wrestling / Video Reviews

ROH: The Future Is Now 6.12.05 – New York, New York

September 22, 2005 | Posted by Jacob Ziegler
7.5
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
ROH: The Future Is Now 6.12.05 – New York, New York  

.
The Future Is Now 6.12.05 – New York, New York

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Top 5

ROH WORLD CHAMPION: Austin Aries (since 12.26.04)
ROH PURE CHAMPION: Samoa Joe (since 05.07.05)
1) Homicide
2) James Gibson
3) Nigel McGuinness
4) Bryan Danielson
5) Roderick Strong

Intro

BG says: WB11 in New York reports from Pix Plaza where ROH has a ring set up. Azrieal and Austin Aries brawl in the ring, but we don’t get to find out what happens as we get a quick cut to…

The Carnage Crew of Loc and DeVito are back and ready to beat up the Ring Crew Express. They are super angry that the RCE put them out of ROH for 90 days. I’m angry at the RCE for not doing it for longer. These promos are so beyond played. Hey DeVito, nudie bar isn’t a sentence on its own.

Jay Lethal, neck brace and all, is here to play by his own rules. He really needs work on his promos.

JZ says: It’s pretty cool to see the footage that they had on a real news program.

Unfortunately The Carnage Crew interrupts with their same old promo. Ninety days off still did not freshen up their act one bit.

Wow Jay Lethal looks really uncomfortable in front of the camera. But we are still playing by his rules anyway, so beware.

MATCH #1: Jimmy Rave vs. Colt Cabana

BG says: The new venue is in is just awesome, easily the best looking place ROH has ever had a show. I assume Cabana is wrestling Rave as a way to thank Punk for teaming up with him against Beer & Girls on the last show. Cabana starts things off with a pair of armdrags. Rave hits an armdrag and celebrates with the Embassy so Cabana pulls hits pants down. Rave resorts to shoving and grabs a headlock. Cabana reverses to his own and then pulls Rave’s pants down again. Rave gets a legsweep for 1 when Cabana slips out and sits on Rave’s back. Rave gets a roll up for 2. He hits a clothesline to the back and works over Cabana’s neck. He hits a spinning neckbreaker for 2. He chokes Cabana out on the ropes and Prince Nana gets a cheap shot in. Cabana fights back with chops but Rave blocks a backslide and hits an inverted lung blower for 2. He dumps Cabana to the floor where the Embassy put a beating on him. Rave goes to the floor where Cabana takes over. He tries to chop Rave but hits the post. Back in the ring Cabana hits a missile dropkick and Nana loses control. Cabana hits the Bionic elbow and a butt-butt in the corner. He hits a clothesline for 2. He hits a sort of DDT-esque suplex for 2. He goes for the Colt .45 but Rave blocks and hits the running knee for 2. He goes for the Rave Clash but Cabana blocks and kicks Rave away. Rave goes for a roll up but Cabana reverses to his own for the win. Decent opener, but nothing too special. Rave is really stuck in limbo between feuds here.
Rating: **1/2

An angry Nana tells Jade Chung to get in the ring and slap Cabana. She very reluctantly does it. Cabana gets angry and is about to strike back when he changes his mind and busts a groove with her. Nana doesn’t approve so he pulls her from the ring and violently drags her to the back.

JZ says: This is a really cool venue, and Cabana has an almost equally cool singlet. This is Rave’s second straight opening match after main eventing “Nowhere to Run” on 5.14.05. Brad said it best when he said he was in feud limbo. Cabana cleverly avoids the Rave Clash, adding some spice to an otherwise non-descript match. And whaddyaknow, Cabana gets the win with a rollup at 9:33. That was fine and all but very much meaningless and not too exciting.
Rating: **1/4

Prince Nana is very angry that his man did not emerge victorious. Nana tries to verbally and mentally abuse Jade Chung, but Nana turns the tables on him with his offbeat shenanigans. Nana is the best heel in the company, period.

Alex Shelley Update

BG says: Back at New Frontiers Roderick Strong and Austin Aries beat up Alex Shelley with a pipe and injured his back. He’ll be out of action indefinitely.

