ROH Better Than Our Best DVD Review

ROH – MILESTONE EVENT #6 – BETTER THAN OUR BEST – CHICAGO RIDGE, IL – 4.1.06

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Honor Roll

JZ says: I’ve been using the top 5 as voted on by the ROH message board. After each show (or double (and in this case triple) shot weekend), go to The ROH Message Board and vote for the top 5. In parentheses after a guy’s name is his position in the last Honor Roll, and how many consecutive weeks he has been listed.

ROH WORLD CHAMPION: Bryan Danielson (since 9.17.05)
ROH PURE CHAMPION: Nigel McGuinness (since 8.27.05)
1) Roderick Strong (1, 14)
2) Austin Aries (2, 8)
3) KENTA (NR, 1)
4) Christopher Daniels (NR, 1)
5) Adam Pearce (4, 3)

Introduction

BG says: We kick things off with Colt Cabana going to the ring after a pre-show SHIMMER showcase match. Homicide had said that if Cabana showed up tonight he’d kill him, and Cabana says that if he wants to kill him he should do it now. Derek Dempsey comes out to inform him that Homicide hasn’t arrived at the building yet.

JZ says: We start off on the Preshow, with Dave Prazak trying to get a word in with Colt Cabana. The participants from the Preshow main event (Allison Danger, Daizee Haze & MsChif going over Lacey, Rain & Cheerleader Melissa) are still in the ring. Cabana calls out Homicide and says that this has to end. Derek Dempsey comes out and tells Cabana that Homicide isn’t here.

MATCH #1: Six Man Mayhem – Ace Steel vs. Jack Evans vs. Matt Sydal vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jake Crist vs. Dave Crist

BG says: The cell phone light entrance for Jacobs is getting pretty impressive. Evans and Sydal start the match. This is Evans’ last ROH match for a while as he flew off to Dragon Gate shortly after this. He and Sydal wrestle around but when it’s about to come to blows they throw up the L7 in unison. Jacobs and Jake Crist come in. Crist gets the first near fall of the match with a neckbreaker. Dave comes in and they double-team Jacobs. Steel comes in and clotheslines the Irish Airborne. Dave comes back with acrobatics but Evans stops his momentum with a senton/corkscrew press combo. Jacobs hits an STO on Jake for 2. Everyone gets into a convoluted chicken fight. The way it’s set up makes no sense, as there’s really no reason that the Irish Airborne and Steel would want to keep Evans, Sydal and Jacobs on their shoulders without hurting them. Then we get one of the most contrived spots in ROH history. Jacobs, Sydal and the Crists fall to the floor and Evans launches off of Steel’s shoulders onto them. It actually sounds cool when I read it back, but it wasn’t well executed. The Crists run in and double-team Steel. They hit a double spinebuster on Sydal for 2. Sydal fights them off and tosses Jacobs to the floor before hitting everyone on the outside with a moonsault. Steel hits his nasty corner dropkick on Jake and follows up with a tiger driver. Jacobs crotches him up top and hits a senton on Jake for 2. Evans kicks him to the floor and follows him out with a springboard 450 splash. The Crists, Steel and Sydal get into a horribly manufactured but admittedly cool looking sequence off the top. Jacobs gets distracted with Steel and Lacey giving Evans enough time to hit Jake with the 630 senton for the win. Well nothing was badly botched and most of the guys came out looking good, but this fell into too many scrambled egg traps.
Rating: **¼

JZ says: I still can’t think of anything nice to say about Ace Steel. Dave Prazak welcomes us to the show with his broadcast colleague Lenny Leonard. Prazak says that these 1,700 people are the most to see a Ring of Honor show ever, since At Our Best back in March of 2004 was seen live by 1,600 people. I recall ROH saying that 1,800 people saw that show. If they did that just to justify the silly title of this show I’m very annoyed. Evans and Sydal, Generation Next teammates, start it off. Jake and Jacobs are in the ring and Jake hits some goofy looking offense. Irish Airborne does some double teaming until Steel comes in with a pair of unsafe clotheslines. The camera focuses on Lacey for a few seconds, so you know they screwed up a spot there. How Evans can do a standing corkscrew press I’ll never understand. They do a three-way chicken fight chop fest, and Evans hits a contrived moonsault off the shoulders of Steel. Jacobs locks on what looks like a chinlock on Evans outside the ring. That’s funny. Steel hits a shitty looking Tiger Driver on Jake. He goes to the top rope and Jacobs gets up there to have Steel push him off into a back senton that gets two. Evans sends Jacobs to the floor and hits a nice dive. Steel is still up on the top and he hits a contrived looking Spinal Shock / Ace Crusher / Leg Drop on the remaining three guys. Andy Long is the official, by the way. Lacey distracts the referee through, so Steel grabs her and Jacobs takes him out and they roll to the outside. In the meantime, Evans hits the 630 on Jake to get the win and head off to Dragon Gate at 10:08. That had some fine action, but was mostly contrived spots and nothing too memorable.
Rating: **

A Visit From the Commissioner

BG says: Commissioner Jim Cornette comes out to talk about how proud he is to be a part of ROH drawing some of its largest crowds three nights in a row. He runs down Chris Hero and Necro Butcher for interfering in the shows of late. He points out Adam Pearce standing in the crowd and designates him to be the bouncer for the evening. Colt Cabana comes back out to the ring and asks Cornette to sanction a Chicago Street Fight between himself and Homicide tonight. Cornette appreciates his courage and gives him the match. He then calls out Delirious and reminds him that he only has one more chance to win before he gets bumped off the ROH roster. But he sees potential in Delirious and knows the fans like him, so he’s going to let Delirious choose his opponent in his last chance match. Delirious cuts a beautifully rambling promo, but it’s not hard to make out that he wants to wrestle Ricky Reyes after the attack he suffered the night before. This segment was really effective on a lot of levels, a change of pace for Cornette and his long windedness.

