Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — Vendetta

Ring of Honor — Vendetta by J.D. Dunn November 5, 2005 From Chicago, Ill. Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard. Just like his opponent, Roderick Strong, did last night, Bryan Danielson promises to do his talking in the ring. Probably a good idea. Opening Match: Nigel McGuinness & Chad Collyer vs. Ace Steel & Delirious. Chad busted open Steel pretty badly at Punk: The Final Chapter, so Ace is righteously pissed. Collyer refused a one-on-one match. Delirious starts with Nigel and gets the Venomous Fingers to the Eye! Rapid-fire clotheslines from Delirious. That’s gross. No, I mean that’s nearly a gross (144) of clotheslines. Collyer waits for Nigel to get the advantage on Steel and then tags in. Funny spot as Delirious goes one on one with Nigel and just drops to his back with his knees in the air. Nigel can’t figure it out until Steel sneaks in from behind and bulldogs him into Delirious’ knees. Delirious plays lizard-in-peril for a spell. Ace hops in and goes after Collyer with a chair. He accidentally hits Nigel instead and decides to take the pin at 9:16, allowing Collyer to escape and fight another day. Fun-but-inconsequential opener. ** Homicide and Julius Smokes complain that Colt Cabana is disrespecting them. Homicide thinks he might just kill Cabana. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) vs. Sal Rinauro. The fans call for “hussing,” which pisses off Jimmy because he wants to change his image for Lacey. Jimmy tries an atomic drop, but he’s not tall enough. Funny stuff. Rinauro gives him a few atomic drops of his own, and Jimmy bails. Back in, Jimmy uses Rinauro’s hair to take over, but Rinauro hits another pair of atomic drops. Jimmy consults with Lacey again. Back in, again, Jimmy blocks an atomic drop, but Sal tries again and knocks Jimmy out to the floor with another one. Jimmy avoids a plancha and poses for the crowd, so Rinauro comes out and puts his arm around Jimmy to pose as well. Jimmy looks over and sees Rinauro and then does a Wile E. Coyote into the post trying to get away from him. Another atomic drop sends Jacobs into the crowd. Back in again, Jimmy shoves Sal off the top all the way to the floor and takes over. Jimmy drops a series of elbows, but Sal blocks an attempt and hits…an atomic drop. Jimmy fights him off the top, though, and hits the top-rope senton. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Rinauro blocks the Contra Code and hits an Inverted Tower of London (Tower of Pisa?). That gets two, and Sal misses a spinkick, allowing Jimmy to finish with the Contra Code at 11:05. Comedy match most of the way, but the stuff with the atomic drops was a great way to thread the match together. **3/4 Jim Cornette comes out and says “Hello” from Bobby Heenan. Corny explains that he was down on pro-wrestling for a while, but ROH has rejuvenated his love. He introduces his mentor, Mid-South/UWF booking guru Bill Watts. The sound system makes it difficult to hear, and I think Watts’ interview was clipped a bit anyway. Adam Pearce interrupts and wants a spot on the card. Corny confers with Watts, and Bill says give the kid a chance…and Democrats are evil. BJ Whitmer (w/Lacey) vs. Claudio Castagnoli. Claudio leads a “hey, ho” chant involving Lacey. You can probably figure out which part of that chant refers to Lacey. Whitmer tries Claudio’s wristlock counter, but Claudio flusters him and winds up with the wristlock anyway. Whitmer gets frustrated and slaps him, so Claudio gives him a forearm uppercut. Whitmer comes back with some chops and a chinlock. Claudio elbows out but gets spinebustered. Both guys go for crossbodies and collide for a double KO spot. Claudio recovers and hits a series of European uppercuts. Whitmer bails, but Claudio follows him out with a tope. Back in, Claudio hits the Matchkiller for two. BJ comes back with a brainbuster and blocks the Ricolabomb. The Exploder gets two for BJ, and he finishes with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder a 9:56. I’m shocked by the clean job from Claudio, but he still looks like a superstar. **3/4 Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger). Joe and Daniels were actually feuding in TNA as well, but the roles were somewhat reversed. Daniels tries to keep him down with a headlock, but Joe gets pissed and destroys Daniels with clubbing forearms to the chest. Daniels keeps his cool and goes back to the chinlock. He hits the running knee in the corner, but Joe counters to the STJoe on a second attempt. Joe turns him over in the modified crab, but Daniels makes the ropes. Joe hits his own corner knee to set up the Facewash. Daniels avoids and hits a sloppy Dragon Screw followed by a dropkick to the knee. New strategy! Daniels dropkicks the knee again and counters a Joe kick to a rolling anklelock. Joe makes the ropes, but Daniels stays on top of him with a kneebar and an Arabian Press on the knee. He stretches Joe’s knee across the ropes and stands on it, but Joe comes back with the