ROH – Generation Now DVD Review

ROH – GENERATION NOW – CLEVELAND, OH – 7.29.06

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Introduction

BG says: ROH reminds you to watch the ROH Video Recap on the main menu before watching the event. In it are clips from the Cage of Death match at Death Before Dishonor IV. Post match BJ Whitmer questions how much Necro Butcher has left in his tank, and he promises to take the remainder in a no-rope barbed wire match in Dayton. The post-match angle from Cage of Death is shown; Homicide asks for a match against Steve Corino, a World title match and the reinstatement of Low Ki. Cornette refuses to grant the third and calls Homicide gay. Homicide retaliates and gets beaten down by Adam Pearce, JJ Dillon and Cornette. Cameras caught up with Cornette after the match and he rants about the disrespect that Homicide showed him. He expected it from Homicide but not from the ROH fans. He calls Homicide gay again for asking for a favor for Low Ki, the man who knocked out his tooth. He’s going to make Homicide’s ROH career miserable. Also in the video is hype for a one-on-one match between Christian Cage and Christopher Daniels and the Scoopster finding Colt Cabana shacked up in a rockin’ car with a mystery friend. Luckily the Crists keep that pervert Scoopster from digging any deeper.

Samoa Joe takes a break from pumping iron to make fun of Asian people and taunt Bryan Danielson. He’s going to show Danielson later in the show that his knee is as strong as ever.

Nigel McGuinness is excited about being the Pure champion for over a year. Last time ROH ran through Cleveland he beat Bryan Danielson and tonight he gets to face him with only the ROH World Championship on the line.

JZ says: Samoa Joe is in the gym lifting weights, preparing for his World Title shot at Bryan Danielson on August 5. He says he’ll be keeping an eye on Danielson’s match against ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness tonight.

Speaking of the Pure Champion, there he is with some swanky new sunglasses. He says he’s the best champion in Ring of Honor, and he will prove that tonight when he unifies the Pure and World titles.

MATCH #1: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Delirious

BG says: Delirious yells at Claudio’s hand rather than shake it. Claudio grabs a wristlock but Delirious uses his unorthodox methods to reverse to a roll up for 1. Claudio puts on a headlock but Delirious scoots out. He screams in Claudio’s ears but misses Shadows over Hell. Claudio dropkicks the knee and rams it into the top turnbuckle. He piledrives the knee to the mat for 2. That was awesome. Delirious rolls him up for 2 but Claudio stays on the knee. Delirious hits an enziguiri but his knee remains a weak point. Claudio rams the knee into the post for 2. He swings Delirious by his knee and puts on a half crab. Delirious hits a chinbreaker and a hurricanrana He hits the Panic Attack and levels Claudio with a forearm. Claudio goes back to the knee but misses a European uppercut in the corner. Delirious unloads with the Neverending Story clotheslines and a bulldog for 2. He puts on the cobra stretch but Claudio gets to the ropes. Claudio sets Delirious up top but Delirious fights him off. Claudio blocks Shadows over Hell with a European uppercut and puts on the Neutralizer. Delirious gets to the ropes and gets a fluke roll up for the win. The finish was pretty lousy, showing that Delirious could win without actually making him look better than Claudio. Still, the rest of the match was good fun with some unique offense from both men.
Rating: **½

JZ says: No handshake for these two, as the bell rings and Delirious takes laps, as per usual. Delirious tries shenanigans, but Claudio grabs onto an armbar and the match is underway. Delirious uses his unorthodox style to confuse Claudio in the early going. Jimmy Bower invades the booth to talk about the Samoa Joe versus Bryan Danielson match coming up. The lights keep flashing off and back on every so often, it’s pretty weird. The masked man continues to try and weird Claudio out, but Claudio remains undaunted. Delirious hurts his knee trying Shadows over Hell, and Claudio goes right to work on it. Delirious tries to fight back but is unable to do so. He finally does come back with a headscissors and hits the Panic Attack, making sure to use his good knee. A series of forearms and chops knocks Claudio down. The Roots Clotheslines followed by a bulldog gets two. Cobra Stretch attempt is reversed by Claudio, but Delirious reverses that and cinches on the hold. Claudio reaches the ropes. He sets Delirious on top, and Delirious goes for Shadows over Hell but eats a European Uppercut instead. Claudio puts on the stretch muffler but Delirious reaches the ropes. A quick rollup by Delirious follows and that’s enough to get the win at 11:42. That was a fun opener and a good showing for both guys.
Rating: ***

MATCH #2: Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro vs. Colt Cabana & Ace Steel

BG says: Leave it to Steel not to know when to let a short-term gimmick die as he’s still clinging to the cowbell like it’s the only thing keeping him over. Wait, it IS the only thing keeping him over! Oh, and for the people who were offended by my remark about wishing death upon Ace Steel; yes it was a mean joke, no I don’t actually hope that he dies and no I’m not the least bit sorry I made said joke. If you couldn’t figure out that it was a way to make a point about how stupid Steel’s catchphrase is then I don’t know what else to say. Larry got the joke. I blame the schools. Moving on.

