Cheap Wrestling For Cheap People 12.01.05: The Holiday Shopping Guide (Part 1)
Posted by Ryan Byers on 12.01.2005
This Christmas, give the gift of Spanky.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People. Those of you who don't live under rocks have already noticed that the holiday shopping season is upon us. (Well, at the very least, it's upon those of us in the United States.) Whether they are young or old, people across the world are currently tracking down the last X-Box 360 or the latest variation on the Elmo doll. Some of us, however, are not interested in video games or red Muppets. Some of us are professional wrestling fans.
With this in mind, Cheap Wrestling is undergoing a bit of a transformation for the month of December. This is the first section of a three part series that will assist in purchasing presents for the sports entertainment afficionado in your life. In my next three columns, I will be taking a look at three different genres of professional wrestling: American indies, lucha libre, and classic wrestling. I've found three perfect gifts for each fan of that genre, and I'll be revealing those gifts over the course of the next month. The best part? In every case, the total cost of the three items will be no more than thirty American dollars. So, not only can you make your favorite wrestling fan happy, but you can also make your pocketbook happy.
Indy wrestling is our first topic. It may not be as popular as other forms of the sport, but the fans that it does have are rabid and are particularly prevalent on a website like this one.
Item Number One: Autographed Andy Douglas Bandanas Cost::$5 Available At:: http://www.andydouglas.com
Andy Douglas has been at the top of the tag team wrestling mountain three times as one half of the Naturals. He has captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship thrice while competing for TNA wrestling, and, alongside partner Chase Stevens, he thrilled fans of southern independent promotions long before that. Through his official website, Douglas is selling pink bandanas, one of the trademarks of the Naturals' look. For no additional charge, those bandanas will also be autographed by the star, making a perfect stocking stuffer for fans of TNA generally or the Naturals more specifically.
Item Number Two: Shark Boy & Lash LeRoux T-Shirts Cost: $12 - $15 Available At: www.lashleroux.com and www.sharkboy.net
It's not uncommon for popular indy wrestlers to sell their own t-shirts. However, it is far too common for those t-shirts to be cheaply made or overpriced. Though I understand that these guys (and gals) are just trying to support themselves, nobody wants to plunk down $25 plus shipping for a poorly designed wrestling shirt slapped together by CafePress. That's why Shark Boy and Lash LeRoux are breaths of fresh air in the indy wrestling marketplace. Both men offer multiple shirt designs for under $20, which is just perfect for their fans. The designs are also particularly well done. That's not too surprising coming from LeRoux, as he has a history as a cartoonist. Sharky's shirts, meanwhile, look so good that they've made numerous appearances in the mainstream media. You can see one of the older shirts on Mick Foley in Beyond the Mat, while another got screen time in MTV's True Life: I'm a Professional Wrestler. Either shirt should make a fun gift, particularly if fans of either wrestler happen to be on your Christmas list.
Item Number Three: Ring of Honor - Round Robin Challenge Cost: $6.63 Available At: www.overstock.com
It just wouldn't be indy wrestling in this day and age without mentioning Ring of Honor. Early in the history of the company, they reached an agreement with the Takedown Masters label to release ROH shows on a national basis. For whatever reason, this agreement fell apart with only a handful of titles being put out and no serious marketing being implemented by either party. The end result of that is that the shows that did come out through TM are now floating around for incredibly low prices. They're not the full versions of the original ROH shows, but they're a good way to get introduced to the product. Besides, the matches that get cut are generally the ones that not all that many people want to see.
Round Robin Challenge was the second Ring of Honor show, held way back in 2002. The concept is simple. The three men who competed in the first ever Ring of Honor main event (Low Ki, American Dragon, and Christopher Daniels) are locking horns again, this time in a three-man round robin tournament. I thought the concept was a bit silly at first, as ROH was essentially wasting three marquee matches that they could use to draw on three individual shows . . . but I was quickly proven wrong, as the Ring of Honor booking and roster proved to be deep enough to live on for three more years.
Will this show be as good as the company's entire run? Will it be worth giving to your wrestling-obsessed Secret Santa? Let's take a look.
