This is ROH's first show in Cleveland and the first with new champion Bryan Danielson defending the title. The venue is okay, reminiscent of the old Sportatorium in Dallas, but the crowd is on the small side.
October 14, 2005
Live from Cleveland, Ohio.
Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.
New champion Bryan Danielson comes out to suck up to the crowd. He explains that he's not a corporate champion. He's not a jet-flyin', limousine ridin', son of a gun. He puts over the belt and the champs who used to hold it that made it that way. That brings out Austin Aries to say he ended the longest reign in ROH history, and tonight he'll end the shortest reign in ROH history. Danielson counters that he doesn't want that to happen because Aries works for TNA and represents being beholden to big corporations rather than being able to make a living without answering to suits. Thankfully, Danielson soon dropped the "Aw, shucks" babyface role in favor of the smartass killer role he became famous for during his run.
Backstage, Steve Corino arrives late, thinking he's getting a title shot. Colt Cabana explains that's tomorrow night, and the tag match is tonight. Corino is confused.
Opening Match, Non-title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli.
Long feeling out process to start. Claudio is able to counter out of everything Nigel has. He even handstands out of a headlock and walks backward on his hands. The crowd boos Claudio's fakeout of a handshake, so Nigel slaps him in the face when he tries it again. Claudio knocks him to the floor and fakes a dive. Back in, Nigel handstands and then knocks Claudio back with a mulekick. They trade European uppercuts, and Claudio hits a suicide dive through the ropes. Back in, Claudio goes up for something (looks like the Cattle Brand), but Nigel counters to the Tower of London. ONE, TWO, THR-Claudio grabs the bottom rope. Remember, Pure rules are not in effect. Nigel tries the handstand again, but Claudio catches him and presses him into a European Uppercut (in theory). Nigel boots Claudio and goes for the backdrop, but Claudio surprises him with a backslide at 9:50. Solid opener that set up Claudio for a Pure Title feud. **3/4
In the basement, Corino is upset because Cabana didn't tell him they were wrestling Low Ki and Homicide. Cabana apologizes for lying to him and promises to open up a Bartles & James and get serious.
Matt Stryker vs. Ricky Reyes.
Reyes has been bullying the ROH students. Notice Prazak does not say, "He's a damn bully!" six or seven times a match. Stryker should be a tougher opponent, though. He hits a DVD early for two. He goes after Reyes' leg and goes for the Strykerlock, but Reyes makes the ropes. Reyes lays in a series of kicks and counters a tilt-o-whirl to the Dragon Sleeper at 2:13. Wow, I wasn't expecting Stryker to get squashed so easily. That's about as good as you can get in a two-minute squash. *
Jade Chung puts over freedom and threatens to keep an eye on Prince Nana if he tries anything. Problem with the Jade character: she went from dominated wallflower to feminist bitch goddess overnight.
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) vs. Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro.
Sal and Jimmy exchange dropkicks, and Sal hits an atomic drop that sends Jimmy bouncing over the top rope. I haven't seen an atomic drop sold like that since about 1990. Whitmer goes over too, and the champs fake them out with faux topes (fauxpes?). Rinauro and Mamaluke isolate Jimmy and work his arm with quick (and often unwanted) tags. To the floor, Mamaluke puts Whitmer in a front choke. Rinauro keeps Jacobs from interfering with a cannonball, so Whitmer rams Mamaluke into the barrier to counter. Back in, Mamaluke plays face-in-peril. Whitmer hits locomotion suplexes for two. Nice. He powerbombs Jacobs on Mamaluke, but Rinauro makes the save. Jimmy goes for a senton, but Mamaluke gets his feet up and hits a Dragon Screw. Hot tag to Sal! Sal gives Whitmer a dropkick and ranas him for two. A suplex into a uranage gets two. The champs hit a suplex into a frogsplash, but Rinauro isn't legal, so BJ is able to boot him in the head. Mamaluke locks in the cross armlock on Whitmer, but Jacobs breaks it up with an elbow. Rinauro hits the springboard kick on Jacobs but gets booted by Whitmer. Now it's Mamaluke who isn't legal on a pinfall attempt. The champs put Whitmer on the top and hit a Russian Leg Sweep/Powerbomb combo for the win at 13:05. Good little match, but I was never really sold on Rinauro and Mamaluke. ***1/4
Jim Cornette apologizes for not being there in person but announces he plans to revitalize the tag division (thank God) by making suggestions on who ROH can hire.
Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Yang. Deliver your feets-a to Daddy Green's pizza! Jimmy comes in cocky despite his losses. He hits an armdrag and then spins around on Strong and slaps him in the head. Strong comes back with an armbar, and they take it to the floor. Strong unleashes those infamous chops. Back in, Strong gives him a pair of backbreakers for two. He tries to springboard into a back elbow, but Yang hits a spinning wheel kick to the back of his head. To the floor, Yang whips Strong to the rail. Back in, Strong hits a flying back kick but takes a thrust kick to the side of the head. Yang slaps him in the face. Oops! Roderick fires back with chops and hits a dropkick. Yang gets a desperation spinning kick and goes up for Yang Time. Roderick blocks, but Yang hits a moonsault block for two. Another attempt at Yang Time misses, but Yang hits a roundhouse kick. A second roundhouse is countered to a cradle backbreaker. He follows that up with a Half-Nelson backbreaker and finishes with the pump-handle slam at 11:02. ***
Homicide & Low Ki vs. Steve Corino & Colt Cabana.
Corino comes to the ring in mock-Punk tights and tattoos that say "I love beer" and "Almost Drug Free." He also has his ring announcer run through the list of people who have had their careers ruined by the WWE, a list which finishes with CM Punk. They call for a five-bell salute to these fine careers (because Vince owns the rights to a ten-bell salute). Funny stuff. Even funnier is the crowd's taunting of Corino as "CM Gut." Lots of pre-match bickering as Homicide and Colt want a piece of each other, but Corino demands to start. Homicide pretends to jerk off on Corino, so we get Low Ki and Cabana instead. Cabana tries his best martial arts kicks, but Ki takes him to the corner and gets the Tarantula Armbar. Ki and Cabana muck around on the mat for a bit before Corino tags in and calls out Homicide. Homicide and Corino get into a bitch fight, which basically means they scowl a lot and call each other "bitch" without actually hurting each other. Think the parking lot scene in Swingers. Finally, Corino gives him a Facewash and tries to bite his ear off for a little revenge. Corino actually seems kind of disinterested in the whole match. Homicide takes over once they take it to the floor, but the ref won't let him use a chair. Instead, Homicide distracts the ref while Ki busts out his version of the Olé Kick. Corino gets clocked by a chairshot, knocking him silly. The Rottweilers take turns smacking Corino around until Homicide gives him a really stiff one. OUCH! That wakes Corino up, but he's still playing face-in-peril. Homicide goes for his lariat, but Corino counters to an Ace Crusher in a bit of irony. Hot tag to Cabana! Cabana cleans house and does the Broadway dance. He tries a double-underhook superplex, but Homicide breaks it up and holds Cabana for the GHETTO STOMP! Corino comes in for a few rollups on Ki and gets stomped himself. Colt goes up, but Corino tags himself in and hits a Northern Lights Bomb. Ki breaks up his pin with a back kick, and Homicide puts Corino in the STF. Colt eventually makes the save and winds up taking another stomp for his trouble. Corino tosses Ki and finishes Homicide with the Northern Lights Bomb (with Colt adding an assist by pushing Homicide's foot off the bottom rope). Not a bad match, but it was wildly inconsistent. Colt and Corino don't have much chemistry together, which is what they were trying to get over, but that also means they don't have much chemistry in the "shoot" sense either. It's like the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine and George realize they don't have anything to talk about when Jerry's not around. **3/4
Nigel McGuinness is distraught over his loss and promises he will defeat Claudio when things are under Pure Rules.
Shane Hagadorn & Davey Andrews vs. Derek Dempsey & Pelle Primeau.
This one barely gets started before Prince Nana and Abyss interrupt. Nana says no one wants to see a bunch of guys that were trained by a guy who didn't even have the guts to stay with the company. Abyss destroys the students. Andrews does get the spear on Nana, but Abyss kills him dead with the Black Hole Slam. Nana recovers and calls for anyone who thinks he can go toe-to-toe with "the Manster."
Abyss (w/Prince Nana) vs. Jack Evans (w/Jade Chung).
Jade looks pretty damned good in real person attire. Evans hits a dropsault and wheelbarrow bulldog early, but Abyss nails him with a clothesline. Nana tosses in a chair, but Evans uses it to counter Abyss' Tenta-esque vertical splash. Evans hits a springboard corkscrew on both Abyss and Nana. Back inside, Evans tries his handspring back elbow, but Abyss catches him with an Argentine Backbreaker Drop and finishes with the multi-rotation Black Hole Slam at 2:32. Jade tries to protect Evans from further damage, so Abyss grabs her. Roderick Strong runs in with a chair and clear the ring before anything bad can happen. 3/4*
Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley.