Human shield Sal Rinauro gets pegged with toilet paper before the match. The match takes forever to get started. Rave kicks things off with a headlock on Steel. Not much happens for a while until Rave spits on Steel. How I envy Jimmy Rave right now. Steel hits a backdrop and a clothesline. He hits another and tosses Rave to the floor. Sal pulls Rave out of harms way when Steel goes for a dive. Sal and Cabana tag in and Cabana grabs a headlock. Sal puts on a wristlock but Cabana reverses to an anklelock. Rave tags in and gets dominated by the whirlwind that is Cabana. Steel tags in and works over Rave’s arm. Cabana and Steel switch illegally to frustrate their opponents. Everyone steps over Rave while running around the ring, including Sal who gets slapped for his mistake. Sal tags in and cleans house. What is with the reversal of face/heel roles here? Rave tags in and distracts the referee, allowing for a triple baseball slide on Steel for 2. That’s more like it. Steel hits a big chop and tags to Cabana. Cabana hits an Asai moonsault on Sal forces Rave to slug Sal down. He hits a tornado suplex on Sal for 2. Steel hits a scary back suplex on Rave. He hits a dropkick in the corner and Cabana follows with the Flying Asshole. Sal hits a superkick and Rave hits a spear for 2. Steel hits Rave with the cowbell but Cabana gets nailed with a springboard kick to give the Embassy the win. A lot of this was played for comedy so all the silliness is fine, but this was all kinds of disjointed.
Rating: **¼

JZ says: I saw quite the uproar of Brad and I’s (mostly Brad’s) comments about Ace Steel in our last review. I think it’s hilarious that these people get all uppity about what we say, yet the reaction to Zach Gowen coming in was greeted with a lot of negativity. Judging by the attendance in Detroit that night, not that many people actually saw the match, but they shit on Gowen anyway. Now, I’ve seen every ROH show, which means I’ve seen at least 30 Ace Steel matches, which is more than enough time for me to form an opinion on him. As far as Brad and I being too cynical because we want to look “cool” or whatever, believe me, the last thing I care about being is “cool” to people on the ROH board. There are some good people on there, and I appreciate all the people that stood up for us (Gregh, Syxx, and HUSSMAN in particular), who understand that we’re just two guys that review every ROH show and call it the way we see it.

Sal tries doing some goofy dance, so Daizee Haze sets him straight. Prince Nana is once again absent, which is greatly upsetting to me. I do like how Haze and Rave abuse Rinauro though, so I guess I’ll live. Steel has the cowbell with him, and if that’s a reference to the Will Ferrell Saturday Night Live skit from like 2001, that’s pretty fucking lame. Cabana abuses Rinauro with toilet paper, and even threatens Daizee Haze. Steel and Rave start it out, as Prazak mentions that Bryan Danielson is standing by and will explain his Cage of Death actions after this match. Thanks Artie! Rave angers Steel, so he unloads on him. He goes for a dive but Rinauro saves the Crown Jewel. Rinauro is tagged in, and so is Cabana. They do some comedy spots with Cabana getting the better of Rinauro of course. Rave tags back in and the Saints double team him. Steel goes to work on the arm, and the Saints continue to embarrass Rinauro. I don’t believe the Embassy has gotten in a single move so far. Just as I type that the Embassy uses chicanery to take advantage of Steel. They hit their triple baseball slide dropkick on Steel in the corner, and that gets two. By the way, Prince Nana is not here due to the current political problems in Ghana. Cabana makes the hot tag and hits an awesome quebrada on Rinauro. Heel miscommunication leads to Rinauro getting slapped in the face by Rave and clotheslined by Cabana. It’s broken down now with everyone in the ring. Daizee distracts the referee and gives Rave a foreign object, so Steel sneaks in the ring and uses the cowbell. Haze runs in and gets tossed out by Steel, but then Rinauro hits a springboard spinning kick and Rave rolls Cabana up to get the win at 14:03. That was one of the most one-sided tag team matches I’ve seen in ROH in a long, long time. Rave appears to be busted open pretty bad, but there’s no good camera shot of it.
Rating: **

Fight of the Century

BG says: It’s time for Bryan Danielson to explain his actions from the Cage of Death match. He bleeds ROH, but he had to act in his own interests for once. He had to take Samoa Joe down a peg to show everyone that he won’t kill him in their title match. On a related note he’s not going to let Nigel unify the titles tonight. And after he beats Nigel and becomes the number one contender to the Pure title he’ll unify the belts himself.

