Ring Crew Reviews: ROH Final Battle 08

• Thanks for all of the feedback on my Morishima/Danielson feud review. I’ve already finished the KENTA/Danielson series and it’s in the queue to go up soon. I will try to get to as many of the suggestions that I can and hopefully be able to get my hands on as many matches in a series as I can. If the people who made the suggestions for Tornado/Hero, Punk/Hero, and Steen/Dragon want to e-mail at [email protected] a list of all the matches they know of in the feud, I’ll see what I can do.

• Scheduled Card:
1. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega.
2. Rhett Titus vs. Chris Hero vs. Necro Butcher vs. Jerry Lynn.
3. ROH Tag Team Championship: Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (c).
4. Street Fight: Sweet ‘n Sour Inc. vs. Brent Albright, Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens.
5. Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. The Briscoes.
6. Number 1 Contender’s Match: Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries.
7. ROH World Championship: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Nigel McGuinness (c).
8. Fight Without Honor: Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson.

• We begin with a promo from Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs, and Delirious from The Age of the Fall. It’s the generic we’re going to take over promo but this looks like it was given from the TMNT subterrean lair based on the lighting.

• Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega. Claudio is wearing a Red Sox jersey for the cheap heat. Prazak, Leonard, and world champ Nigel McGuinness (“Bah humbug!”) on commentary. Nigel works Omega over with boots in the corner. Nigel with a hard Irish whip and poses already. Nigel with another but whiffs on a clothesline and eats a series of armdrags. Omega misses the dropkick and Claudio drops an elbow. Claudio with the European uppercuts but eats a mule kick and a Frankensteiner from Omega. Claudio tries to dump him but Omega catches himself and comes back in only to get hotshotted into the ropes and more posing from Claudio. Cover gets 2. Claudio with another European uppercut as Nigel mistakes Omega for Johnny Fairplay much to my amusement. Claudio hits a gutwrench slam as Prazak jokes that Fairplay might have put on some weight and Nigel says he’s been reading Triple H’s book. Awesome. I miss Nigel already. Claudio tells the fans to shut up. Fans: HEY! Nigel with a shoulderblock and sends Omega into the turnbuckle. Claudio grinds the eye on the ropes and does the Snitsky taunt. Nigel slingshots him into the bottom rope for 2. Omega monkey flips Claudio over and hits the POLISH HAMMERS. Omega misses a spinkick but hits the Kotaro Krusher for 2. Omega ducks a bicycle kick and stops Claudio with the Hands of Koslov and an enzuigiri and Claudio takes a breather. Omega with a slingshot spinning dive onto Claudio on the floor. Omega off the top with the double foot stomp for 2. Claudio with a jawbreaker and some European uppercuts in the corner and Claudio tells the crowd to suck it and FINALLY gets them to boo him just for a second. Omega whiffs on a crossbody and eats the bicycle kick. Claudio goes for the Ricolo Bomb but gets small packaged for the 3 at 7:03. The crowd was SUPER hot for the whole thing even if it was just a standard filler opening. **1/2 Post-match, Claudio throws some chairs around in frustration.