Strong took Nana out with a backbreaker, so Rave & Shelley have to think on their own tonight. Shelley and Lethal start out with a number of reversals as Shelley jaws with the crowd. Joe tags in, prompting Shelley and Rave to play a game of "You go get him!" Shelley draws the short straw and gets destroyed by Joe & Lethal's doubleteams. Rave gets more of the same. Lethal hits a nice dropkick that skids off the back of Rave's head. Rave goes over the top, drawing Lethal out, and Jay gets isolated in the heel corner. Fans chant, "We want Joe!" as Shelley and Rave begin to doubleteam Lethal. The Embassy does a nice job of cutting off the ring. Rave drives his shoulder into Lethal's ribs as Prazak explains the story behind Rave using the spear in ROH. Lethal ducks a clothesline and hits a spinebuster. HOT TAG TO JOE! Joe destroys both guys and puts Rave in the STF. Shelley breaks it up, though. That allows Rave to hit Ghanarrhea. Lethal tags in and hits Shelley with the enzuigiri, but Shelley goes low and rolls him up for two. Shelley hits the Schwein for two and segues to the Border City Stretch. Joe decides he'd better make the save. Jay springboards and hits a DDT. Lethal breaks up a Tornado DDT and suplexes Rave out of his boots. That leaves Joe alone to hit the Muscle Buster at 20:01. Very good thanks to well-defined rolls. The obnoxious fan shouting throughout the match didn't help though, and I'm guessing he keeps a copy of the DVD with him wherever he goes so he can pop it in and say, "Hear that! That's me!" **3/4
ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries.
It's always awesome when these two hook it up. Aries made a huge impact at "Survival of the Fittest 2004" when he took Danielson to the limit in the finals. Not long after, they went 74 minutes in a 2/3 falls match at "Testing the Limit." Later, in 2005, Danielson failed to wrest the title away from Aries and took a break from ROH. A lot of give-and-take early, and Danielson takes over with a chinlock. They do the Flair-Steamboat bridge thing, and Danielson goes for a piledriver. He has to settle for a backslide for two, though. Danielson always seems to be one step ahead no matter how crisp Aries looks. Aries tries to slip out of the headscissors as per his usual spot, but Danielson blocks him. Aries slips out, but Danielson reapplies the hold, so Aries slips out this time and dropkicks Danielson right in the face. AWESOME! Danielson goes after the arm with a hammerlock and descends into heeldom by ripping Aries' face. He uses Aries' own armbar against him. Aries eventually comes back with a backdrop suplex He trips up Danielson and hits the slingshot splash for two. Finally, nearly 15 minutes into the match, Aries takes over on offense. Aries lays in some stiff kicks and drives an elbow for two. A sideslam picks up two more. The Argentine roll sets up a frogsplash, but Danielson turtles so he can't be turned on his back. Aries puts on the armbar and (illegal) fishhook. Danielson backflips out of the corner and hits a spinkick for a double KO spot. A Gutwrench Suplex gets two, and Danielson swats away a missile dropkick. He puts Aries in the Mexican Surfboard and gets two, but Aries gets his knees up to block a diving headbutt. Aries hits a weird sort of reverse uranage and applies the Rings of Mars (because he's Aries and not Saturn ). Aries goes up but get crotched and superplexed back in. CATTLE MUTILATION! Aries won't give it up, so Danielson rolls him over for two. AIRPLANE SPIN! Aries counters to the Crucifix Bomb, but he's so disoriented he can't locate Danielson right away. Aries reverses the O'Connor Roll for two. He ducks a rolling elbow and hits a lariat, but Danielson blocks the Brainbuster with a knee strike. Aries tries again and hits it. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! The 450-splash misses, and Danielson tosses Aries into the turnbuckle. Aries rolls through the Cattle Mutilation, but Danielson scissors his body and locks in the Crossface Chickenwing at 20:22. I think it's impossible for these guys to have a bad match. This one didn't click quite as well as their others, in spite of great work and effort. There was just something missing that kept it from being upper echelon. ***1/2
Steve Corino complains about being screwed out of the title since he was supposed to be in a title match tonight. He complains about ROH screwing up his title hopes and casting him as a babyface when he's a natural heel.
The 411: Sound debut for ROH in Cleveland despite the sparse and occasionally disinterested crowd. Worth a look for Aries vs. Danielson, but there's nothing to go out of your way for besides that.