JZ says: That’s Shelley’s second major injury this year in Ring of Honor. He should be more careful.

MATCH #2: New York Street Fight – Carnage Crew vs. Dunn & Marcos

BG says: The history between the two teams is recapped in video package form before the match. Loc and DeVito attack before the bell. Loc hits Dunn with a side suplex and DeVito hits Marcos with a vertical suplex. Everyone brawls to the floor as Punk makes fun of Loc’s girth. Loc hits Dunn across the back with a chair. Dunn and Marcos get busted open. Loc works Dunn’s cut over inside the ring. DeVito DDT’s Marcos on the floor. Loc pours whisky into Dunn’s cut and DeVito swears into the camera. Nothing happens for a while and then Loc tosses Dunn onto DeVito. That was pretty funny. Dunn and Marcos get thrown into a corner of the ringside area and look half passed dead. Back in the ring Loc places the ring bell on Marcos’ face and rings it. He hits him with a falcon arrow. DeVito hits Dunn with an uranage. The Crew hits the Carnage-plex on Marcos and then hit it on Dunn. They powerbomb/neckbreaker combo Marcos onto Dunn and then go to the floor and grab a ladder. The RCE take advantage and dive onto the Crew and the ladder. Dunn drapes the ladder across the ringside area. Back in the ring they double-team DeVito and hit the assisted Sliced Bread on Loc. Dunn sets Loc on the top rope but gets tossed off onto the ladder. DeVito and Loc then hit Marcos with the Carnage Driver for the win. I’d like to give this points for the bumps, but it seems silly to do so for a match that ends up being pretty meaningless in the long run.
Rating: 3/4*

JZ says: I’m really sick of the Carnage Crew talking about how much they did for Ring of Honor. What exactly did they do, have a bunch of hardcore matches that were all the same and cut the same promo a million times? This match is to settle a dispute that arose at the Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 1 back in February. CM Punk replaces Jimmy Bower on commentary. They do a bunch of brawling. The ladder bump that Dunn takes near the end is pretty sick, as is the Carnage driver that ends the match at 7:34. Same old Carnage Crew junk.
Rating: 1/4*

You Can Always Depend on the WB

BG says: We see more footage from the local WB station, as now Lacey starts beating on the female news correspondent. She’s obviously no match for Lacey so she tries to resolve things by hugging it out and declares herself the winner. All women’s matches should consist only of hugs in my opinion.

JZ says: That was a cute little segment. And I agree with Brad about more hugging in women’s matches.

MATCH #3: Six Man Mayhem – Azrieal vs. Izzy vs. Deranged vs. Fast Eddie vs. Jack Evans vs. BJ Whitmer

BG says: Deranged buys 6,000 shares of Doritos before the match. I can’t describe just how awesome that is. Whitmer looks really out of place in this match. Azrieal starts things off by slapping the taste out of Deranged’s mouth. They block each other’s offense until Deranged catches Azrieal with a really sick DDT. Izzy and Evans come in and Izzy hits a hurricanrana. Evans hits a dropkick and Izzy rolls out. Deranged comes in and plants Evans on his face. Eddie comes in and hits a tombstone piledriver. Whitmer comes in and hits a back suplex. Evans comes back in and Whitmer hits a belly-to-back suplex on him. He tosses Deranged around before hitting Azrieal with a brainbuster. Izzy comes in and stops Whitmer’s path of rage with a reverse hurricanrana. He hits Eddie with an enziguiri. Lacey’s Angels hit the Code Red double-team on Eddie then dive onto everyone on the floor. Eddie climbs to the top turnbuckle and does the same. Back in the ring Whitmer and Eddie trade chops. Eddie hits his side leg sweep but Evans catches him with an attack from behind. He hits a running corkscrew splash for 2. Izzy knocks Evans out of the ring with a moonsault kick. Azrieal hits Izzy with the Demon Driver. Deranged hits Azrieal with a snap mare driver. Whitmer hits Deranged with a big boot. He hits a cross arm spider bomb for 2. He hits a suicide dive onto Eddie on the floor and Evans follows them out with the Space Flying Tiger Driver. Izzy hangs Azrieal in the Tree of Woe but misses a baseball slide and Azrieal hits him with a top rope double stomp for the win. I don’t usually like these matches, but this was short and sweet and full of good fun.
Rating: **3/4