JZ says: Jim Cornette immediately puts over the crowd and talks about how awesome this whole weekend has been. It’s hard to argue with that. He says that he has made Adam Pearce the bouncer tonight to try and keep CZW from invading. Colt Cabana comes out to interrupt and the crowd immediately chants his name. He says that the only way he can achieve peace is if Cornette sanctions an official match for tonight. He wants it to be a Chicago Street Fight. Cornette grants his wishes and Cabana says that he alone will be responsible for what he does to Homicide tonight. Cornette then switches gears and calls out Delirious. He has such great music. He walks around in circles, making Cornette dizzy. He says that Delirious can call out anyone on the ROH roster he wants, but if he loses he will be off the ROH roster for good. The crowd is really hot for Delirious. He calls out the man that beat him in a four corner survival the night before, Ricky Reyes, and we have our second match.

MATCH #2: Ricky Reyes vs. Delirious

BG says: Delirious knocks Reyes off the apron and then shoots him into the crowd. He pulls him back to ringside and rams him into the barricade. J-Train attacks him but gets clocked. Back in the ring Delirious keeps the pressure on Reyes. Reyes comes back with a back heel kick and a neckbreaker. He hits another neckbreaker and puts on the dragon sleeper. He’s too close to the ropes and Delirious gets to them. Reyes hits a back suplex for 1. Delirious reverses a fisherman buster to a roll up for 2. Reyes hits a clothesline and a stiff kick to the back after running Delirious hard into the turnbuckle. He goes for the dragon sleeper but Delirious gets to the corner and climbs the ropes. He hits Shadows over Hell and the Bizarro Driver for 2. Reyes hits a knee to the gut and a pair of neckbreakers. He hits a fisherman buster for 2. He goes for the dragon sleeper but Delirious blocks and puts on a cobra clutch with a stretch for the win, despite J-Train’s attempted distraction of the referee. Delirious celebrates with the fans after the match. This was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, as both men played their rolls perfectly and the short match was full of good action.
Rating: ***

JZ says: This is just like Ultimate Warrior versus Randy Savage from WrestleMania VII, at least for Delirious. Smokes wastes little time in getting involved, but Delirious knocks him out. They battle on the floor for the first few moments. Reyes goes for the Dragon Sleeper early but Delirious gets the ropes. They wrestle for a bit and Delirious actually hits Shadows Over Hell for a change. He follows up with the Bizarro Driver for two. Reyes comes back and hits a Fisherman Buster for two. Dragon Sleeper attempt gets reversed into a seated Cobra Clutch type move and Reyes taps out at 6:23. That never really got going, but the value of Delirious getting a big win and keeping his spot on the ROH roster is enough for me.
Rating: *½

MATCH #3: Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley & Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito

BG says: Yoshino gets into the spirit of the Embassy by throwing the toilet paper back at the fans and at Saito’s head. Shelley and Saito start. They trade holds and Shelley grabs a leglock. Saito hits a hiptoss and knocks Yoshino off the apron. Yoshino and Dragon Kid tag in. Dragon Kid hits a head scissors takedown and Yoshino bails. Genki and Rave tag in and Rave stalls. Genki hits an armdrag and a pair of dropkicks and Rave bails. Yoshino comes in and gets elbowed by Dragon Kid. Dragon Kid hits a kneedrop for 2. Saito and Genki come in and hit a double back elbow. They kick him around and hit a bulldog / dropkick combo. Shelley tags in but gets driven into the Do Fixer corner. Dragon Kid tags in and hits a dropkick to the face. Saito tags in and acts as a fulcrum for Kid to dropkick Shelley. Genki comes in and they hit a triple dropkick. Rave tags in and stomps away for 2. He hits a bodyslam and tags to Yoshino. Shelley comes in as well and they hit a drop toehold/dropkick combo. Yoshino blocks a blind charge and puts on the Courmori. The referee calls for the break, as it’s a rope assisted move. Shelley comes in and hits an Asai moonsault for 2. He puts on an abdominal stretch and holds Genki for a dropkick by Yoshino. He hits a neckbreaker and Rave hits a dropkick for 2. Shelley hits a bodyslam and puts on a chinlock. Horiguchi fights out but walks into a Manhattan drop. He hits a back elbow and tags to Saito. Rave tags in and gets suplexed. Dragon Kid hits Déjà vu on Yoshino and follows him to the floor with a suicide dive. Genki and Saito double-team Shelley and hit an elevated bulldog for 2. Saito ducks an enziguiri and hits an elbowdrop. He goes for the Fisherman Express but gets hit with an enziguiri and a brainbuster. Dragon Kid hits a hurricanrana on Shelley and a springboard stunner on Rave. Rave comes back with a gutbuster and a DDT for 2. Kid hits a flip stunner but Rave blocks blind charges from all of them. Yoshino goes for the standing double stomp but gets dropkicked on the way down by all of Do Fixer. Genki hits him with a vertical suplex and Saito hits a top rope splash for 2. He hits a spinebuster and Dragon Kid follows up with a double jump moonsault for 2. Yoshino comes back with a neckbreaker and Shelley hits a superkick. Rave and Shelley hit the spear/clothesline combo and Rave hits the running knee for 2. Saito hits Yoshino with a side slam but Nana trips him up. Yoshino runs at him but gets hit with a German suplex. Dragon Kid hits a springboard hurricanrana for 2. Shelley hits a top rope Ace Crusher before Rave and Yoshino hit stereo Ghanareas for 2. Horiguchi gets the Backslide from Heaven for 2. Rave comes back with a clothesline and Greetings from Ghana for the win. This one started a bit slow, but they might as well bring Dragon Gate to every show because overall this was another incredible six-man match from them.
Rating: ***½

