ROH House Show Results 7.25.08: Toronto, Canada
Posted by Chris Lansdell on 07.26.2008
A live report of last night’s action!
* Chris Hero d Ruckus in a fairly blah opener. Hero was over like Rover. It's a testament to how much Canada loves their ROH that they were into this match like crazy. Couple nice spots when Hagadorn tried to interfere but otherwise it was just there to get Hero on the card. **
* Delirious d Kenny Omega. Omega has the look, he has a ton of athleticism and he seems able to work that into a fairly solid move set. He sold well for Delirious, both the comedy stuff and the actual moves, and was able to look like a threat to win. **½
* Sarah Del Ray d Jennifer Blake. Not bad, but not good either. Del Ray was always going to win handily, and although Blake didn't embarrass herself she didn't exactly set the world on fire. Extended squash, with Sarah working a lot like Awesome Kong. *3/4
* Post match Sweeney sics Sarah on Blake, which brought out Daizee Haze for the save. Sweeney called Go to come out for his match, which led to
* Erick Stevens DRAW Go Shiozaki. Of course we had the "5 more minutes" chant going, more on that in a bit. The match was solid if unspectacular, lots of stiff chops that hurt us at ringside. Go did some nice stuff, Erick was Erick and was drawing practically no support from a very hot crowd. Literally, there was no AC and it was over 30 Celsius outside. A generous **½
* Sweeney denied us the 5 more minutes, ranting about Go only being paid for 15 minutes. This brought out Lance Storm, who wanted to be serious for a moment. Place went nuts. Hero attacked Storm from behind and we had a brawl. Stevens and Storm applied stereo Canadian Maples Leafs to Shiozaki and Hero, then Storm hit the superkick on Hagadorn. Storm said after that Shane took it well, since he kicks left side and most others kick right, and they didn't discuss the spot beforehand. And we thought Hagadorn sucked.
* Bryan Danielson d Claudio Castagnoli. Shock. However, tremendous match, even if it was surprisingly early. They worked some great counters from the get-go and really clicked well with each other. Crowd was almost totally behind Danielson. ****
*** INTERMISSION Announcement of the return to Toronto on November 8, the night after Montreal. Sadly, I doubt I shall be there. Got an autograph from lance Storm who is very cool in person. Friendly guy who has a passion for fans. Also chatted with Dan Lowranski, who reads my stuff! I was amazed.
* Rhett Titus is out to flirt. At least, I think it was him and not Michael Hayes, hard to tell. Daizee came out to tell him off, Sarah Del Ray attacked her, Delirious came out to protect Daizee but Sarah kept going, Sweeney teased Delirious about hitting a girl. Delirious throws himself in front of a vicious stomp to save Daizee. NEXT.
* Naomichi Marufuji d Roderick Strong. Incredible match, a lot of people's MOTN. It had a bit of everything: spots, stiffness, fighting spirit, near finishes, counter wrestling, workrate...kind of surprised that Marufuji went over with the way the match went, but no arguments from me. ****¼
* Nigel McGuinness d Kevin Steen. MOTN for me. Everything the previous match had, with an even hotter crowd. Despite the 5% chance of Kevin winning, at times it felt like he might just do it. TONS of close finishes for both men, and two incredible spots that have to be seen. ****½
* Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe d Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black. Necro Butcher interfered, Mark came down to even the odds. After Butcher put Mark through a table (A piece of which is right here next to me), he was taken to the back and prevented from fighting although he seemed fine. I imagine commentary will clear up why. Necro was told to hit Aries with a piece of table and blind him, but he walked out. There were some nice spots in the crowd for this one but I couldn't see half of them. They obviously closed with this to send us home happy but it lacked something for me. ***
A piece of it? I have half the the thing sitting in my room right now lol.
Posted By: Andrew (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Live reports with star ratings is so lame.
And so is calling this a "house show". That makes the average person think it's not going to be released in any form.
I look forward to Marufuji/Strong though.
Posted By: Guest#3444 (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 11:00 AM
WOW man, ****+ matches?
That's one heck of a show.
Posted By: someone (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Wow, this is the 1st semi-negitive review I've read. However, can you please give a description of the the finish between Claudio/Dragon? I read tht Dragon reversed the toss in the air European Uppercut in to a backslide but he did while in midair. Can confirm this bc it sounds awesome.
Posted By: ROHawkeye (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 11:52 AM
I don't think the review is that negative. He gave three matches four-stars--that's very rare to find on any show. I was also at the Toronto show last night, and I pretty much agree with most of what Chris says. I'd go with Marufuji and Strong as my MOTN. Steen vs. McGuinness was great, but this first half of the match was a bit show for my tastes, although I'd still give it four starts overall. I'd also give the Delirious vs. Omega match four-stars.