JZ says: It seems like it’s been a while since we’ve had a six man mayhem match. Whitmer does look really out of place. Punk gives Evans a new nickname, and my favorite of all Jack Evans nicknames – Corkscrew Schultz. Whitmer comes in and kills everybody. I think he should stop doing that crossbody roll through thing that he does, because it very rarely looks good. Deranged and Izzy are working as a tag team here. That snap mare driver is really sick looking. Azrieal gets the win at 8:17 with a double stop on Izzy. That was good clean fun with all kinds of neat spots.
Rating: **1/2

More From the WB

BG says: Aries and Azrieal continue their war on the streets of New York, with Prince Nana standing idly by and watching. These quick cuts to this show are killing me.

JZ says: I’m not sure why Nana is standing in the ring, but at any rate, I’d like to see Austin Aries versus Azrieal in a real match (which ROH would book at Glory By Honor IV, a few months after this).

MATCH #4: Masked Boston Superstar vs. Derek Dempsey

BG says: Dempsey is from the second class of the ROH wrestling school, but we never really get to see what he’s made of as Deep Purple blares over the speakers and Shane Douglas makes his way to the ring. He beats up both men in the ring and commandeers a microphone. He craps on the WWE run ECW show, which would take place later that day. He says that he turned Vince McMahon down when he invited him to the show, and the crowd calls him a liar. He keeps rambling on so the crowd chants for Flair, a person that Douglas has had a long standing dislike for. He starts pooping all over Ring of Honor and the crowd lets him have it. He says that ROH is the same as the WWE and walks to the back as the crowd tells him not to come back. Well, that went past being pointless all the way to being counterproductive.

JZ says: I refereed for Derek Dempsey not too long ago, and it looks as though he’ll get good with time. Unfortunately he doesn’t get to show anything here, as Shane Douglas comes out. You know, Douglas could have just come out and cut a promo without having the auspices of a “match.” I’ve never really been a fan of Douglas at any point in his career. The crowd chants for Flair, which is so ironic because when Foley was out there they would chant against Flair, and now they chant for him. Man the ROH crowd is a fickle bunch. But the fact that they are dumping on Douglas is funny to me. This really was one of the oddest segments I’ve ever seen on a Ring of Honor tape, it served no purpose and like Brad said it was even counterproductive.

MATCH #5: Homicide vs. James Gibson

BG says: Gibson has his Confederate flag while Homicide brings out a Puerto Rican flag. Make the flag match happen ROH. They work the mat to start and wrestle to a stalemate. Homicide gets a drop toehold and puts on a front facelock. He starts working the leg but Gibson gets a single leg takedown for 1. He grabs a side headlock and then hits a hip toss. Homicide goes to the aisle to jaw with a fan and brings the ring bell back into the ring with him. Gibson keeps a good distance between them until he’s sure that the bell is gone. Homicide gets a roll up for 2. He sends Gibson to the floor but Gibson runs back in at the speed of light to hit Homicide with a back elbow. He hits a bodyslam but misses a blind charge and gets set on the top rope. Homicide hits him with a superplex. Smokes starts rambling on so Homicide tells him to quiet down. Unprecedented! Gibson hits a neckbreaker, a bodyslam and a legdrop for 2. He sets Homicide up in the Tree of Woe and pulls his head back from the floor. Back in the ring he gets 2. He puts on a cravat and then turns it into a surfboard stretch. He turns that into the Mark Nulty Special but Homicide gets to the ropes. They fight to the apron where Homicide hits the Ace Crusher. Apron moves are very popular these days. Smokes wipes his ass with the Confederate flag as and pounds on Gibson before rolling him back into the ring. Homicide hangs Gibson’s head up on the bottom rope and leg drops it from the apron. He hits a jawbreaker and a kneedrop before hitting the chinlock. He hits a dropkick sending Gibson into the crowd. He sizes up his prey and nails Gibson with the tope. That guardrail is REALLY close to the ring. Smokes rolls Gibson back into the ring and Homicide gets 2. He puts the chinlock back on and turns it into a sleeper hold. Gibson fights out and puts on one of his own. Homicide hits a jawbreaker to escape. Gibson quickly hits him with a powerslam for 2. He hits a dropkick for 2. He climbs to the second turnbuckle and hits an elbow drop for 2. He hits a bodyslam and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Homicide cuts him off and hits a butterfly superplex for 2. He climbs to the top rope but Gibson dodges the diving headbutt. Gibson can’t hit the tiger driver so he hits a series of knees to the head and a vertical suplex for 2. He goes for a tornado DDT but Homicide blocks and hits a second rope Ace Crusher. Gibson blocks TBL but Homicide manages to hit a regular old clothesline for 2. He goes for the Cop Killer but Gibson reverses to a German suplex for 2. He hits a DDT and floats into the a double underhook submission hold which he turns into an awesome tiger driver for 2. He puts the Trailer Hitch on in the ropes and the referee calls for the break. In a frustrated state he shoves the referee down and Homicide takes the opportunity to hit a low blow and TBL for the win. Gibson has nobody to blame for that but himself. The match was solid all the way through and kicked it into high gear near the end there.
Rating: ***1/2