• Rhett Titus vs. Chris Hero vs. Necro Butcher vs. Jerry Lynn. Rhett’s schtick gets a “You’re a virgin!” chant from the crowd. Hero’s music is the ultra, super, fantastically awesome Bonnie Tyler/Requiem for a Dream version. Larry Sweeney tries to shut down a “Bobby Dempsey” chant by smacking Dempsey and telling him to take it to the back. The ref checks Hero’s pads. Necro and Rhett to start. Leonard tries to call Necro a “Hollywood star” for his appearance in The Wrestler and Nigel rightly nips that in the bud and calls Necro an idiot. Rhett again avoids Necro to get a rope break in the corner. Necro steals Rhett’s taunt only for Rhett to jump him from behind. Necro backdrops him and Rhett begs off only to poke him in the eye. Necro cuts him off with a closed fight and Rhett tags Hero in. “Fuck you Hero/Chris is Awesome” chants. Necro tags in Jerry Lynn. Hero and Lynn exchanges some shots only for Lynn to hit the flying headscissors and a leg lariat to send Hero reeling. Hero stumbles out and tags in Necro. Necro reverses a wristlock on Jerry Lynn to a big pop and a “Holy Shit” chant. You see, Necro is not exactly Mr. Wrestling so they fact that he would “know a wristlock from a wristwatch” is significant in itself. Lynn with a sunset flip for 2 and they trade chain wrestling roll ups for 2 only for Rhett to break both up to huge boos from the Necro contingent. Jerry hits him with a right and dumps him. Hero in with a blind tag and lays out Necro with an elbow to the back of the head for 2. Rhett in with a back rack and some weak shit and Necro no sells but gets his eye raked again. Rhett with a Stinger Splash and a running knee for 2. Hero in with a neck wrench on Necro and more elbows. Necro shoves him off and hits a closed fist. Jerry in. Rhett attacks him from behind and that allows Hero to give him an elbow to the back of the head. Hero with a senton and Rhett in with the blind tag and a cover that gets 2. Rhett goes to the rear chinlock. Jerry elbows out but runs into a Bluechipper dropkick for 2. Jerry with a small package for 2. Hero in with another blind tag and works over Jerry with chops. Jerry with a Jack Brisco roll up for 2. Hero hits the ROARING ELBOW but Necro breaks up the pinfall at 2. Rhett pulls Necro off the apron. Jerry with a super huracanrana off the top and a crossbody for 2. Jerry Lynn with a Thesz press and counters a tilt-a-whirl into a falling DDT for 2. Rhett in and he avoids and O’Connor roll from Jerry. Rhett tries an MDK bomb to the floor on Necro from the apron but he grabs the ropes to hang on. Necro counters to a Frankensteiner. Lynn prepares for a splash only for Hero to trip him up. Lynn sets up the Cradle Piledriver but Sweeney distracts the ref. Hero gets the elbow pad and puts it on his foot. He hits a ROARING ELBOW and goes for a big boot. Lynn avoids and hits the Cradle Piledriver for 3 at 12:50. I liked the prevalence of blind tags instead of the usual heels teaming up despite their own self interests. I don’t like my four corner survivals with the Nash equilibrium; I prefer Hobbesian warfare against all. Also, Necro breaking out the chainwrestling and a Frankensteiner is awesome and Nigel continues to shine on heel commentary making fun of Jerry Lynn’s age the whole match. ***

• Post-match, Jimmy Jacobs calls Necro a Hollywood sellout and challenges him back into the ring. Delirious jumps him from behind. That brings out Steenerico and Daizee Haze who clear the ring. And they are the tag title participants so let’s ring the bell.

