled The Milestone Series truly showcase everything great about ROH. Top-notch technical wrestling that elevated the prestige of the ROH Title and further solidified Bryan Danielson's in-ring legacy. Fantastic trios matches and great tag team wrestling. Superstars from other federations or in retirement showing up with their working boots. Star power all over the place. Generally amazing crowds. Tremendous pacing. The greatest feud in company history. The early stages of one of the best feuds in company history, while another epic feud would come to a violent but happy end. This stretch of shows had EVERYTHING for both die-hard and new fans.

If you have never seen The Milestone Series, take the time to dig around and find these events. It's a time that will never be duplicated, even if some federations attempt to do so. WWE no longer snubs its nose at the indies, meaning that top-notch talent isn't left toiling and starving to get noticed as much as they were in the mid-2000s. NOAH is practically a walking corpse. ROH and Dragon Gate unfortunately had a falling out, leading to an already thinned out indy scene getting thinned out even more with ridiculous "exclusive contracts." And for reasons that are totally understandable, the frequent workrate and violence had to be toned down for the long-term brand of ROH under its current owners.

Fear not though, because in my opinion it would be awhile before ROH's peak period would end, and the greatest rivalry in company history is near on this project for me.

Up next - Weekend of Champions Night 1
Matches will include:
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana
Nigel McGuinness vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Yang
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & Matt Sydal
Team ROH of BJ Whitmer, Ace Steel, & Adam Pearce vs. Team CZW of Super Dragon, Nate Webb, & Necro Butcher

[SUPES]

Weekend of Champions Night 1 - April 28, 2006



Included for the first time on DVD is the respective Video Recap.

ROH Video Recap - April 25, 2006



Important news/footage from the above video:
Yet another very good Cornette promo about the events at The 100th Show. This promo would be moot though as I'm about to explain.

The feature presentation starts with Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs earlier in the day having a discussion. Lacey is unimpressed with Jacobs not getting a victory and she doesn't give a shit what his reasons are, threatening to fire him soon if he doesn't get results.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana

Not a noteworthy match but an entertaining one as expected, which is why I watched this. Seriously, a comedy guy trying to work his way back up the card as a wrestler against a guy on the hot seat with the valet that he's in twisted love with. Worked like a charm in front of Dayton, the perfect crowd for this dynamic. There's another reason I watched this too which I will get to later down the line.

Post-match, with Cabana winning of course, out comes ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette with Ace Steel, Cabana's trainer and fellow Second City Saint. Cornette requests his help against CZW and says that Claudio Castagnoli is a deserter for what he did just days before this event; Cornette basically recites his promo on the included Video Recap. Cabana agrees to help out with ROH's cause against CZW later in the evening, and I love that after he got the last laugh in the violent feud against Homicide.

After the second match, Super Dragon shows up and beats up a geek. Not much of a reaction because why would anyone, even an enthusiastic Dayton, give a shit about a geek without a braggadocios promo to taunt the crowd and locker room afterwards?

Nigel McGuinness cuts another fun promo saying that he'll take care of Christopher Daniels tonight, and then focuses on Bryan Danielson the next night for their dream match to determine the best wrestler in the company, in what should be the first ever ROH Title vs. Pure Title match assuming they both retain tonight. It's very obvious that McGuinness is looking past Daniels towards Danielson.

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Christopher Daniels

Good match here with some counters I hadn't seen before. McGuinness forced Daniels to use a rope break when he got hit in the eye, going for constant nearfalls and moving the challenger closer to the ropes each time. Later McGuinness would regain control with a corner headstand kick followed up by throwing Daniels shoulder-first in the turnbuckle. Daniels would get his left arm and shoulder worked on, but also showed some nice counter submissions to get the champ to use his rope breaks.

In the closing stretch, McGuinness would be out of rope breaks so he forced himself and Daniels to the outside during a submission to break it. They brawled outside as the ref counted, and as the 20 count got close, McGuinness threw a photographer at Daniels to take the cheap win by countout. Great heat for this and I liked that finish not just because it reminds the ROH audience that he's still an underhanded son of a bitch after winning clean during his last match at Best in the World 2006, but also shows he NEEDED to cheat because he was looking past Daniels.

Rating: ***1/4

At intermission, Danielson talks about the dream match against McGuinness the next night, feeling like he has to prove himself once again despite being the best in the company for quite some time. Samoa Joe interrupts him and says that he's eventually coming "to take what's mine" after taking care of CZW. Joe is hilariously hypocritical when he says Danielson will be combining the ROH and Pure Titles to feed his ego. Let's recall Joe's insecure cheapshots at the Pure Title in 2004 and on this very night, he's going for the Tag Titles yet again to be the first ever Triple Crown winner in company history to feed his own ego, a goal that cost him his friendship with Jay Lethal.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Yang

Good match but not sure it's the best match of Yang's career as some live reports indicated at the time. For one, it was obvious Yang wasn't gonna dethrone Danielson which kept even a crowd as enthusiastic as Dayton from buying into a title change. This also kicked off intermission and matches in that position usually aren't show-stealers. I did enjoy Danielson trying to bait Yang at times, only for Yang to just come at him with kicks without much caution. Once Danielson applied the Crossface Chickenwing from the top rope, we knew it was over.

Rating: ***1/4

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & Matt Sydal

As I'd expect, Aries and Sydal played the Ricky Morton roles throughout various segments in this match. Both times were incredible. Standout moments in this match include: TAG LEGALITIES BEING REMEMBERED; Strong and Sydal taking a blocked earclap headscissors followed by Yakuza kick with awkward Sydal bump sequence from their singles match in PWG a few weeks earlier; Joe countering a charge from Aries with an Ace Crusher, allowing Sydal to hit a gorgeous standing moonsault nearfall; and a red-hot finishing stretch that had the Dayton crowd rocking. The finish was perfect with Joe being taken out by a tope suicide, allowing the champs to hit two backbreakers followed by a 450 Splash. Excellent match.

Rating: ****

Post-match, Joe is left in the ring and calls out CZW and we have a brawl. Joe is taken to the back by Necro, and he gets hog-tied by Castagnoli.

Team ROH vs. Team CZW - Hardcore Match
BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, & Colt Cabana vs. Super Dragon, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, & Claudio Castagnoli

As the brawl continues, Whitmer and Pearce come out one at a time, and Whitmer's neck brace is removed by Castagnoli. This was a very good brawl, but after being just six days after the chaotic epic at The 100th Show, these guys had to tone it down a bit. Also, as great the Dayton crowd was, this feud was not as over in any market as it was in Philadelphia. The spots that stand out to me are a shotgun dropkick from Cabana in which he appeared not to be comfortable from taking that bump, and the finish, which was Castagnoli holding Whitmer between a chair decapitation-style so that SD could stomp on the neck just siix days after the ridiculous Argentine piledriver, and Whitmer taking a musclebuster from Castagnoli.

Post-match as Whitmer is carried out, Steel wants CZW to have someone to "f***ing die" and Pearce says that after two losses, "there will not be a f***ing third!!!"

Rating: ***1/2

Not on par with The Milestone Series, but very good show in Dayton as usual at the time. The tag match is must-see and hopefully gets included on the inevitable Sydal compilation that I expect to be released before 2014 ends.

At long last, I arrive at the greatest rivalry in company history...

Up next - Weekend of Champions Night 2
Matches will include:
Chris Sabin vs. Delirious
Super Dragon vs. BJ Whitmer
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley

[SUPES]

Weekend of Champions Night 2 - April 29, 2006



Lacey is getting more fed up with Jimmy Jacobs and his failure to win a match.

BJ Whitmer kicks off the show with a neck brace but his promo is thankfully cut short by ROH Commish Jim Cornette, who also brings out Adam Pearce. The Scrap Daddy is named Lt. Commish when Cornette isn't around, and he asks Whitmer to sit out the night due to all the punishment he's taken in the past week. He cuts a passionate albeit somewhat ridiculous "us vs. them" promo saying ROH and its fanbase is in a war against CZW and sports-entertainment. Those familiar with Cornette's schtick have seen this from him a million times, although he's right on the money here about WWE using religion, as this was during the awful McMahonism program. Pearce is left in the ring but gets ambushed by Nate Webb when leaving ringside, which then brings out Ace Steel to chase off the CZW star.

Chris Sabin vs. Delirious

Good stuff here overall, although Sabin was cringeworthy at the start of the match with his “be my friend” shtick due to Delirious being a mental. The counters were really good, and if Sabin had just sold more during the finishing stretch, specifically his back over being hit with the Shadows Over Hell instead of easily making several attempts at the Cradle Shock, this could’ve been rated much higher.

Rating: ***

Jacobs wins his match and strips down to his trunks. One of the weaker segments in this classic arc.

I FF to the end of Samoa Joe vs. Claudio Castagnoli, a dream match that didn’t live up to expectations. (A shame we can’t get 2004-05 Joe vs. current Cesaro.) It basically turns into a hardcore tag match pitting Pearce & Ace Steel against Webb & Necro Butcher. Really good brawl and it tips in CZW’s favor when Super Dragon appears. This brings out BJ Whitmer.

Hardcore Match
Super Dragon vs. BJ Whitmer

Brutal, hard-hitting shit as expected, and the crowd loved this. While perhaps not the absolute most convincing, Whitmer actually bothered to sell the bad neck from all the punishment he had taken, including the absurd Argentine piledriver just a week before this. Whitmer had the crowd fully behind him against SD, who is such an under-appreciated heel. I think SD’s ability as a heel speaks volumes in that he got the uncharismatic Whitmer to be a believable underdog.

They teased a number of Argentine piledrivers, all of them getting over. SD would set up two stacked tables on the outside, then attempted to top the Argentine piledriver from the week before in Philly. Whitmer blocked that and they pulled off an insane wrist-clutch exploder, from the top rope, through the stacked tables, onto the floor. Just absurd lengths these two men went, especially SD since he wasn’t being booked after this. Whitmer has slayed one demon, and SD is left in the street by Steel & Pearce like a piece of trash.

While certainly not as epic as Kenta Kobashi’s weekend of appearances, hats off to what Super Dragon did for just three nights in ROH. Supposedly he assaulted a fan in Philly so ROH just used him to put Whitmer over before telling him to f*** off. But his quick departure from the company took away a malicious character from the CZW camp for the angle, and as I’ve stated before, I believe Gabe Sapolsky would’ve eventually booked SD & Davey Richards vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji. I also believe that SD would’ve challenged for the ROH Title on the next Chicago event, allowing someone else enough time to organically develop as a contender.

Rating: ***1/4

Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels

Sydal would get a sore left ankle very early but dominated this match. His domination to progress his ascension as a singles star was very impressive, working on the ribs of Daniels after hitting that body part with a shotgun dropkick that knocked the veteran off the apron. In particular his submission work was quite impressive, and those only familiar with him as Evan Bourne ought to see this.

Daniels would of course get his moments in to keep this from being a squash, doing a great job of also selling his ribs. This was on its way to greatness but ended abruptly when Daniels managed to hit a Last Rites and that was it to put Sydal away. Considering I’d seen that get kicked out of numerous times, I’d have preferred that to be a nearfall with Daniels having to really dig down deep into his veteran craftiness to keep Sydal from obtaining his next singles landmark victory in ROH. Still really good stuff.

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title vs. Pure Title – Pure Wrestling Rules
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness

Very overlooked match here but understandable. I’ve called this the greatest rivalry in company history, even sharing that assessment with McGuinness at the merchandise table in New Orleans. And if this match is anything to judge by, this rivalry may be even better than I had remembered.

Referee Todd Sinclair only mentions that the Pure Title can change via DQ and countout, leaving what appeared to be a glaring hole in regards to the ROH Title.

The match begins with beautiful matwork as so many viewers of this time can remember. Danielson works a Cravate but that gets broken when McGuinness lands a Divorce Court on the future HOFer’s left arm. This allowed the Pure Champ to dominate the first third of the match, just being all over Danielson’s left arm with various submissions and awkward positioning like he was white on rice. It got bad enough that Danielson had to use a rope break.

Of course, McGuinness trolled the temperamental Danielson into throwing closed punches in front of the ref twice, causing a rope break detriment. And also of course, Danielson would manage to get his hope spots in. The moment that stood out the most to me was McGuinness having his legs used using his legs to scissor Danielson’s torso while also applying the Kimura Lock. I wonder if Danielson will ever find himself locked in that submission again and if he’ll be able to survive it for more than five seconds that time around.

Danielson would position himself out of an arm submission, setting up McGuinness for a surfboard. But in something so simple yet to brilliant, he couldn’t apply enough pressure on his left arm due to all of the work put onto it. He’d have to settle for his usual plan B in that moment, charging the knees of McGuinness on the mat. This control would be short-lived as McGuinness would slam his left arm on the mat and slide him out of the ring.

After hitting a German Suplex upon reentering the ring, Danielson couldn’t follow up due to the pain in his left arm, although he escaped a hammerlock in the corner by using his feet and got some momentum with clotheslines and forearms using his right arm. A Crossface Chickenwing would convince McGuinness to use a rope break after serious contemplation, bringing this match to an even level.

As they’re about to get into the third act, the match has another highlight as the overzealous Danielson charges at the hand-standing McGuinness and gets two boots to the face followed by a Tower of London, forcing him to use his final rope break. McGuinness would also go on to use his final rope break due to Danielson’s technical excellence.