Match Numero Uno: Christopher Daniels vs. American Dragon
This, of course, is match number one of the aforementioned tournament. Daniels unloads with some punches to start and then gets in a leg lariat, after which Dragon ducks under a conventional lariat and hits a forearm. AmDrag then gets a takedown to start off a big series of reversals and jockeying for position on the mat. That leads nowhere, at which point the two men engage each other in a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Dragon pushes his man down to the canvas for a couple of two counts, and then Daniels powers out, getting his own nearfall off of a leg sweep. Danielson then bridges to avoid subsequent pin attempts, and even the Fallen Angel jumping on to his ribs can't stop that. Dragon follows up by taking his man down and in to a crossface. Chris tries to reverse but gets caught in a headlock and then taken down by a shoulderblock. The headlock is reapplied, and the Angel attempts to reverse it several times, with each one ultimately failing.
When Daniels finally does get out of the hold, Dragon catches him with a dropkick, but it doesn't keep the former X Division Champion down for long. He hits a HUGE backdrop suplex before continuing to work over Danielson's neck with a cravat and a kneedrop. American Dragon briefly fires back with some chops, but Daniels clubs him in the neck with a forearm to cut off the momentum. Another backdrop suplex follows, and then the Angel goes back to the cravat. Dragon beals out of it and hits a clothesline, but the wind is let out of his sails when Daniels gets in a modified neckbreaker and then goes to a reverse chinlock. AmDrag makes the stereotypical babyface comeback, culminating in a belly to belly suplex that dumps Daniels right down on his head. Danielson follows with chops and a big kneelift, which sets up a jumping forearm in the corner. The future ROH Champion then looks for a vertical suplex, but he can't get it due to his neck injury. He settles for a DDT instead and then hits a swandive headbutt from the top, which may have been the dumbest move since Dan Quayle stuck an "e" on the end of "potato."
Daniels realizes this and takes control with an STO, which he follows up with the BME for a two count. It looks like he has the match well in hand, but then Dragon fires off some kicks and forearms to get himself back in to the game. Both men trade strikes for a bit, and then the Angel gets another two count thanks to a lariat. The Blue Thunder Bomb is next, but it also can't put Shawn Michaels' protege away. Daniels looks for another lariat, but Dragon ducks it and looks for Cattle Mutilation. He can't fully apply it due to his bad neck, though, which gets Daniels off the hook for a bit. The UPW alum scores with a piledriver and rolls the dice before slapping on the crossface. American Dragon quickly taps out, which puts Daniels up 1-0 in the tournament.
Match Thoughts: This is exactly what both the show and the round robin tournament needed in order to get off the ground. The mat work early on set up what ROH style was all about to new fans who may not have been at the company's first card, while a slightly shorter time period and high energy finish got fans in to the match and show without leaving them emotionally spent. The psychology of the bout was also quite sound, with Daniels going after the neck as a perfect way of preventing Dragon from applying the Cattle Mutilation, which requires him to do a bridge. Of course, this came in to play in the finish and was also sold throughout the bout by AmDrag when it was clear that he could not execute basic moves due to the injury. The finish was also fabulous, as the two high impact moves to Danielson's already injured neck made it believable that he would tap to the crossface but did so in a way that did not make him look weak.
Perhaps my only complaint about the match is that, as well developed as Daniels' strategy was, Dragon wasn't given the time or the opportunity to develop a counter attack. This made him look like he was not nearly as skilled as his adversary. However, given the fact that keeping the match on the shorter side was more beneficial to the card as a whole, I'm willing to give them a pass on that one. ***3/4
Match Numero Dos: Prince Nana & Eric Tuttle w/ Simply Luscious vs. Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack)
Well, this was certainly an odd choice to include on the clipped up version of the DVD. Nana, who has since moved on to managing full time, was getting great amounts of heel heat on early ROH shows for his mic work, even though he got punked out every time he stepped in between the ropes. Tuttle, for those of you who might not recall, got introduced to the wrestling world as a member of ECW's ring crew who did a spot where he wiped down the ropes between matches. Eventually his schtick got integrated in to a couple of Tommy Dreamer matches, and this somehow lead to the kid thinking that he could have an indy wrestling career after ECDub folded. He's not around anymore, and you'll see why if you check out the end of this match.