• ROH Tag Team Championship: Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (c). Steen follows with a no hands flip splash onto them and poses for the crowd. Back in, Generico hits a backbreaker for 2 on Delirious and it’s BATTLE OF THE LUCHADORS!~! That doesn’t last long as Steen is in with the chops in the corner. Steen with a back elbow for another 2 count. Steen drives him into Generico’s boot. Generico with a leg lariat and Jacobs gets the blind tag and tries to come off the top with a double ax handle but Generico spots it. Generico hits a right hand to the gut and they work him over in the corner. Steen with a fireman’s carry into a gutbuster for 2. Steen bites his stomach and hits the somersault leg drop. Cover gets 2 from Generico. Generico with a standing moonsault for another nearfall. Steen in and they hit the backpack combo senton for 2. Delirious slides in to cut off and chop blocks Steen’s knee. Delirious in to bite Steen’s knee and drop a few elbows on it and gravevines it for a submission. Delirious and Jacobs work him over some more including headbutts, a banana split, and lowering Steen’s knee pad to further expose the knee to more damage. Steen tries fighting them off to make the tag but Jacobs and Delirious go for the knee again to prevent the tag. Jacobs knocks Generico of the apron a couple times. Delirious whiffs on a Panic Attack as Jacobs gets backdropped to the floor and Steen makes the tag. Generico in with the clotheslines. Generico fights off a back rack to hit a yakuza kick and a crossbody off the top for 2. Generico with a flip splash off the top to Jacobs on the floor. Steen hits the cannonball in the corner on Delirious. Generico with a big splash off the top and cover gets a close 2 count. Michinoku Driver gets 2 for Generico as well. Steen in but the heels collide on miscommunication. Steen tries the Package Piledriver but his knee gives. Instead, he hits a Dragonscrew leg whip and switches to the Sharpshooter. Delirious manages to hang on until Jacobs breaks it up. Delirious hits the Panic Attack in the corner and hits the Shadows over Hell off the top. Jimmy hits a senton. Cover gets 2 as Steen kicks out. Yeah, if they hit three of their quasi-finishers and still don’t get the pin, you know they aren’t winning. Steen fights off a Cobra Clutch and hits a pumphandle neckbreaker on Delirious but his knee takes the brunt. He tries to go up top but his knee buckles. Daizee Haze tries to do it instead but Jacobs pulls him off and threatens to beat her up. Delirious tries to reason with him because that’s his woman. That causes Steen to superkick Jacobs out of the ring and Delirious eats the yakuza kick and Package Piledirver and Generico hits the brainbuster and that’s it at 13:37. Solid match, although there was little doubt to who was winning. Even with the Daizee Haze sidestory continuing “The Rise and Fall of Delirious,” it still felt like an average B show title defense. *** Post-match, Jacobs berates Delirious for causing the loss.

• Next, The Briscoes talks shit about their opponents, Sasaki and Nakajima, later tonight.

• Street Fight: Sweet ‘n Sour Inc. vs. Brent Albright, Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens. The guys for SnS are Go Shiozaki from NOAH and The American Wolves. No tags for this one. The faces run out and the matches begins in the aisle with lots of brawling from everyone. Albright gets sent into the apron by Go. Albirght comes back with chops. Davey tries chocking but Roddy cuts him off. Roddy and Stevens choke The Wolves as Albright hits a yakuza kick on the floor. Albright hits a half dozen chops on Go but he chokes him to cut off and fights back with chops. Stevens drives Davey into the guardrail as Go drives Albright into the ringpost and chokes away. Roddy hits Edwards with a couple of chairshots. Roddy with some chops on Edwards in the right but he comes back with an eyepoke. Albright hits Davey with a chairshot on the floor. Stevens drives Go into the ringpost and hits a Ho Train on the floor. Edwards gives Roddy a few chairshots. Albright and Davey hit some seriously STIFF chops on each other. Albright hits a backdrop and a powerslam for 2. Roddy and Go now hit some stiff fuckin’ chops on each other. These guys (Roddy and Go especially) have of the stiffest, loudest, most beast chops in the business and they are just LAYING into each other with no remorse. Eddie with a back elbow on Albright and sets up a table in the corner of the ring. Stevens and Edwards exchange forearms. Stevens flapjacks Edwards into a clothesline as Albright nearly decapitates Go with a forearm. Stevens preps a Doctor Bomb but Go breaks it up and German Tazplexes him through the table in the corner. Cover gets 2. Davey kicks Albright around. Go chops the shit out of Roddy who comes back with his own chops. MORE CHOPS! Edwards ends the flurry with a Batista kick on Roddy. Eddie goes up top but Roddy cuts him off with a FLYING SCISSOR KICK TO THE TOP ROPE! This is some scary, hella stiff striking.

