Your video wire host and FIP champ Roderick Strong makes some new rules for the FIP title and promises to defend it in ROH. First stop: Shingo.
November 24, 2006
From Lake Grove, N.Y..
Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Jimmy Bower (subbing for an ill Jared David).
The Kings of Wrestling hold a mock press conference to brag about what great champions they are.
Brent Albright (formerly Gunnar Scott on Smackdown) says he's come to ROH to make money and beat people up. Well, one out of two ain't bad.
Opening Match, Four-Corner Survival: Daizee Haze vs. Lacey vs. Allison Danger vs. Nikki Roxx.
This is more of a Shimmer exhibition than a proper ROH match. Lacey pisses everyone off by slapping Haze in the face in lieu of a handshake. Allison Danger tags in and gets her some of Lacey before taking an elbow to the jaw. Danger and Roxx team up against Lacey before Danger decides she wants some of Haze too. Daizee avoids a curbstomp and gives Allison some problems. Lacey refuses to tag in, though, so Allison has to deal with Haze. Roxx tags in and rolls around with Allison on the mat. NOW, Lacey will get in. Bower points out how restrained he's being compared to WWE announcers and cites the 1987 Survivor Series as women getting respect instead of lecherous comments. Bigger question: why in the hell was Gabe watching the 1987 Survivor Series? Roxx tags in and gives Haze a tilt-o-whirl backbreaker. A double-underhook suplex gets two for Roxx, and she hits Danger with the Barbie Crusher (Cradle Atomic Drop on the mat). Haze rolls through something else by Roxx and hits the Heart Punch. Lacey tags herself in and hits the Implant DDT on Roxx for the win at 8:28, rubbing Daizee's face in it because she won after all of Daizee's work. Daizee promises this will be the last time Lacey fucks with her. Whoa! Blow your dealer with that mouth? Well, if Bower won't say it, I will. Capital ass ya got there, Nikki. This was better than many ROH women's matches thanks to the added Haze/Lacey feud. Still doesn't scratch the surface of what Shimmer is capable of, though. **1/2
Homicide and Julius Smokes have words for…well, just about everyone.
Gauntlet Series: Brent Albright vs. Pelle Primeau.
I'm not sure exactly why Albright flunked out of Smackdown, but here he is. Primeau is kind of the Spike Dudley-ish giant killer of ROH. He was on a bit of a winning run until this. Albright bats him around a bit, hits a Snap German Suplex, a Half-Nelson Suplex and finishes with the Fujiwara Armbar at 2:06. 1/2*
Gauntlet Series: Brent Albright vs. Jason Blade.
Blade does considerably better than Primeau, hitting a series of armdrags. Albright offers a handshake before yanking Blade into an Exploder. Blade counters a suplex to a small package for two and gets two more off a rollup. A wheelbarrow rollup gets two more, but Albright drops him on the top rope and finishes with the same sequence that finished Pelle. (4:26) *1/4
Gauntlet Series: Brent Albright vs. BJ Whitmer.
This should be closer. They have words before finally shaking hands. Tentative start for both guys before they start firing off suplexes. Whitmer goes to the floor, and Albright attacks that injured ankle, slamming it into the barrier. The fans are really getting into Albright as he coldly destroys Whitmer's ankle. BJ comes back with a desperation Exploder. He hits a clothesline and a spinebuster, but he can't put Albright away. A small "boring" chant breaks out, but then a counter "shut the fuck up" chant shouts them down. Albright goes to the Anklelock, but BJ is able to crawl to the ropes. They exchange German Suplexes, and Whitmer gets two in a row to finish off Albright once and for all at 13:23. That pisses the crowd right off. This alternated between plodding and intense. An awkward cross between Hansen vs. Gordy and Benoit vs. Angle. **
Gauntlet Series: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey).
Jacobs lowblows Whitmer behind the ref's back and rolls him up for the win at 0:04. Whitmer will have to wait another night for revenge. 1/4*
Gauntlet Series: Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) vs. Nigel McGuinness.