Nana Pre-Match: "I heard people in the front row talking about my gimmick. The only gimmick I had was your mother in my hotel room last night."
Nana rules. Unfortunately, he doesn't rule in the ring as much as he does on the mic. Da Hit Squad prove that rather quickly, jumping both the Prince and the Towel Boy and dismantling them in short order. Maff applies a figure four to Nana, and then Mack comes off of the top rope with a frong splash on to the Ghanan native. A big spear for Tuttle is next, and then he eats a wheelbarrow suplex/lariat combo as the announcers put over the fact that Nana has bailed on his opponent. It doesn't matter, though, as Towel Boy is put away with a Burning Hammer quickly thereafter.
After the match, the Christopher Street Connection appear to confront Da Hit Squad, which stems from an encounter between the two teams on the first ROH show. Buff E. And Mace head down the aisle, but DHS simply throws Tuttle at them. Unfortunately, the poor kid misses his mark by about six inches and splatters on to the rec center floor. If that wasn't enough, Simply Luscious gets tossed at the heels as well. Fortunately, she gets caught.
Match Thoughts: Well, it was a squash, but at least it was a squash with some decent highspots that you're not going to see in mainstream wrestling. 1/2*
Match Numero Tres: Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki
If Daniels wins this, he wins the tournament . . . so the ending is pretty much a forgone conclusion. The Fallen Angel slaps away a handshake to start, so Ki chops him right across the chest. That continues in the corner, and then Ki looks for the Tidal Crush. It misses, but a second big kick does not. Feet keep flying from Homicide's protege, and the series is capped off with the Jushin Liger somersault kick. Ki then connects with the Mongolian chops, and he goes to the mat with a rear chinlock variant. The Fallen Angel gets out of it, and he's subjected to even more kicks. Daniels tries to take Ki out of his game by flipping off the youngster, but the Zero-One star responds by KICKING THE OUTSTRETCHED HAND. That, my friends, is badass. After more kicking, Ki briefly applies a triangle choke and charges at his man afterwards . . . only to be caught in an STO.
A second STO follows, and that finally changes the momentum in Daniels' favor. He comes at his man with a lariat and a vertical suplex, as the announcers put over the fact that the Angel is once again going to work the neck. A gut wrench suplex doesn't exactly help accomplish that goal, but a second rope legrop to the back of the head sure does, and Ki is starting to feel the pain. Then, in an effort to take Low Ki's kicks away from him, Daniels slaps on a half crab in center ring, which he turns in to an STF when it looks like Ki might escape. When Ki comes close to getting out of THAT, Daniels turns it in to a bow and arrow submission, but he rolled the wrong way and put his man directly in the ropes. A Falcon Arrow connects for Chris after the break, as does a uranagi . . . the BME, however, misses by a mile.
Daniels manages to land on his feet despite the miss, but Ki rallies and hits his springboard enzuguri. After that, Ki looks for a variant of the Iconoclasm, but Daniels blocks it to set up a pretty looking reversal sequence. It culminates in Ki sitting on the top rope, and Daniels brings him off with an Iconoclasm of his own. I think that's the first time I've seen Daniels hit that move . . . he has his opponent cut off the move before it can hit. In this case it does hit, and it sets up the Angel's Wings, but Ki kicks out at two because Daniels failed to hook the leg. The Angel tries to follow up with a powerbomb, but Ki slips out of that and gets in the Ki Crusher and the Tidal Crush, either of which probably could have put Daniels away. A second Ki Crusher is blocked, as is Daniels' attempt at the Angel's Wings. Since Daniels can't get that to work, he tries to roll the dice, but Ki cuts off the move and turns it in to the Dragon Clutch, which forces a tap from the evil preacher. That leaves Low Ki at 1-0, Daniels at 1-1, and Dragon at 0-1 heading in to the final tournament match.