• Roddy eats a Codebreaker off the top from Edwards and a delayed Doctor Bomb from Davey for 2 count. Albright is alone in the ring for SnS and they sense a numbers advantage. He fights them off with elbows. He flapjacks Davey into a Fujiwara armbar but Eddie breaks it up with a chair and Go smashes him across the face with the chair. Go then hits a knee drop on the chair on Albright’s face(!). Cover gets 2. Albright then takes a double back elbow from the Wolves. Albright tries fighting back but the numbers are too much. They work him over in the corner with kicks and chokes. Go gives him the Panic Attack in the corner. Crowd chants for Bobby Dempsey but he’s not coming. Albright avoids a charge but getting up the boot in the corner and comes out with a double clothesline on the Wolves. Albright Hulks up and Stevens slides in with a flapjack Bulldog powerslam on Davey. Stevens stacks the heels up in the corner and hits a Ho Train. Roddy follows with a step up enzuigiri on Edwards and a fireman’s carry into a gutbuster. Stevens follows with the LARIATO. Cover is broken up by Davey. This is seriously awesome right now. Roddy and Davey trade kicks and chops. Davey takes them both to the floor with a Cactus clothesline. Roddy and Davey go back to exchange strikes on the apron and both are exhausted. Davey gets a table and sets it up. Davey preps a DR Driver but Roddy blocks it and instead gives him a Blue Thunder Bomb OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE! Go and Albright chop it out in the ring. Go with a superkick that staggers Albright. Go goes for the Go Flasher but Albright slides behind for the Half Nelson suplex. Go elbows out but whiffs on a yakuza kick. Albright goes for a German suplex but Go counters with a low blow. Excellent series of counters. Go BEASTS him over with a release German suplex. Stevens though is in and flips Go with an EVEN MORE BEAST German suplex. Roddy lays him out with a yakuza kick and now Go is all alone with the faces. Albright applies the Fujiwara armbar and Go is forced to tap at 14:37. YES! MORE! MORE! These guys laid it all out there in a super stiff tornado six man and it even had story with Albright having to fight off the SnS advantage and getting the upperhand late with the numbers game. ****1/4

• Post-match, The Wolves try to blame Go for the loss. He hangs around for the not so spontaneous ovation and gets it. But then tells the crowd to shove it anyway. XENOPHOBIA!

• Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. The Briscoes. Sasaki is GHC heavyweight champ. We get a handshake. Nakajima and Mark to start. Mark gives a clean break but on his turn Nakajima chops Mark rather than give him the clean break. Mark tries an armdrag but that goes nowhere. Nakajima counters a waistlock takeover to a hammerblock. Mark comes back with a snapmare and a kick to the back. Nakajima not one to be intimidated responds with his own snapmare and even stiffer kick. Mark and Nakajima smack it out in the center of the ring. Nakajima takes him down with another kick and now Jay tags in. Nakajima hits a series of kicks and an enzuigiri. Jay lands on the apron but NJ follows with a slingshot double foot stomp and a flip splash to the floor. Back in, they slug it out with forearms. Jay takes him down with a back elbow but NJ Hulks up and no sells. Jay gives him a Samoan drop and now he begs off and Sasaki tags in. Sasaki no sells a shoulderblock and then takes Jay down with one instead. They chop it out and in case you didn’t know Sasaki brings the fucking leather as well. Sasaki runs into a Bluechipper dropkick but takes Jay down with a LARIATO and a vertical suplex for 2. NJ in with a kick but Jay no sells that and they go back to the forearms. Jay bull rushes him into the corner and now Mark is in. Mark works him over with back elbows and a choke in the corner. He drops an elbow for 2. They team up for a back elbow, Russian legsweep and a senton off the second rope. Cover gets 2. Jay and NJ go back to the chop battle. Mark back in with a brainbuster for 2. NJ with a front kick and a trip. Sasaki in with some chest and back chops. Sasaki with a clothesline in the corner and another running clothesline for 2. Sasaki targets Mark’s left knee and clips the leg a few times. Mark tries no selling with forearms but Sasaki trips him and goes to a variation of the Figure 4.