JZ says: Masato Yoshino fits in very well with The Embassy. They get showered with toilet paper, of course. Horiguchi actually carries a sign out that says “Please Call Me H-A-G-E.” They’ve been doing it just fine so far without that kind of encouragement. Shelley and Saito do some cool mat wrestling. Shelley’s shoulder is taped up. The crowd is very appreciative of the Dragon Gate performers, and I even hear a few “Embassy” chants. When Rave tags in he avoids Horiguchi entirely. It must be the power of his baldness. It’s enough to send Rave to the outside, so Yoshino comes in instead. Do Fixer dominates Yoshino for a while. They’re doing the tag team formula, just in reverse. The triple dropkick that Do Fixer does where Dragon Kid does a full revolution first is realty neat. The best parts of the match are when Shelley and Saito are in the ring together; I’d love to see them wrestle one-on-one. Shelley hits a nasty brainbuster on Saito for two. Dragon Kid and Jimmy Rave have a sweet exchange in the ring. Dragon Kid hits an awesome springboard moonsault variation for two on Yoshino. Tags become irrelevant, as Leonard says that this is a Dragon Gate rules match. Nana trips Saito and holds him for Yoshino, but Nana gets hit and Saito hits a German Suplex for two. Dragon Kid gets a rana on Yoshino but Shelley breaks it up. Kid goes up for the Dragon Rana but Shelley hits a super Ace Crusher. Rave and Yoshino hit stereo Ghanarea for two. The action is getting heated in this one. Rave hits Greetings from Ghana on Horiguchi to get the win at 16:13. That didn’t nearly measure up to the six-man tag from the night before (not that anyone would expect it to), but it was certainly entertaining, and it was interesting to watch Yoshino interact with the Embassy, and to see Rave and Shelley with these types of workers. That makes for an undefeated Embassy weekend.
Rating: ***½

Thunder Storm

BG says: Lance Storm talks about his retirement match against Chris Jericho and the two things that brought him out of retirement. The first thing was ROH, and the second was Bryan Danielson’s World Championship. He’s in better shape now than he’s ever been so that he can win the one title that’s eluded him, a World title.

JZ says: Lance Storm says that he though his match at ECW One Night Stand against Chris Jericho would be his last. He says that Danielson impressed him enough to come out of retirement, because he really wanted to win a World Title, something he has never done. That was a pretty good promo, especially for a guy who’s not exactly known for his promos.

MATCH #4: Four Corner Survival – AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Yang

BG says: You’ve got some of the biggest names in the company in this match and still nothing is on the line, rendering the match meaningless. ROH billed it as the final Joe/Daniels match, but then why even have the other two guys in there? Yang and Daniels start. The commentators try to play up the importance of Daniels mentioning that he might shake hands, but really the window of opportunity on that being an interesting angle closed about two years ago. Yang and Daniels fight to a stalemate so Yang tags to Joe. Joe starts to take over so Daniels desperately tags to Styles. They trade kicks in an exchange that Joe wins, so Styles sweeps his legs and tags to Daniels. Daniels uses his speed to take over and tags to Yang. He does the same as Daniels, but it’s easier now as Joe is pretty much fighting all three guys himself. Styles tags in and hits a kneedrop for 1. He goes for a springboard move but Joe catches him with a kick to the gut and tags to Yang. Yang controls with kicks and tags to Joe. Joe destroys Styles with kicks and knocks Daniels off the apron. Yang tags back in and continues to dominate Styles before forcing a tag to Daniels. Daniels struggles for an STO and gets tagged out by Yang. Yang does little before tagging to Joe. Styles hits the Pele kick and tags to Daniels. Daniels cleans house and hits a blue thunder bomb on Yang for 2. Styles hits them both with a springboard clothesline and then goes to dive out onto Joe on the floor but Yang shakes the top rope. Daniels and Yang clothesline each other down as Joe hits a dropkick on Styles on the floor. Yang dives out onto Joe and Daniels follows with an Arabian press. Daniels hits a beautiful reverse hurricanrana on Yang in the ring for 2. Joe runs in and cleans house on everyone. Daniels gets the Koji clutch on Joe but Styles breaks it up. Daniels and Styles try and fail to hit their finishers on each other in an awesome segment. Styles climbs the ropes but Joe catches him with a dropkick and the muscle buster for the win. This match was awesome. The focus shifted from Joe to Styles early on after everyone realized he was the easier target. When the match broke down we were treated with the kind of chaos that is almost impossible not to enjoy. This was one of the best four ways in a long time.
Rating: ***¾