Match Thoughts: Though this was a strong match with some impressive spots, it didn't quite hit the same level was Daniels/Dragon from earlier in the show. Though Daniels attempted to once again establish the neck story, it seems like Ki wasn't game for participating in it. Instead, he just went out there and hit all of his big spots with seemingly little to no thought about how or why he was executing them. That turned what otherwise could have been a solid bout in to a run of the mill indy spotfest with a few pretty reversal sequences thrown in for the hell of it. **3/4
Match Numero Cuatro: Spanky vs. Jay Briscoe w/ Mark Briscoe
Mark Briscoe is with his brother but is acting like more of an adversary than a second, which would culminate in the two brothers having an excellent match at Honor Invades Boston. Check out my review of that show righchere.
The two go through a typical feeling out process to start, including plenty of standing switches and armbar reversals. Briscoe gets the first real advantage of the match with la majistral, which gets two. More mat wrestling follows, as Spanky goes to the chinlock, only to be picked back up in to a hammerlock. He then goes to an armbar and attempts an Irish whip, but Briscoe avoids being hit by his opponent and lands a vertical suplex for two. Spanky falls out of a second suplex, though, which leads in to a rope runner sequence. Jay winds up being crotched on the top rope before falling out to the apron, after which he slingshots himself back in with an Oklahoma roll. Spanky goes to the top after kicking out, but Jay follows him up. The Michaels trainee winds up getting the better of things, though, as he grabs his opponent and falls backward, dropping Briscoe face first on to the top turnbuckle. Spanky follows up with a SICK springboard knee to the head and a leg lariat.
Kendrick then attempts to slow things down with a chinlock, but Briscoe quickly powers out and goes for another suplex. Spanky blocks that, however, and he gets in a nice dropkick and a floatover suplex for two. A side Russian legsweep follows for another nearfall, and then Spanky decides it's time to wear his man down a bit more with a cravat. They must have really pimped the utility of that move at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy. Briscoe elbows out of it but is caught with a jawbreaker off of the second rope, which gets yet another two count. Spanky then looks for Sliced Bread #2, but Jay shoves him off and head first in to the turnbuckle. The Spankster walks backward in to a big German suplex by Briscoe, and, when he pops up, we see that Spanky is bleeding badly.
Naturally, that leads to Briscoe taking the advantage. He does so with a back elbow and a dropkick, which set up a gordbuster. Jay attempts a powerbomb, but Spanky flips out of it and hits another leg lariat. He sticks the landing on the Sayama backflip kick, but Briscoe responds with a big boot that misses by a mile. Fortunately the announcers put over the fact that it didn't actually hit, which helps the believability of the match when Spanky knocks his man out of the ring seconds later and then hits the ole' flying body attack to the floor. When both men return to the ring, Spanky goes up yet again, looking for a frog splash and hitting nothing but knee. Briscoe takes advantage of the situation with a big powerbomb, but Spanky grabs the ropes at two. Jay then tries for the Jay Driller, but the Showstoppa flips out of it and finds a way to hit Sliced Bread #2 for the victory.