• Sasaki tries going to the front facelock but Jay breaks it up. BJ with the Dragonscrew leg whip and continues to work the leg. Sasaki and NJ doubleteam Mark with kicks and a back suplex for 2. NJ in and they hit a double shoulderblock for 2. NJ hooks him in a Tree of Woe and hits the IED into him for another 2. Mark counters a suplex attempt with a fisherman buster. He makes the tag to Jay and he comes off the top with a crossbody and knocks Sasaki off the apron. Jay hits a Ho Train but NJ no sells and comes back with a yakuza kick. Jay no sells and gives him the Flatliner into the turnbuckle and a yakuza kick for 2. NJ counters a DVD with an ax kick to the back of the head but runs off into a spinebuster. Nice stiff counters. Cover gets 2. NJ gets the boots up in the corner and hits a step up spin kick to Jay’s back. Sasaki in and he lays the leather to Jay who comes back with more chops. Sasaki kicks it into overdrive and just smacks the shit out of him and gives him a bulldog. He whiffs on a clothesline but hits a powerslam for 2. Sasaki with a back elbow and a Judo throw and goes to a variation on the arm bar to work Jay’s shoulder. Mark breaks it up illegally and they hit a double clothesline but Sasaki bulldozes through it and takes them down with a clothesline for each. NJ in with a spinwheel kick on Jay and then gets suplexed onto him by Sasaki. Cover is broken up by Mark. They dump Mark with a combo tilt a whirl and then NJ gives Jay 6 straight brutal superkicks. NJ hits a pump knee in the corner and a savate kick but Mark kicks out at 2. NJ tunes up the band and hits the Sweet Chin Music for 2. NJ goes up top but Jay gets him in the Electric Chair position. Mark goes for the springboard into the Doomsday Device but his knee buckles. AWESOME! NJ hits the victory roll for a close 2. Jay comes back with a clothesline but Sasaki breaks it up and Mark dumps him while still selling the knee. Mark sends Sasaki into the barricade. Jay with a high angle back suplex on NJ. The Briscoes set up The Doomsday Device again and hit it but Sasaki breaks up the cover. Jays hits a beautiful SPIKE JAYDRILLER and Mark holds off Sasaki and that’s enough for the 3 at 16:47. I love it. More stiff brutality with psychology but just a shade off the pace and sheer chaos of the previous match. ****

• Post-match, the Wolves come out and Pillmanize Mark’s knee until Steenerico comes out to run them off. Steen turns his back and they clip his leg too and work him off. That brings out Roddy, Brent, and Erick Stevens again. Albright gets the stick and wants a cage match with the Wolves and Cary Silkin gives it to him.

• Meanwhile, Marifuji cuts a promo via translator and says nothing of note other than he’s going to win. And Morishima does the same.

