Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor – Main Event Spectacles

Ring of Honor — Main Event Spectacles (11.01.03)

From Elizabeth, N.J..

Your hosts are Ray Murrow and Chris Lovey.

CM Punk finds Colt Cabana meditating and tells him that he has to win for Punk, not for Cabana.

Field of Honor, Block B: Dan Maff (w/Alison Danger) vs. Colt Cabana.
Maff is 1-1. Cabana is 2-0. BJ Whitmer, who wrestles later but is idle in the tournament, is 2-1. Cabana threatens to turn it into a comedy match tangoing around the ring with Alison Danger, and then with Maff. Danger leads him on a chase around the ring where Maff tosses him into the barrier. Cabana returns the favor, whipping Maff into the crowd barrier. Back in, Maff blocks the Tornado Snap Suplex, but Cabana gets two off a floatover crucifix. Maff avoids a charge and cannonballs Cabana in the corner. Cabana slips out of the Burning Hammer and gets two off a Schwein Neckbreaker. Cabana misses a moonsault, and Maff is able to finish with the Burning Hammer at 7:26. That sets up a 3-way tiebreaker between Maff, Whitmer & Cabana. **

After the match, Samoa Joe and Jim Cornette hit the ring and attack Maff. Alison Danger shoves down Cornette, but Joe takes her out with the STO. Christopher Daniels tries to make the save, but Joe fends him off too. Corny gets on the mic and runs down the Prophecy and Ferrara & Russo. He wants to introduce his newest charge, the wrestler(s) who will lead Ring of Honor in the next century. The Briscoe Brothers interrupt him and stare down Joe and Corny. Cornette says he thinks Joe is probably upset at being interrupted, so he’ll just step back and let Samoa Joe take care of them. Of course, it’s all just a ruse. Once Samoa Joe turns his back, Cornette unloads on him with the tennis racket. He explains that he wants to take some young, hungry guys to the top, not hop on the train with a guy who’s already champion.

In the back, Angel Dust is reluctant to take any “supplements” before his match tonight.

Pure Wrestling Challenge: Xavier & Nigel McGuinness (w/Lollipop) vs. Tony Mamaluke & John Walters.
There’s some confusion over whether Xavier is part of the Prophecy or not because he refuses to shake hands. Walters and McGuinness do some beautiful chain wrestling. That’s pretty much the story of the match. Xavier can’t hold his own as a wrestler, so he waits for McGuinness to gain an advantage for him and then tags in. Xavier works over Mamaluke with brawling and pro-style moves, drawing the ire of the announcers. Mamaluke jawbreakers his way out of a shinni no make and makes the hot tag to Walters. Walters cleans house on Xavier, including a backcracker. McGuinness catches Walters from behind and hits a single-arm Pedigree. Mamaluke spears McGuinness, so Xavier jumps on top of the unconscious Walters and picks up the cheap pin at 11:30. ***

Matt Stryker vs. Justin Credible.
This is a rematch from “Wrath of the Racket” where Stryker pinned Credible after an intense brawl. This shapes up more as a wrestling match with Stryker controlling Credible’s arm. Justin gets crotched on the top and tosses Stryker to the floor to buy some time. The crowd gets bored and chants “Aldo” at Justin Credible. Justin takes over with brawling on the outside. Back in, he hits Triple Verticals and slows things down with a chinlock. Stryker elbows out of it and crotches Credible on the turnbuckle. Stryker hits a powerslam, but his quebrada attempt hits the knees. Justin hits a superkick and goes up. Stryker rolls through a crossbody and hits the DVD. It only gets two. Credible reverses a whip and hits That’s Incredible, but Stryker kicks out at two and finishes with the Strykerlock at 10:36. Very WWE-ish match. **1/4

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship: Izzy & Dixie (w/Special K) vs. The Briscoe Brothers (w/Jim Cornette).
The Briscoes have been trying unsuccessfully for nearly a year to chase down those tag team titles. They came close at “Glory by Honor II,” but Special K cheated to pick up the win, so we get this match. Lots of stereo doubleteams to start. Izzy monkeyflips Mark into Jay, but that just pisses Jay off. He gets fired up and destroys Izzy. The Briscoes isolate Dixie and hit him with a doubleteam seated dropkick. They work in some Southern-Style tag action as Mark tricks Dixie into coming into the ring, and the Briscoes doubleteam Izzy while the ref is trying to put Dixie out. A Briscoe doubleteam goes awry, and Dixie is able to tag in. Dixie cleans house a la Robert Gibson and hits a rolling plancha on Jay. Mark tries a Shooting Star Plancha, but he takes out his own brother. Back in, Dixie ducks a Springboard Doomsday Device and hits a Poisoned Rana on Jay. The Shiranui gets two, but the Briscoes come back with the Veg-O-Matic for a dubious two. Undaunted, they hit the Springboard Doomsday Device, and Jay finishes Dixie with the Jaydriller for the win and the Briscoe’s first titles at 9:55. The heel/face rolls were a bit wonky here, with the Briscoes wrestling the match as heels while playing the part of babyfaces. The match was pretty damned good, though. ***