Match Thoughts: This was very similar to the previous match, in that we had one competitor attempting to tell a story in the ring, whereas the other simply wanted to do a bunch of wrestling moves one after the other. In this particular case, it was Spanky in the former role, as he attempted to establish his strategy in the match by working on Briscoe's head, and, more specifically, his face . . . which is a very unique way of going about things, although it makes makes perfect sense given Kendrick's finisher. He also did an excellent job of selling his blood loss throughout the later stages of the match, and that blood loss made it understandable that he would ease off of his game plan just a bit. However, Sliced Bread #2 was still able to pull out the victory for the rudo, which did a good job of putting over both the move and the fact that you need to execute a gameplan early in the match. Briscoe's performance, however, lacked all of those psychological nuances. He just walked out and went to highspot city. Unfortunately, his highspots are not quite as eyepopping as Low Ki's, so this match, despite its similarities to the previous one, will be rated a bit lower. **
Match Numero Cinco: The SAT (Jose & Joel Maximo) vs. Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. The Amazing Red & Brian XL
XL kicks things off with Divine, and they trade armdrags after a lengthy, lucha-esque reversal sequence. Joel Maximo and Quiet Storm then tag in to the match, and Storm takes his man down with an arm whip and a victory roll, following up with an armdrag and a rana. An armdrag off of the second rope is next for Storm, but Joel comes back with a rana of his own and then tries a few kicks. He ducks under Quiet Storm's attempt at a roaring elbow, and the two guys slap each other before shaking hands and tagging out. Now it's Red and Jose Maximo, and Red immediately kicks his man right in the mush, which he follows up with a unique hiptoss reversal. Maximo comes off the top rope and catches his man with a headscissors and attempts his finisher, a package piledriver. Red slips out, though, and here's another set of tags, this time to Storm and Joel. Storm quickly knocks his man out of the ring and follows him with a tope con hilo, as Jose and Divine replace them in the ring briefly before they also spill out to the floor. XL then comes off the top with a plancha on to all four men, and Red follows up with a corkscrew Asai moonsault, which he blows on the first attempt but gets on the second. Storm and Red are the first two men back in the ring, so they're apparently legal. More armdrags and ranas abound before Storm finally varies the match's offense by hitting Spinal Shock for two. Joel Maximo then runs in to do battle with Storm, and he's taken down with a Northern lights bomb. Brian XL finally succeeds in getting Storm out of the ring, using a dropkick. Chris Divine quickly disposes of XL, though, and he gets a DVD in on Jose Maximo before hitting him with a suicide dive.
Just when I think I'm going to get a breather, Joel and Quiet Storm wind up in the ring, with Joel getting a superplex. He then goes for the cover, but Red comes off of the top rope with a knee to his back to prevent that. With Joel down on all fours, Red does a shooting star press off of his back and on to Storm, which gets the three count and thus eliminates Storm's team from the match. Immediately after the elimination announcement, XL gives Jose a rana off of the apron while Joel and Red go at it in the ring. The Amazing one hits an enzuguri and a backdrop suplex, which sets up a brainbuster for two. Red attempts a rana, but Joel turns it in to a Kryptonite Crunch for two. With his partner down, XL runs in to the ring and takes down Joel, hitting a standing moonsault for two. Jose then comes in to take out Brian, and they do a few big reversals before Maximo hits a version of the Flatliner. XL changes the momentum up with a big kick and looks for some flippy-doodle move off of the top rope, but Jose turns it in to a weak powerbomb. Somehow this doesn't hurt XL, as he immediately comes back with a Michinoku driver. Both of those men then roll out of the ring, as Red and Joe l replace them. They fight on the second rope for a bit, and Red eventually pulls his man off with a sunset powerbomb for two. XL rejoins us, and he and Red hit a double kick on Jose before they take turns jumping off of the top rope and on to their opponent's stomach. The partners then bicker over who will go for the pinfall, allowing Joel to sneak up on Red with a schoolboy to win the bout.
Match Thoughts: This one moved so quickly that I didn't even get the opportunity to transcribe half of the action that went on . . . which should say a lot given how much I actually typed up. However, it was almost too much action, as there was no flow to the match, nor was there ever a reason given for any man hitting a particular move. (Well, aside from the general reason of getting a pop from the crowd.) Generally I'm more lenient when it comes to this lack of psychology and basic selling in multi-man matches, but I can't be here. Why? Because the six men were cycling in and out of the ring too quickly. At no point did I actually buy that any of them had recovered from the previous highspots to a sufficient degree that they could return to the ring and hit more big moves of their own. Combine that with a few spots being blown or not looking crisp due to the fast pace of the match, and I can't rate this one too highly. *
Match Numero Seis: Low Ki vs. American Dragon with Ken Shamrock as guest referee
Not surprisingly, the winner of the Round Robin tournament all comes down to our main event. We head to the mat almost right off the bat, with both men jockeying for position and not really getting a sustained advantage. American Dragon is the one who takes us in to the realm of professional wrestling for the first time, briefly applying a pendulum submission hold and then attempting a rear naked choke. Ki manages to slip out of that and hits a few strikes from a mounted position, but Dragon quickly escapes and slaps on the reverse chinlock before going to the crossface forearm strikes. He looks for a triangle choke but can't quite get it, allowing Ki to apply a front chancre and lay in some brutal knees to the head. Danielson escapes that by heading to the ropes, and both men return to a vertical base. That doesn't last long, as Ki scores with a single leg takedown and pounds away at Danielson's face. Dragon grabs an arm, however, and that allows him to apply a variation on the cross arm breaker. Ki eventually flips out of it, and we're in the ropes once again. Ki refuses to release the bodyscissors he has on, though, so Shamrock just pulls the two men back out to center ring. Low Ki then attempts a cross arm breaker of his own, but AmDrag busts out the Bob Backlund power out and slams Ki down to the mat. Low Ki takes his man down to the mat again and fights hard for a second cross arm breaker. Danielson escapes and applies a brutal looking variation of the STF, only to have Low Ki make it to the ropes in short order. This time we actually get a break, and now Ki busts out the kicks, one of which knocks Dragon out of the ring and down to the floor.