• Number 1 Contender’s Match: Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries. We get footage from Wrestling at the Gateway where Tyler defeated Austin in a close match. Fans chant “Next World Champ” for Black. This is basically face/face and the crowd is into both. Huge dueling chants of “Austin Aries/Tyler Black” and the Black portion is a bit louder. Aries taunts Black for being a fan favorite. We get a clean break out of the corner. Aries still not quite believing the fans like Black more. I’m suspecting this will lead him to working subtly heel. Another clean break. Aries with a waistlock TD but Black reverses as the fans go back to the taunts. Aries switches to a headscissors to kick him off and kips up. Aries goes to a side headlock and a shoulderblock. Black tries to trip him up but Aries stops short and goes back to the side headlock. Always loved that spot. Black tries countering but Aries gets a fireman’s carry and goes back to it. Black escapes and Aries hits a series of armdrags and goes to an armbar. Black switches to the headscissors. Aries escapes but whiffs on the dropkick and they retreat to their corners. Aries jaws some more and goes back to the headlock. Black goes for a dropkick but Aries puts the brakes on and Black flips to land on his feet. NOW Black goes to the side headlock and Aries to the headscissors. Black yells, “I DON’T THINK SO!” and escapes and he HITS THE DROPKICK! Awesome early callback and the fans are eating it up. Fans chant for Black and Aries smacks him and they devolve into a slugfest with chops and elbows. Aries with a gutbuster and goes for the theatrical elbow but Black moves and Aries eats canvas. Black with an inverted atomic drop for a 1 count. Black stomps him and drops a knee for another 1 count. Black gives him Snake Eyes for a 2 count. Black preps his stomping stuff out of the corner but Aries cuts him off with a Ho Train. Aries now tries stealing his material but Black gets the boot up in the corner. Aries tries dumping him but Black hangs on and tries a slingshot but Aries dumps him again. Aries follows with a suicide dive. Back in that gets 2. Cue the dueling chants. Aries dumps him again and sends him into the guardrail. Aries gives him the IED on the floor into the guardrail. Back in, that gets 2. Aries goes to the Last Chancery but Black manages to make the ropes. Aries dumps him again and oh shit, I hope this doesn’t turn into FB 09. Aries teases a DVD off the apron but Black counters and gives him an F5 onto the apron. That was cool. Count makes it up to 15 before both get back to the ring. Black staggers on the apron but manages to fight Aries off and hit a Pele that sends Aries back to the floor. Black follows with a Fosbury Flop that Aries takes the brunt of it and it looked brutal. Back in, cover gets 2. Black hits the Troll Yell but Aries fights back with right hands. Aries goes for the brainbuster but Black slides out and hits the Paroxysm for another 2. Black preps the BuckleBomb but Aries tries to counter to a Code Red and they botch the roll up so Aries switches to the MMA knees and the Last Chancery. Aries releases the hold and hits more knees to Black’s head. Black with a desperation school boy for 2. Black with an upkick and a BuckleBomb for another close 2. Black goes up top and Jimmy Jacobs comes out to call for the Phoenix Splash. Black tries it but whiffs as Aries rolls under. Aries hits the brainbuster and tries to go up top but stumbles off the apron. He finally makes it and hits the 450 and wins it at 17:08. Awesome match. Much better than the 09 FB match. Aries’ character is admittedly much different but the story is basically the same (minus the different finish). Aries gets outwrestled by Black for the majority of the match and tries to win in a variety of ways. Whereas in 09, Aries is the champ but Black has seen all he’s got to offer and knows he can beat him, here he’s the better wrestler with very miniscule heel leanings because of the crowd liking Black better. ****1/4

• Post-match, Jacobs yells at Black saying he was supposed to be the chosen one. Black shoves him and Jimmy begs off. Jimmy talks him into a truce and gives him a low blow instead. Jimmy hooks on the End Times guillotine and gets a chair. Aries comes out to make the save but then waffles Tyler with the chair. HEEL TURN FTW! And now the crowd that was previously chanting “Tyler’s going to kill you!” has switched to “You Got Fucked Up!” I think it’s at Black but can’t really tell because the camera is staying on a close shot and avoiding looking at the crowd.

• ROH World Championship: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Nigel McGuinness (c). We get footage from Glory by Honor V, Night Two and their previous matchup. Nigel goes to the MasterLock and switches to a neck crank and torques it. Marufuji punches his way out and tries a bodyslam but Nigel rolls through and stays on the hold. Nigel tells the “yankees” to shove it. Marufuji tries again and Nigel again stays on the hold. Marufuji escapes and Nigel cartwheels over but runs into a back elbow. He ricochets back for the Jawbreaker lariat but Marufuji tries a school boy. Nigel counters and they trade counter roll ups and then back off to their corners. They work their way to the middle and exchange chops and European uppercuts. Nigel tries a suplex but Marufuji slides out. Nigel goes for a tornado DDT but Marufuji hangs on and gives him a snap suplex. Marufuji gives him a neck twist and goes to the chinlock. Nigel switches to a headscissors. Marufuji kips up and out and gives him a superkick. Marufuji goes to a Russian legsweep side headlock or something. Marufuji gives him a running double foot stomp and mounts in the corner with shots. Marufuji curb stomps him into the mat and goes to the triangle choke. Marufuji rolls him over and drives him into the mat a few times but Nigel makes the ropes. Nigel cuts him off with a hammerlock DDT. Nigel balances in the corner off a whip and boots Marufuji to the floor. Nigel sends him very weakly shoulder first into the barricade. Nigel gets a head of steam but runs into a superkick and Sliced Bread 2 off the guardrail. Back in, cover gets 2. Marufuji goes up top but Nigel cuts him off with a hammerlock powerslam. I love the submission assisted moves. It’s such easy psychology and yet so rarely done.