The last few minutes were just off the charts. They brawled on the outside and McGuinness got the advantage, then used a table to pin down Danielson. The crowd was so antsy about Danielson being counted out that when he got in at 19, it was treated like a genuine nearfall. After trading blows, Danielson would lock the Cattle Mutilation on McGuinness, who would escape by finding a way to absorb the pain and position himself to fall out of the ring and break the hold.

After a tope suicida, they brawled again on the outside. Danielson would make the mistake of flying at McGuinness in the crowd. The Pure Champ smacked him with a steel chair, causing the crowd to go apeshit. This time, the ROH Champ couldn’t overcome the blow, finding himself being counted out. The crowd is popping huge for the title change, only for Sinclair to state that it was never declared the ROH Title could change hands in such fashion, and thus Danielson keeps it on a technicality despite McGuinness winning within the rules of the contest.

Danielson gets a well-deserved standing ovation when he’s left in the ring.

That booking was absolutely necessary to ensure rematches in the future, and is in no way a downer. This match has actually gotten better as the years have gone by, and is one of the all-time classics in ROH history. It is overshadowed by too many things to mention, which is understandable. After having a couple nights to sleep on this, I’m comfortable with my rating as this is one of the greatest matches in company history, and the Danielson vs. McGuinness compilation is worth every penny for just this match alone.

Rating: ****3/4

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley

A video package of their 2005 feud is shown, which is a nice highlight reel. Prince Nana is off for the weekend tending to matters in Ghana.

The match itself was good but never reached anything special, partially hurt by the referee forgetting who was legal and he should’ve quite easily kept track. Generation Next were funny in playing mind games with their former archenemies, but the Embassy would return the underhanded tactics to them. Once Shelley was taken out and Rave ate two backbreakers while Aries waited for the 450 splash, everyone knew that was it for the show. Let’s not beat around it: although the Tag Titles have generally been booked strongly in ROH, the only reason this was the main event is because nobody knew how the crowd would react to the Danielson vs. McGuinness finish.

Rating: ***1/4

Danielson and McGuinness have a face-to-face discussion, with Danielson calling him out for using weapons. Delirious shows up to babble shit-talk at Danielson, who then gets mugged from behind by McGuinness.

Good god get this show. Extremely fun, a historic match that is one of the best in company history AND a kickoff to the best rivalry in company history, and the abrupt end to the short-lived Super Dragon era.

Up next – How We Roll
Matches will include:
Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe
Austin Aries vs. Jay Briscoe
Bryan Danielson & Christopher Daniels vs. Christian Cage & Colt Cabana

[SUPES]

How We Roll - May 12, 2006



ROH Video Recap - May 4, 2006



Important news/footage from the above video:
Delirious has been granted another shot for the ROH Title against Bryan Danielson, barely saying that he never quit or gave up, and showing a stitched wound on his right palm.
Jim Cornette has requested Homicide to help out his ROH colleagues against CZW.

I only have the good shit matches I'm reviewing, so I'll look at the dual review written by Jake Ziegler & Brad Garoon while I paraphrase what happened and offer my insight.

Lt. Commissioner Adam Pearce starts the DVD echoing Cornette's request towards Homicide.

Christian Cage and Bryan Danielson choose their partners for the main event of the evening, respectively picking Colt Cabana and Christopher Daniels. I'd have booked Danielson & Alex Shelley vs. Christian & Homicide instead, with Danielson this time taking the Embassy's money to grant Shelley a spot in a marquee match (with the potential of him making waves in TNA should he go over Christian) whereas Christian would remind Homicide that it was this very weekend a year ago that he lost his bitter feud against Danielson and would be a great way to get himself back in the title picture.

Speaking of Shelley and Homicide, their tag match alongside Jimmy Rave and Ricky Reyes respectively was very disappointing with it being the only showdown ever between the Embassy and Rottweilers, and thus the only time Prince Nana and Julius Smokes went at it. We can probably blame Low Ki for Reyes having to be in this match. In the post-match, Homicide goes on a tangent about being screwed in ROH and doesn't give a shit about helping out the company. Of an important note is that Shelley got injured in this match, cancelling a highly anticipated Pure Title shot he was getting the next day against Nigel McGuinness.

Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe

Decent but nothing special. The wrestling all looked good with some neat moments here and there, but it never clicked emotionally with the audience; it's obvious how addicted the fanbase was to the Kool-Aid at this time with Strong getting a standing ovation afterwards, because this match was far from memorable.

Rating: less than ***

Austin Aries vs. Jay Briscoe

Match of the night here quite easily. Aries led the match and really allowed Jay to shine, doing an excellent job of selling the work done on his left arm/shoulder. Remember that Aries is a southpaw. Aries would mix in his moments of hope spots and get quickly cut off by Jay, with each next series of hope spots being a bit more extended. This match also had some good heat between the two after the events during The Milestone Series, my favorites being Jay slapping the head of Aries while holding him in a hammerlock, and a chop exchange outside.

The finishing stretch got really good with the crowd genuinely engaged. Aries dug down deep and stopped relying on his lesser right arm to throw pitiful strikes, taking the risk of causing further damage to his left arm and dropping Jay with a lariat. Once it got to the finish, Aries blocked a double underhook piledriver and turned into a backslide but lacked the strength in his dominant arm to hold on, and with all of the work done on him throughout the rest of the contest, couldn't block a second double underhook piledriver. Really good and deserves to be on a Briscoes, Aries, or Generation Next compilation.

Rating: ***1/2

Bryan Danielson & Christopher Daniels vs. Christian Cage & Colt Cabana

I should note that Daniels only agreed to this if Danielson granted him another ROH Title shot, with Danielson saying yes but only if they win this match. Also important is that Christian is the NWA-TNA Champion, making this only the second time that the top singles champions of ROH and TNA squared off in an ROH ring.

This match took forever to get the least bit interesting, with way too much comedy and Southern rasslin' sports-entertainment stalling in the first 10 minutes from all four men. It honestly seemed like Christian and Samoa Joe were really taking it easy to preserve themselves for Sacrifice 2006. Understandable and I'm sure Christian sold some tickets to bring additional exposure to fans who wouldn't have otherwise given ROH a look, but this is a company that mostly based its business on DVD sales at this time, and this match was not a DVD mover.

The only reason I'll give this match a positive rating is that tag legalities were remembered by all four men (not surprising with Christian's experience in WWE tag wrestling) and the crowd got into the finishing stretch. That portion was admittedly good but without the crowd getting into it, I wouldn't have said it was strong enough to overcome a pedestrian first and second act. Danielson allows Daniels to take the pinfall to Christian, having no desire to give Daniels another shot at the ROH Title.

Rating: ***

I've heard this considered one of the worst shows in company history. I wouldn't go that far since the last two matches were actually at least good, but this show was certainly nothing special and for what was overall a largely strong 2006, definitely deserves consideration for worst ROH event of the year. As stated earlier, ROH should do everyone a favor and get Aries vs. Jay on a compilation so that nobody feels compelled to watch this pedestrian event.

Up next - Ring of Homicide
Matches will include:
Kikutaro vs. Colt Cabana
Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Lethal
Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Briscoe Bros.
Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher

[SUPES]

Ring of Homicide - May 13, 2006



The DVD begins with BJ Whitmer making a request for Homicide to help out against CZW, citing the respect they had gained for one another from their battles in 2003.

Comedy Dream Match
Kikutaro vs. Colt Cabana

Fun match as expected. The comedy antics were outstanding, including Cabana saying Kikutaro would get his name chanted if he stopped constantly changing it. They had many moments of psyching each other out, including the "too slow" potshot. Other highlights include them dancing like they were in a ballroom, and most of all, Cabana getting crotched, then the REFEREE also getting crotched. Both were intentional and then poetically paid off when Kikutaro fell while walking the ropes, crotching himself. This match achieved it goals.

After Homicide & Ricky Reyes take care of Dunn & Marcos, Lt. Commissioner Adam Pearce comes out to plead to Homicide in person for help against CZW. Homicide drops the mic and leaves without saying a word, irritated at the requests to be inserted into an issue that he's never been involved with.

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Lethal

As stated in my How We Roll review, Alex Shelley was scheduled to challenge in this match but got injured, That left McGuinness to make an open challenge to anybody, with the New Jersey native Lethal making his ROH return after what appeared to be an abrupt departure just three months earlier in the same venue. Phenomenal hometown pop for Lethal as one would expect.

But before that challenge was issued by McGuinness, he took some time to cut a hilarious promo that folks in NYC would really appreciate, and those who enjoyed the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX should see this. "What's up, New York?" He was then corrected by referee Todd Sinclair, to which he then said "I thought New Jersey was just a smelly part of New York." He also mentioned that ROH has the very best champions, then noted he had defeated all three of the other titleholders already, so that makes him the best champion in the company.

McGuinness was his usual great self in this match, using a punch behind Sinclair's back and then leaving Lethal to attempt receipts in front of the ref, who stopped Lethal. The first time was really impressive, as Lethal went for chops and strikes but got all of them blocked by the Pure Champ. McGuinness was also fantastic in displaying a condescending attitude, telling Lethal that he was embarrassing himself in front of his friends and family.

The finishing stretch was great as well, with the crowd popping over a rebound lariat nearfall. McGuinness prevented a diving headbutt by holding onto the ref's pants and blocking Lethal, only for Lethal to kick out of a Tower of London, which again had the crowd even more behind its hometown guy. What made this stand out is that Lethal had blocked an earlier attempt of this finisher, so now it would've looked like this would end him. McGuinness followed up with another Tower of London to finish Lethal off, and it certainly should've been the finish with the way Lethal landed. He definitely went home or hopped the airplane to Orlando on this night sore in his face and neck.

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious

Before the match begins, Danielson cuts a fantastic CM Punk heel promo straight out of the Summer of Punk, burying the fans of both ROH and CZW, the locker room, and his opponent on this evening. This was absolutely brilliant to make sure this crowd would be fully behind Delirious, who retorted with great babbling (and using gestures to refer to what had happened three weeks earlier) that finally became understandable at the very end with a "KICK YOUR ASS!!" Delirious then gave Danielson a receipt from how their match at The 100th Show kicked off, attacking the champ while he still had the championship belt on to kick this off.

Danielson of course took a powder and upon getting back in the ring was able to get an advantage with technical wrestling. Delirious got to the ropes on some early Cattle Mutilations, but had his arms and shoulders worked on by the champ to soften him up for more Cattle Mutilations later. Delirious got a comeback by countering a belly-to-back suplex into a head-scissors, then briefly choked Danielson with some of his mask tassles as another receipt for what happened in Philly. Danielson would appear to cut off this control segment, but Delirious would regain control trading blows and going for the Cobra Clutch.

They'd go outside via a Delirious cross-body, and Delirious would bite the head of Danielson. This gave the champ an opportunity to drop the challenger throat-first on the edge of a guardrail, then throw him back in for his heat segment. While going for a surfboard, the CZW fans in attendance for the main event chanted "same old shit," so Danielson went ahead and did the move just to troll them, then followed that up by tea-bagging Delirious while having his legs tied up in a submission.

Danielson returned the tassle-choking flavor, letting the referee know that he had until five to break it, and mocked the CZW fans again for their "same old shit" chants. He continued dominating with more submissions, including another surfboard as well as a cross armbreaker and abdominal stretch. Delirious hip-tossed Danielson and sent him outside, then charged at the champ with a tope suicida. Once they got back in though Danielson regained control (while continuing to mock the CZW fans), but a diving headbutt would be countered with an Ace Crusher to allow Delirious to get momentum. I wonder if DDP or Randy Orton ever did that to Chris Benoit.

Delirious countered a crucifix and locked in the Cobra Stretch, but the champ reached the ropes. He cut off Delirious with a boot to the face and diving European Uppercut, bringing the momentum of Delirious to a screeching halt. Danielson would continue dominating, with a kick from Delirious as a brief hope spot to let the crowd know he was still in the game. Moments later, he was in the middle of the ring as a victim of the crossface chickenwing, but managed to have his foot reach the ropes. Crowd popped big for that false finish.

Delirious countered an attempted super belly-to-back suplex with a cross-body to get control once again. He hit a shotgun dropkick, running knee in the corner, and Shadows Over Hell for a good nearfall. He locked on another Cobra Stretch after hitting a Cobra Backbreaker, but the champ reached the ropes, then countered another Shadows Over Hell attempt into a phenomenal Cattle Mutilation. Crowd was getting antsy at this point.

Delirious reached the ropes and then broke the fiery elbows of Danielson, kicking Danielson right in the head twice in what would be the biggest pop of the night on a normal night of wrestling. This all came to an absolute screeching halt when Delirious charged at Danielson, only to be abruptly finished off with a small package!

An instant classic that has stood the test of time here, and probably the best match Delirious will ever have. Phenomenal stuff with great crowd engagement, storytelling, psychology, heat segments, transitions, counters, and a beautifully abrupt finish. Like Lethal in the prior match, Delirious is left in the ring to get a well-deserved standing ovation.

Rating: ****1/4

Gary Michael Cappetta is interviewing Julius Smokes to get info on what Homicide will do about ROH vs. CZW, and Smokes is interrupted by Samoa Joe, who says in no uncertain terms that it's really shitty of Homicide to not help out, saying that he's being a mouse and pussy over perceived slights from the company. Smokes seems to have grown respect for Joe, mortal enemy of the Rottweilers, for confronting him face-to-face and being blunt about the situation.

Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels

Another good match from these two with Sydal dominating like last time. He worked on the back of Daniels in this one, but of course the Fallen Angel would get his moments in, including throwing Sydal around on guardrails early and trying to return the back-work favor. Sydal would regain control after a Blue Thunder Powerbomb deep in the match by applying the Koji Clutch, an established submission finisher of Daniels.