Gibson attacks Homicide after the match so Julius Smokes rakes his back and starts beating him. Homicide sets a table up in the ring as Smokes hits Gibson with a piledriver. Things look bad for Gibson until Jay Lethal, neck brace and all, runs in and takes out Smokes and Homicide. He puts Homicide on the table, rips off the neck brace and splashes him through it. The Rottweilers run in and chase Lethal off. It was hilarious to see Lethal act all handicapped as he beat up his enemies, but this felt satisfying at any rate.

JZ says: I refereed for a James Gibson versus Jimmy Jacobs match in IWA-Mid South a week or so ago, and it was tremendous fun. I got to take a big bump and Gibson pushed me around a little bit and kicked me in the head when I was knocked out, it was great. It was a champion versus champion match too, as Gibson was the ROH Champion, and Jacobs was (and remains) the IWA-MS champion. Homicide and Smokes take time to yell at some people in the crowd. I still think that Smokes takes away from Homicide’s matches rather than adding to them. Homicide telling him to quiet down is a great moment. Damn, the Ace Crusher on the apron is pretty cool. Homicide gets the victory with the West Brooklyn Lariat at 21:13. They picked it up a lot near the end, but most of the way through it was just an exhibition of the moves that each guy knew. Still a good match though.
Rating: ***1/4

Gibson is so frustrated with his loss that he attacks Homicide, and he actually lets Smokes hit him with a piledriver. But wait, it’s Jay Lethal! It’s kinda silly how Homicide and Smokes heard the music but just stand there and pretend they don’t know anyone is coming. Lethal puts Homicide through the table and runs out through the crowd.

INTERMISSION

BG says: The Scoopster is in front of the blue wall with the Ring Crew Express. Marcos is bloody and beaten, but it’s going to take more than some blood to keep them down. They’ll be taking down the ring at the end of the night if the Carnage Crew wants a fight.

Full Impact Pro DVDs are available at www.rohwrestling.com. My reviews of FIP DVDs are available right here on 411, so check that out! And while you’re at it, go ahead and buy a Straight Shootin’ DVD from ROH. Lots of them are good, and I personally recommend the Steve Corino shoot.

JZ says: Dunn and Marcos are beaten down, but they will not give up, and tell the Carnage Crew they can meet them at the end of the night while they’re taking the ring down if they want some more.

I just started watching some FIP DVDs, and I am pretty impressed. It’s much different than Ring of Honor, and I like quite a bit of the talent roster. Brad’s reviews of the shows are equally impressive. And of course, the Straight Shootin’ Series is available at rohwrestling.com, with lots of great shoot interviews.