• Nigel bodyslams him shoulder first into the mat and then shitcans him to work the count. Nigel taunts the crowd for a while as Marufuji gives him a running kick from the floor (cooler than it sounds). Nigel goes for a clothesline but Marufuji follows him off the ropes and gives him one instead. Marufuji applies the Cobra Clutch and then rides it to the floor and applies the headscissors with it. Awesome variation. Nigel tries to escape but Marufuji gives him a Cobra Clutch backcracker for 2. Marufuji goes up top but Nigel cuts him off with a karate chop to the throat. Nigel goes for the Tower of London but Marufuji drives him into the corner. Nigel comes back with the kick/clothesline combo. Nigel crotches Marufuji on the rope and gets ready to come off the top but Marufuji dropkicks him to the floor. They exchange forearms around the turnbuckle. Nigel teases a Tower of London to the floor but Marufuji cuts him off with a superkick and a Shiranui ONTO THE APRON! Back in, cover gets 2. Marufuji puts him in the Tree of Woe and preps for the Van Terminator says chair but Nigel raises up to avoid. Marufuji kicks him and slams him off the top. Nigel cuts him off and gouges the eye and tells the crowd to go fuck themselves and gives Marufuji the Tower of London on the apron as well and down to the floor. Back in, cover gets 2. Nigel slingshots back for the Jawbreaker lariat. Marufuji tries following again but Nigel ducks this time and hits the LARITO for 2. Excellent callback and signature move spot. Nigel heavily favoring his right arm. Nigel puts him on the top rope and hits the brutal LARIATO to the mat. Nigel preps another Tower of London but Marufuji escapes. Nigel tries the handstand again but eats a superkick that damn near knocks him to the floor. Marufuji hooks him in the Tree of Woe and this time hits the Coast to Coast. Cover gets 2. Marufuji hits another superkick and a spinkick. Nigel ducks another and rolls him up for 2. Nigel falls back and comes back with the Jawbreaker lariat and that’s enough to retain at 18:24. Another great match on this show. And what’s impressive is that each one is finding ways to be awesome without ripping off the other matches so it doesn’t feel like you’re watching the same match each time. Loved the callbacks. Would have liked a more emphatic over the top ending but still a more than respectable offering. ****

• Jerry Lynn comes out post-match to try to suck up to Nigel. Nigel’s not having it so Lynn spazzes out and cuts a Mick Foley-esque passionate promo. That was alright, but seriously though do we need everyone to come out after a match and cut a promo?

• The lights go out before the main and Nana is in the house. He stills the stick and try to cut a promo before security through him out but the fans love Nana.

• Fight Without Honor: Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson. This is C&P from my Morishima-Danielson feud review from yesterday. The lights go out for Danielson’s typical entrance but when they come on he’s already on the apron and hits a springboard knee to Morishima’s back and he takes a breather on the floor. The streamers fly as Danielson baseball slide dropkicks Morishima into the crowd. Danielson then hits the springboard splash into the first couple rows as his music continues to play and reaches the crescendo and Danielson hits his signature pose with the song. Epic. Danielson goes to the European uppercuts and sends him into the ringside table. Danielson gets the ringbell hammer and stabs Morishima in the eye with it. Danielson hits an IED on the floor. Danielson gets a choke and tries to stab Morishima in the throat with it. Danielson with a headbutt. Back in, Danielson tries some European uppercuts but Morishima no sells. Danielson hits 3 headbutts before Morishima finally goes down. Danielson teases rolling him into the Mexican surrfboard but drives him into the mat for a 1 count. Danielson teases a German suplex on the apron but Morishima clubs him off and to the floor. Danielson tries an MDK bomb but Morishima sits down on it with a brutal butt bomb and then sends Danielson into the barricade. Morishima gets in the ring and tells the crowd to bring it on as Danielson blades. Danielson tries getting on the apron as Morishima clotheslines him back to the floor. Morishima waffles him with a chair across the back. Morishima hits the Runaway Japanese Semi and sends Danielson into the ringpost. Morishima chokes him on the bottom rope and fishhooks him just to be a dick. Morishima kicks him around with some STIFF stuff and Danielson tries to recover on the floor. Morishima picks him up only to club him back to the floor. Morishima looks under the ring and gets a chain to choke Danielson with it. Morishima hooks in the chain-assisted choke and hits some MMA elbows on him to boos. Referee pleads with Morishima to stop and he finally does. Morishima with a big running clothesline in the corner. Morishima goes for the missile dropkick but Danielson avoids and hits some forearms. Morishima no sells and comes back with his own forearm. Danielson is sent into the corner but does the flip up and over and hits a running hip check on Morishima. Morishima rolls to the floor. Danielson gets a head of steam and hits a suicide dive that sends him into the crowd. Crowd chants “Best in the World!”