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 12:02 PM
That was the exact finish. Claudio did the toss up in the air and went for the European Uppercut on the way down, but Danielson hooked his arm and then grabbed the other for a lightning quick backslide to get the win. It was an incredible counter and a great finish.
I liked the main event more, but I probably saw more of it since a lot of the crowd brawling was on either side of me. I did not, however, see Mark leave making me wonder where the hell he went halfway through. Probably got removed because of Necro beating him with a piece of the scaffolding.
Posted By: Brendan Tihane (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Take the ratings with a grain of salt. Live star ratings are always ridiculously high. The environment adds a lot to it.
Posted By: Guest#8952 (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 12:52 PM
"I'd also give the Delirious vs. Omega match four-stars."
And that's exactly why you should take this with a grain of salt. Thanks for the example.
Posted By: Guest#9561 (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 12:56 PM
I'm not following ROH anymore. Steen should have won and they blew it. **** them.
Posted By: Leo (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 04:38 PM
I was front row last night and the atmosphere was awesome!
I almost agree with your ratings exactly, although I think Claudio/Danielson is ***3/4.
I'll probably see it differently on DVD AND the ring post sort of blocked the reversal, so I basically just saw the backslide for the win.
Eager to see how it looks on DVD. (Same with the tag main event)
Overall, great show (and that's saying a lot as I just got off watching some of RoH's best; SCoH1, 2 & 3, vendetta, dragon gate challenges, etc..)
Amazingly surprised that it stands up to those pretty well.
BTW, I was in section A and will be there next time. (Front row, again)
On a final note, is Cary Silkin like one of the nicest guys or what? Same with mustache guy.
Posted By: Dylan (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 04:42 PM
Who is Sara del Ray? I'm sure Sara del Rey doesn't appreciate someone using a name that is so similar to hers.
Posted By: JO (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 05:06 PM
Oops! I meant to say three-stars for the Delirious match. They weren't given enough time for it to be much higher than that. Just saying that I enjoyed that particular match a bit more than Chris. I would say the same for the Go/Stevens matchs. It was more of a NOAH/All-Japan style match, so I guess it depends on your tastes.
I do agree that the main event tag match was a disappointment. The crowd was fatigued by the end. Instead of having a normal match, they tried to advance a storyline and possible face turn for the Necrobutcher. I think the crowd intensity declined as soon as Jimmy Jacobs grabbed the mike. I think he gets more "X-Pac heat" than real heel heat. Another thing about the main event: or Austin Aries or Tyler Black needs to get a hair cut or wear non-black tights. They're starting to look too much alike.
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 05:12 PM
sounds like a good show me myself just boughtsupercard of Honor 1,2,3,Hell Freezes Over and Dragon Gate Challenge 1 and 2
Posted By: Guest#8619 (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 06:28 PM
They're not exactly returning to Toronto in November, the show is gonna be at the Markham Fairgrounds in Markham which is a terrible place to have a wrestling show IMO. Unless they did renovations since last year, the indoor hall they have is pretty shitty. I don't know why both ROH and TNA seem to only book shows in the eastern half of the GTA, when it would be easier transportation wise to hold events in the west end due to the close proximity to the airport and the highways leading to the US border.
Posted By: More Events in the West End (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 07:26 PM
I was at the event. The Danielson V Claudio was my MOTN. But I'm a huge Danielson Mark. That Kenny O'Mega kid surprised alot of people though. He has a future.
Posted By: Rob (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 09:10 PM
"I'm not following ROH anymore. Steen should have won and they blew it. **** them."
Then you'll miss the Steen/Generico feud loser.
Posted By: Guest#2802 (Guest) on July 26, 2008 at 10:10 PM
The only guy to really play the crowd was Larry Sweeny. We had him running over and yelling at us a few times. He loves the Ottawa Drunk Tank! No AC though, damn it was hot in there.
Posted By: Whiteburbia (Guest) on July 27, 2008 at 02:47 PM
No AC though, damn it was hot in there.
Yeah, I sucked down two 20 oz. bottles of Gatorade during the show and was still thirsty as hell. Imagine how the wrestlers felt!
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on July 27, 2008 at 07:58 PM
steen nigel motn hell moty it was so amazing and when steen hit that package piledriver we all thought it was done and when nigel hit that tower of london on the concreate floor it was awsome but the best spot was when steen climbed on the guardrail and nigel threw him back first into the ring apron and he fell on his head on the floor
Posted By: tim k (Guest) on July 27, 2008 at 09:05 PM