Sydal would block an Iconoclasm and super hurricanrana while seated on the top ropes, then delivering a flying twisting hurricanrana to the standing Daniels for a nice nearfall. He also countered a powerslam toss from the top rope into a a victory roll for another nice nearfall. What cost Sydal again against Daniels was when he went for the Angel's Wings, to which Daniels was able to counter into a victorious pinfall. Sydal goes to Dragon Gate for a couple months without securing a major singles victory in ROH.

Rating: ***1/4

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Briscoe Bros.

Damn good tag wrestling here with a finish that I love and appreciate so much as a detail-oriented, highly critical viewer.

After some nice back-and-forth stuff, the Briscoes finally got some control by cutting the ring in half on Aries, with obvious cheating thrown in due to their awesome tag psychology. They decimated Aries left and right, so when he got the hot tag on Strong, it really meant something to the crowd. I realize I'm skipping a lot, so just trust me when I say the first two acts were really good shit, but the third act truly stands out. Strong was an amazing house of fire on the Briscoes, and the referee let all four men loose on each other.

Bombs were being dropped left and right, including double-team moves and masterful breakups of pinfalls. This all sounds like this would be another typical indy tag match that starts off well and then logically falls apart in the end. But the very end was brilliant, because during most of this final act, the legal men were Strong and Mark. With Jay out of the ring, that left the champs to dominate Mark, but they were smart enough to have Aries get back in their corner and legally tag in.

Aries would be knocked to the outside, leaving Strong alone in the ring with the Briscoes. They gave him a spike double underhook piledriver, and Jay went for the cover. Right as that happened, Aries got back in and rolled up Mark from behind for the three-count. There was confusion over this, but honestly there shouldn't have been. The referee rightfully noted that Aries and Mark were the legal men, therefore the champs retained.

The Briscoes are pissed, and they really shouldn't be, but let's be honest: tag legalities before and after this are so often poorly enforced, that the wrestlers have largely become accustomed to the finishing stretches of tag matches being a free for all. With that in mind, I definitely say the Briscoes have a case for another shot at the champs, and now they will have no excuses and better be aware of the basic rules that tag team wrestling is found upon.

Rating; ***3/4

Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher

Necro comes out first and knocks out ring announcer Bobby Cruise. When Joe comes out and they're face-to-face, Necro then knocks out the ROH ref, then Joe reciprocates by taking out the CZW ref. They have some nice back and forth stuff that has the crowd red-hot, but I must note that Joe took ZERO bumps in this encounter. Not on the mat, apron, floor, or a guardrail. NONE. The only damage he took were possibly stiff strikes and a chair shot that may have hit him in the head (hard to tell if his hands got up in time) when the Kings of Wrestling interfered.

This interference brought out Pearce & BJ Whitmer to help out, but Joe had to be walked to the back after taking that chairshot to the head. Although Pearce & Whitmer were outnumbered, they had a fantastic brawl that I must mention got way, way, way too out of hand with the bumps taken. That said, I can compartmentalize and I couldn't believe Necro took a double-team powerbomb onto two chairs in the ring, landing in a fashion that I hope I never see again in the professional wrestling business.

Guys were taking bumps all over ringside onto chairs too, and I'm amazed that Claudio Castagnoli came out of this feud healthy enough to get to where he's at as Cesaro today. Hero teased a hardcore move to Whitmer in the ring, only to go to using a Cravate and elbows to knock down the former Prophecy member. I like that a lot actually.

With Pearce by himself outnumbered 3-to-1, he stood no chance, being the victim of a KOW Hero's Welcome and then laid across a table on the outside. Hero & Necro held him down as Castagnoli teased powerbombing Whitmer on Pearce, only for the lights to go out with the "Ironside" intro playing on the speakers, followed by Beanie Sigel's "The Truth."

To say this got a pop is like saying San Antonio was excited when the Spurs made easy work of the Heat in this past summer's NBA Finals.

The CZW crew assumes Homicide would be interested in helping him, leaving Whitmer there for the attack. But Homicide instead attacks KOW to a MASSIVE pop, and Pearce comes in to help take them out. Homicide and Necro are left in the ring in a staredown, with Todd Sinclair getting in the ring and ordering for the bell to be rung. Good God the pop this got was f***ing unreal.

Impromptu Hardcore Main Event
Homicide vs. Necro Butcher

This was just f***ing brutal and the crowd was molten white-hot for its entirety. Again, this got way too violent in retrospect and I don't need to see guys go to these lengths to get over anymore.

What this match had was genuine emotion from the crowd that very few segments in the history of the business can reach. It was a back-and-forth war for just 10 minutes, with both men tossing each other towards guardrails, dropping each other on the floor, and more drops onto chairs at ringside.

Just six weeks removed from the violent end to his feud with Colt Cabana, Homicide throws some chairs in the ring, then tosses a crimson Necro in there too. He then requests the crowd to throw chairs in there and they gleefully oblige. An absolutely ABSURD quantity of chairs are thrown in there, burying Necro in a steel grave and I hope he gave approval for this. Security is ignored when ordering the crowd to stop, so Homicide gets on the mic and says that it's enough, Necro's got the idea now and there are too many chairs in the ring.

Necro gets piledriven onto the steel chair surface... nearfall and white-hot reaction. He finds it in himself to give Homicide a seated powerbomb as a receipt... nearfall and white-hot reaction. Homicide gives Necro an overhead toss from the corner onto the chairs... another nearfall, another white-hot reaction, this time completed with "THIS IS AWESOME~!" chants. Homicide then takes a swinging neckbreaker on the chairs and rolls out to the apron that's right next to the chairs that were scooted out at ringside.

Necro attempts a piledriver, but instead takes a vertical suplex from the apron, onto the floor, with the floor caked with numerous steel chairs, Homicide's head barely misses the corner of the table, and Necro's left leg hits a guardrail. That is then followed up with Homicide hitting a body splash from the turnbuckle onto Necro through the table. "THIS IS AWESOME~!"

That is only good enough for another white-hot nearfall and Homicide is in disbelief. The crowd chants "KNOCK HIM OUT!!" Necro attempts a comeback with punches to the torso, only to get kicked squarely in the genitals and finished off for the three-count by a furious lariat from the Notorious 187.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner for Ring of Honor, 'The Notorious 187' Homicide!" Homicide shakes his head no, saying he did this for himself as the crowd is chanting for both him and the company.

Homicide grabs a mic. "Necro Butcher,,, anytime, homes. Welcome to Ring of Homicide, biatch!!!" f***ING WHITE-HOT REACTION WITH THE CROWD IN UNISON, CHANTING FOR HOMICIDE as the event goes off the air.

I gotta say it again: too f***ing violent and it's obvious why most of these guys didn't become top-notch stars in the business. But this sequence of events, the Joe portion, the ROH vs. CZW brawling, capped off with Homicide finally intervening to the demands of his colleagues and fans, was absolutely jaw-dropping, epic, truly engrossing, and a rare moment that hit such an emotionally strong level that it reminds me why I am still a wrestling fan.

This entire sequence was an absolute masterpiece and storytelling work of art, finally putting momentum back in ROH's favor after weeks of getting their asses kicked by CZW. It also was logically built to, as it made total sense for the Homicide character, now emotionally released from the violent feud against Cabana, to see what these CZW guys were doing and wanna test their toughness, while also feeling a sense of pride that they were trespassing on his territory.

The rating I give this will reflect on Homicide vs. Necro Butcher, but it is for the ENTIRE SEQUENCE OF MAGICAL EVENTS that closed out this show. (The portion shown on Homicide's The Notorious 187 compilation only starts with Homicide in the ring.) The rating should tell you how badly you must get this show to witness this.

Rating: *****

I'm going to be honest. I wasn't very high on this event outside of the two highly acclaimed portions. But this surpassed any memories I had of this event years later. An excellent, EXCELLENT show, complete with fantastic wrestling all over the place of different flavors. Comedy wrestling, technical wrestling, a classic title match, quality tag team wrestling, all of it capped off with one of the defining segments and moments in company history right in the middle of the most emotional feud this federation has ever booked.

GET. THIS. NOW.

Of note: This was Jimmy Yang's last event, as he was re-signed by WWE. He had some more time left in ROH, but I believe he got blacklisted from ROH by teasing a match that had not been agreed upon. That left Jimmy Rave needing a new creative direction.

And now I've arrived at the debut of perhaps the most polarizing star in ROH history, and I look forward to rewatching his ROH tenure to see if he would become as annoying as naysayers like me said he got years later.

Up next - Destiny
Matches will include:
Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Briscoe Bros.

[SUPES]

Destiny - June 3, 2006



ROH Video Recap - May 19, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
An excellent piece highlighting ROH Champion Bryan Danielson, Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness, and Tag Champs Austin Aries & Roderick Strong that shows making titles mean something isn't that hard, and I love the emphasis of no title changes yet in 2006 to build anticipation for when the next one will come.
Announced for June 3 in Connecticut are Danielson defending against Homicide (who is being granted this match as a sign of gratitude for his actions at Ring of Homicide) and Aries & Strong defending against the Briscoes in a rematch.

ROH Video Recap - May 25, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
ROH reminds us that Homicide is being granted a title shot against Danielson in what I recall as a thank you for his actions at Ring of Homicide. Their past history is touched upon as well and the screen asks if Homicide can finally achieve his destiny on June 3.
BJ Whitmer also challenges Necro Butcher to a no rope barbed wire match for the July 28 event in Dayton.
ROH reminds us that the Briscoes are getting another title shot against Aries & Strong
With this event being the first ROH appearance in New England in seven months, the company is promising to "blow you away" because "we owe you one." Let's see about that.

Aries & Strong cut a brief backstage promo, with Aries wanting to discuss Generation Next with Strong.

A quick video is shown highlighting Homicide's previous shots at the ROH Title against Samoa Joe, Aries, James Gibson, and Brian Kendrick, making the viewer wonder if he would finally achieve his destiny on this night.

The ROH Debut of Davey Richards
Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards

I'm glad Richards has gone on to ditch oversized robes as it only exposed his lack of height even more and made him look like a boy.

For those not aware: he was set to debut at The 100th Show as the one to answer Danielson's open challenge, upset the ROH Champ in a non-title match, and be recruited on-screen by Super Dragon to CZW. That'd have been quite interesting to see. Unfortunately Richards got hurt very shortly before that show, putting him out of action for about a month.

This was a good debut for Richards but of course not a perfect one. He owned Rave early with technical wrestling, so the Crown Jewel pie-faced the green Richards a couple times to compensate. Richards did a very good job working on Rave's left arm and shoulder with various submissions as well as strikes and kicks.

When Rave got the heat, he worked on the back of Richards very well with his own submissions and backbreakers. Richards was very good with his abrupt kicks as hope spots. Unfortunately, Richards didn't sell his back much if at all when he got the heat back, other than showing bad form when applying a Stretch Muffler, and I'll assume that's because he couldn't straighten his back to do so. They had a nice finishing stretch and good pace all-around, with Richards finishing Rave, a man who had headlined numerous ROH events in 2005 and 2006, with a double underhook brainbuster.

I must point out that my biggest concern with Richards is something that he's never gotten corrected. Many wrestlers play to the crowd, but something has always felt forced when he does it; it's downright pandering in the way that he does it, and I hope one day he can have a gimmick of being a psychopathic square, which I believe he'd excel at.

Rating: ***1/4

Bryan Danielson comes out after a women's division match to cut an ROH fellatio promo, but shits on Connecticut. Cookie-cutter promo to make sure the crowd isn't split in his match against Homicide later.

At intermission, the Embassy demands a Rave vs. Richards rematch. Rave puts himself over with a number of facts, which only makes Richards beating him even more impressive. One of Rave's best promos.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide

Samoa Joe came out before the introductions, which irritated both participants. However, he thanked Homicide for helping out against CZW and then said he'd be the guest ring announcer, using that to bury Danielson for being pale.

This was a classic match that has gotten better over time. It started as some nice wrestling for a few minutes, then got to the outside. In a major character moment, Homicide was convinced by referee Todd Sinclair to not use a ringbell on Danielson's left shoulder as it was wrapped around a ringpost. This gave Danielson the opportunity to turn this into a brief brawl on the outside. The standout moment was Danielson giving Homicide a snap suplex to crash him through a table, but the Notorious 187 instead landed on the table's edge and a folded chair in front of it. Then moments later, Homicide took an overhead belly-to-belly suplex from the champ onto a laid out table, which didn't break upon impact.

Danielson targeted the right shoulder (which had never fully healed) after Homicide landed that region on the ringpost when charging at the champ. After some more good wrestling, they went outside again and Danielson, in a great character moment, used a chair on Homicide's right shoulder while it was wrapped around a barricade bar. Nice to see the champ return the courtesy.

Homicide was phenomenal the rest of the match in selling the right shoulder, causing his moments of offense to be in bursts, unable to maintain extended heat with the champ taking advantage of the injury. Danielson of course was also fantastic in antagonizing the crowd, who so badly wanted to see the redeemed Homicide finally reach the mountaintop.

When it came down to it, Danielson couldn't be outwrestled, but Homicide wouldn't allow his right shoulder to take him out of the equation. He managed to go back to work on the champ's left shoulder deep into the match, but of course that was short-lived as I mentioned regarding his offense in the previous paragraph. In what had to be a tribute to the Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero rivalry, they traded a missed frogsplash and missed diving headbutt.