MATCH #6: Roderick Strong vs. CM Punk

BG says: Punk wrestles Aries for the ROH title on the next show, so Strong has been sent to soften him up. The camera cutting to the curtain just before Punk comes out looks awesome due to the way the venue is lit. The crowd asks Punk not to leave, reacting to rumors that were circulating about the interest in him from bigger companies. They lock up and Punk forces Strong to the corner. A few fans cheer for Strong so Punk makes fun. Punk puts on a key lock and holds it through a monkey flip. Punk ducks a chop and goes for a monkey flip but Strong lands on his feet. Punk blocks the rib breaker and goes for the Anaconda Vice but Strong makes the ropes. Punk works on the arm until Strong catches him in a headlock. He stands strong as Roderick hits him with shoulder blocks and then takes him down with a roll up for 2. He puts on an armbar on one arm and a wristlock on the other. He hits a series of dropkicks and stomps Strong’s face. He hits a vertical hammerlock suplex for 2 and then kicks Strong to the apron. He suplexes him back into the ring and gets 2. They trade really hard chops and Strong bails. He pulls Punk to the floor and they keep trading chops. Strong goes for one against the post but falls into the same trap that Cabana fell into earlier. Back in the ring Punk hits a hip toss and drops a leg on the arm. He stays on the arm and gets a few pin falls. Strong rolls over and lifts Punk up to slam him down. Punk jumps to the top rope but Strong dropkicks him back to the mat. He hits a back suplex and a seated dropkick. He hits a backbreaker and stretches Punk across his knee. Punk knees out but gets hit with a vertical suplex. It gets 2. Strong hits a backbreaker over his shoulder and Punk rolls to the apron. Back in the ring Strong hits a butterfly suplex for 2 and puts on the leg held full nelson. He rolls it over for 2 and then puts on a camel clutch. Punk makes the ropes. Strong runs him hard into the turnbuckle and then chops him hard before doing it again. It gets 2. Punk comes back with a springboard dropkick for 2. They go back to the chop trade, which Punk ends with a clothesline and a leg lariat for 2. He hits the mule kick and a heel kick to the back of the head for 2. Strong blocks Welcome to Chicago but Punk gets a sunset flip for 2. Strong hits the rib breaker and the Sick Kick for 2. He hits the release vertical suplex but Punk reverses the Boston crab to a roll up for 2. Punk goes for the Shining Wizard but Strong reverses it to a backbreaker. He puts on the Boston crab but Punk makes the ropes. He sets Punk up on the top rope but ends up getting hit with a legdrop for 2. Punk puts on the Anaconda Vice but Strong makes the ropes. He calls for the Pepsi Plunge but Strong low blows him with his own hand. Bastard! Punk comes back with the Shining Wizard for 2 right into the Anaconda Vice for the win. Roderick Strong looked pretty outclassed for most of the match, with a puzzled look on his face the whole time to hammer home the point. The finish kind of came out of nowhere, but the rest of the match was good old fashioned brutality.
Rating: ***3/4

The crowd again asks Punk not to leave after the match. They also thank him as Strong shakes his hand. Punk kisses the ROH logo and grabs a microphone. He asks three hecklers in the crowd to stand up and says he respects that they paid to get into a show and say whatever they want, but he has a microphone and thus is getting their money in his pocket. He promises Strong that Aries can’t keep the title from him, regardless of who he’s working for the morning after Death Before Dishonor. It’s all he has left to accomplish on the independent circuit, so Aries had better spend every last second with that belt because he’s coming to get it. He asks the crowd to do him one last favor, and that is to chant for Roderick Strong, the future of ROH. That was an AWESOME promo.

JZ says: Punk’s time in ROH is winding down, as he allegedly has his last match coming up next week against ROH World Champion Austin Aries for the title. I’m begging Roderick Strong to get some facial expressions. They go at each other tooth and nail to start, with hard chops aplenty for everyone. Man, I’ve taken three or four chops in a row, and that hurt like all hell, I can’t imagine taking as many as these guys are taking. Punk actually hits a really pretty springboard dropkick. I say surprisingly because Punk isn’t usually known for his grace when performing top rope maneuvers. Strong’s reversal of the Shining Wizard is pretty sweet, and then locking on the Stronghold (which I don’t think had been named as of this show) is solid. Punk gets the Anaconda Vice out of nowhere for the win at 24:05. Well that was a little bit long and I’ve never bought the Vice as a finisher, but that match was brutal, both men busted ass, and it sets up Punk’s match with Aries very well.
Rating: ***1/2

Punk cuts a pretty awesome promo here, acknowledging the three guys in the crowd who hate him. Great, now they think they’re a part of the show. Punk addresses Strong directly, and Strong shows him respect by listening to the promo. This is really pretty sweet. Punk puts Strong over huge. Man, if WWE uses him, Punk really could become a big star.