Jacobs tries to start a shoving match and gets slapped. Nigel outwrestles Jimmy a lot in the early going, pissing off Lacey. Jimmy uses a headscissors and a side headlock. Nigel snaps him down by the wrist and hits a wristlock suplex. He shouts, "Ever see this on Smackdown?" and applies a hammerlock/Crucifix submission. Can't say I have. A lariat gets two and sets up a Tower of London attempt. Jimmy blocks but misses a headbutt (in the bad way). He blocks Nigel's charge, though, and dropkicks McGuinness' head into the post. Jimmy headbutts him in the forehead and blows a kiss to Lacey. Nigel starts to get pissed by the lack of respect and hits a stiff lariat on Jimmy to get a nearfall. He sets Jimmy up on the ropes but drives an elbow to his chest instead of the Tower of London. Jacobs knocks him to the floor and hits a weak tope. Nigel blocks the Contra Code (or Wrist Cutter, heh, heh) and hits a modified Tower of London. It only gets two. Jimmy blocks the real Tower of London again and gets two off a senton. Nigel rebounds off a kick but runs right into a spear. Jimmy goes up but stops to blow another kiss. He blocks the Tower of London yet again and goes for the Wrist Cutter. Nigel blocks, crotches him on the top and finishes with a flying lariat at 14:29. Jimmy was sloppier than usual in this match. The gauntlet itself was disappointing, but it got Albright over, and that was the big bullet point they were going for. **3/4
The Briscoes tell "Chango" and Joe to man up.
ROH World Tag Team Titles, No DQ: Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong.
Hero and Castagnoli used Claudio's briefcase to end GenNext's title reign at Glory by Honor V. Aries and Strong attack near the merchandise table. The brawl goes all the way back to the ring. Hero and Claudio isolate Strong, but Aries makes the save. They toss Claudio into the crowd, and Aries hits a crossbody on him. Finally, they get in the ring where a heel doubleteam backfires, allowing Aries and Strong to doubleteam Hero. Aries corner dropkick misses, and the Kings duct tape his legs to the ringpost, turning the match into a two-on-one. The Kings doubleteam Strong as Aries desperately tries to undo the tape around his ankles. They bring in a pair of chairs and set up a piece of the guardrail on them. Aries gets free to prevent the KRS-One on the barricade. He slams Hero onto the guardrail, and GenNext hits the chop/brainbuster. Hero pulls the ref out so it won't get a pin. Aries takes Hero out with a tope as Strong hits a Tiger Driver on Claudio for two. Aries and Claudio do an awkward sequence involving a table set up in the corner. Claudio gets two, using the table for leverage. Aries goes to town on everyone with the Halliburton briefcase. Hero brings in the ringbell, but Strong blocks him with the press gutbuster. Aries and Strong set up for the finish, but Shingo runs in and powerbombs Aries through the table. That leaves Aries wide open for the Hero's Welcome at 15:05. Disappointing considering the talent involved. I know what they were going for, but I don't think that's what the crowd wanted, so they popped for the big spots and not much else. I'm not a big fan of using the ROH Tag Title match to set up an FIP Title match either. Still, these four guys would have to try really hard not to be entertaining, and the thought was certainly there for an epic style of match. ***
Shane Hagadorn explains why Adam Pearce wants a strap match with Homicide.
Shingo vs. Mark Briscoe.
Mark frustrates Shingo early with a flapjack and a belly-to-belly for two. It settles into a chinlock, and the fans are kind of out of it outside of a half-hearted "Let's go, Briscoe" chant. Shingo avoids a senton and puts Mark down with a swinging sleeper hold. To the outside, he utilizes a chair and gets a warning for choking Briscoe out with his foot. Mark hits a Northern Lights, but Shingo counters his German Suplex with a lowblow. He STOs Mark into a modified Anaconda Vice, but Mark makes the ropes and comes back with a springboard crossbody. Mark pops the crowd with an over-the-top suicida, and hits a pair of T-Bone suplexes. Shingo stretches Mark across the corner and gives him Shattered Dreams and a rope-assisted DDT for two. Mark comes back with the Springboard Ace Crusher for two. He signals for the Cutthroat Driver, but Shingo blocks. They slug it out, with Shingo winning and hitting a Helicopter Toss for two. Mark counters the Blood Driver (Torture Rack to a facebuster) to the Cutthroat Driver, but Shingo counters that to the Blood Driver at 12:24. Roderick Strong attacks Shingo after the bell, but Shingo runs away. This was dull and sloppy in places. **
Homicide (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Jimmy Rave.