I must mention that Danielson had avoided a lariat from Homicide and turned it into a Cattle Mutilation nearfall that of course had the crowd rocking. This was excellent storytelling because Danielson made sure he wouldn't allow Homicide to hit him with that, as it had gotten Homicide the victory the first time they collided at Reborn Stage 2. Minutes later though, Homicide channeled the finish from that match, putting himself in position to give Danielson the same lowblow and lariat combo for a hot nearfall.

This match of course had other incedible nearfalls at the end, including a successful frogsplash, Dragon Suplex, and Crossface Chickenwing. There was also a blocked Kudo Driver and Shiranui attempt by Homicide. But when Danielson got Homicide in the seated position for his signature elbow strikes, Homicide wore down severely, refusing to give up, and leaving the ref no choice but to stop the match to a vociferous outrage from the crowd.

Joe is also upset, and Lt. Commissioner Adam Pearce comes out to discuss the finish on his cell phone with Commissioner Jim Cornette. He says Cornette has ruled to uphold the finish for Homicide's safety, and Danielson's reaction is hilariously gleeful. Homicide attacks Sinclair as Joe tries to pry him off, and Danielson uses that opportunity to clip Joe's knee, then leaves boasting that he's the best in the world.

Homicide says he's fed up with ROH and leaves in a fit of rage, which is completely understandable.

Just an excellent match that played off of their previous series, told an excellent story, had phenomenal psychology, and amazing pacing, with an incredible finish to put these two over as the top bad-asses in the company in case anyone hadn't realized that yet.

Rating: ****1/4

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Briscoe Bros.

They have a great brawl early on par with the previous match, but once it became a normal tag, it became visually good but very pedestrian when looking at the details. I believe the crowd was exhausted from what they had just seen while somewhat upset about how it finished. I certainly understand that Gabe Sapolsky was always hesitant to have "Dusty finishes" closing out an event, but Danielson vs. Homicide deserved the main event spot because it wore out the crowd emotionally as a match and with its finish.

The referee Paul Turner also couldn't follow up on Sinclair's five star officiating between these two teams at Ring of Homicide. For a rematch that was based on confusion over tag legalities, Turner didn't seem to give a shit about enforcing anything, counting any pinfall attempt he saw. The quieter crowd also exposed the exhaustion these guys had, and they sounded unusually tired, audibly sucking wind for a match that was paced like a standard ROH main event.

I must also mention that there was hardly any reaction to the finish. I considered this a disappointment back in the day, and with me much wiser now in 2014, this is even more flawed than I had remembered.

The post-match is what matters, as Aries says that Generation Next had achieved its goals of reaching the top spots and becoming stars in the industry, and thus the faction is no more. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason for this event being titled Destiny.

Rating: less than ***

Richards agrees to give Rave a rematch on the next show.

While not a good show overall let alone "blow away" as the company promised, I do recommend this for major historical implications. Homicide getting screwed again in another classic against Danielson. The debut of Richards. And the end of Generation Next. All very important stuff in the history of ROH.

I now reach the final chapters of the greatest feud in ROH's history, along with the return of a puro juggernaut to continue his journey of amazing dream matches.

Up next - In Your Face
Matches will include:
Briscoe Bros. vs. Jason Blade & Sterling James Keenan
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana
Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer
Chris Hero vs. Homicide
Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe

[SUPES]

In Your Face - June 17, 2006



ROH Video Recap - June 7, 2006



Important news/footage from the above video:
Colt Cabana is the #1 contender to the ROH Title after wining a match at Destiny that had no business having such a stipulation
KENTA faces Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe on June 17 in NYC, Roderick Strong on June 23 in Detroit, Austin Aries on June 24 in Chicago, and returns in August too for Long Island and New Jersey. OH f*** YES~!
Christopher Daniels challenges Christian Cage to a singles match in ROH (this promo apparently taped after How We Roll)

The Briscoes give Aries & Strong no credit, claiming they got lucky. Aries & Strong in their backstage promo refute this, saying they'll take care of Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana tonight before defending the belts internationally.

Briscoe Bros. vs. Jason Blade & Sterling James Keenan

Perfect opening match. The Briscoes dominated, the jobbers got a little bit of shine to try to impress and get more bookings, the stars cut the ring in half, and the finish was fun. In addition ZERO issues with tag legalities. Surprised this isn't on a Briscoes comp yet.

As predicted by Colt Cabana after their feud ended at Night of the Grudges II, he and McGuinness have put their issues completely behind them, cracking jokes and genuine pleasantries.

After Ricky Reyes squashes one of the Crist brothers (Irish Airborne,) Chris Hero shows up from the crowd and blindsides Julius Smokes with another company's championship belt, then scurries off gleefully. Homicide comes out and dares Hero to show up again to "Ring of Homicide."

Jimmy Jacobs has a prerecorded promo, having the chance to watch Dragon Gate Challenge and now vows revenge on BJ Whitmer tonight because nobody else would've been able to take care of Lacey had Jacobs been taken out. He will also earn a shot against Danielon for the ROH Title, dethrone him, and use the extra money to buy a new home for himself and his beloved Lacey, as well as for their "future children." Hauntingly excellent.

Tag Titles Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana

The match of the night, which I'm sure is surprising. But this match got everything right for its spot on the card, so let's dig in and dissect it. I should note that McGuinness got this match because of his successful Pure Title defenses over Aries and Strong.

Early on McGuinness tried playing mind games with Strong and avoiding his chops, but that strategy was short-lived. Once Aries was tagged in, McGuinness worked on his left shoulder, the same brilliant strategy from Unscripted II since Aries is left-handed. Cabana also followed up on that when he came in. Strong and Cabana would have some back-and-forth before McGuinness got tagged back in.

In a moment of tag team wrestling brilliance, McGuinness went for his corner handstand mule kick bait, but Aries came over to hold him in place, allowing Strong to deliver multiple chops to the crowd's amazement. The Pure Champ found himself getting the ring cut in half for a brief period as a result of this. That would be cut off when he hit his signature spinal shoot kick and downward lariat on Aries, then got the tag to Cabana.

Aries then found himself being the victim of the ring being cut in half, including a slightly botched overhead front hammerlock suplex. The challengers double-teamed him with multiple limb submissions while Strong's attempts to stop it were cut off by the ref. After more exceptional work done on Aries, he got the hot tag to Strong, who was a house of fire on McGuinness going for backbreakers, Boston Crabs, and Tiger Drivers.

Aries prevented Cabana from cutting the ring in half again, only to be taken out minutes later after some nice back-and-forth double-team work. But he kept Cabana out again when McGuinness became legal, allowing Strong to force the Pure Champ to submit to a Liontamer. Really good tag match that like the opener had zero tag legality issues. Why isn't this on a compilation yet?

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title Shot Match
Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer


(NOTE; the above video has shitty generic music playing over the entire video during the entrances and pre-match brawl due to Whitmer's Stone Temple Pilots theme, but also over "The Ballad of Lacey" for unknown reasons.)

The usual good stuff from these two, although dialed back a bit. They brawled outside the ring early, then had a good wrestling match. The important part came when Lacey tried to play distraction and Whitmer kissed her to the crowd's delight. Lacey was absolutely repulsed and used this as an excuse to aim her disgusted spit at some Green Lantern mark in the front row, drawing what was probably the biggest pop of the night.

This caused Jacobs to go berzerk and they brawled to to the crowd, causing fans to get out of harm's way. With Whitmer laying in the New Yorker chairs, Jacobs climbed to the nearby turnbuckle, planning to dive onto Whitmer out of his unconditional love for Lacey, but Whitmer got up and attacked Jacobs up there. They had a back-and-forth, with Jacobs teasing a Super Shiranui but that was blocked; Whitmer then powerbombed Jacobs into the nearby empty chairs to poetically play off of what happened at Dragon Gate Challenge and causing this match to get thrown out. A crazy fun match.

Rating: ***

Chris Hero interferes during the Adam Pearce vs. Claudio Castagnoli match, drawing huge heel heat as he talks shit on the microphone, Of course we know what this leads to...

Chris Hero vs. Homicide

Pearce chased Castagnoli away, allowing the spotlight on these two. This was more of a wrestling match than a brawl as expected, but it worked because the NYC crowd was completely behind their Brooklyn guy plus this was an ROH vs. CZW showdown. Hero was great in trolling the crowd but Homicide was vicious at every chance he got, of course winning this as he should have. He trolls Hero as the CZW superstar takes a powder, scurrying away after getting his ass kicked.

Homicide then sits down and says he's fed up with the bullshit, and he will be granted an ROH Title shot. If he isn't the ROH Champion by the end of 2006, he's f***ing off from the company.

Rating: ***1/2

Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe

One of the more disappointing main events in ROH's history, but there have been many that were significantly, significantly worse. All three men accidentally knocked each other out at certain points, but because it's two of the best workers of the 21st Century along with Joe in his prime, they still managed to make this good. The hot NYC crowd also played a hand in keeping this match interesting. I'm not gonna dig too much into the details because the injuries kept this from reaching its potential, but I'll highlight what matters.

KENTA once again beat the ROH Champ Danielson with the G2S. Unfortunately, the champ was out of it to make the post-match mean more. KENTA declares his desire for a title shot, but Joe says not to worry about Danielson, because he will be in his second reign as ROH Champion when KENTA challenges for it. And it's a shame we never got KENTA vs. Joe in singles, but after this match, I can see why Gabe Sapolsky never pulled the trigger. He probably didn't wanna deliver on Danielson vs. KENTA either, but KENTA pinning the champ clean twice required that match to happen. But I'm getting ahead of myself and wanna see how it played out in hindsight.

Rating: ***1/2

The Briscoes tell Aries & Strong that they're still coming for the belts. The Briscoes lost twice, including the first one due to perfect officiating, but they've never been rational characters.

Bit of a disappointing show due to the main event, but still a good show. Not every NYC event has to be Manhattan Mayhem to be enjoyable. Really hope ROH puts Aries/Strong vs. McGuinness/Cabana on a compilation at some point, as it's one of the best matches of the Aries/Strong reign. And speaking of comps, I'm shocked the semi-main wasn't included on the Homicide comp, as the crowd was great and it was an important segment for his character direction.

Next show should be really fun assuming my memories are correct.

Up next - Throwdown
Matches will include:
Delirious vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer
Roderick Strong vs. KENTA

[SUPES]

Throwdown - June 23, 2006



July 20, 2006 ROH Video Recap important news (this video unavailable online):
Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer get to challenge Bryan Danielson in an elimination match for the ROH Title @ Throwdown
When will the first title change of 2006 be?
Colt Cabana is excited for his ROH Title shot, although he's assuming it'll still be Danielson on June 24
The next Video Recap will focus on Homicide

Samoa Joe vs. Delirious vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Davey Richards

This one didn't age well, although it wasn't bad at all. The character dynamics were all fun, but this went a bit too long, Richards was selling for too long in order to pay his dues, and tag legalities failed to be enforced in the third act. Crowd liked it, but this match was indyriffic, although not a complete loss.

The Briscoes at intermission say their night isn't over after making quick work of Ace Steel & Colt Cabana. And yes, Steel did the job to protect Cabana the night before his ROH Title shot in his hometown.

Necro Butcher vs. Adam Pearce made for good storyline advancement brawling, with the Homicide vs. Claudio Castagnoli match immediately following afterwards being fine. Castagnoli got enough offense in to make sure he was still a star, but of course Homicide got the win.

The commentary mentions this somewhat important news that I forgot to point out from Chris Hero's promo on the previous show: ROH VS. CZW. CAGE OF DEATH. DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR IV ON JULY 15 IN PHILLY. OH. f***. YES~!

ROH Title - Elimination Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer

Pretty interesting case study here as Whitmer showed some of his weaknesses, including a shoddy attempt at brief mat wrestling with Danielson and later not doing any selling of the Cattle Mutilation. (To be fair, Homicide didn't really sell his back at all after taking some bad table bumps @ Destiny, and had he done so, that particular match probably wouldn't been an all-time classic rather than just a hot, dramatic classic.)

There were still quite a few highlights, including Jacobs and Whitmer reigniting their feud just six days after the events of In Your Face, exchanging heated strikes. Danielson was great at playing the prick when inserting himself while also of course showing his technical superiority. In particular, I loved that he halted a spinning head-scissors from Jacobs, turning that into an airplane spin that would be broken up by Whitmer.

The next standout spot was Danielson having the surfboard on Whitmer, then Jacobs using that opportunity to chop his former tag partner. This led to a nice Danielson vs. Jacobs segment, with the commentators pointing out that it was intelligent for Whitmer to allow them to dish out pain on each other due to the elimination rules. After a few minutes though, Danielson is taken out with a shotgun missle dropkick from Jacobs, leading to another Jacobs vs. Whitmer segment.

This led to the next highlight, as Whitmer had Jacobs in position for an Exploder suplex but Jacobs was blocking it. Danielson waist-locked Whitmer and delivered a German suplex, which allowed Whitmer enough momentum to also land the Exploder on Jacobs. However, this led to another Danielson vs. Whitmer segment in which Whitmer failed to sell his neck, which is really disappointing considering what Super Dragon did to him just two months earlier. Jacobs then inexplicably hit a senton splash on Danielson while Whitmer was locked in a Cattle Mutilation. Perhaps though that can be explained by Jacobs being irrational, wanting to be the one to eliminate Whitmer AND win the title for Lacey.

Jacobs went for a Shiranui on Whitmer, but Danelson prevented that, looking to give a super backdrop suplex to Jacobs. However, Whitmer got the champ on his shoulders, allowing Jacobs to hit a Doomsday Hurricanrana on Danielson to a huge pop. Whitmer crotched Jacobs, teasing another powerbomb in the crowd as in their previous collisions, but Danielson got underneath Whitmer for a powerbomb. This allowed Jacobs to hit a Super Shiranui with additional momentum from Danielson, eliminating Whitmer.