JZ says: AJ has a ridiculously colored yellow vest on, and he looks like an idiot when he hangs it over his eyes. They show some clips of various matches these guys have had against each other, which is a nice touch. This match is all about ramification. Prazak and Leonard are pushing the “will Daniels shake hands” issue, which I couldn’t be less interested in. Yang and Daniels start off with a nice wrestling sequence. The crowd pops when Joe is tagged in. They love them some Joe versus Daniels. Styles and Joe have a kick battle. Everyone double teams Joe if they get a chance, because he’s Joe and all. He dominates everyone anyway, because he’s Joe and all. They all do some more fighting until Daniels hits a wicked top-rope reverse rana on Yang but it only gets two. Everyone starts going for finishers and there’s a lot of reversals. Except for when Samoa Joe goes for the Muscle Buster on AJ – there’s no reversal, just the three count and win for Joe at 18:29. That had some cool stuff in it, especially near the end, but it was still just a four-way with nothing on the line.
Rating: ***¼

Post Match

BG says: Joe gets on the microphone after the match and talks about making the ROH title a World Championship. And tonight in front of the largest ROH crowd ever he declares that he wants his title back. He calls out Bryan Danielson to accept his challenge. Danielson comes out as they show a clip from the Danielson/Joe match at Midnight Express Reunion. Danielson says that the title did more for Joe than he did for the title, and then he gets into the racial stereotyping and fat jokes. He takes a jab at Lance Storm and then rightfully calls himself the highest drawing champion in ROH history. At least I think it’s a rightful claim. At any rate Danielson accepts Joe’s challenge for some unknown future date. Great stuff from both guys here.

Chris Hero and Necro Butcher take the opportunity to attack Joe from behind. Adam Pearce tries to help out but Danielson distracts Joe and it all becomes too much for Pearce. This goes on forever before Claudio Castagnoli comes out. He tries to save but hits Pearce by mistake and gets shot to the floor. Jim Cornette comes out to check on him and gets slapped around. Whitmer tries to make the save but Hero goes after his bad ankle. Pearce tries to cover Whitmer but all seems lost for ROH here until the usual gang of nobodies chases the CZW boys away. Aside from the boring brawl in the crowd this was an effective way to make Hero and Necro look strong.

JZ says: Joe gets on the microphone and starts talking about his history in ROH, particularly with the World Championship. He says that he wants the title back, and challenges World Champion Bryan Danielson. Danielson comes out with a new “Bryan Danielson” t-shirt, which seems so very corporate of him as we see clips of their awesome match from Midnight Express Reunion back on October 2, 2004. The crowd is solidly behind Joe here. Danielson says that the ROH Title made Joe, not the other way around. He tries to start a “lose the weight Joe” chant. He quotes Lance Storm, his opponent for tonight. Danielson really starts heeling on everyone here, and it’s great. As he makes his way to the back, Chris Hero and Necro Butcher attack Joe, and Adam Pearce comes out as well. It’s a big brawl on the floor now. They fight in the crowd and it’s so dark you can’t even see anything. They get back in the ring and Claudio accidentally hits Pearce. He tires to hit Hero with a baseball bat, but Hero throws him to the outside and it looks like he hurt his knee. This leaves Cornette alone with Hero and Necro. Hero hits Cornette in the arm with a chair and they try to Pillman him, but BJ Whitmer comes out, ankle wrapped and all. Pearce tries to protect Whitmer but he gets swatted with a chair. I already forgot how Joe got taken out. Finally the rest of the locker room comes out (I see Ace Steel and a lot of students). As usual, this begs the question “what the hell were they waiting for?” But I do like that ROH is willing to make CZW look strong, which makes the feud better. It’s what WWE never understood about the Invasion.

Intermission

BG says: Dave Prazak is with the Embassy backstage. They’re excited about going undefeated throughout the weekend and they’re going to go for the tag titles. They joke about money, hookers and calamari while visibly disgusting Prazak.

JZ says: ROHWrestling.com sells the Straight Shootin’ Series, which features a lot of Jim Cornette. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Most of their Shoots are pretty good, but there are a few (Butch Reed, Ron Killings, Tom Prichard) that I could do without.

Dave Prazak is with Prince Nana, who looks to be in a jovial mood. And why shouldn’t he be, his Embassy was undefeated this weekend. Alex Shelley is excited about sex with hookers. He also loves money. What a scumbag. Nana says they’re going to win the Tag Team Titles.

MATCH #5: ROH Tag Team Title Match – Roderick Strong & Austin Aries vs. Blood Generation