• Back in, Danielson hits the missile dropkick right on Morishima’s leg to clip the knee. Danielson kips up and gives Morishima about a dozen or so front kicks before he goes down. Cover gets 2. Danielson wipes the blood off his face and slaps Morishima around with the bloody hand. Morishima takes offense and drives him back into the corner, hits a big boot, and hits another brutal Runaway Japanese Semi in the corner. Morishima hits a uranage for 2. Morishima shouts in Japanese, loosens up his neck and casually hits a LARIATO for 2. Morishima goes for the Backdrop Driver but Danielson flips out and gets a small package for 2. Danielson gets the badass bridged German suplex for another close 2. Morishima doesn’t jump for shit on those. Danielson rolls him over and hooks in the Cattle Mutilation. Morishima powers up but Danielson switches to MMA elbows. He hits 15 before Morishima shrugs them off and swats Danielson down with a forearm. Danielson hits a ROARING ELBOW but Morishima no sells. Danielson gets a head of steam but runs into another LARIATO! Morishima gets the chain again and chokes Danielson with it in a pseudo-crossface. Morishima rolls him over for a 2 count. Morishima puts him up top and goes for a super Backdrop Driver but Danielson slips out and crotches him on the top rope. Danielson goes for a super back suplex and hits it. Cover gets 2. Danielson gets the chain and now chokes Morishima with it. Danielson now goes to the curb stomps WHILE CROSSFACING HIM WITH THE CHAIN. Danielson rolls him into the chain-assisted triangle choke. Morishima just BARELY escapes on the third arm raise and has just enough to hit the Rampage powerbomb. Morishima runs into a boot in the corner. Danielson comes off the top but lands into a Northern Lights suplex from Morishima. Morishima with another LARIATO. Morishima hits the Backdrop Driver but Danielson gets the foot on the ropes. Morishima wraps the chain around his arm and goes for another LARIATO but Danielson catches it and rolls him into a Fujiwara armbar. Danielson uses the chain for leverage and rolls him over for the CHAIN-ASSISTED CATTLE MUTILATION! He ties up Morishima with the chain before he rolls him over. Morishima manages to power up and still hit some Batista kicks even though he’s tied up. Danielson shakes it off but hits a low blow and a RUNNING KNEE STRIKE LOW BLOW! Danielson goes back to the curb stomp low blows. He wraps the chain around his arm and hits the super brutal MMA ELBOWS WITH THE CHAIN! Danielson rolls him over and hooks in the Cattle Mutilation again as Morishima passes out at 20:47. Big pop for that and Morishima struggles to the back like a fallen, broken, and beaten champ. This match built on the violence of the entire series but only seemed to build on the first match’s story. Almost all the call backs and sequences were carry overs from the first mach but not so much the in-between ones. It’s very good, but not quite the lights out, brawl to end brawls, I would have hoped for. ****1/4

• Post-match, the lockerroom comes out to congratulate Danielson. He gets the stick and says this is the biggest crowd in his 7 years in the company. He thanks those who love him and those who hate him. He says he’s in no shape to go out drinking but to enjoy the afterparty.

The 411: This is an EASY EASY recommendation. You've got FIVE matches **** or above and only one match under ***. Thumbs up to one of the best DVDs/PPVs I've ever seen.
Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]