JZ says: Bryan Danielson is here to talk about his actions at Cage of Death. Jim Cornette and fans were calling Danielson a traitor, but he says he bleeds Ring of Honor. He goes off on a cool rant about socialism and capitalism, and beating Samoa Joe. He also speaks on Nigel McGuinness, and says that he will be the one to unify the belts, not McGuinness.

MATCH #3: Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs

BG says: Lacey comes out to complain that she can’t find Jimmy Jacobs anywhere in the building. She says something nasty to him before the lights go out and his music hits. Jacobs appears on the balcony and sings The Ballad of Lacey to Lacey. It’s moments like this that make me wish ROH had a better audio system. Lacey is unfazed by the song, and so is Jay Briscoe who comes out for his match.

Jay gets a front facelock but Jacobs quickly gets to the ropes. He goes for the Contra Code but Jay blocks. Jacobs blocks the Jay Driller and bails. Back in the ring Jay hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a back elbow for 2. He puts on a chinlock but gets hit with the satellite head scissors takedown. Jacobs goes to the eyes and dumps Jay to the floor. He follows him out with a suicide dive and rolls him back into the ring. He dropkicks Jay’s head against the post for 2. He hits a seated dropkick for 2. He hits a spear for 2. He hits four double stomps and an elbowdrop for 2. He climbs the ropes and hits a missile headbutt for 2. Jay hits a big boot and Jacobs falls to the floor. Jay rams him headfirst into the barricade (with Jacobs helpfully running with his head down) and Mark takes a cheap shot before rolling him back into the ring. Jay hits a pancake and a neckbreaker for 2. He hits a running forearm and an over-the-shoulder suplex for 2. He hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. He misses a legdrop off the top and Jacobs hits a fisherman neckbreaker for 2. He goes for a DVD but Jay blocks and hits a DVD of his own for 2. He sets Jacobs up top but Jacobs fights him off and hits the senton for 2. He goes for the Contra Code but Jay counters to a Jay Driller attempt. Jacobs blocks and gets a roll up for 2. Jay blocks another attempt at the Contra Code and hits the Jay Driller for the win. Very solid midcard match that reminded me a lot of Jay’s early ROH matches.
Rating: ***

Jay gets on the microphone and promises that the Briscoes will win the tag team titles again before Mark calls out Homicide for their match.

JZ says: Lacey comes out to the ring, sans Jimmy Jacobs. Lacey makes some vaguely insulting remarks toward the crowd. As usual, the sound is terrible so it’s hard to hear what she’s saying. Her screechy voice certainly doesn’t help matters. She can’t find Jimmy Jacobs, but all of a sudden his music starts to play. The spotlight finds him up in the balcony to deliver a live rendition of “The Ballad of Lacey.” That was just about the best entrance I’ve ever seen. Then the Briscoes come out, and jeez these guys are scary looking. The crowd wants to see Jay do mean things to Jacobs. They mat wrestle to start. Jacobs goes for the Contra Code early, and Briscoe goes for the Jay Driller, which leads to a chase outside the ring. Back in the ring Briscoe hits a nice dropkick and goes to work. Hey, both of these guys are two-time ROH Tag Team Champions. Jacobs comes back with the swinging headscissors. Dropkick to the head and Jacobs is in control now. Briscoe is soon back on offense, just overpowering the smaller Jacobs. So Jacobs does what any good smaller guy would do – pokes Briscoe in the eyes and throws him to the floor. He hits a nice dive and then hits the dropkick to the head against the ringpost. Back in the ring Jacobs hits the multiple double stomps for a two count. The missile headbutt gets two. Jay comes back with a mafia kick that sends him to the floor. Jay tosses Jacobs into the barricades twice, and Mark takes the chance to cheap shot Jacobs and sends him back into the ring. Jay hits a gourdbuster and a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. He continues to dominate and gets another near fall. Bodyslam by Jay and he goes up to the top rope and tries a guillotine legdrop but nobody’s home. Jacobs hits a few strikes and a nice fisherman neckbreaker into a small package that gets two. He stops to tell Lacey he loves her. Jay fights back and executes an awesome press slam into a Death Valley Driver for a very near fall. He sets Jacobs up on the top rope and sets up for a Jay Driller, but it’s blocked. Jacobs hits the back senton for two, and then goes for the Contra Code. That gets reversed to a Jay Driller, which gets reversed to a jackknife pin for two. Another Contra Code attempt leads to the Jay Driller for real, and that’s all at 12:18. That was a fun match between two guys who I don’t think had ever worked together before. Jay Briscoe looked awesome in winning, but Jacobs hung right there with him and looked good losing.
Rating: ***½