BG says: Strong and Doi start. Strong grabs a wristlock but Doi reverses to his own. The fight it out on the mat and Strong comes up with a front facelock. Doi grabs a headlock but Strong tags to Aries. CIMA tags in and they go to the mat. CIMA puts on the head scissors and Aries escapes with the dropkick. Strong tags in and puts on a headlock. Aries makes a blind tag and hits a slingshot senton and an elbowdrop for 2. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Strong. Strong chops CIMA hard and hits a kneedrop for 2. Aries tags in and they hit the Hart Attack for 2. Strong tags in and fakes a chop to hit a forearm. He hits the Sick Kick in the corner and a very long delayed vertical suplex for 2. Aries tags in and hits a slingshot splash and an Asai moonsault for 2. He chops CIMA but is not satisfied with it. Strong tags in and shows him how it’s done. CIMA hits a hurricanrana into the turnbuckle and then drop toeholds Aries on his way to tagging out. Doi cleans house but walks into a back suplex from Strong. Blood Generation dropkicks Generation Next out of the ring and then hit suicide dives to the floor. Back in the ring Aries nose is bleeding badly. Doi hits him with Dai Bosou and tags to CIMA. CIMA hits a pair of double stomps to the face and stays on the nose, even wiping the blood on the referee. Strong takes offense and attacks him from behind. CIMA dropkicks Aries’ tailbone, driving his head into the turnbuckle. Doi tags in and blocks a blind charge. CIMA comes in and they hit a dropkick/German suplex combo. Doi hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. Aries cuts him off but gets hit with a running turnbuckle powerbomb. He clings to the ropes so as not to be pinned as he’s pretty much cashed out at this point. CIMA tags in and hits an elevated double stomp to the chest from the top. Aries comes back with the shinbreaker/back suplex combo and tags to Strong. Strong cleans house, hitting a leg lariat on CIMA and a dropkick on Doi. He runs Doi into a back elbow from Aries for 2. CIMA blocks the corner elbow and hits a double stomp on Strong. He hits the Perfect Driver on Strong for 2. He hits an Ace Crusher on Aries and goes for a lung blower but Strong cuts it off. Doi hits a big spinebuster on Strong and a release German suplex on the elevated Aries. Strong hits the release vertical suplex on Doi and goes for the half nelson backbreaker on CIMA. Aries tags in but gets crotched up top. CIMA hits Strong with a superkick and hits the Tokarev on Aries. He hits the Venus and the Iconoclasm. He climbs the ropes but the Mad Splash hits knees. Strong hits the gutbuster but Doi catches him with the Doi 555. Doi hits a kick to the face for 2 but Aries breaks it up with his own kick to the face. He hits a brainbuster but CIMA catches him with the Perfect Driver for 2. Strong and Aries hit a dropkick/powerbomb combo. Strong hits the half nelson backbreaker on CIMA and the Sick Kick on Doi allowing Aries to hit the 450 splash on CIMA for the win. They had to slow it down a bit to get the finish right, but this match made me miss the Dragon Gate guys already and I haven’t even finished watching the show. This gets all the points of a Dragon Gate spotfest plus extra credit for Aries’ great face-in-peril segment. CIMA gets on the microphone and puts over ROH and the tag champs after the match.
Rating: ****¼

JZ says: Blood Generation is represented by CIMA & Naruki Doi, and Masato Yoshino accompanies them to ringside. They earned this title shot by beating Aries, Strong, and Evans in a six-man tag team match two nights ago in Detroit. They do a feeling out process in the beginning, and start hitting each other hard almost right away. Roderick hits an impressive delayed vertical suplex, the move du jour lately in ROH. Aries suffers a broken nose early on, and Doi and CIMA smell the blood in the water, so to speak. I’m so glad I’ve never broken my nose. CIMA and Doi are just being mean to Aries here, though I can’t blame them, it is for the ROH Tag Team Titles and all, held by such luminous teams as Izzy & Dixie, The Carnage Crew, and The Backseat Boyz. I kid though, because I think Aries and Strong are great Tag Team Champions and are probably the best thing to ever happen to the belts. I do think they could have done more with BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs as champions, but the time for that has obviously come and gone. Aries finally makes the hot tag to Strong and he’s a house-a-fire. All four men get into the ring and start hitting big stuff and the crowd is just eating it up. Strong hits the half-nelson backbreaker and Aries connects with the 450 on CIMA to get the win and retain at 20:21. That was a stellar tag team match that only had a few little goofy spots (the missile dropkick / powerbomb combination from Aries and Strong looked real ugly) but the complaints are negligible. Blood Generation should rule wrestling. The crowd agrees with me and chants “please come back.”
Rating: ****

MATCH #6: ROH World Title Match – Bryan Danielson vs. Lance Storm

BG says: Aside from the obvious violence that would occur in the main event, it has been rumored that ROH management was nervous that Storm’s ring rust would lead to a disappointing match, thus keeping this from the tip top of the card. Let’s see if Storm can perform. This match was set up back at Steel Cage Warfare where Storm said if he were to ever come out of retirement it would be to face Danielson for the ROH World belt. Storm got the itch and signed one of Danielson’s contracts to get the shot. Danielson is pulling some great heel heat here.