MATCH #7: ROH Pure Title Match – Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe

BG says: Nigel more or less got this title shot by dominating Colt Cabana in their feud for the last few months. Bower announces that Cabana has earned a Pure title shot based on his win over Jimmy Rave, and thus will face the winner of this match. Could it be Nigel? Joe grabs a wristlock to start but Nigel reverses out and grabs his own. Joe takes him down with a chinlock and pulls it way back. Nigel separates his hands and rolls out. Joe puts on a standing Rings of Saturn and turns it into an armbar. Nigel reverses and gets a wristlock. He takes Joe to the mat with a key lock but Joe reverses to a legvice. Joe dumps Nigel from the ring but he gets back in at the count of 6. Nigel grabs a headlock but gets taken down with an enziguiri. Joe hits a climbing knee in the corner and goes for the face wash but Nigel gets his boot up. He goes for the face wash himself but Joe chops him down. Nigel rolls to the apron where Joe kicks him onto a security guard and they roll into the crowd. Nigel gets back into the ring at the count of 14. Joe hits the Big Joe Combo for 2. Nigel blocks a blind charge and hits a boot off of the hand stand. He drives Joe’s arm to the mat and then goes to work on it. He hits a hammerlock DDT and puts on a crossface. Joe uses his first rope break to escape. He puts on TAS and Joe uses his second rope break. He stays on the arm but gets hit with the STO. Joe starts chopping and jabbing and the referee gives him a warning for a closed fist. He headbutts Nigel down and gets 2. Nigel hits a rebound clothesline and puts on a hammerlock forcing Joe to use his last rope break. Nigel goes to the hand stand again so Joe dropkicks him in the face for 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2 and goes right into the STF. It’s not on well because of Joe’s bad arm but it’s enough to make Nigel use his first rope break. Nigel’s nose bleeds as Joe kicks him to the mat. Joe goes for the STO again but Nigel reverses to a superkick. Nigel fakes the hand stand and ties Joe up with a leglock in the ropes. The referee starts counting Nigel out and he has to let go of the hold at 19 so that he doesn’t get counted out. He goes for a hammerlock DDT but Joe dodges it and hits a lariat for 2 when Nigel uses his second rope break. Nigel goes for the rebound clothesline but Joe catches him with a powerslam for 2. Joe hits a senton for 2. Nigel tries the Artful Dodger but has to change his plans when Joe dodges it. He climbs to the top rope but gets caught with a muscle buster and Joe wins. Everything in this match regarding the rope breaks felt forced, and the body of the match was pretty disappointing given what we’ve seen from these two before. The action was good all the way through, but these guys are capable of much more.
Rating: ***

Shane Douglas hits the ring and grabs the Pure title belt. The scorn of the crowd drowns out most of what Douglas says on the microphone. He rambles for a while and then gives the belt back to Joe. He says that he’s so impressed that he’s decided that Ring of Honor is THE shit, rather than just being shit. This whole Shane Douglas thing flopped hard.