The Briscoes get on the microphone to say something, but the sound is so bad I can barely make it out. I think I hear something about Tag Team Titles. Mark then calls out Homicide for their scheduled match.

MATCH #4: Mark Briscoe vs. Homicide

BG says: Mark attacks Homicide from behind with a springboard dropkick before the bell. He hits a crossbody and a belly-to-belly suplex. He shoulder tackles Homicide to the floor but a huge dive only hits the floor. That was sick. Back in the ring Homicide hits a back elbow for 2. He hits an overhead suplex for 2. Mark sets him up top but gets brought down with a Manhattan drop. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher for 2. Mark hits a second rope forearm and a brainbuster for 2. He puts on the Mark Nulty Special but Homicide gets to the ropes. He hits a bodyslam and Jay chokes Homicide on the second rope. Mark legdrops Homicide over the second rope for 2. Homicide slugs Mark’s chest and follows him to the floor with a tope suicida. The force knocks both men over the barricade where Homicide hits Mark with a chair to the face. Back in the ring Homicide hits the Three Amigos into a falcon arrow. He climbs the ropes and hits a diving headbutt for 2. He hits an exploder for 2. He hits a back heel kick but runs into a head and arm suplex for 2. Mark dropped him right on his head there. Homicide crotches Mark up top and hits a butterfly superplex for 2. They block each other’s finishers and Mark hits a leg lariat. He misses a crossbody and Homicide hits the lariat for the win. It bugs me when the referee sees interference and foreign objects and does nothing about it in matches that have disqualifications. The match was decent enough otherwise.
Rating: **¾

The Briscoes beat Homicide down after the match. BJ Whitmer comes out to check on Homicide after the fact.

JZ says: The match starts off hot with some brawling. Mark knocks Homicide to the floor and goes for a dive but Homicide moves and Mark hits the floor with a sickening thud. Mark eats the barricade and Homicide puts the boots to him. Back in the ring and Homicide is still in control. Ace Crusher gets two on Mark. Briscoe fights back and hits a brainbuster for two. Mark distracts the referee, allowing Jay to get a few shots in. Back outside the ring and Homicide hits a really sick looking Tope Con Hilo. Back in the ring Homicide hits the Three Amigos. He goes up top and hits a diving headbutt for two. Mark comes back with a suplex and he goes up top for the shooting star. He gets knocked down and Homicide goes for the Cop Killa. Mark reverses and goes for the Cutthroat Driver, but that gets blocked, and Homicide goes for the Lariat but that gets blocked and Mark hits a spin kick. Seconds later Homicide does hit the Lariat and that is all at 9:02. That was surprisingly short but they kicked the crap out of each other in that time. It didn’t get much of a chance to develop, but I get the feeling Homicide and the Briscoe Brothers may wrestle each other a few more times in the upcoming months. Jay runs in to attack right after the bell. The Briscoes leave, and then BJ Whitmer comes out to help Homicide. He’s a little late.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #5: Generation Next’s Last Stand – Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans & Matt Sydal vs. Davey Richards, Jerrelle Clark & Irish Airborne

BG says: A nice little music video documents the history of Generation Next before the next match, which will be the last time these four guys wrestle together using that name.