DVD and the snap powerslam. Joe puts on the STF into the Crossface, but Daniels makes the ropes. An STO gets two for Daniels, and he goes for the Angel’s Wings. Joe reverses, but Daniels rides him down into a side leglock. He drops that and calls for the figure-four leglock, but Joe just slaps him right in the face to block. Well, that’s one thing Sting never tried. Daniels tries an O’Connor Roll, but Joe counters to the Coquina Clutch in mid-move. Awesome! Daniels is able to roll over á la Bret Hart and get two. BEST MOONSAULT EVER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Daniels charges into the corner, but Joe crotches him and finishes with the Muscle Buster at 20:35. Excellent strategy and psychology made this considerably better than their later match at Final Resolution 2006. **** We come back from an FIP promo to find Colt Cabana and Homicide brawling all the way around the ring again. Turns out their match for tonight was cancelled due to a Homicide injury, but neither guy was satisfied with that. They start throwing chairs at each other, a battle that Homicide wins. Cabana counters the lariat to an Ace Crusher and goes for his own lariat, but Julius Smokes trips him up. Smokes powerbombs Cabana on a chair as Homicide grabs duct tape. They tape Cabana to the corner, and Homicide forks his face. Homicide finds a pair of scissors (I wondered why he didn’t pick them up earlier) and tries to CUT CABANA’S TONGUE OUT! Ace Steel finally makes the save. Adam Pearce vs. Davey Andrews. This is our replacement for Homicide vs. Cabana. Pearce methodically destroys Andrews. He hits a spinebuster, but the flipping senton finishes. Andrews hits a boot to the jaw and gets two, but Pearce gets his foot on the ropes. Pearce comes back with a neckbreaker and finishes with the Jumping Piledriver at 5:17. *1/4 ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong. Danielson is still pissed about the ending of This Means War, so he slaps Roderick in the face. Strong responds with a chop and a dropkick that sends Danielson to the floor. Back in, Danielson lays in some chops but bails once Strong fires back. They exchange monkey flips out of overhand knucklelocks. Danielson utilizes his usual nose-ripping to take over. Strong roars back with chops and chases Danielson around the ring as Danielson tries to get away. Danielson suckers him into the ring and stomps him on the way in. Danielson’s chest is already bleeding. Things slow down as Danielson kills time with a cravat. Danielson wins an exchange of forearms, and he stomps on Roderick’s chest. Roderick grabs a wristlock and counters Danielson’s usual counter with a Majestral Cradle. Awesome wrestling there. A springboard crossbody gets two for Roderick, and he zeroes in on Danielson’s arm. Roderick wraps the arm around the ropes and reminds the ref that he too has until five. Danielson comes back with chops and gets upset when the fans don’t cheer for him. Danielson goes after Strong’s back, arrogantly mirroring Strong’s usual work just as he did against Chris Sabin at Showdown in Motown. Strong blocks Danielson’s forearm and hits a WICKED flying kick. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! A dropkick knocks Danielson down, and a stacked powerbomb gets two more. STRONGHOLD! Danielson makes the ropes, though. They brawl to the floor and all the way up the aisle where Strong bodyslams him on the steel ramp. The brawl works its way back to the ringside are where Danielson tosses Strong to the railing. Back in, Strong lays in chops, but Danielson keeps spitting in his face in defiance of Strong’s infamous chops. Danielson applies a sleeper, but Strong counters to a backdrop for two. Danielson stays on top by going after Strong’s back, trying to beat Strong with his own strategy. Danielson hits his swandive headbutt and gets really arrogant, paintbrushing Strong’s face to humiliate him. Strong counters a belly-to-back superplex in mid-air and gets two. CHOP! Strong tries the springboard crossbody again, but Danielson sees it coming this time and rides him down into CATTLE MUTILATION! Danielson segues to a rollup before going back to the submission. Strong is in the ropes, though. Strong hits a desperation backbreaker and then a SKY-HIGH PRESS BACKBREAKER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The crowd thought that was it. STRONGHOLD! Danielson…just…crawls…to the ropes. Strong chases him to the floor again and lays in more chops. Like before, though, Danielson suckers him into the ring and nails him with a shot as Roderick is getting in. Back in, Danielson locks in the Indian Deathlock and slaps Strong around. He falls back into a bridge, and Strong nearly gets counted down because his shoulders are on the mat. Danielson drops that and goes to a Mr. Salty-ish move, stretching Strong’s arm back and cranking his neck. Strong makes the ropes. Danielson drapes Strong’s leg over the ropes and goes for a dropkick, but he stops to jaw with the crowd allowing Strong to move and hit a lariat for two. Danielson tosses Strong overboard and into the railing. Strong is busted open, so Danielson goes right after him and gives him some chops of his own. Danielson sends him back in and hits a DRAGON SUPLEX! ONE, TWO, THRE-Strong gets his hand on the bottom rope! Danielson grabs the CFCW, but Strong counters to the press gutbuster. SUPERPLEX by Strong! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Strong turns Danielson over into the Stronghold, but he can’t hold on because of his injured knee. Danielson powers out of a second attempt and LEVELS Strong with a Roaring Elbow! CFCW, but Strong makes the ropes. Danielson hits a backdrop superplex but can’t capitalize immediately and only gets two. Danielson gives the Benoit throat-slash and goes for a half-crab. Strong desperately kicks him in the face and goes for his own, but Danielson kicks him away. Strong goes for the Half-Nelson Backbreaker, but Danielson swings around into a crucifix and elbows Strong into unconsciousness. The ref stops the match for Strong’s own safety, giving Danielson a win at 47:18. As good as their match the week before, and it had the added element of character psychology from Danielson. Some people were puzzled by the finish because you hardly ever see that anymore, but it works perfectly within the context of the match. In a year without “Joe vs. Kobashi,” this probably would have been the match of the year. ****3/4 Lacey’s Angels approach Christopher Daniels in the middle of a promo and accuse him of turning his back on Whitmer back in the Prophecy days. 8-Man Tag Team War: Austin Aries, AJ Styles, Jack Evans & Matt Sydal (w/Daizee Haze & Jade Chung) vs. Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss & Prince Nana. With Steel Cage Warfare coming up, they needed to determine which side gets the advantage (á la Wargames), but this is ROH, and they don’t flip coins here, so the winner gets the advantage in the upcoming match. The crowd is already buzzing even after that exhausting title match. Rave stalls forever to start, so Aries fires off a running gunshot dropkick. The babyfaces beat the everloving shit out of Rave to the roar of the crowd, and Rave plays heel-in-peril. Funny moment as Aries knocks Shelley and Abyss off the apron and begs Rave to tag Prince Nana, but Nana drops off the apron because the last thing he wants is to get in there in a fair fight. The camera misses AJ launching himself into the crowd as Shelley and Sydal go at it. Sydal hits a twisting dive, triggering a big brawl on the floor. Jack busts out the SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP on Abyss! Aries goes after Nana but gets clubbed by Abyss. AJ dropkicks Abyss but gets jumped by Jimmy Rave. He shrugs Rave off and hits a backbreaker. Evans tags in and hits a handstand kick and springboard spinkick on Rave. He tries another springboard, but Nana shoves him off to give the Embassy the advantage finally. Jack plays face-in-peril as the Embassy begins to work him over. Shelley, in particular, gets some nasty stretches on Evans. Nana finally tags in and hits an elbowdrop. You might remember his brief run as a wrestler in the early days of ROH. Evans defiantly flips off Shelley, so Shelley bites him. Evans vaults over Abyss, but Nana cuts off a tag. Finally, Jack ducks between the legs and gets the HOT TAG TO ARIES! The babyfaces clean house, and Abyss accidentally avalanches Nana, drawing a big pop from the crowd. AJ takes out Abyss with a springboard forearm. He hits Shelley with the Pelé, but Rave catches him with a spear. Jack goes toe-to-toe with Abyss and gets Black Hole Slammed. This is so awesome! Sydal and Aries try to double-team Abyss, but he presses Sydal onto Aries. AJ sneaks back in and German Suplexes Abyss through a table. Nana drags Daizee into the ring to hold her hostage, but Aries yanks her aside, and he and Sydal close in on a helpless Nana. Haze recovers and…LOWBLOWS SYDAL AND ARIES! She sold out! She sold out! Nana hits the buttalanche, and Rave debuts his new move – Greetings From Ghana (the Pedigree) for the win at 20:05. How brilliant is it that Rave was turned into one of the biggest heels in the company for stealing AJ’s move, spent most of the year getting his ass kicked for it, and then goes and steals Triple H’s move?! Great booking there. The match was just wall-to-wall action, reminiscent of Canadian Stampede and the famous Raw 10-man tag in 2000. What a way to end the show! **** After the show, an incoherent Colt Cabana rambles through a promo on Homicide. This was the turn from happy-go-lucky Cabana to Dark Cabana. Remember the Donnie Wahlberg character from The Sixth Sense? He sounded a lot like that. In the parking lot, someone attacks Roderick Strong and Jade Chung.

The 411: Another candidate for "Show of the Year." Two MOTYCs and another great match from Joe and Daniels. Plus, it had a great beatdown from Homicide and Cabana to set up a grudge match. There were some clunkers, but what delivered here really delivered Thumbs way up!
Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]