The crowd got super hot for Jacobs, the Detroit native, who had yet another great underdog performance. Danielson played a great prick, flicking the crowd off after brawling with Jacobs on the outside. The champ worked on the face and throat of Jacobs, which was beginning to irritate the challenger's valet Lacey. Jacobs would eventually get a comeback, getting the crowd more drawn in. He also prevented a Regalplex and Crossface Chickenwing, as well as a super backdrop suplex. He also blocked a leaping sunset flip, pinning Danielson to a red-hot nearfall.

They had a great strike exchange with another nearfall for Jacobs, getting the crowd wondering if perhaps the upset was indeed possible. Jacobs made the mistake though of locking in the Cattle Mutilation; once Danielson got in a stand-up position, he used the momentum to drive Jacobs three times in the turnbuckle, followed by an armdrag, roaring elbow, signature rapid elbows, and Crossface Chickenwing, just further solidifying that Danielson was an in-ring deity and bad-ass motherf***er.

Post-match, Lacey is pissed at Jacobs because she only gives a shit about results and profits, but the Detroit crowd gives its hometown boy Jacobs a well-earned standing ovation. Excellent match despite some issues from Whitmer, and this could've been a MOTYC had those issues not come up.

Rating: ****

Roderick Strong vs. KENTA

Really good main event, but not the classic so many hoped for. The crowd didn't get hot until the heated strike exchanges with slapping sounds, but I do wonder if they just couldn't get as emotionally invested as they did in the Jacobs match.

The strikes were very crisp as expected, with both men busting their asses and certainly hurting afterwards as they hit the road to Chicago. There were many great reversals and blocks. Standout moments to me include Strong striking KENTA during an attempted Falcon Arrow and Strong going for the exchange that got him his huge victory several months earlier over James Gibson, that being a super gutbuster and Liontamer. However, this time Strong went for a pinfall before applying the Liontamer, perhaps costing him the match against the former GHC Jr. Champ.

I did appreciate both men selling exhaustion and pain after getting adrenaline rushes, doing what they could to get the drama building without shitting on their work they dished out on each other. I liked that Strong worked on the torso with different submissions, setting up KENTA for the gutbuster and various backbreakers. KENTA also favored the Camel Clutch in this one, which told me he planned on the Falcon Arrow being a major part of his strategy.

The finish was great stuff. Both men found their own ways out of the gutbuster and G2S, but after several reversals, KENTA hit the G2S on Strong's sternum, knocking out the ROH cornerstone for the pinfall. Very, very good match that just needed more crowd heat to give both men extra adrenaline for a better pace.

Post-match, the Briscoes come out to attack Strong in the ring. KENTA has none of it, kicking them and causing them to take a powder, not happy they'd go after a man who had just been in a grueling, physical main event. Crowd is marking out for KENTA hardcore.

Rating: ***3/4

Colt Cabana is excited to finally get his ROH TItle shot the next day in Chicago. This angle was a bit overpushed, and I'm convinced Cabana wasn't supposed to get his hometown title shot this early as I explained before.

Not a bad show, but the main events are on Strong, Jacobs, and Whitmer compilations already, so unless you must have every single piece of the ROH vs. CZW feud, you can skip this. The first half has an Adam Pearce era stench to it.

Up next - Chi-Town Struggle
Matches will include:
Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Nigel McGuinness vs. Homicide
Austin Aries vs. KENTA
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

[SUPES]

Chi-Town Struggle - June 24, 2006



Colt Cabana is excited to get another shot at the ROH Title in his hometown. Considering how much airtime has been spent on this for Cabana, I have high expectations.

We find out in an Embassy promo that Alex Shelley is out with an injured right shoulder, and his replacement as Jimmy Rave's partner is Conrad Kennedy III. Don't care about them facing the Briscoes, but this had an amusing line about rolling over badly on morning wood.

Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Even better than I had remembered. Strong teased harassing Lacey early to get in the head of Jacobs, which obviously worked. However, Jacobs got the early advantage with his spinning head-scissors and some side headlocks, including using that to cut off a couple Strong comebacks. Once it spilled to ringside early though, Strong won that battle with his signature vicious chops, popping the Chicago crowd in the process of course.

Moments later, with Jacobs planted in the corner, Strong teased a chop, only to slap the creep to another pop from the crowd. However, Jacobs would cut him off shortly with a boot to the face to get the heat back, and then launch himself towards Strong with an elbow suicida. He followed that up with a running boot to Strong's head into the ringpost. Strong would regain the heat with a side backbreaker and spectacular fallaway slam, but that comeback was short-lived. This was because Strong was outside again, and Jacobs used his positioning inside the ring to plant Strong back-first on the gym floor with another spinning head-scissors.

A teased Shiranui by Jacobs would be countered into a backbreaker, cutting off Jacobs while Strong recovered from the pain he had endured. Strong came at Jacobs with vicious strikes and a gorgeous dropkick right to the face. Moments later, Jacobs would try to get a fluke small package pin on Strong, but that was just a nice nearfall. Strong blocked a Death Valley Driver attempt, only to eat a spear when running towards the ropes for a Yakuza kick attempt.

Strong got cocky after a Gorilla Press Slam on Jacobs, asking the crowd if he should do it again and launch Jacobs out to them. This time wasted allowed the battered Jacobs to get back in the match and turn a second attempted Gorilla Press Slam into a back rollup nearfall. They exchanged more nice nearfalls, with Strong hitting a Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Both men were doing a phenomenal job of selling the pain and exhaustion here.

Strong crotched Jacobs on the ropes, setting him up for a super gutbuster, but Jacobs cut that off. He put Strong in position for a Death Valley Driver, successfully planting the Tag Champ after a brief struggle. Jacobs is unable to follow up due to the pain and exhaustion, and attempts a Shiranui. That is blocked as Strong uses the momentum of Jacobs to catch him in a Davey Boy Smith style powerslam position. Strong drops Jacobs throat-first on the top rope, follows that up with some backbreakers, and then gets the submission victory with the Liontamer, then tosses Jacobs aside like a sack of garbage.

This was another excellent underdog performance from Jacobs, with the crowd loving every minute of it. This is a forgotten, under-appreciated classic in the same vein as Doug Williams vs. Homicide in the same building at Nowhere to Run. The counters, selling, and transitions were all fantastic, with the storytelling matching it. Add in that both men had grueling main events the night before and I come away even more impressed. This needs to be on a compilation.

Rating: ****

Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness calls out the Internet marks for saying he'll be the first to lose a championship in 2006 and can't believe anyone thinks Homicide will dethrone him tonight. This promo achieved its goals.

The ROH vs. CZW segment is good brawling and the crowd was into it, but not to the degree of the East Coast. A fine go-home for the CAGE OF DEATH coming up in three weeks in Philly with CZW again getting the upper hand since Homicide, the established CZW killer, was not involved as he had something more important to focus on this evening.

At intermission, the Briscoes say they ain't done with the Tag Champs and now KENTA has pissed them off.

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Homicide

Homicide expresses mild disappointment to chairs being banned during the rules overview. McGuinness pie-faces Homicide with the belt, getting this match to a chippy start. Great way to start the match though with McGuinness attempting to troll the ticking time-bomb that Homicide is. Their in-ring scuffle spilled to the outside, with Homicide launching himself overhead to get the early advantage once they got back in the ring. Homicide was exceptional in once again showcasing his technical wrestling ability with various submissions and pinning attempts, including a Rings of Saturn that caused the Pure Champ to use a rope break.

McGuinness had gotten a brief hammerlock on Homicide's left arm earlier, looking like he'd prefer sticking to his usual left arm strategy rather than modify it for Homicide's damaged right shoulder. This is something the champ focused on when he got the heat back, applying numerous submissions, including an overhead front hammerlock suplex. When Homicide went for a chop with his left hand to keep McGuinness at bay, he sold the pain. That pain prevented Homicide from hitting a tornado DDT, allowing McGuinness to maintain control.

McGuinness got a fishhook locked in on Homicide's mouth during a submission, then yelled that he has 'till five to break it as a shot at Bryan Danielson. He continued working on Homicide's left arm, daring the Notorious 187 to go for the ropes during a submission. This was a great strategy that was just as impressive as when he pulled off the upset on Homicide at Midnight Express Reunion, but now there was more at stake and he had become a condescendingly unethical prick.

Homicide finally got a comeback when he ducked a clothesline and hit a running boot on McGuinness, but he continued selling that left arm. This caused his comeback to be brief, as McGuinness drilled Homicide in the turnbuckle making sure the left arm got the most impact. He put Homicide back in the corner, stretching the count while he nastily smeared Homicide's face with a forearm and a knee. Homicide attempted another comeback while McGuinness went for some strikes, this time being successful when he dodged a running McGuinness into the corner.

They spilled to the outside and brawled, with McGuinness giving Homicide a European uppercut. That was then followed by a vertical suplex onto the table. This resulted in a fantastic nearfall as Homicide got into the ring within a fraction of the ref reaching 20, stunning McGuinness in the process and getting a huge pop. Homicide would hit a frogsplash for two, causing him to almost lose it on the ref. McGuinness used the time to get Homicide in the corner and a hit a Tower of London for another hot nearfall. He'd seat Homicide on the top turnbuckle, but Homicide cut off his plans and hit a successful tornado DDT after having that maneuver sabotaged earlier in the match.

McGuinness would hit a rebound lariat for another nice nearfall, and the champ seemed to be on the ropes mentally. He went for his headstand baiting, but Homicide channeled Samoa Joe and hit a running boot on the champ. This caused the champ to go outside the ring and Homicide followed him. They brawled to the front entrance with Homicide having the upper hand, but McGuinness held onto Homicide even after being hit on the back with a chair. He ducked a clothesline from Homicide and ran to the ring, causing Homicide to barely lose this by countout. f***ing brilliant booking to push McGuinness as the Pure Wrestling Rules manipulator as well as Homicide's elevated frustration, which he shows by going berzerk and storming off, leaving the arena. This also needs to be on a compilation.

Rating: ***3/4

Austin Aries vs. KENTA

They exchange some slaps early within minutes of each other after having some back-and-forth wrestling, establishing this as an even matchup. They would have a heated slap exchange after that, popping this awesome crowd, with Aries ending up having KENTA in the head-scissors. KENTA got out of it, then regained the advantage and put Aries in the head-scissors. I was disappointed to see that Aries traditionally got out of that and hit a dropkick on the seated KENTA; I'd have assumed KENTA would've done his homework and known that was coming.

Aries worked on KENTA with some nice technical wrestling, including the Last Chancery to set him up for the brainbuster that was sure to come later. KENTA would block an early attempt at a brainbuster though, putting Aries on the apron. This gave KENTA the opportunity to cut off Aries and get the heat back. KENTA was of course vicious with his kicks and strikes, but went for the Camel Clutch to set up Aries for the Falcon Arrow. KENTA blocked a sunset flip pin, holding himself in an upward position, then leaned down and slapped Aries to another outstanding pop.

KENTA had an inverted head-scissors on Aries, but the Tag Champ got out of that one too. However, he was too dazed to follow up, so KENTA kicked him and tossed him outside, then flung Aries into the steel guardrail. KENTA continued controlling the match with Aries getting some hope spots in, but KENTA cut him off with a snapmare and then lethal kicks to the spine, followed up by a heel kick to the head of Aries. This infuriated Aries when he got back up, as he returned the snapmare and spinal kicks favor, then followed that up with a kneedrop. He then did his signature follo-wup "slow motion" kneedrop.

That pissed KENTA off, causing him to get enough adrenaline to get back up and kick the shit out of Aries, but Aries blocked a kick, gave KENTA a knee-breaker, and then planted the puro juggernaut with a German suplex. But KENTA got up, so Aries hit him with a running dropkick for a nice nearfall. Seconds later, KENTA cut off Aries to regain control and crotch the former ROH Champ on the middle turnbuckle. KENTA returned the favor from a minute earlier, hitting Aries with a running boot. He then teased another one, stopped himself, and slapped Aries; I assume he picked that up from the Strong vs. Jacobs match.

They had some cutting off back-and-forth stuff, with their signature stuff including a springboard missile dropkick and twisting bodypress. KENTA was put to the outside, so Aries launched at him with a tope suicida. With KENTA dazed, Aries tossed him back in and went up to the top rope, but KENTA got up and cut that off with a kick to the face. Aries would block an attempted Falcon Arrow, crotching the former GHC Jr. Champ and putting him in the Tree of Woe. But instead of going for the double foot stomp like Low Ki, Aries hit a dropkick on KENTA's face, followed up with a kick to the spine to another incredible crowd pop.

KENTA though kept himself back in this, hitting a butterfly suplex for a nearfall and declaring that he would go for the G2S. He slapped Aries but a Busaiku knee would be evaded, allowing Aries to hit a rolling forearm and clothesline. Aries hit a Finlay roll on KENTA, then got on a far corner for what I assumed would be a frogsplash, but Aries was exhausted and took too long. This gave KENTA the chance to get up, run towards Aries on the top rope and hit the Falcon Arrow for another excellent nearfall.