JZ says: This is the second time that Joe and Nigel have gone one-on-one (It All Begins being the first), and they’ve also been against each other in a tag team match (Weekend of Thunder Night 1), a six-man tag (Trios Tournament 2005) and a four-way match (Stalemate), so they know each other pretty well by now. We find out that Colt Cabana gets the winner of this match next week for the Pure Title at DBDIII. Also next week, BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs will defend the Tag Team Titles against The Embassy of Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie. Nigel shows his knowledge of Joe by blocking the face-wash, but Joe blocks Nigel’s next move. Joe hits a big kick on Nigel on the apron, and Nigel goes tumbling over the railing with one of the security guards. One of the things I like about the Nigel-Joe match up is that Nigel is one of the few guys who can rival Joe on pure size alone. Not that anyone matches Joe overall, but it’s a start. Joe uses all three of his rope breaks in fairly short order, even before Nigel uses one. So if he punches Nigel in the face he gets disqualified and loses the title. Joe manages to get the victory with the Muscle Buster at 19:39. The action was really good and the crowd was mostly into it, and the psychology was pretty good. I think they can do better though.
Rating: ***1/4

Douglas is back out, and the crowd chants “you still suck!” That’s creative. What a waste of time and money to bring that guy in.

Once More, from the WB

BG says: We get our last WB segment of the night as Aries and Azrieal have apparently fought all day and into the night. Low Ki interrupts and insults Aries. Nana, who is there for whatever reason, acts like a babyface and tries to break it up but a brawl between Ki and Aries is on. Aries took offense to the interruption and demanded that he wrestle Low Ki in ROH, and thus we have our main event.

JZ says: I think this actually happened in the morning before the sun came up, as the 5:22 time would indicate. That’s kind of cool that they were able to do an angle on a news channel.

MATCH #8: Non Sanctioned Match – Low Ki vs. Austin Aries

BG says: The ROH title is not on the line here, as Ki is still technically suspended for beating up a referee at Final Battle 2004. Rottweilers surround the ringside area as Aries makes his way to the ring. Ki attacks Aries from behind before the bell. Aries comes back with a forearm and Ki bails. Aries goes to follow him out with a dive but Smokes trips him up. The referee ejects him from ringside, and I notice that all the other Rottweilers are also gone. Back in the ring Ki puts on a cross arm breaker in the ropes. He overpowers Aries with a knucklelock and kicks his thighs to break the bridge and gets 2. Aries catches him with a cravat and puts on a wristlock. Low Ki goes for his upside down kick but Aries has it scouted and hits him with a dropkick. He hits EE #3 but gets chopped HARD in the ropes. Ki hits a stiff kick to the back for 2. He catches Aries with a knee to the gut for 2. Aries hits the fireman’s carry slam and climbs the ropes. He goes for a frog splash but Ki gets his knees up and gets 2. Ki knocks Aries down in the corner and kicks him against the chest. He puts on a legvice and rolls Aries over for 2. He turns it into a triangle choke but Aries escapes and hits a dropkick. He rakes the back and hits a shoulder block in the corner. He hits EE #4 and Ki bails. He goes to follow him out but Ki catches him with a kick to the face for 2. He chokes Aries out in the ropes but the referee calls for the break. He puts on a sleeper hold but Aries fights out. Ki hits a forearm and a big clothesline for 2. He chokes Aries out in the corner and hits a back suplex for 2. Aries gets a sunset flip for 2 but Ki blocks the crucifix bomb and hits a double stomp for 2. He hits an extended Krush Combo but Aries fires up and hits the shin breaker/back suplex combo. He hits a running forearm and a dropkick in the corner for 2. He hits a German suplex for 1 when his neck gives out. He goes for the slingshot splash but Ki kicks him away. Ki hits the Tidal Wave hard and Aries rolls to the floor. He knocked out Dan Maff with that move you know. Ki runs out and rolls Aries back in the ring and pins him for 2. He climbs to the top turnbuckle but Aries dodges the douche bag double stomp. Ki hits a dropkick for 2. He puts on the dragon clutch but Aries blocks the Ki Krusher. Aries hits a vertical suplex for 2. He goes for the 450 splash but Ki cuts him off. He gets stuck in a Tree of Woe however and Aries comes off the top with a double stomp for 2. Ki blocks a brainbuster and hits the koppo kick. Aries hits a nasty kick to the face and climbs the ropes for the 450 splash. Ki kicks the referee into the ropes to crotch Aries on the top and then climbs up and hits a series of kicks and the Ki Krusher for the win. This match, unlike their last one, was pretty disjointed and just wasn’t as fun. On the other hand it was insanely stiff and had a finish. I guess I’ll split the difference with my rating.
Rating: ***1/2

Homicide runs in and tells Ki to help him hit Aries with the spike Cop Killer, but Evans and Strong run in and make the save. Evans dives onto Monsta Mack on the floor as Strong kicks Homicide away and gets Aries out of the ring. Jay Lethal takes the opportunity to hit the ring and nail Low Ki with a dragon suplex before being chased out by Homicide.