Danielson recovers and makes it back in to the squared circle, where Ki gets ANOTHER takedown but gets wrapped up in to an Indian deathlock. Dragon eventually gives that up and goes to a leg grapevine, only to be kicked in the back by Ki's free foot. Several of those get the hold broken, and Ki unleashes a brutal series of kicks to the face, which again get Danielson to roll to the floor for a breather. At this point, we see he's cut open right above the eye, which Shamrock takes a second to check. As soon as Danielson gets back in, he goes insane, finally taking his opponent down instead of being taken down and landing a flurry of forearms. Ki smartly makes the ropes to break that up before it goes too far, and we're once again at a stalemate. Danielson eventually regains the advantage and attempts the Cattle Mutilation, but Ki makes it to his feet and hits the ropes again. A full nelson is next from the Dragon, and he turns that in to a backdrop suplex out of nowhere. Danielson then takes advantage of Ki's weakened state to land some kicks and chops of his own, though they're not enough to put the New Yorker away. AmDrag tries to take it back to the mat, but Ki prevents that with a flipping kick to the head, which he follows with a mess o' chops, both to the chest and the back. Ki drops the knee for a one count and slaps on a double chicken wing for a split second before going to the Dragon Clutch. Dragon fights it off, so Ki goes to the kate hajime. Danielson fights it, but Ki won't let go, causing both men to roll to the outside of the ring, where Ki eventually breaks the hold and rolls his man back in to the ring.
Once there, the shoot style goes out the window with a big double stomp from Low Ki. Then, in an impressive spot, Dragon bridges with Ki standing on his stomach. A second double stomp cuts that off, but AmDrag chooses not to sell it for whatever reason. He gets a roaring elbow, dragon suplex, and a double arm DDT all in short order. If you thought that was a finishing sequence, you're wrong, because it was all just a setup for the swandive headbutt. Dragon can't capitalize on that move, though, so Ki nails his man and hits the Tidal Crush, followed by a dragon suplex of his own. Ki then applies Danielson's own hold, the Cattle Mutilation . . . which is reversed in to the dragon clutch by Bryan! Low Ki eventually gets in to the ropes to break that, but Danielson stays on his man by applying the official hold of the Texas Wrestling Academy (yes, another cravat) and suplexing his man out of that position! Okay, for that awesome move, I take back all of the earlier cravat jokes. A jumping forearm in the corner follows for the TWA alum, and that leads in to a Northern lights suplex. It only gets two, so Dragon goes back to the strikes. This leads to an Irish whip from Danielson, but Low Ki looks to make lemons in to lemonade by hitting his springboard enzuguri. Does that work? NO! Danielson blocks it with a dropkick, though Low Ki is able to recover quickly and get a brainbuster for two. More face kicking follows, and Ki signals for his Crusher. He hits it . . . for TWO! Ki then hits a backbreaker and goes for the Phoenix Splash that beat Dragon last month, but it only hits the knees! A subsequent dragon suplex from Danielson gets a two count, and he follows up by sitting his man on the top for a BACKDROP SUPERPLEX! That doesn't get the job done either, so Dragon tries it again. Bad move. Ki blocks it and sets Danielson up for what was, in theory, a top rope Ki Crusher. The efforts to do the move safely rendered it relatively unrecognizable, though.