Fighting Spirit Challenge: Homicide (w/Julius Smokes) vs. BJ Whitmer.
It’s the usual rules plus a 20-count. Lots of mat wrestling to start as they exchange armdrags and headlocks. Whitmer ends that with a backdrop suplex and a tope. Back in, Whitmer gets two off an exploder. Whitmer gets a running knee strike in the corner. That pisses off Homicide, and he shows Whitmer how it’s really done. Homicide goes low and sends Whitmer to the floor with a dropkick. He follows that up with a tope! Homicide goes up, but Whitmer catches him with a Superplex. Whitmer rolls him around with a Mexican Surfboard and then segues to a Dragon Surfboard. Sickening stretch there. Whitmer decides to get All Japan on his ass as Homicide hits an exploder that dumps Whitmer on his head, but BJ no-sells. Homicide headbutts him and kicks Whitmer right in the face, busting him open. Whitmer comes back with the German Suplex into the Dragon Suplex into a Thunderfire Bomb. It only gets two. A swandive headbutt hits Homicide’s shoulder, and he has to roll to the floor for a breather. Whitmer tries a tope, but Homicide ducks out of the way, and Whitmer goes facefirst into the crowd barrier. Sick. Back in, Whitmer misses a swing and gets hit with the Cop Killa! 187 DANGEROUUUUUS! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Whitmer kicks out! BJ rolls to the floor as Homicide gets advice from Smokes. Whitmer actually rolls in at 18. Whitmer rolls out of another Cop Killa and hits the Wristclutch Exploder! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Homicide sets Whitmer on top and hits an Ace Crusher. That’s not enough, though, so Homicide takes off his armpad and finishes Whitmer with a Running Lariat at 19:20. Typically brutal strong-style match from Homicide, but Whitmer solidified himself as a player. After the match, Steve Corino jumps Homicide in the aisle and tries to rip his ear off! ***3/4

In the back, Samoa Joe doesn’t want to talk about the Briscoes. He’s focused on the four-way match tonight.

Scramble Tag Cage Match: The Backseat Boys vs. Teddy Hart & Jack Evans vs. The Carnage Crew vs. The SAT vs. Hydro & Angel Dust.
Ah yes. This match. This is one of the more unfortunate casualties of controversy as it’s a damn fine spotfest ruined by the backstage controversy over Teddy Hart. Anyway, I won’t recap because there’s just too much going on. The idea is that it’s kind of like Wargames with each team entering the cage in a staggered fashion. Metal platforms have been fastened to the top of the cage so that the crazy people can come off the top. Teddy and Jack (who are both from Stampede Wrestling) start with the Backseats and open with a series of impressive high spots. The Carnage Crew comes in and tosses the Stampeders into the audience. It looks like Jack is injured early. The SAT are the next to come in, and they hit a Washing Machine into the cage on Kashmere. Teddy and Jack recover, and Teddy huracanranas Jack off the top onto the wrestlers waiting below. The SAT hit Hydro with the Spanish Fly off the top of the cage! Teddy Hart climbs up to the top of the cage and comes off with a Corkscrew Dive from the top of the cage to the floor! Jack does him one better with a 720-moonsault from the top to the floor. The CC hit Angel Dust with the Second-Rope Spiked Piledriver, but the Backseats grab Hydro and finish him with the T-Gimmick at 14:13. Not shown is Teddy Hart deciding it would be a good idea to go up to the top of the cage and start hitting moonsaults on everyone, even though they weren’t ready for them. The locker room was so disgusted that they threw him and his bags out of the arena. Teddy later blamed his actions on his concussion (beats “Evil Twin”) and apologized. But it was a double-edged apology as he claimed on one hand that he didn’t remember doing it, but does remember that he did it to please the fans because they liked seeing 30-foot moonsaults. Anyway, the controversy has overshadowed what really was a good match reminiscent of those TLC matches in 2000-01. ****

Btw, my own personal favorite response to this controversy comes from CM Punk. Teddy did an interview saying everyone was just jealous because he was on the fast track to the WWE and said he’d make it there by the grace of God. Punk’s response: There is no God, and the cage wasn’t 30-feet.