They trade wristlocks to start. Danielson goes for a dropkick but Storm steps away. Storm gets a fireman’s carry into an armbar. Danielson powers him to the corner and smacks him. They fight it out on the mat where Storm gets a pin for 2. Danielson finds the dropkick he was looking for and then hits a kneedrop for 2. Storm hits a dropkick of his own and Danielson bails. Back in the ring they knuckle up and Storm dodges a monkey flip. Danielson takes him back to the mat and rams his knee into his head. Storm floats over and pins Danielson for 2. Danielson hits a European uppercut and back elbow for 2. Storm hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2 starts working over Danielson’s neck. Danielson comes back with a whole lot of moves that force him to get into the 5-count argument with the referee. Storm returns fire with the half crab but Danielson scrambles to the ropes and bails. Storm follows him out and rams him into the barricade. Back in the ring Storm hits a clothesline in the corner for 2. He goes to the second rope but Danielson knocks him over the top to the floor with a running forearm. He follows Storm out and rams him into the barricade. Back in the ring Danielson gets 2. He rams his knee into Storm’s back and hits a kneedrop before putting on a chinlock. Storm fights out but Danielson hits a chinlock for 2. Storm escapes so Danielson hits a clothesline. Storm hits a mule kick and they trade strikes. Danielson hits a backbreaker and stomps on Storm’s thighs. He puts on the Mexican surfboard and the switches up to a chinlock. They trade strikes again and Danielson goes to the eyes. Storm hits a leg lariat and a dropkick for 2. Danielson hits a snap suplex for 2. Storm hits an enziguiri and a back elbow. He hits a clothesline and a leg lariat for 2. He hits a tiger driver for 2. He hits a powerslam for 2. He goes for a hurricanrana but Danielson reverses to a powerbomb for 2. He puts on a bow and arrow lock but Storm fights out. Danielson goes for the Regalplex but Storm blocks. He goes for the chicken wing but Storm blocks. Storm hits a superkick for 2. He sets Danielson up top but Danielson fights away and hits a back superplex. They stand up there so long that it makes Storm look like an idiot for not trying to stop the move. It gets 2 at any rate. Danielson puts on the crossface chicken wing but Storm gets to the ropes. Danielson climbs the ropes but misses the diving headbutt. Storm hits the cradle piledriver for 2. He puts on the half crab and pulls Danielson to the center of the ring, making the crowd believe he could win the match. Danielson reverses it to a roll up for 2. Well, it worked against Strong. Danielson dodges a superkick and hits a roaring forearm. He hits the Regalplex for 2. He puts on the Cow Killer but Storm rolls through for 2. Danielson holds on and hits a tiger suplex for 2. He holds on further and Storm taps out. Storm managed to look threatening to the title about halfway through the match, which was something I didn’t think he’d be able to do. The finish was also very strong, making Storm’s ROH excursion a successful one.
Rating: ***½

JZ says: The crowd showers Storm with red and white streamers and “welcome back” chants. I’ve always liked Lance Storm, but he’s never been a favorite of mine or anything. Nevertheless I am looking forward to watching this match. They do some chain wrestling to start and Jimmy Bower invades the booth to blow Lance Storm and plug his Straight Shootin’ Series. I love how much of a heel Danielson can be, I wish the crowd would boo him all the time. Danielson’s chest is all bruised up from his match with Strong last night. It’s pretty sick looking. Storm looks pretty good here despite not wrestling since June of 2005, and it was about April of 2004 since he had wrestled before that. The crowd chants “you still got it,” which I would like to point out originated in TNA for Sting. ROH fans stealing from TNA fans, I love it. Prazak mentions that Storm signed one of Danielson’s open contracts, which makes me happy because I did not want to hear about how Storm’s past accomplishments earned him this shot. Storm hits a delayed vertical suplex, which we just saw Strong do in the last match. The crowd goes ape-shit when Storm locks on the half crab, but Danielson gets the ropes. Storm has a really ugly Tiger Driver. Storm gets a few near falls but Danielson comes back and locks on the Cross Face Chicken Wing, the same move he used to beat James Gibson for the title. Storm hits a Cradle Piledriver but it only gets two. He locks on the Canadian Maple Leaf and the crowd is buying the title change. Danielson gets a rollup out of that for a very close near fall. Storm sets up for a superkick but Danielson hits a roaring forearm and a Regal Plex for two. He goes for Cattle Mutilation but Storm gets a rollup for a sweet near fall. Tiger Suplex by the champion gets two. Back to the Cattle Mutilation and this time Storm taps out at 26:23 and Danielson retains. They could have maybe shaved five minutes or so, although Storm did seem to get more energized as the match went on. The crowd bought the title change several times, which helped a great deal. For a guy who hadn’t worked regularly in almost two years, Storm looked really good. I’d like to see a rematch. The crowd chants for Joe after the match, just to irritate Danielson. Both men do get a standing ovation however.
Rating: ***¾

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MATCH #7: Chicago Street Fight – Homicide vs. Colt Cabana

BG says: A music video of the Homicide/Cabana feud is shown. The video itself is neat but the music sounds like it came from the dramatic portion of a 3 Ninjas movie. Colt Cabana had Homicide on Good Times, Great Memories back at Dragon Gate Invasion. Cabana made a joke that didn’t sit right with Homicide, so Homicide attacked him in the parking lot after the show. In their first match against each other at Glory by Honor IV Homicide was disqualified for throwing a chair in Cabana’s face, and then Homicide had the Rottweilers attack him. Cabana responded by bringing in Steve Corino, which actually helped him out because Corino would seriously injure Homicide’s shoulder. Before that could happen Cabana insulted Homicide at Joe Vs. Kobashi by calling him “Konnan’s bitch.” Corino fled ROH, afraid of Homicide, leaving Cabana open to attacks and Homicide’s post-injury rage. Homicide vowed to kill Cabana, and proved that he would when he choked him with a coat hanger, poured rubbing alcohol on his wounds and tried to cut out his tongue with oversized scissors. The last straw was when the Rottweilers poured Drano down Cabana’s throat. Cabana realized that the feud was life or death, and got serious. At Dragon Gate Challenge Homicide gave Cabana a concussion by squashing his head between the legs of a ladder. He did the same thing, only more times, at Supercard of Honor. Cabana wants this feud over in Chicago, so we get the big finale right now.