Whatever it was, it leads to Danielson rolling out of the ring yet again, mainly so the crowd can give both men their proverbial "props." Ki retrieves his opponent and looks for a pinfall, but it's not going to happen that way. With Danielson on dream street, Low Ki hits his basic strikes and tries another Tidal Crush . . . but Dragon catches him with a full nelson in mid backflip! BRUTAL BACKDROP SUPLEX! That all leads in to . . . CATTLE MUTILATION! After a lengthy application of the hold, Low Ki passes out, giving the victory to American Dragon.
What does that do to the tournament? Why it leaves everybody tied at 1-1, of course. No, there is no tiebreaker.
Match Thoughts: If you're not regularly exposed to puro or indy wrestling, the first time you watch this match, it may well be the most awesome thing that you've ever seen. However, this is my third or fourth time watching it, and it doesn't hold well on subsequent viewings. That's not to say it's a bad match. In fact, it's quite entertaining. Despite that, I hardly think that it's worthy of being called a classic. Why? I'm glad you asked. For starters, I'm not a huge fan of matches in which there are two different genres of wrestling crammed in to one bout with little done to connect the two. That's exactly what happened here, as the two men started out working a pseudo-MMA style and then, out of nowhere, changed over to an almost Sabu-like series of highspots. Had the transition been slower or had there been a more adequately explained reason for the switch, this wouldn't have been quite as bad. As it was presented, though, it was a bit jarring and left me wondering why the two men just didn't work one type of match or the other. Additionally, there was far too much done in the time allotted. The suplexes and kicks that these guys were throwing are moves that would knock people out with one hit in the real world. Though professional wrestling obviously has its own set of rules, reality can only be stretched so far before the audience is taken out of the match. This one came dangerously close to that level for me.
Yet, like I said earlier, this was still a good match for all of its flaws. Obviously, you have to respect the fact that both men went out there and took the level of punishment that they did in order to entertain their fans. You also have to respect their conditioning in being able to go over thirty minutes in any type of match, let alone one as hard hitting as what was seen here. Additionally, though the spotty sequences towards the end were things five hundred other indy wrestler could pull off, the opening stages of the match and the chain wrestling present therein presented an almost perfect example of how to put on a "fake" fight and make it look damn real without killing any of the drama involved. That speaks a lot about the talent possessed by both Dragon and Low Ki, even though they did a few things to annoy me later on in the match. These positive factors together still manage to overcome the negatives that I listed earlier and place the fight at a solid ***
Final Thoughts
Number of Matches: 6 Highest Star Rating: ***3/4 Lowest Star Rating: 1/2* Average Star Rating: **1/4
This is a solid outing from Ring of Honor, presenting two matches at three stars or higher and nothing that was actively bad. Obviously there are a few shortcomings when compared to other ROH releases. First of all, because this is the Takedown Masters version, you're not getting the full show. However, unless you're a completist, you should have no problem with this since you're still getting a damn good show. An additional problem is that, due to the round robin tournament concept, you're not getting nearly the diversity of styles that are normally present when Ring of Honor comes to town. Though that may be the case, the three men in the tournament do mix things up just enough to keep it from being a major distraction. Daniels/Dragon is a solid technical match with heavy psychology. Ki/Daniels is more of a spotfest. Dragon/Ki attempts to combine the two styles and throws in a bit more MMA-type action. So, though it's true that the diversity is turned down, it's not quite as bad as it might appear at first glance. Besides, there are a lot of stinkers in the $10 and under DVD set, and this is DEFINITELY not one of them. There are better shows, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better show on a dollar-for-dollar basis. With that taken in to account, this is the perfect disc to nab if you need just one more Chanukah present for Uncle Sal.
That does it for the first installment of our holiday buyer's guide. Join me the next two weeks, as we take a look at the wacky world of lucha libre and some classic wrestling from the territorial days. As always, feel free to e-mail me with any feedback, especially if it contains some suggestions for what you would like to see right here in the pages of Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People.