This is under Dragon Gate/scrambled egg rules. That means no tags are necessary as long as the legal man rolls out of the ring. I watched this match once before and I know that trying to do play by play for it is an exercise in futility, so I’m not going to try. Clark only belongs in the Generation Now group (which is how I’m going to refer to them) as it relates to how much time he’s spent in ROH, as he’s the oldest guy in the entire match (and one of the oldest in the company) and at least as experienced as everyone else. Generation Now attacks before the bell. Richards gets the first near fall on Strong early on with a roll up. Dave Crist and Sydal take turns trading head scissors takedowns. Evans and Clark avoid each other’s offense until Clark sort of hits a midair kick. Jake Crist falls into Aries’ dropkick trap and then gets destroyed by Aries and Sydal. Evans shows off his improved striking to further damage Jake. Jake gets his knees up on the double stomp/standing moonsault combo to shift the momentum to his team’s advantage. Richards slows things down with strikes and submissions on Evans. Dave Crist flips around senselessly before hitting a moonsault and allowing Evans to tag out. Sydal is the first to hit a finisher with the pumphandle piledriver on Jake for 2. Storng and Sydal do some nice double-teaming on Jake for 2. Aries takes out the Irish Airborne single handedly but Clark stops his momentum. Generation Next beats on Richards in the corner for 2. Strong, Aries and Sydal decimate Dave for 2. They try to do the same to Richards but he fights back. Strong hits a tiger driver on Dave but Richards breaks it up. Evans hits a springboard spinning back elbow on Richards and Clark to give Generation Next the advantage. Evans and Clark hit simultaneous 630 sentons on Aries and Jake just before Sydal and Richards hit simultaneous shooting star presses on Dave Crist and Strong. Clark and Richards hit a doomsday blockbuster on Evans for 2. Aries and Richards trade explosive kicks until Aries hits a shinbreaker and a back elbow. Richards comes back with a lariat on Aries and a suicide dive on Strong. Sydal dives out onto Richards, Clark dives onto Sydal, Aries dives onto Clark, the Crists follow with stereo dives and Evans can’t finish it off because Richards sneaks back in and hits him with a powerbomb and the D.R. Driver II for the win.

It’s interesting that Generation Next evolved in a way opposite the rest of the company. ROH has gradually moved away from the spotty scrambles to more technical and longer matches, as seen by Danielson’s title reign consisting of long matches and upcoming hour draws. Generation Next on the other hand has fully embraced the Dragon Gate highflying style. The eight-man tag at Generation Next went over 45 minutes and featured standards tags and heel mistreating of the rules, while this match was less than half as long and moved at a frenzied pace. That’s not a knock against the match I just found it interesting. This match actually reminded me less of the Dragon Gate matches from earlier in the year and more of the earlier ROH scramble matches (what with spots like the four post dive), but with much more talented wrestlers. I have to say though that I liked this match as much as the first Generation Next match for different reasons, but just like the original I thought this had a fantastic finish that FINALLY gave a purpose to the “everyone dives onto everyone” spot.
Rating: ****

After the match Generation Next get their final standing ovation and celebrate together for the last time. After they leave the Briscoes come out and simulate wiping themselves with Generation Next T-shirts. The former Generation Next run back out and take chase them to the ramp where Homicide sneaks up from behind and nails them with a chair. Jay actually gets busted open as a result. Aries cuts a self-congratulatory promo to cap off the segment.

JZ says: The video package for this match is cool, as it shows Generation Next’s history. It’s hard not to notice how cool the group looked in the beginning, and how nerdy they became when Sydal joined up. In a nice touch, Generation Next comes out to their old theme music. This is the last time the name Generation Next will be used, by the way. This will be held under Dragon Gate rules, since all four of Generation Next just got back from there, as did referee Jason Harding and ring announcer Bobby Cruise. Strong and Richards start off inside the ring and the action is going at a really fast pace all around. I can’t possibly keep up typing with all of this. Jimmy Bower comes on to explain that the name Generation Next will no longer be used, but all four men will obviously still be around. He gives a brief history of the group, which was started by Alex Shelley in May of 2004. The only substitutions were when Shelley was kicked out of the group and Sydal was added about seven months later. Everyone pretty much gets a chance to get in the ring with everyone, and the action barely slows down for a minute. The crowd is pretty impressed with Davey Richards. Generation Next uses their superior double teaming to maintain the advantage on Jake Crist. Jerrelle Clark does some cool stuff to Sydal. A few minutes later Sydal hilariously no sells a Richards’ kick to the face. Sorry, there’s so much going on that I’m picking and choosing what I comment on. A big spot gets set up with Clark and Evans hitting simultaneous 630s and Richards and Sydal hit simultaneous shooting star presses. The referee of course counts four pairs of shoulders down, even if that makes no sense. Richards and Aries exchange vicious strikes in the center of the ring. Everyone starts hitting dives, and when Evans goes for his Richards intercepts him and hits that nasty butterfly brainbuster and that is all at 18:05. They sure packed a hell of a lot into a short amount of time. The crowd chants “that was awesome,” which the ROHbots always hilariously blame on the “TNA fans.” If that’s the case, there are a lot of TNA fans in attendance. Now I’m sure people will have a fit with what I’m about to write, but I do want to explain why I’m not giving this match four stars. They were going for the same feel as the original Generation Next match, which is cool, but of the Generation Now team, only Richards is on every show and has been given any kind of substantial push. As a matter of fact, Jerrelle Clark hasn’t even been booked since this show. Also, Richards pinned Evans to win the match, and as much as I like Jack Evans, everyone has gone over him, so it didn’t have nearly the impact that going over Aries or Strong would have. That being said, it’s still a really cool match and I did enjoy it. It’s just not perfect.
Rating: ***¾