Homicide tries to attack early but Cabana dodges him and chokes him with his ring jacket. He hits a back bodydrop and dumps Homicide to the floor. Back in the ring Cabana slugs him down. He hits a big boot and then dumps Homicide again. They brawl up the ramp and then go back to the ring. Homicide comes back with elbows and then goes outside to ram Cabana into the barricade. He smacks a chair across his back and tries to choke up with a coat hanger. Cabana grabs it away and chokes Homicide with it. Homicide tosses Cabana to the floor to escape and then follows him out with his tope. Cabana grabs a ladder and gets back into the ring. He hits an Alabamaslam and then catapults Homicide into the ladder. He hits a splash on the ladder for 2. Homicide comes back with a tornado DDT onto the ladder for 2. Back on the floor Homicide rams Cabana into the post and J-Train places him on a table. Homicide climbs to the top rope and puts Cabana through the table with a big splash. Smokes rolls Cabana into the ring where Homicide gets 2. Homicide gets a barbed wire board from under the ring and puts it in the ring. Cabana tries to come back but Homicide throws the ladder at him. He sets it up in the corner but gets suplexed onto it. Cabana takes off Homicide’s jersey and tries to slam him onto the barbed wire but Homicide blocks and hits a side Russian legsweep. Cabana tries to rub Homicide’s face in the barbed wire but Homicide bites his arm to block. Cabana eggs Homicide on to slug him harder and harder and then fires back with wild shots. He pulls the fork out of Homicide’s boot and dodges a dropkick to jab him with it. Homicide bleeds as Cabana goes to town on his forehead. He puts the blood on his face like war paint and as it pours out of Homicide’s head. Homicide dumps him to the floor and pulls Drano out from under the ring. Back in the ring Cabana hits a hanging neckbreaker. He gets some rubbing alcohol and throws it in Homicide’s face. Homicide flips out and bails. Back in the ring Cabana goes for the Colt 45. Homicide blocks and goes low. He tosses a chair into the ring and calls for the fans to do the same leading to Chair Riot #2 in Chicago. Both Homicide and Cabana get nailed with chairs. Cabana sets Homicide up top and superplexes him onto the chairs for 2. He goes for another but Homicide goes low and hits the Pepsi Plunge for 2. Homicide hits the lariat for 2. He holds Cabana for J-Train clothesline but Cabana moves and Homicide gets nailed. Cabana hits a capture suplex and then ties Smokes to the ropes with his wrist tape. He brings a table into the ring and sets it up over the barbed wire board. Homicide throws a chair at Cabana and sets him up top but Cabana comes back with a superbomb through the table onto the barbed wire for 2. He hits a lariat for 2. He hits the Colt 45 and begs Homicide to stay down. Homicide does and Cabana picks up the win. The brawl was pretty intense and it tied up most of the loose ends from the feud. Unfortunately the big spots near the end took a while to set up and chair shots were pretty much destroyed from a selling standpoint. The emotion was certainly in this match, and the feud was blown off in appropriate fashion.
Rating: ****

After the match Smokes and Ricky Reyes beat Cabana down and try to hang him from the ropes with a noose. Homicide gets up and tells them to so that he can handle it. He gets on the microphone and talks about trying to kill Cabana for six months and then tells Smokes and Reyes to give him the respect of an ROH legend. He throws down his chair and tells Cabana he respects him before giving him a handshake and a hug. I don’t care what anyone says; this face turn by Homicide was well executed.

JZ says: The video package for this feud is excellent. It’s been going on since the end of August, and tonight is the big final blow off. Brad has a really good rundown of the feud, but I want to include all of the matches from this feud and what I rated them –

– Glory by Honor IV: Cabana beat Homicide by disqualification (**½)
– Enter the Dragon: Cabana & Steve Corino beat Homicide & Low Ki (**¾)
– A Night of Tribute: Homicide beat Cabana (***½)
– Fourth Anniversary Show: Homicide beat Cabana in a Ghetto Fight (***½)
– Dragon Gate Challenge: Homicide beat Cabana in a falls-count-anywhere match (*½)

They also had many, many confrontations in this time span, but this is just the sixth time they have been opposite the ring from each other in a sanctioned match. Cabana has a new mix for his theme music, but he’s not his usual dancing self, and given all that Homicide has done to him it’s understandable. This is only the second ever Chicago Street Fight in ROH, after the CM Punk & Ace Steel versus Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer brawl from Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2. It’s a big brawl all over the building to start, with Homicide mostly having control. They set up a table at ringside and try to throw each other through it, but both men resist. Cabana busts out the ladder, which has been his enemy the last two nights. Homicide eats the ladder first, but he soon hits a wicked tornado DDT onto it. That looked sick. Homicide hits a splash off the top to the floor through the table. Both men are down and in pain. Homicide pulls out the barbed wire board. They do some more sick stuff to each other and Cabana pulls the fork out of Homicide’s boot and jabs him in the head with it. Homicide grabs a bottle of Draino from under the ring but Cabana shows no fear. The commentators keep hammering home the point about Cabana finding peace through the end of this feud. Cabana gets rubbing alcohol and throws it in Homicide’s eyes. With all the blood on Homicide’s face that’s pretty nasty. Homicide’s selling of this is awesome, much better than Smokes trying to sell a single punch from Cabana. Homicide begs off, but Cabana is having none of that. Homicide instigates the second chair riot in ROH history. I love the sound the chairs make when they start piling up on each other. Cabana actually gets drilled in the face with a flying chair, and he sells it. The ring is just filled with chairs now. Cabana hits a big superplex onto the chairs. That was awesome. Cabana goes up for another superplex but Homicide reverses it into one of the grossest Pepsi Plunge’s I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Punk execute some ugly ones. Lariat by Homicide gets just two. Homicide calls Smokes into the ring, but he accidentally hits Homicide. I really don’t see Smokes as being necessary here. Cabana ties him to the ropes using his wrist tape. Cabana hits a Super-bomb through a table onto barbed wire, a lariat, and the Colt 45, literally pleading out loud to let this be the end and it is at 26:34. That was about as good of a brawl that could be had and both guys absorbed a ridiculous amount of punishment. That was a great way to blow off the feud. After the match the crowd is chanting Cabana’s name, and he looks like he might even be crying. Smokes and Reyes attack Cabana and bring out the noose. The crowd claps along to the sound of Punk’s music for some reason. Homicide tells his Rottweilers to back off. He offers Cabana his hand, telling Cabana that he’s sorry. They shake hands and hug, and Homicide puts Cabana over big. I think they could have shaken hands without Homicide saying that he was “sorry.” Just earning the respect should have been enough. Either way that was an awesome feud and it was very satisfying in the end, which is something ROH does better than any other company.
Rating: ****¼