Non-Title, Fourway: Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Steve Corino (w/”Simply Lusious” Ronnie Stevens & Chuck Lagrande) vs. CM Punk.
Hilariously, new NWA Southern Champion Steve Corino makes his personal ring announcer recount every single Southern champion from 1947-2003 before the match. Daniels and Samoa Joe actually lay down to take a nap. Corino stooged Daniels to Punk, saying that he was behind the attack on Lucy. Corino and Joe are/were best friends. Joe used to work for Daniels. Daniels’ Prophecy and Corino’s Group used to feud. Got all that? It’s stalling suplexmania to start as Daniels gives Punk one, and Joe gives Daniels one. Umm…okay. Punk and Corino seem to form a tentative alliance. Daniels, who would seem to be at a severe disadvantage, manages to hold his own against Corino, sending him into the barrier. Punk hits a dive on both of them, but Samoa Joe launches himself over the top with a corkscrew plancha. He then hits a pair of Olay kicks on Corino and Daniels, stopping briefly to block Punk’s rana attempt and powerbomb him on the floor. Everyone comes in and starts hitting moves. Corino accidentally hits Punk, dissolving their alliance. Corino hits Joe with a DDT and the Running STO. Joe no-sells and locks in the STF. Punk breaks it up but takes an STF himself. Joe goes for the Top-Rope Musclebuster on Corino, but Daniels blocks it, and they hit a superplex on Joe. Corino gets two off the Northern Lights Bomb. The end sees Corino and Punk grab Daniels in a Double Northern Lights Suplex, netting a double pin at 22:55. Punk and Corino are declared co-winners. Fun match. It was build off the many intrigues built up around it, and those are what drove the story. ***1/2

Matt Stryker, Xavier and John Walters exchange pleasantries.

Rob Feinstein announces a “Lottery From Hell” match from Raven.

#1 Contender’s Trophy: Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles.
AJ seems to have Danielson’s number, defeating him in the very first #1 contender’s match. That was ****+, so they’ll have to go some to beat it here. They start with some amateur wrestling that spills to the floor where they continue to battle unabated. Well, that’s a good start. Back in, they get cautious as they try to feel each other out. Dragon hits AJ with a forearm on the ropes. AJ bails to shake out the cobwebs, so Dragon follows him out and rocks him with a few more. AJ leaps the barrier and comes back with an enzuigiri, but it’s not enough to slow down Danielson. Danielson ties AJ’s arm in the ropes and stomps on it. He continues the armwork with a reverse armbreaker and stops to jaw with a fan. AJ tries to kick his way out of trouble, but Dragon just challenges to him to hit harder. Dragon continues to have a running commentary with the fan as he pinpoints AJ’s arm. Man, Dragon is grumpy tonight. I like it. AJ finally comes back by suplexing Danielson to the floor, messing up his knee. AJ goes right after the knee, despite Dragon’s objections. “Stay away, dick!” is not an effective defense in Ring of Honor. He puts Dragon in the figure-four leglock, but Dragon rolls it over. Danielson starts begging for more punishment, so AJ kicks him right in the side of the head. The fans love that. Dragon comes back with a flying forearm that looks like it knocked AJ out legit. ROLLING FOERARM! That gets two. The Swandive Headbutt gets two more. Dragon breaks up a springboard move, nearly cutting AJ in half on the top rope. He follows that up with a second-rope backdrop driver for two! The crowd has been intermittently chanting, “Let’s go, AJ!” so Dragon tries to start a chant for himself. The only thing I can think of watching that is George W. Bush saying, “Did somebody say, ‘Nice shot?'” fishing for a compliment while he was golfing. AJ comes back with Pelé kick and goes for the Styles Clash, but Dragon counters to the Triangle Armbar. AJ powers up, slams Dragon down and finally finishes with the Styles Clash at 24:16. Wrestling is nothing if not a game of tradeoffs. In this case, they dropped a few of the highspots in favor of more psychology. This was even harder hitting than their “All-Star Extravaganza” match, but it didn’t have quite the intense drive down the stretch that that match did. You can’t go wrong either way, though. ****1/2

Colt Cabana joins us for “Good Times, Great Memories.” Tonight’s guests are the Carnage Crew. The pop a brew and say the Backseats stole their win tonight. Colt rips off Al Bundy with a poem about the nudie bar. Punk gets bumped yet again.

Corino gloats about hitting Homicide with a chain. He threatens to cripple Homicide next time because he still can’t hear out of his injured ear. Corino says he doesn’t have to win the Ring of Honor title because he has a number of other titles to defend. He also tells CM Punk that he sees a lot of himself in Punk and that he has a bright future.

Gary Michael Capetta stumbles on Jim Cornette and the Briscoes celebrating their title win. Cornette is shocked to find Capetta is still alive. Capetta waits for the Briscoes to leave and presses Cornette on the fights he’s been picking with the Prophecy and Samoa Joe. Corny brags about being an expert in the industry and compares Samoa Joe to all the other Samoan stereotypes in the industry. He says he wishes Samoa Joe was there right now because he’d slap him in the face. I’m sure there’s a wrestling rule in there dedicated to that little bugaboo. Of course, Samoa Joe is waiting just outside and decides to give Corny a bit of behind-closed-doors payback.

The 411: Great stuff from top to bottom. Ubermanager Corny taking the Briscoes, who had talent but little success, under his wing was a great idea. All of the matches outside the opener were "very good" to "great," with Danielson vs. AJ being another strong MOTYC. Good times for Ring of Honor. Thumbs up.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]