JZ says: Punk is back on commentary after his war with Roderick Strong. Punk of course has a vested interest in this match since he is facing Aries in six days for the title. I’m trying to find something to talk about in this match, but I see little to say other than what Brad covered in the play-by-play. Punk talks about how Aries is left-handed, and for some reason you’re not supposed to mess with lefties. Have you ever seen that picture that places Low Ki side by side with Batboy, of tabloid magazine fame? It’s really uncanny. Aries hulks up when Ki busts out the kicks to the chest. Aries gives Ki a taste of his own medicine with a vicious double stomp from the top rope. Ki hits a nasty Ki Krusher off the top rope to get the win at 21:59. This was good and stuff, but not nearly as good as their match from All Star Extravaganza II. Once again they busted ass and were super-stiff, but it just didn’t add up to much.
Rating: ***1/4

Jay Lethal sneaks in during the brawl and hits a sweet Dragon Suplex on Ki, to leave Low Ki flat on his back. That’s a pretty good way to put heat on both Lethal versus Homicide and Lethal versus Ki in one night.

Aftermath

BG says: Colt Cabana is in front of the blue wall and he’s excited about his Pure title match against Samoa Joe at Death Before Dishonor. He teases Nigel for not winning the title and says he’ll do what Nigel couldn’t and beat Joe. It didn’t work last year for the ROH title, but I have to admit I’d dig seeing Nigel versus Cabana with Pure title rules.

The Scoopster tries to get Aries to talk about his neck, but Aries is in no mood to talk. He does say that his neck is fine. He doesn’t care what Punk does to him, he’s not losing the belt.

Dunn and Marcos are bandaged up as they take down the ring. The Carnage Crew is drinking booze at the bar by the ring and taunts the RCE. They all start brawling and end up out of the building.

ROH would like to thank WB11 WPIX-TV New York for providing footage for this home release. I just want to know what was up with Nana acting like a stand up guy in that footage.

JZ says: Colt Cabana actually mentions the fact that Shane Douglas was on this show. Cabana loves wrestling, and is pretty excited about his match with Samoa Joe.

The Scoopster~! is trying to get a word with the Champ, Austin Aries. He still doesn’t cut very good promos, but I guess he’s gotten better.

The epic Ring Crew Express versus Carnage Crew feud continues after the show.

I would also like to thank WB11 WPIX-TV, because the footage they provided was pretty cool to see.

MVP

BG says: CM Punk for having the match of the night and cutting a phenomenal promo afterwards. It was a great way to set up the very controversial angle that was to follow.

JZ says: Also CM Punk, for the reasons listed above.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

You can pick up this show, as well as all other ROH shows at www.rohwrestling.com.

Coming soon will be our review of DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR III!!

Thoughts, comments, concerns? Like how we’re doing our reviews? Let us know!

E-mail Brad at [email protected]
E-mail Jacob at [email protected]

The 411: BG says: I assume the title of this show came from the Shane Douglas promo. Considering how inaudible and worthless his appearance ended up being, coupled with the fact that Low Ki won the main event, it is a strange choice for the title. A pretty solid show all around, and one that sets up Death Before Dishonor perfectly. On it's own it's not really essential viewing, but I have a feeling that after Death Before Dishonor rolls around on DVD some of you are going to want to see the setup for the things that take place on that show.

JZ says: This show reminded me of an old WWE In Your House show, which would be used basically to set up one of the bigger pay-per-views. As a lead-in show this is top notch, but none of the matches are spectacular, and the matches that were good have happened elsewhere and been done better. It’s a fine show, but not particularly memorable or anything.

 
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]  legend

article topics

Jacob Ziegler

Comments are closed.