The Briscoe Brothers get in the ring and befoul some Generation Next t-shirts. This makes Generation Next angry, so they attack the Briscoes 4-on-2, and when their backs are turned, Homicide levels them with a steel chair. That’s 5-on-2, and that’s just unfair. Homicide being on the same page (sort of) as the former Generation Next group is a bit of an odd sight. Austin Aries gets on the microphone and I still struggle to hear what he’s saying. With all the upgrades ROH has undergone to improve their production, a better sound system should be next.

Intermission

BG says: Samoa Joe shows us how strong his knee is by doing leg presses. He says he’s been doing that since the day after Cage of Death. He wants Danielson to keep thinking that his knee is weak because he’s prepared to take the title from him.

Dave Prazak asks Lacey what she thought about Jacobs’ performance. She ignores the question and complains that Jacobs lost his match. Jacobs confronts her about the rumors of her being in the car with Colt Cabana, but she ignores that too and threatens to stop being his manager if he keeps losing.

JZ says: Samoa Joe is in the gym, working out in preparation for the Fight of the Century. He promises that he is ready to take the title from Bryan Danielson.

Dave Prazak is with Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey. Prazak and Jacobs want to talk about the live performance, but Lacey is obsessing over the fact that Jacobs lost the match. He mentions the car-a-rockin with Colt Cabana rumors, and she storms off. Jimmy whining “Daaave” at the end is pretty funny.

MATCH #6: Christian Cage vs. Christopher Daniels

BG says: Cage pinned Daniels in his ROH debut in a tag match back at How We Roll. Daniels challenged him to a singles rematch in an ROH Video Recap so here we are. Daniels gushes over Cage in a pre-match promo. The fans become distracting when someone starts chanting “USA,” but I can’t entirely blame them because promos like these are useless and Daniels cuts them all the time. Daniels asks Cage to bring back the five second pose. Cage takes forever but eventually agrees and pretends to be Daniels’ TNA tag team partner AJ Styles. Oh, yeah they’re having a match.

They lock up and fight to the corner. Cage grabs a hammerlock but Daniels reverses to his own. Cage counters to an armbar but Daniels reverses to a wristlock. They show each other how they roll but the crowd doesn’t react as favorably to it as they did at How We Roll. Cage grabs a headlock and hits a shoulder tackle for 2. Daniels comes back with a leg lariat for 2. Cage blocks a blind charge and gets a sunset flip for 2. Daniels hits a bodyslam and the Arabian press for 2. Cage goes to the eyes and hangs Daniels on the top rope. He checks Daniels into the barricade and beats him up a bit on the floor. Back in the ring he puts on an abdominal stretch. Daniels fights out but runs into a gutbuster. It gets 2 for Cage. He rams Daniels chest first into the turnbuckle for 2. He continues to use less-than-fair tactics to work over Daniels’ chest. Daniels hits an enziguiri and they trade chops. Daniels hits a forearm and a back elbow. He hits a clothesline and an STO for 2. Cage hits the inverted DDT for 2. He puts on a cloverleaf but Daniels escapes and hits the uranage. He hits the triple jump moonsault for 2. He puts on the Koji clutch but Cage gets to the ropes. Daniels hits an ugly flatliner but misses the triple jump moonsault. Cage climbs the ropes and hits a frog splash for 2. He goes for the Unprettier but Daniels blocks and hits the Angel’s Wings for the win. Aside from Cage working heel for two minutes this was about as basic and unsurprising a match as you get from two guys like Cage and Daniels. It was solid enough all the way through but a bit disappointing, especially given all the pre-match mumbo jumbo that occurred before the match.
Rating: **¾