Aries would elbow KENTA during an attempted G2S, then beautifully turned that into a crucifix bomb for yet another tremendous nearfall, obviously scouting Danielson's counter from Best in the World 2006. KENTA would make another G2S attempt, but Aries got out of it, hit KENTA in the shin to position for a kick to the face, and a successful brainbuster for another nearfall. An exhausted Aries then went for the 450 Splash, but KENTA rolled out of the way, hit the Busaiku Knee, a kick to the face, another Busaiku knee, and then Aries bounced off the ropes right back into KENTA for the G2S, bringing this excellent match to its conclusion.

And because KENTA is a true pro, he rolls over at first, absolutely exhausted from this hard-hitting classic. Both men get up and embrace, but the Briscoes come out to mug them. Strong comes out for the save, and it's obvious we got some anticipated tag team matches coming up involving these men in the near future.

This match was just f***ing excellent. Crisp strikes, beautiful teases that would then be delivered later, awesome reversals, and best of all a Chicago crowd that appreciated it. This may have been just as great in another market, but Chicago was the perfect choice for this match, as they were into absolutely everything. An absolute classic that is among the best match of both men's careers, just right behind KENTA vs. Low Ki in terms of spectacle. This right here is worth the price of the KENTA compilation alone.

Rating: ****1/2

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

Danielson has Bobby Cruise remind the crowd that he beat this "Chicago chump" in five minutes. Brilliant way to get heat in case anyone would be in Danielson's favor after McGuinness mocked him earlier in the evening.

This wasn't as hard-hitting as Aries vs. KENTA (how could it be?) or even Strong vs. Jacobs, but this was another tremendous match for the evening. Cabana showed that he could hang with Danielson technically and even managed to get into the champ's head at times with great mind games. But this only got Danielson to become more vicious as the match went along, realizing that the match at The 100th Show between these two was a fluke.

I'll jump to the finish as it was outstanding. After busting out a moonsault for a nearfall on Danielson, Cabana went for a superplex, but Danielson cut that off and hit a super backdrop suplex that had been teased earlier for a hot nearfall. He went for the Cattle Mutation, but Cabana managed to get to the ropes. He got the champ in the Billy's Goat Curse and then went for a Cattle Mutation of his own, but the champ got to the ropes. Cabana powerbombed Danielson for another great nearfall in front of his hometown Chicago fans, but Danielson refused to turn over while down for whatever Cabana had in mind. That of course brought back memories of Danielson vs. Strong at This Means War.

Cabana poetically got some elbows on the back of Danielson's head, hit a clothesline, and dropped Danielson with the Colt .45 for what would guarantee the first title change of 2006. But Danielson not only kicked out, he had enough energy to give himself the necessary adrenaline rush, using the momentum and locking Cabana in a small package for the win. This was absolutely brilliant to remind everyone of Danielson's technical excellence and crush the Chicago crowd's spirits. The crowd started to throw garbage in the ring, so the camera cuts away.

What can I say? Another awesome match that is severely underrated, and I even read some reviews that said Cabana somehow DISAPPOINTED in this match, that he wasn't worthy of this position? Oh f*** off. This was just as good if not even better than Jacobs getting his shot in his hometown of Detroit the night before. Awesome match with incredible crowd heat, an under-appreciated classic, perhaps even more under-appreciated than the Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams work of art at Night of Champions.

Rating: ****

The Briscoes reiterate that they're coming for KENTA, Aries, and Strong. OH f*** YES~!

The DVD ends with very brief footage of the company wishing Chicago native Adam Pearce a happy birthday.

Who the f*** convinced Bryan & Vinny to skip this show when they were reviewing ROH back in the day? This has got to be the most underrated ROH show ever, even more than Tag Wars 2006, as that show already has a reputation of being underrated. All four matches I reviewed are vastly underrated, with them all being very, very different.

A jock going up against an underdog creep. A smug cheater colliding with an irrationally frustrated OG. Two of the best juniors in the world putting on an intensely dramatic clinic. And then the world's best wrestler crushing Chicago's souls once again by sneaking a victory over one of their own, right as they thought their Second City Saint would pull off the upset and bring upon the first title change in the company for 2006.

This is HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended, and one of the best shows in ROH history, no exaggeration. GET THIS SHOW NOW, it can be found pretty easily for pretty cheap.

We now end the first half of 2006 without a single title change. Will there be one at all in 2006, and if so, who will it be? What is to come for the frustrated Homicide, and more importantly, where does he fit in for this?

THE END OF THE GREATEST FEUD IN ROH HISTORY. ROH. CZW. PHILADELPHIA. CAGE OF DEATH. DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR IV. Is this Gabe Sapolsky's masterpiece still all these years later? Is this still the magical epic that all of us remember on that hot summer night in 2006? It's been a pleasure rewatching this program, and damn I hate to have gotten to the end, but all good things must come to an end and with the conclusion here, I will be sure to do justice in reviewing this saga that not only lived up to aesthetic expectations, but got business booming for the company in its birth market.

Up next - Death Before Dishonor IV
Matches will include:
Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong
AJ Styles vs. Davey Richards
Team ROH vs. Team CZW in CAGE OF DEATH~!

[SUPES]

Death Before Dishonor IV - July 15, 2006



ROH Video Recap - July 11, 2006



Important news/footage from the above video:
In an empty venue recorded at In Your Face, Homicide vents about being screwed and reiterates that he WILL finally capture a championship in ROH before 2006 ends or he's f***ing off from the company. A video chronicling his time in ROH is shown titled History of Homicide: The OG of ROH, including his greatest feuds, matches, and moments, as well as his failures to become a champion in the company.
BJ Whitmer cuts a promo from a farm somewhere to discuss Cage of Death and his no rope barbed wire match against Necro Butcher on July 28 in Dayton. This promo got the job done, but since Whitmer has never been strong in mic skills and charisma, I would've had him calmly discuss what he had in mind, in a very matter of fact manner like a calm before the storm psychopath.

The official participants for Cage of Death:
ROH - Samoa Joe, Ace Steel, BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce, &
CZW - Kings of Wrestling, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, &
The keeper of the key is the legendary JJ Dillon!

In a segment supposedly taped in Florida, Dave Prazak (dressed in Chicago Cubs gear) finds Homicide flirting with So Cal Val and asks about Homicide walking out at Chi-Town Struggle. Homicide reiterates that he's tired of being screwed. Prazak says ROH needs him for Cage of Death, to which Homicide says he must be granted three wishes. "Change that goddamn jersey!"

An important announcement made before this show on the Newswire at the time, but failed to be mentioned during the Chi-Town Struggle main event and on the July 11 Video Recap:

SAMOA JOE GETS HIS ROH TITLE SHOT ON AUGUST 5 IN NEW JERSEY. OH f*** YES~!

Throughout the evening, the four announced ROH participants reflect on how this issue against CZW has impacted them and what they have in mind for Cage of Death. Also shown throughout the DVD are various flashbacks from most of the fantastic moments in the ROH vs. CZW feud. With promos already on the DVD release like this is a PPV, I'd have gone with an extended vignette of the feud before the main event rather than simple flashbacks.

Prince Nana reveals his newest member of the Embassy, which is Sal Rinauro. His job is to be a foot stool for Jimmy Rave. Their tag match against Jay Lethal & Colt Cabana is nothing special but the crowd had fun with it.

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong

Strong earned this Pure Title shot by making McGuinness tap out to the Liontamer at In Your Face, which like the Samoa Joe news, isn't pointed out ahead of time for the DVD viewer.

Referee Todd Sinclair gets booed as usual while going over the rules, so McGuinness chastises the crowd. Strong isn't letting McGuinness play verbal mind games and chops the champ to start the match. McGuinness blocks some more chops, making me wonder if the match would take a story from Strong's matches against CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. But the avoidance of the chops would be short-lived, and the challenger got to do his signature work on the back of McGuinness, forcing him to run out of rope breaks about 12-15 minutes into this match.

I must mention that the CZW fans in attendance started a "THIS IS AWFUL~!" chant to troll the ROHbots.

McGuinness focused on Strong's left arm with various submissions, and Strong sold this phenomenally well. However, my favorite and perhaps most important part of the match for storytelling happened when they got to the outside. Strong laid in some vicious chops and was about to get back in the ring to break the 20 count, but McGuinness dared him to keep it going. McGuinness absorbed the chops, threw Strong into the guardrail, and went in the ring. However, Strong barely broke the 20 count to a well-deserved reception for this tremendous false finish.

Strong would go on to regain the advantage with McGuinness out of rope breaks and slapped on another Liointamer. Like his first match against Bryan Danielson at Weekend of Champions Night 2, McGuinness crawled out of the ring to force Strong to break it. Tremendously teased submission finish right there.

They had more great action in the ring, highlighted by Strong seating McGuinness on the ropes to set him up for a super gutbuster. However, McGuinness grabbed the ref and positioned himself to stand upright, stunned Strong, and then landed a Tower of London for another fantastic nearfall. The champ threw Strong to the outside and put him in a Front Chancery headlock and planted him with a DDT on the concrete floor. They got up at the same time, but McGuinness yanked Strong by the left foot and then got back in right before the 20 count.

A great match structured similarly to McGuinness vs. Homicide on the prior show, except this had a bit more compelling submission wrestling and storytelling. A countout was teased, then the match looked like it might end with in-ring action, only for the countout to be used later as the actual finish. This also got the entire crowd chanting "THIS IS AWESOME~!", a chant that was earned with great pacing and intelligence in front of an audience that had a significantly cynical portion in attendance.

Rating: ****

Commissioner Jim Cornette comes out to talk. You know those never-ending segments with talking and talking and TALKING to kick off Raw and Impact that could be wrapped up within several minutes but go at least double that to fill up time and accomplish nothing beyond announcing an insignificant TV main event? THIS AIN'T THAT KIND OF f***ING SEGMENT.

This is a layered segment in which Cornette rightfully rips apart WWE's attempt at the ECW brand in order to point out that ROH is now Philly's true hometown promotion, hyping up the ROH audience and also throwing in extra awesome digs at the impatient CZW fans. In terms of CZW fan pot-shots, this is on par with Cornette's performance at Tag Wars 2006.

Announced is the return of KENTA not just for the next time ROH is in Philly on November 4, but HE WILL GET AN ROH TITLE SHOT ON SEPTEMBER 16 IN MANHATTAN. OH f*** YES~!

He also says Homicide is too demanding to be part of Team ROH, and out comes Danielson to make his pitch. His presence creates more great opportunities to take shots at CZW. Danielson points out as the champ and head trainer at the ROH School that he should get the fifth spot; he has no extra demands, he simply wants to help out with the cause and bring technical wrestling to the Cage of Death. Cornette is happy to oblige.

AJ Styles vs. Davey Richards

Hollow match here. It could be any combination of reasons. Both could've been really sore, perhaps Richards was too green, perhaps they just didn't have the right singles chemistry together at this time. But this didn't work. It never emotionally developed and there was no real drama, just moves and holds. In particular, Richards was the exact opposite of Strong earlier in the night, not selling his back after having it worked on by Styles. Richards does the clean job to the potential future HOFer in order to prevent a potential backlash that would come with a perceived overpush.

Hindsight is 20/20, and here's what I wish we'd gotten instead. As great as McGuinness vs. Strong was, I'd have booked that for August 5 in New Jersey to give that show a truly epic triple main event (I'll detail that show when I get closer to it.) For this show, Strong faces Richards in singles in what I imagine would've been a very good undercard match. That leaves Styles to challenge McGuinness for the Pure Title in what was a dream match at the time (and when they finally faced off years later in TNA, it wasn't designed to be a show-stealer unfortunately.) Now of course, why would Styles challenge McGuinness? Because not only would he be sick of the Pure Champion's questionable bullshit, but he never got his rematch after being stripped as the first ever Pure Champ back in 2004. That would've made for two hard-hitting, jaw-dropping undercard spectacles for this divided Philly crowd.

Rating: less than ***

At intermission, Gary Michael Cappetta questions Nigel McGuinness for his methods, but he shrugs it off and proclaims he'd also be Tag Champion if he had a reliable partner. It turns out that Cabana is right in the lobby, and the camera catches him apparently flirting with Lacey, who darts away immediately. Cabana challenges McGuinness for the Pure Title. Don't care about that match; my focus is LACEY & COLT CABANA. I'd have teased that during Weekend of Champions since they interacted there with Cabana facing Jimmy Jacobs.

Cage of Death
Team ROH vs. Team CZW

I will discuss the match first, then the actual feud in the overall assessment of the show afterwards.

The structure is an octagon-style COD surrounding ringside rather than the layered version.

Bobby Cruise goes over the rules, which are the same as War Games. Two minute intervals with a coin toss to determine who has the advantage. The match ends when every participant has entered the match and it is then one fall to a finish. JJ Dillon, who is sporting an old Four Horsemen jacket, calls the toss for ROH and wins it to give them the advantage.

ROH #1: Samoa Joe
CZW #1: Claudio Castagnoli

"Joe's gonna kill you!" "Joe has bitch tits!"

Castagnoli tries to play mind games but they eventually scuffle and it gets to the outside, complete with Joe hitting an elbow suicida to an incredible pop. Joe soccer kicks a metal trash can in Castagnoli's face and follows that up with a perfectly timed Ole Ole Kick to another wonderful pop. Castagnoli gets some payback by reversing an Irish whip and throwing Joe into a ladder.

They get back inside the ring and provide an appetizer of the classic singles match that they unfortunately never had. This is highlighted with Joe giving him 20 boot scrapes then a running boot scrape to of course another great reaction from the ROH fans. They go back out and Joe drops a ladder on Castagnoli's back, but then another Ole Ole Kick attempt is avoided.