Post Show

BG says: Bryan Danielson and ROH owner Cary Silkin are at the ROH wrestling school. Before we can find out what they’re doing the screen fades to black. TO BE CONCLUDED. Okay, it said TO BE CONTINUED but we all know that the next DVD is the last in the Milestone Series.

JZ says: No interviews or anything, but we get a short clip of Bryan Danielson talking to some old bald guy, but we don’t get to find out what they’re talking about yet.

TO BE CONTINUED…

MVP

BG says: Austin Aries. He put the icing on the cake of a fantastic tag team match and continues to make the tag team titles seem worthwhile. Homicide and Cabana get honorable mention for brutalizing each other in the main event.

JZ says: Colt Cabana, for shouting “please, please, please” when making the final pin on Homicide, and for the feud as a whole. Homicide gets an honorable mention for this feud and match too.

THE FOLLOWING MATCH IS NOT ON THIS DVD

BONUS MATCH: Intercontinental Title Match – Lance Storm vs. Edge, WWF Summerslam, 8.19.01

BG says: Storm grabs a headlock but runs into a flapjack. Edge hits a dropkick and clotheslines Storm to the floor. He knocks Storm’s head into the apron and rolls him back into the ring. He hits a crossbody from the top for 2. Storm hangs Edge up on the top rope and then knocks him into the barricade. Back in the ring Storm gets in Edge’s face and slaps him around. He hits a knee to the gut for 2. Edge gets a roll up for 2. Storm pancakes him for 2. Edge misses a dropkick and Storm goes for the half crab. Edge blocks and gets a roll up for 2. Storm hits another knee to the gut for 2. He hits a Finley roll for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits a mule kick. He hits a senton for 2. He puts on an abdominal stretch but then gets caught coming off the top rope with a powerslam. Edge hits a series of clotheslines and a back bodydrop. He hits a leg lariat for 2. Storm hits a jawbreaker but Edge comes back with the Edge-O-Matic for 2. He reverses a hurricanrana to a sit-out powerbomb for 2. Storm locks in the half crab but Edge gets to the ropes. He puts on a half crab of his own but Storm uses the referee to escape. Christian runs out and tries to spear Storm but hits Edge by mistake. Storm superkicks Christian and then pins Edge for 2. Edge blocks a superkick and hits the implant DDT for win and the title moments later. Storm only had a handful of memorable matches in the WWF, and this was right up at the top of the list along with his match on Raw against Rob Van Dam.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: It’s very strange to hear Paul Heyman doing commentary alongside Jim Ross. Storm does not enjoy offbeat shenanigans. He tries to explain why, but Edge’s music disagrees with him. It’s also strange to hear the letters “WWF” uttered in order without any bleeping. This is one of the few memorable matches Storm had during his run with WWF/E. Storm dominates Edge in the early going. He had won the title from Albert of all people about a month before this show. The crowd is really hot for this one. This was soon after Edge won the King of the Ring and was getting his initial singles push. Edge finally gains control and hits some of his high impact offense but Storm is able to kick out of all his moves. I love that Storm goes for a hurricanrana and Edge powerbombs him. You know, because Storm executed a lot of hurricanranas in his day. Storm puts on the half Boston Crab in the center of the ring. Christian comes out and accidentally spears Edge and takes a superkick from Storm for his troubles. Edge kicks out though. An awesome finishing sequence leads to Edge getting the Implant DDT for the win at 11:16 and Edge wins his second Intercontinental Title. Christian congratulates his brother. The match was really good and showed that Edge was going to be a major player in the company in the years to come.
Rating: ***½

You can pick up this show, as well as all other ROH shows at ROH Wrestling Dot Com.

Coming soon will be our review of THE 100TH SHOW!

Have any thoughts, comments, or concerns? Like how we’re doing our reviews? Let us know!

E-mail Brad at [email protected]
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The 411: BG says: While I don’t quite think this is the best ROH show ever as it is being hyped, it is right up there in contention for second best show ever. The show had only one match below *** and two matches at **** or more. There’s really something for everyone here and I can’t think of a better way for a wrestling fan to spend three and a half hours. JZ says: I don’t think this tops Manhattan Mayhem or even some of the other shows in the Milestone Series, this is no doubt an awesome show. The last three matches delivered in a big way, and the undercard had some good and significant stuff on it. It’s another easy recommendation here.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]