JZ says: Both men get a good crowd response, which makes me happy because I really like Christian Cage. Daniels feels the need to cut a promo to put Cage over. Someone starts a “USA” chant, and the rest of the crowd chants “shut the fuck up.” Remember fans, you can say whatever you want at a ROH show! Daniels wants to do a five-second pose. I really can’t hear what they are saying, mostly. The ROHbots in attendance that just booed the mention of the letters “WWF slash E” are going nuts for the five second pose, something that originated in WWE. I do hear Christian propose that he play AJ Styles, Daniels play Daniels and Allison Danger play Sirelda. That took a really long time and served no purpose. I would much rather they used that time to give the match. Someone chants “We Want Edge,” so the crowd once again chants “Shut the fuck up.” Remember, in ROH you are free to express yourself however you want to. This, by the way, is the first singles match between Cage and Daniels. They start off slow, feeling each other out so to speak. Daniels is currently one half of the NWA Tag Team Champions. They take turns mocking each other. Daniels takes the first real advantage of the match, but it doesn’t last long. Daniels comes back and hits a really nice Arabian Press. Cage fights back with a poke to the eye and dumps Daniels to the floor. He follows him out and goes to work, then tossing him back inn the ring. Back in the ring and Cage dominates for a few minutes until Daniels fights back with an enziguiri. The crowd is booing Daniels, even though he’s playing the babyface role. Daniels keeps trying to fire up but Cage keeps cutting him off. STO gets two for Daniels. He goes for the Angels Wings but it’s blocked and Cage hits a reverse DDT. He locks on a Texas Cloverleaf. Daniels comes back with a uranage and the best moonsault ever for two. He follows that with the Koji Clutch. I like that he changed up how he uses that move a bit for this match. Frog Splash by Cage gets two. Both men go for their finishers but neither can hit. Daniels finds an interesting way to hit the Angels Wings and gets a nice clean pinfall on the former NWA Champion at 13:35. The prematch stuff didn’t do it for me, but once they got going they told a good story and had a good little match.
Rating: ***

MATCH #7: ROH World Title Match – World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness

BG says: Nigel beat Danielson by count out in a title vs. title match at Weekend of Champions, Night 2 and then laid him out with the Pure title belt later in the show. ROH logic stays in tact here as Nigel now gets a shot at Danielson’s title without his own title on the line and without pure wrestling rules. They knuckle up and Danielson puts Nigel on the mat with a hammerlock. He goes after Nigel’s ankle but Nigel works in a hammerlock to escape. Nigel grabs a wristlock and holds on through a monkey flip. Danielson comes back with the thigh stomp. He puts on a deathlock but Nigel gets to the ropes. Nigel goes back to work on the arm so Danielson attacks the ankle again. Nigel repeatedly slams Danielson’s wrist against the mat and then puts a leg scissor hold on the arm. Danielson responds with a Mexican chinlock but Nigel goes to the eyes to escape. Nigel hits a stiff kick to the back and a cheap headbutt. Danielson unloads with slaps but walks into a handstand trap. A punt to the back and a driving elbow get 2 for Nigel. Danielson counters the Tower of London to a German suplex. He hits a running forearm and the neck wrench suplex. He climbs the ropes and comes down with a dropkick. Nigel bails so Danielson follows him out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring Danielson hits a second rope European uppercut for 2. He puts on the Cow Killer but Nigel quickly rolls over and gets to the ropes. Danielson dropkicks Nigel’s head when he goes for the handstand again. He sets him up top and hits a superplex for 2. He climbs the ropes again but spends too much time flipping off the crowd and Nigel gets a knee up when Danielson goes for the diving headbutt. Nigel hits a running European uppercut and a quick lariat for 2. He crotches Danielson on the top rope and hits the Tower of London for 2 when Danielson gets his foot on the bottom rope. He puts on TAS but Danielson gets to the ropes. Nigel unloads with Danielson-like elbows to the head but Danielson counters to elbows of his own. He puts on the crossface chicken wing but Nigel slips out. They trade headbutts and Nigel hits the rebound lariat for 2 after snapping the top rope into Danielson’s face. They fight on the top turnbuckle until Nigel lariats Danielson down. Danielson bails and crawls under the ring. He appears on the other side of the ring and surprises Nigel with a roll up for the win.

The mat work early in the match was unique but a little slow for my tastes. The arm and legwork didn’t really go anywhere except for Nigel putting on TAS, but even that wasn’t played up as dramatically as it could have been. The bulk of the match was pretty great, about on par with their first match. The finish worked well because Nigel got what he deserved when Danielson got a relatively cheap win. I didn’t like this quite as much as their first match, but it was pretty close.
Rating: ***¾