ROH #2: BJ Whitmer

Whitmer has a bag of tacks but leaves it I believe with Dillon. He's a house of fire on Castagnoli but gets cut off. But Castagnoli's control is short-lived as Whitmer reverses an Irish whip, throwing Castagnoli directly into a Uranage Slam by Joe.

CZW #2: Chris Hero

Hero tosses a chair in the ring but is double-teamed. He cuts that off with double eyepokes on the ROH guys. This allows the Kings of Wrestling to double-team Whitmer as Joe is recovering on the outside. A hope spot from Whitmer is cut off from Castagnoli and they remove his ROH shirt then throw it to the CZW crowd. "Throw it back!"

ROH #3: Bryan Danielson

Massive pop for the ROH Champ of course and he's a house of fire on the Kings to the approval of the ROH crowd. It becomes an appetizer of a tag match I'd love to have seen: Kings of Wrestling vs. Samoa Joe & Bryan Danielson.

Danielson and Joe get the advantage with Danielson clotheslining Castagnoli out of the ring. Hero teases a Cravate move on Joe from the turnbuckle, but Danielson stops that with a perfectly positioned dropkick right on Here's face; Danielson then tells Joe to hit the musclebuster on Hero. As Joe is about to drop Hero, Danielson chop-blocks his right knee!

Danielson continues attacking Joe to massive boos from the ROH crowd, and the Commish is at ringside confused about what's going on. Danielson attacks Joe's right knee with a chair.

CZW #3: Nate Webb

Webb goes after a fallen Whitmer, as Danielson gloats, not giving a shit about this war. Danielson tells Cornette his focus is defending the ROH Title against Joe on August 5, then flips him off before leaving. Joe has to be escorted from the match, leaving Whitmer all by himself to a 3-on-1 disadvantage.

Webb then amazes me with one hell of a highspot. The Kings put Whitmer in a corner and place a trash can in front of him. Webb climbs and stands on the top rope of a nearby corner and then hits a f***ing moonsault Van Terminator, smashing the weapon in Whitmer's face. A breathtaking highlight in this classic that has so many great things going for it. This causes Whitmer's forehead to bleed.

ROH #4: Adam Pearce

The Lt. Commissioner digs down deep with anger and necessary desperation, running a house of fire on the three CZW guys and getting the ROH crowd back into this. He and Whitmer work together on Castagnoli but that's brief as Hero tosses a trash can at Whitmer's face and goes to Pearce's eyes. The momentum is back in CZW's favor, the 3-on-2 advantage becoming reality.

But Pearce won't go down without a fight, brawling with Castagnoli on the outside. He teases a piledriver on the future WWE superstar. Castagnoli blocks that and monkey-flips Pearce into the cage wiring. Perhaps if Pearce had just gone for the piledriver rather than signal for it he'd have gotten some real momentum going for ROH.

CZW #4: Necro Butcher

Wonderful pop from the CZW fans as Necro brings a chair to the environment. He goes after Whitmer as Hero cockily sits on a chair and the ROH fans chant "Backyard wrestling!" while begging for Homicide to get involved. The 4-on-2 advantage is too much at this point as Whitmer and Pearce are getting annihilated, especially with Necro scoop-slamming the former onto a steel chair in the ring.

Necro targets Pearce with a ladder. Meanwhile, Whitmer is held up for Hero to launch at him, but Hero trolls the ROH audience by locking Whitmer in a Cravate instead of doing a spectacular move. Tremendous.

ROH #5: Ace Steel

Steel brings a cowbell to the environment and runs a house of fire with it on Team CZW to yet another awesome pop from the ROH audience. It appears the momentum may have swung in ROH's favor, especially with Steel also punching a chair into Necro's face. But that's short-lived as the Kings cut Steel off and Necro tries to choke Pearce with the cowbell's strap. Numerous guys are showing color at this point.

Hero gets on the mic to get a CZW chant going and tease the final member of Team CZW. Steel interrupts him by blindsiding him with a trash can, but that only irritates Hero and doesn't get any momentum going in ROH's favor. Hero points out that the last CZW member is a personal enemy of his, and the crowd is chanting for Homicide, but Hero says he and his personal enemy have a greater enemy in ROH. It's a "King of Diamonds."

CZW #5: Eddie Kingston

Not a bad plan B after Super Dragon stopped getting booked I must say. The ROH fans are heckling Kingston, but the 5-on-3 is just too much and the CZW fans are loving it. The ROH fans only beg for Homicide even more passionately, hoping against hope that something can be done after Danielson screwed them and put them in this position. Steel is busted open when Necro bulldogs him on a barbed wire bat.

Whitmer ducks a chop from Kingston and Hero takes it instead, causing the mortal enemies to get face-to-face and pie-face each other. But before they self-destruct with personal agendas like Danielson and Joe did, the lights go out...

HOMICIDE~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Notorious 187 is accompanied by Julius Smokes and the CZW guys are glued in on the established CZW killer. Homicide enters the structure to another electrifying pop and he's brandishing a wooden board. He smashes Kingston's head with it, splitting it into four even rectangles before getting it on with Necro. In my personal favorite spot of the match, Necro goes to grab a chair and charges at Homicide with it. But Homicide has grabbed Whitmer's bag of tacks, emptied it so that the barefooted Necro stepped on them, threw some right in his face, and then Necro got dumped by Whitmer with an exploder suplex!!! f***ing phenomenal nearfall.

Homicide has extra forks that he gives to Whitmer and Pearce and they use them liberally. It seems like everyone except Homicide and the Kings are now bleeding, with Homicide cutting Kingston open and licking the blood as the ROH crowd almost worships him for it. After teasing it and having it reversed earlier, Pearce gets a piledriver on Castagnoli on the concrete floor, and the future Cesaro is now bleeding too. Whitmer briefly has Necro wrapped in barbed wire, but OMG...

Pearce gorilla presses Webb out of the ring as the CZW superstar hits the cage and then falls through a f***ing table. Absolutely breathtaking but not something I think we'll ever see again in ROH. Oh yeah, this got a massive pop for those wondering. The momentum is now clearly in ROH's favor, and the ROH fans are chanting "RING OF HOMICIDE~!" The match is just chaos with so many little battles going on in this absolute war.

In another amazing moment, Pearce drops Kingston with a sideslam; as he does that, Steel delivers a guillotine legdrop to Kingston, but also hits a super Stunner on Webb simultaneously. Amazing and very creative nearfall. The CZW fans chant "6 ON 5!" and the ROH fans respond with "You can't count!" Steel misses a tope suicida on Kingston, who walks out of the way so that Steel bounces off a table, but Kingston then gets hit by Homicide with a trash can.

Inside the ring, Pearce drops Webb with a spinning Angle Slam onto the tacks. Jesus Christ. Hero pushes the tacks out of the ring as more shit is set up. Homicide suplexes Kingston through a table as the fans chant for someone to sweep up the tacks. This is just a f***ing warzone.

Hero and Homicide get back in the ring and go at it. Homicide tries to hit a super Ace Crusher on a chair, but he ends up hitting the chair himself with his ass. Pearce hits a flying elbow drop on Webb for a nearfall. The match continues to just be chaos, guys f***ing each other up with so much shit, my favorite being when Castagnoli is hit in the abdomen by Homicide with the board, immediately followed by Whitmer hitting an exploder suplex on Kingston on the concrete floor.

Hero and Pearce have climbed the cage. As they exchange punches, Webb hits an incredible Fosbury Flop on Whitmer! Then Castagnoli jumps from the turnbuckle, lands on the cage next to Pearce, and drops the Lt. Commish with a Super Russian Leg Sweep through a f***ing table! Then Homicide immediately hits a crazy tope con hilo on Webb to the outside! f*** this shit is just unreal.

Hero ducks weapon shots and climbs up top, then hits a f***ing moonsault onto Team ROH and Necro gets some of it too. Holy shit the crowd is eating this up! Nearfall on Homicide broken up by Whitmer is next. Whitmer sets up a chair in the middle of the ring and clubs Hero, and they exchange forearms. Hero eats a brainbuster on the chair for another nearfall, but Necro breaks that up by smacking Whitmer with a chair. Bodies are laying everywhere.

Whitmer and Homicide hit a double back drop driver on Necro, dropping him head/neck first on the chair to another amazing pop, but that's a nearfall of course, because that's not enough to bring this saga to a proper conclusion. But the CZW fans appreciate Necro's toughness and tenacity. There's more brawling outside the ring of course, but back inside Necro regains the advantage by clotheslining Whitmer and Homicide from behind.

Whitmer and Necro duke it out on the apron in front of a table, and the camera shows that a f***ing barbed wire board has been placed inside the ring too! Whitmer and Necro continue their stalemate on the apron, but Whitmer "wins" it by hitting a Samoan Drop on Necro through the table, which also has barbed wire! Steel and Webb battle in the ring but Homicide comes to help out, so Steel targets Kingston outside the ring.

Webb plants Homicide down, then follows that with a missed steel chair moonsault. Homicide gets up and smacks it in Webb's face to an amazing pop, then signals for the Kudo Driver. Webb escapes that, teases a powerbomb, but Homicide escapes that, kicks him in the gut, and drops Webb with a Kudo Driver on the f***ing barbed wire board!!! THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of this feud.

The ROH fans are going crazy, and the Commish comes out to say the following to the CZW audience:

"Hey hardcore fans. You wanted your garbage wrestling. Well you got your garbage wrestling and your garbage wrestlers got their garbage asses kicked!"

Cornette tells the ROH officials and ring crew to "take out the trash," vowing they'd never return (of course, that does NOT mean that Whitmer vs. Necro on the next show is off.) Hero flips off everyone, and Cornette tells him not to show off his IQ. He thanks the ROH team and asks Dillon, Pearce, and Homicide to stay put.

The crowd is going nuts for Homicide. Just nuts. Before I review the match, I'm gonna continue going over the post-match, one that was a great follow-up to the post-match of the previous Death Before Dishonor installment's main event.

Cornette thanks all three men, especially Homicide for stepping up to the plate to help out his ROH peers when they needed him most. The CZW fans chant "boring" but Cornette hits them with one last zinger while also putting over Homicide. And for Homicide's contributions, Cornette has agreed to grant the three wishes.

FANS ARE CHANTING FOR LOW KI.

1 - Homicide wants to face Steve Corino again in an ROH ring. Cornette obliges. I'm still gonna pretend that feud wrapped up in 2003.

2 - Homicide wants a guaranteed ROH Title shot. Cornette obliges. OH f*** YES~!

FANS ARE CHANTING LOUDER FOR LOW KI.

3 - Homicide wants Low Ki to be reinstated. HUGE f***ING POP~! Oh if only...

But Cornette refuses because Ki knocked his tooth out and says he will do anything that directly benefits Homicide. Cornette is then labeled a liar by Homicide. Cornette retorts by asking if he's Homicide or Homocide. Homicide decides to then spit in the Commish's face.

Pearce goes after Homicide and Dillon locks the cage since he has the key. They ambush Homicide with Cornette spraying his face with mace. Pearce and Dillon keep ROH students at bay by striking them with weapons as they tried to climb in, and Smokes gets maced as well. Cornette then does something that he'd hypocritically shit on Hollywood Hogan for doing, having Homicide handcuffed to a turnbuckle and then smacking him with a belt repeatedly.

They leave Homicide for dead, and Smokes and the students get in. They have to use pliers to free Homicide since nobody has handcuff keys. Crowd is going crazy for Homicide as the show goes off the air.

What can I really say about this match?

This was EVERYTHING that we ask for in feud-enders. Sure, it was way too violent as I've mentioned in my review of this feud, but that's no reason that the industry can't capture this kind of magic again. This match truly had it all - timing, progressing other arcs, staying true to the characters, an absurd f***ton of unforgettable spots, peaks and valleys, swings in momentum, a moltenly passionate, white-hot divided audience, and a moment that had been 11 months in the making.

This match perfectly wrapped up the greatest feud in company history with a genuine climatic moment. This match progressed not only ROH's own Danielson vs. Joe program, but Hero vs. Kingston as well, a program that had zero to do with ROH. This match had all the brutality that the audience expected. This match also put Homicide in the position that the fans had demanded at Night of the Grudges II - this was the final step in making him the #1 babyface in the promotion, far above Samoa Joe or even KENTA.

As for the post-match, it was so perfectly executed, a swerve on par with CM Punk's heel turn after he brought such a high of happiness for the audience when he captured the ROH Title at Death Before Dishonor III. The foreshadowing of it was always there. Low Ki being the one to knock out Cornette's tooth and getting a lifetime suspension. Pearce sucking up to Cornette in the name of ROH pride. And Dillon showing up, wearing a jacket that showed off his past as a key member of one of the most vicious, cutthroat factions the business has ever seen. It was all right in front of us the entire time.

I know that unlike the Summer of Punk, the Cornette vs. Homicide feud was largely an aesthetic failure, so I'll be skipping most of it. But to me, this post-match is one of the greatest moments in company history. I put this on the same wavelength as Money in the Bank 2011. For one night, we witnessed true magic, a rare moment of culmination, with the hopes that it cracked the door open for more of that same feeling to come frequently. And just because the aftermath couldn't measure up doesn't mean that this wasn't a special segment.

This match is a true chef d'oeuvre. This will go down as the greatest booking orchestration of Gabe Sapolsky's career. It is not only one of the best matches in ROH's history, but one of the absolute best in independent wrestling history. For my ROH 2006 revisit, I do have it on par with Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer at Supercard of Honor. But don't ask me to choose which one is better. That's the same as asking me to pick between Toy Story or The Avengers. Two absolute pieces of perfection that provide such differently satisfying flavors to the viewer.