No more toilet paper showers for Rave now that the Embassy is dead. Bower explains that this match is happening because of a double DQ between the Embassy and the Rottweilers back at "How We Roll." Conventional wisdom says Rave is a dead man. They open with mat wrestling, and that dastardly ref keeps Homicide from using the ringbell. Rave spits in Homicide's face. Oh, Jimmy. That can't be a good idea. Homicide clotheslines him out and lets Smokes get in a shot. Homicide surprisingly takes the whole face-spitting thing in stride, which Bower explains as Homicide not sweating Rave because Rave is on such a losing streak. To the floor, Rave desperately rams Homicide into the barrier. Neither guy looks into the match really. Rave puts on an armbar and rakes Homicide's eyes. He hits a nice neckbreaker for two, but Homicide comes back with a tope con hilo. The Ace Crusher gets two, and Homicide hits a Tiger Driver '91 (although I think Rave was supposed to go all the way over into a regular Tiger Bomb). It only gets two. Rave goes up for a suplerplex, but Homicide counters to a DDT. The crowd doesn't seem to care about anything at this point. Homicide hits the Triple Verticals prompting an "Eddy" chant. His diving headbutt misses, though. The Move Formerly Known as Ghanarrhea (Diarrhea?) gets two. They botch something, leading to Rave hitting a running knee for two. The spear gets two more. Homicide hits a flying kick, but Rave comes back with Greetings From Atlanta (the Pedigree). It only gets two, but a small package gets a huge upset win for Rave at 18:07. Another long, boring match. Since, I haven't seen the later shows, I'm not sure if Rave's apathy is by design or if he really just doesn't care. It doesn't make much of a difference to the quality of this match, though. Very disappointing. **
Jay Briscoe tries to attack Homicide, so Samoa Joe makes the save and we get…
Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe.
Joe just mauls him early and hits the Olé Kick. Thankfully, Joe's presence gets the crowd back into the show. Joe hits a running kick in the corner and an enzuigiri. Jay blocks the Facewash, though, to take over. He dropkicks Joe's legs out from under him and chokes him in the corner. Joe comes back with a flying boot and senton for two. The crowd chants, "Fuck Kurt Angle!" as Joe hits a powerbomb into an STF. Jay catches Joe's boot on a kick and hits a DVD and frogsplash for two each. Joe hits an enzuigiri, but Jay blocks his Muscle Buster and reverses to a sunset flip for two. Joe blocks the Jaydriller and boots Jay right out of the air. The Muscle Buster finishes Jay off at 11:57. Not nearly on the level of their 2003 feud. Mostly a squash with a few Jay moves thrown in. Just watching Joe kill someone is a lot of fun, though. **
#1 Contender's Match: Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal (w/Allison Danger) vs. Davey Richards & Delirious.
This is an extension of the Sydal/Delirious rivalry as well as being a jump back to contender's status for the Prophecy. It's odd that Richards and Daniels would be the "other" guys in a tag feud. Richards actually dominates with kicks and armdrags. Delirious tags in and stays on top with more armdraggery. Sydal and Delirious go next, and it's their usual quality spotfest. Richards says, "enough of that" and lays in the stiff strikes on Daniels. Daniels doesn't cotton to getting his ass kicked, so he tosses Richards and lets Sydal dive out on top of him. Daniels hits a dropkick on Richards and taunts Delirious. Richards settles into the face-in-peril spot (although both sides are essentially babyfaces). Delirious gets the hot tag, and Richards holds Sydal for a dropkick. He slaps on the Cobra Clutch and tosses Sydal across the ring. Richards goes for the handspring spinkick, but Sydal blocks with a spinning wheel kick of his own. Daniels gets the hot tag and goes for the Angel's Wings on Richards. Delirious tries to interfere and gets uranaged on Richards. That's innovative. Delirious counters the Blue Thunder Bomb to a headscissors and dives out on Daniels. That leaves Sydal and Richards. Sydal hits his legdrop and a standing moonsault for two. Richards comes back with the Alarm Clock (press into a kick) and the Falcon Arrow for two. He puts Sydal in the Inverted Cloverleaf, but Daniels returns to make the save. Sydal and Daniels work in dual Flatliners into Koji Clutches. Richards makes the ropes, though, and he and Delirious team up for a sick DDT on Sydal. Daniels and Richards brawl on the floor as Delirious hits Sydal with the Panic Attack (Cactus Knee). Sydal blocks the Shadows over Hell, but Richards hits him with a very Kurt Angle-ish German Suplex off the top. That allows Delirious to hit the Shadows over Hell. Daniels makes the save but gets taken out by Richards' handspring kick. Delirious hits a rope-assisted neckbreaker on Sydal (another neck move). Delirious takes Sydal up, but Daniels yanks Delirious to the canvas and hits the BME. Sydal follows that up with the Shooting Star Press for the win at 26:51. The Prophecy moves on to face the Kings of Wrestling tomorrow. All four guys looked good. Richards and Delirious at least brought some psychology in by working the neck of Sydal. ***1/2
Lacey berates Jimmy Jacobs for not knowing how to win. She wants BJ Whitmer crippled, not beaten. Nice sweater, Jimmy.
The 411: Probably the worst ROH show that I've seen from 2006 (although, that's admittedly few, and the ones I saw were awesome). There's nothing actively bad here, it was just very bland. The crowd was uncharacteristically silent throughout, draining the energy out of the show, and not really giving the wrestlers much encouragement. The two tag matches were good, but not enough to justify a recommendation. Disappointing.