JZ says: Bryan Danielson has been the ROH World Champion since 9.17.05, and this is his twenty-seventh defense. Nigel’s Pure Title is not on the line. This is an interesting matchup since both guys are ostensibly heels, but are well respected by the ROH fan base, and with good reason. Both guys get some streamers. Quick ROHbots, start a thread on the message board about their technique and choice of color! Nigel controls the Greco Roman knuckle lock to start, but both men are soon trading moves. Danielson goes after the leg of the Pure Champion. Nigel tries to fight back, but Danielson continues to work on the leg. Nigel takes an opening and he goes to work on the arm. Danielson regains control and locks on the surfboard. Both men get back to their feet. Nigel puts on an armbar that Danielson escapes with that unnecessary bridge that he does. I love Danielson but I really don’t get why he does that. Nigel nips up out of an armbar, kinda forgetting to sell the leg in the process. Danielson charges Nigel into the corner and Nigel delivers an awesome headbutt to the nose. Danielson responds with slaps to the face. He then falls prey to the headstand. Tower of London attempt is reversed to the cross face chicken wing, but Nigel escapes. Snap suplex by Danielson and he heads up top. The World Champion hits a missile dropkick and nips up, then hits a dive to the outside. Back in the ring Danielson hits a sweet European uppercut off the second rope. Cattle Mutilation is attempted but Nigel keeps fighting out of it. Nigel goes for the headstand but eats a kick to the face. Superplex by Danielson and then he goes up top for the diving headbutt but Nigel lifts the knee right into his face. Nigel’s nose is bloodied now. They trade European uppercuts and Nigel hits a huge lariat for a near fall. The Tower of London gets a near fall as well. Nigel puts on That Arm Submission, which I don’t think I’ve seen him use for a while, but Danielson reaches the ropes. Nigel responds with elbows to the face a la Danielson. The Champ reverses though and hits his own elbows and locks on the cross-face chicken wing. They start trading sick headbutts. Danielson charges and Nigel dumps him over the ropes. Back in the ring Nigel hits the rebound clothesline for a near fall. Danielson gets crotched on the top rope and Nigel hits a devastating clothesline off the top. Danielson goes to the floor and then crawls under the ring. He comes out the other side and gets a small package for the win at 24:25. That started slow but got really good in the last 10-12 minutes. I don’t care for the finish, as I was made to understand that this feud was about purely wrestling, not crawling under the ring shenanigans, but it was still a very good match, but not quite as good as their match from Weekend of Champions Night Two. Also, I believe it was Chris Vetter that made the point about how all of Samoa Joe’s promos (which were awesome) made sure the focus was on Danielson vs. Joe, making Nigel kind of seem like an afterthought in some respects.
Rating: ***¾

Aftermath

BG says: Aries and Strong mumble a bit about the Briscoes before congratulating the young blood for beating them tonight. On the next two shows they have to go through six teams in two Ultimate Endurance matches and will prove once and for all that they’re the best tag team today. After that they’re putting out an open contract for the belts.

Samoa Joe doesn’t think that trickery is a tactic to be used by someone calling himself the best in the world, let alone a champion. At the Fight of the Century he’s going to show him a champion when he chokes him out and makes him look at one. Good promos from Joe throughout this show.

JZ says: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong tip their hats to the Generation Now team, while looking as silly as could possibly be. They have to go through six teams next week in two consecutive Ultimate Endurance matches. They say after that they will offer open contracts to any team that wants a shot.

Samoa Joe is on the treadmill, once again promising to win the ROH World Title from Bryan Danielson in one week’s time.

MVP

BG says: All eight men from the Generation Now tag and both men in the main event put in great performances on this show, but I’m going to do something I rarely do and give it to a person who didn’t even have a match. Before this show the build and hype for the upcoming Danielson/Joe match was pretty weak. There’s still not a ton holding it together, but Samoa Joe really helped put some emotion and meaning into a big match that deserves a lot of focus. So Joe gets MVP here for his great promos.

JZ says: Jimmy Jacobs, for having a really good match with Jay Briscoe, but mostly for singing “The Ballad of Lacey” live. You don’t see stuff like that in ROH too often, and Jacobs is one of the few guys who can pull stuff like that off.

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 TIME TO MAN UP!

The 411: BG says: As I said above there were two standout matches on this show, but the first edition of Danielson/Nigel was superior to this one and there were better Dragon Gate-style tags in the Milestone Series. Christian disappoints again and the rest of the show is solid but pretty unspectacular. It’s not a bad show at all as the match ratings reflect, but it’s not something that I’d recommend going too far out of your way for unless you are a Generation Next fanatic. JZ says: This is a good but not great show, as two matches are dangerously close to **** but didn’t quite get there. It definitely felt like a placeholder show building to the Fight of the Century, but as is usually the case, the less than amazing ROH show is still much better than most of what’s out there.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]