Words cannot express how badly I wished I had gotten to experience this masterpiece live in person.

Rating: *****

So, as for this show itself, only two matches are worth seeing, but like Unforgettable nine months prior in the exact same venue, these two matches f***ing delivered. (That show ALSO had an undercard storyline moment of some importance in the ring, PLUS a backstage undercard storyline moment of importance too.) McGuinness vs. Strong was easily the highlight of a disappointing in-ring undercard and is recommended viewing for all fans that prefer the sports-entertainment formatting of wrestling matches. It is an excellent source of not just great wrestling but character development as well.

Then there's the Cage of Death. I really can't say much more about that match, so it is now time for my assessment of Ring of Honor vs. Combat Zone Wrestling.

For me to confidently label this as the greatest feud in ROH history, I know that says a lot because there have been so many great feuds to have come in its dozen years of existence. So what exactly makes this stand head-and-shoulders above the top feuds that came before this, such as the Summer of Punk, Homicide vs. Cabana, Joe vs. Homicide, and the Embassy vs. Generation Next, as well as many other great feuds that would come later? To be known as the greatest feud in ROH history requires numerous aspects. It not only had to be aesthetically pleasing, but has to have both a tangible short-term and long-term effect on the company as well as the industry.

I'll start with the aesthetics. This program generated a buzz for a company that admittedly had plenty of it throughout 2005 thanks to the Summer of Punk, James Gibson, and Kenta Kobashi. That year had so much great shit going for it, but what this feud brought to the table was a quantity of new characters, emotional brawls that had the crowds rocking one night after another, and absolute hardcore classics that surpassed my sentimental memories I had of them.

This program got so many guys JOBS in the company and as a result throughout the rest of the industry. Sure, someone as talented as Chris Hero would've eventually gotten on the radar of the big leagues, but this finally gave him the chance to show off his skills as a character and technical wrestler in the juggernaut promotion of the indies. Other key characters brought to the ROH main shows for the first time also included Super Dragon, Necro Butcher, Nate Webb, and Eddie Kingston. This allowed the shows to feel fresh for the long-time customers of ROH.

By CZW doing business with ROH, this also got CZW fans to tune in to root for their favorite federation. I can't say enough how strongly opinionated the opposing fanbases were in praising their promotions while burying the other. This feud brought that genuine emotion and got a bunch of insider fans to actually buy into something that mattered to them. And by doing this, not only did ROH continue to do great business with its DVDs, but attendance was reignited in its home market of Philadelphia. It's a shame that the Summer of Punk, Gibson's farewell, and Kobashi's match didn't get business moving in Philly, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. These new fans that tuned in now got to be introduced to the ROH product during a time when ROH was hitting on almost all cylinders. Remember, The Milestone Series was right in the middle of this feud.

Many of the CZW guys would go on to become mainstays in ROH, and got some spotlight to showcase what they could bring to the business as well. This feud elevated guys. Speaking of elevation, think about how much the stock of Whitmer and Pearce increased because of this. Rather than constantly tread water and get exposed, Whitmer now had a cause to fight for and get the fans on his side while also feuding with Jimmy Jacobs. Pearce went from tedious undercard jobber to ROH enforcer, now becoming Cornette's right hand man.

It all came together for Homicide as well. It was absolutely ingenious after Night of the Grudges II to put him in an emotional feud with Cabana in which he would morally hit rock bottom, realize the error of his ways to find some decency within, and then taking the frustrations he had out on the CZW guys as they trespassed on his territory. Everything just came together perfectly.

This was a magical time that will never come back to independent wrestling. I'm still waiting for ROH to make this compilation, but don't keep waiting, people. Get these shows and watch this gripping saga unfold. You'll also accidentally see some of the greatest shows and matches of all-time as well.

It has been a pleasure re-watching this and I'm sad that everything else after this may not be up to par creatively, but I know there's still plenty of great shit to come, including what might very well be the greatest match in company history. We'll see when I get around to that.

Up next - War of the Wire II
Matches will include:
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Delirious vs. Homicide
Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros.
BJ Whitmer vs. Necro Butcher

[SUPES]

War of the Wire II - July 28, 2006



ROH Video Recap - July 19, 2006



Important news/footage in the above video:
Jim Cornette cuts a passionate promo, one that ALMOST makes me wanna rewatch his entire feud with Homicide. Truly must see.
Christian Cage vs. Christopher Daniels is confirmed for July 29 in Cleveland
Gary Michael Cappetta looks for Colt Cabana and it results in a humorous moment

I kept the good shit captured on my external hard drive, so I'll be copying and pasting portions of Brad Garoon & Jake Ziegler's dual review for anything important I missed.

Poorly produced videos of BJ Whitmer mentally preparing for tonight's main event are shown. Not exactly Russell Wilson walking the steps and field of MetLife Stadium the day of Super Bowl XLVIII.

Here we go, the big announcement that wasn't mentioned by Cornette at all during his promo at Death Before Dishonor IV or on any of the recent Video Recaps.

JZ says: Jimmy Bower narrates a clip of Bryan Danielson attacking Samoa Joe during the Cage of Death match at Death Before Dishonor IV two weeks ago. They will face each other in Edison, New Jersey on August 5, in a match dubbed “The Fight of the Century.” We will hear from Samoa Joe later on in this DVD.

Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels

Sydal has returned from a couple months spent in Dragon Gate. Daniels largely controls the match, working on Sydal's neck and left arm. This helped set up Sydal for a variety of signature moves including the Reverse STO, Koji Clutch, Iconoclasm, Last Rites, and Angel's Wings. However, Daniels would only bust out some of those moves throughout the match as well as his signature Best Moonsault Ever, which Sydal kicked out of. The commentators remind the viewer that Sydal had fallen in each of his five matches (three singles, a couple threeways involving Azrieal and AJ Styles) to a different move each time to Daniels.

This was nowhere near Sydal's best performance, especially compared to their best singles match against each other to date at Weekend of Champions Night 2 or Sydal having to carry the injured Daniels at Dissension. But all of his counters were fluid and well-timed, with the audience behind him with every highspot he pulled out. Sydal found a way to leverage himself out of the Koji Clutch, and eventually positioned to drop Daniels on his neck (of course having never fully recovered from his injury in WCW) in a move visually similar to the Styles Clash, giving Sydal his major singles victory that had eluded him in ROH since his breakout match against Jimmy Rave at The Final Showdown in the same venue.

Post-match, Daniels congratulates Sydal and offers to tag with him should he wanna challenge Austin Aries & Roderick Strong for the Tag Titles again.

Rating: ***1/2

Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Delirious vs. Homicide

Before the match starts, there's info scrolling at the bottom with numerous noteworthy matches booked to get my blood flowing towards a certain body organ:
Danielson defending the ROH Title against Nigel McGuinness tomorrow night in Cleveland
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles; Briscoes vs. KENTA & Davey Richards on August 4 in Long Island
Fight of the Century on August 5 in New Jersey with the Danielson vs. Joe main event plus KENTA vs. Richards

Danielson is the ROH Champ while Aries is half of the Tag Champs as just mentioned. If either champ wins the match, the loser cannot challenge them for their title. But if either champion is pinned, the winner gets a title shot against the defeated participant. Now of course, Homicide already had a guaranteed ROH Title show per the two wishes Cornette came through with on the previous show, so why is Homicide in this? Because it doesn't hurt to have TWO guaranteed shots in the bank, plus it gives him a chance to get his hands on Danielson after what happened at Destiny. Having a guaranteed shot at the Tag Titles wouldn't be too shabby either especially after the prestige that Aries & Strong have brought upon them.

I really liked this match because of all the stories Danielson had with his opponents, but was annoyed that the match wasn't just made a tornado match from the get-go, since tag legalities stopped being enforced in the third act as usual for the indy scene. That doesn't take away the heat this wonderful Dayton crowd gave the match, popping huge and breaking out in "HOLY SHIT~!" chants at the beginning when Delirious was simply running around and talking shit in gibberish to both Homicide and Danielson. Yes, I'm still bitter that ROH burned this crowd the next time they came to this market. and no, I will NOT be reviewing that piece of shit show.

Anyway, everything was well-timed in this one, with all kinds of great stories as mentioned. Homicide truly wanted Danielson as they of course had history even prior to Destiny (their best of five series ending in the cage match at The Final Showdown in this venue), while Danielson did his best to be a chickenshit and avoid the hottest babyface in the company. Of course, when Danielson and Aries went at it, it was beautiful technical wrestling with Danielson doing a great job of trolling the tremendous audience.

In the third act as I mentioned, it got a bit more chaotic with the tag legalities being ignored. Aries and Delirious had a hot sequence ending with Aries taking a Shadows Over Hell but that would just be a false finish. The match had a similarly hot finish, as Homicide was dazed on the outside while Danielson locked the Cattle Mutilation on Delirious. This allowed Aries to climb the top rope and pin Danielson with a 450 Splash, earning a shot at the ROH Champion and I can't complain about that booking at all.

Rating: ***1/2

Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros.

The now-disbanded Generation Next comes out first, and this is also the return of Evans after a few months spent in Dragon Gate. They attack the Briscoes at the entrance ramp due to the events of Throwdown and Chi-Town Struggle. They have a spotty opening sequence as would be predicted, with it looking like it'd turn into Evans vs. Mark as the legal men to start the match. However, just like the fourway right before this, the ref seemed to lack regard for that, allowing Jay to come in as the legal man when Mark got put on the outside like this was Lucha rules.

This was still a good match with those tag issues though since referee Todd Sinclair decided to enforce later legalities throughout the rest of the match. Once that glaring flaw was out of the way, this match turned into exactly what the overrated clusterf*** at Best in the World 2006 should've been. These guys got their shit in, the Briscoes cut the ring in half on Evans and trolled Strong, Evans got the hot tag, Strong ran a house of fire.

My favorite moment in the match was Strong assisting Evans with a standing corkscrew on Mark while he was on the second rope. This caused damage to Mark's back, softening it for Strong's offense. But Evans was down after that move, selling the beating the Briscoes had given him. This allowed the Briscoes to eventually capitalize and get the advantage on Strong, pinning him after a spike double underhook piledriver, and thus securing themselves another shot at the Tag Titles. Much better than the first match as I mentioned.

Rating: ***1/4

No Rope Barbed Wire Match
Necro Butcher vs. BJ Whitmer

I left out most of the prematch brawl between the ROH and CZW guys as that issue was done and over with. The Video Recap would've served just fine with reminding us that Claudio Castagnoli is still around as a contracted ROH superstar still. Homicide accompanies Whitmer at ringside to advise him during the match based on his classic against Steve Corino at the original War of the Wire.

This match couldn't live up to that one because neither man could sell the hate with their faces and body language. There were also some selling issues mainly from Whitmer (also a business-exposing moment when he held a chair in front of his face, but that may have been shitty camera angle production.) So while this wasn't Homicide vs. Corino or Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley due to its various issues, I must still admit that this was a highly enjoyable garbage style match thanks mostly to the awesome crowd. It was certainly better than the clusterf*** between Joey Ryan and B-Boy earlier in the month. The audience completely rallied behind Whitmer here during and after the match, breaking out in various chants after he slayed this demon. Funny how that happens when the right guy wins.

My biggest issue with this match isn't the selling or lack of hatred. I actually observed Necro doing a decent job of selling his pain. But this match had a lot of crazy shit going for it. Both guys of course bladed on their faces and bodies. Necro dropped Whitmer off the ring canvas onto a barbed wire table to the outside via a sitdown powerbomb. In a nice touch after what happened between these men inside the Cage of Death, Homicide surprised Whitmer with a bag of thumbtacks to use on Necro. Whitmer used them on Necro's face AND got him to step on them, just like what happened 13 days prior to this match. There was also a Tiger Driver on the tacks, as well as Whitmer channeling Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania X, falling off of a ladder and splashing on Necro, who was being pierced underneath a barb-wire board.

So what's the problem exactly? After ALL of that insane shit that had this crowd going apeshit, Whitmer finished off Necro with a simple wrist-clutch exploder, not even doing it on the tacks (they mistakenly used that earlier in the match as a nearfall.) Very anticlimatic finish for this match and as a residual epilogue to the Cage of Death masterpiece. At least Whitmer won and slayed this demon though, so he can now completely focus on Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs, and based on the wars they've already had with each other, as well as what Jacobs put himself through against Alex Shelley, boy am I looking forward to continue rewatching that feud.

Rating: ***3/4

Nothing genuinely great to me on here, but very, very, very good show overall in front of the usually fantastic Dayton crowd. In fact, this was in many ways the end of an era, as the next Dayton event was god-awful as I mentioned earlier, with the market getting killed off for years due to constantly being saddled with B-shows. That's such a shame after so many great matches and memories such as the first match in the Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk trilogy and James Gibson bringing Punk's reign of terror to an end. I'll also include this show's main event on par with that due to how fondly many ROHbots view it. I also must mention Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2, The Final Showdown, and Tag Wars 2006, three of the finest and funnest events in company history and among my favorite pro wrestling events of all-time.

I highly recommend this for a variety of quality wrestling as well as this being the last hot Dayton event, and I believe many fans will be more forgiving of the main event's flaws than I am.

And now, I continue with the greatest rivalry in company history, plus it's the final chapter for the greatest faction in company history as well. I seriously cannot believe the latter wasn't even mentioned on this show or in the Video Recaps.

Up next - Generation Now
Matches will include:
Delirious vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans, & Matt Sydal vs. Irish Airborne, Davey Richards, & Jerrelle Clark
Christian Cage vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness