ROH - Fifth Year Festival: Dayton Review
Posted by Garoon & Ziegler on 05.25.2007
Morishima makes his first title defense!
ROH – FIFTH YEAR FESTIVAL: DAYTON – DAYTON, OHIO – FEBRUARY 23, 2007
Introduction
BG says: Everything in the Video Wire was on the last two DVDs, so I’m not going to recap it here in detail. Because I love all of you I’ll let you know that it simply has clips of everything Takeshi Morishima has done in ROH so far and all of the events in the No Remorse Corp/Austin Aries/Jack Evans feud to date.
Dave Prazak starts the show by calling out Takeshi Morishima for a post-championship win interview. Morishima’s music plays but Nigel comes out to the ring. He says to cut the music so the DVD cuts to the opening video. Back in the ring Nigel explains that because he’s teaming with Morishima tomorrow night the NOAH office has sent him to represent the big man. Nigel claims that Morishima will destroy BJ Whitmer tonight in the main event. The Crist brothers come out and tell Nigel to team up with Morishima against them. Morishima runs out and lays waste to the Irish Airborne. Nigel counts the winning pin himself. That’s one way to get around the language barrier. Morishima leaves and Lacey comes out with Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright. Lacey asks Nigel why he decided to team with Colt Cabana tonight against her guys. He suggests he remove himself from the match. Nigel insults her instead so Jacobs and Albright get in the ring to attack him. Jimmy Rave runs in from behind and locks in the heel hook. Colt Cabana makes the save and Rave bails to the back. The tag match begins seconds later.
JZ says: Dave Prazak is in the ring to interview the new ROH World Champion, Takeshi Morishima. Nigel McGuinness comes out instead and says to cut the music. We then go to the intro video. We’re back to Nigel in the ring. He says that NOAH asked him to speak on the champions’ behalf, since Morishima doesn’t enter the ring unless it’s to kick someone’s ass. Irish Airborne come out to the ring for some reason. They challenge Nigel and Morishima to a tag team match, and that brings the champion out and he beats up the Crist brothers and Nigel makes a three-count. I see they’re trying to get Morishima over as a killer, but I think having him beat Joe and destroy Homicide would have been a much better way to do that. Nigel is about to leave, but Jimmy Jacobs, Brent Albright, and Lacey make their way down to the ring. They get in the ring and Lacey cuts a promo on Nigel, distracting him long enough to have Jimmy Rave come in and lock in the heel hook on him. Colt Cabana runs out, and our first match is on. Rave scuttles to the back.
MATCH #1: Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Brent Albright
BG says: Albright and Nigel start. Albright works over the now injured leg and tags to Jacobs. Jacobs stays on the leg and tags to Albright. Albright slams Nigel’s knee to the mat and tags to Jacobs. Albright tags back in and tosses Jacobs in dropkick position into Nigel in the corner. Jacobs tags back in and hits an elbowdrop. Albright tags in and goes back to the leg. Jacobs tags in and rakes the back. Albright tags in and hits a clothesline for 2. Nigel gets a sunset flip and a short-arm lariat. Cabana tags in and cleans house. He hits a bodyslam on Albright and a spinning bodyslam on Jacobs. He hits the Flying Asshole on Albright and a springboard butt butt on Jacobs. He rolls Albright up for 2. Jacobs tags in and gets tossed into Albright. Cabana climbs the ropes and hits a moonsault for 2. Albright tosses Jacobs into Cabana and then hits a half nelson suplex. Jacobs hits a top rope senton for 2. Albright hits the 918 and Jacobs hits a spear for 2. Albright tags in and gets hit with a neckbreaker just after Nigel hits Jacobs with the Tower of London. Nigel tags in and hits a running European uppercut. He hits a short-arm lariat for 2. He sets Albright up top but Jacobs stops the Tower of London. Albright counters the Rebound Lariat to the Crowbar. Cabana shoves Jacobs into the referee and breaks the hold. Manichewitz & Shiksas hit the double-team Tower of London on Albright. Jacobs grabs a guitar from lord knows where and pulls one of the strings off. He chokes Cabana with the string until Nigel breaks it up with the Rebound Lariat and gets the winning pin. That finish was far too contrived. Aside from that the majority of the match was boring with Nigel was legal but fun when Cabana was legal. Put it all together and you get a rather average outing.
Rating: **¾
BJ Whitmer cuts a “looking away from the camera” promo. I’m just going to fast forward through this because it’s too annoying, but I’m sure he talked about his title shot tonight and probably about Jimmy Jacobs as well.
JZ says: Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard are our hosts tonight, and they point out that this is actually five years to the day of the first ROH show, The Era of Honor Begins. Jacobs and Albright isolate on Nigel’s ankle right away to capitalize on the damage Rave did. Jacobs and Albright have good chemistry as a team. This goes on for a few minutes until Nigel nails Albright with a lariat and makes the hot tag to Cabana, who unloads on both of Lacey’s men. He’s able to thwart all of their attacks and hits a huge Moonsault on Jacobs for two. The heels recover and hits some big moves, including Jacobs’ senton for two. Albright’s 719 and a Jacobs spear gets another near fall. Nigel gets back in the ring and hits a Tower of London on Jacobs while Cabana hits an Air Raid Crash on Albright. Nigel gets officially tagged back in and works on Albright despite his leg being very injured. Nigel tries the rebound lariat on Jacobs, but Albright blocks it with the Crowbar. The babyfaces recover and hit the assisted Tower of London on Albright, who rolls out to the floor. Jacobs takes a string off a guitar that’s conveniently at ringside, and he chokes Cabana with it. Nigel breaks it up with the rebound lariat to get the pin at 13:03. That was a good choice for an opener, although it didn’t really do much to hype the Jacobs vs. Cabana Windy City Death match tomorrow night right up until the end of the match. Even so, it was a fun match.
Rating: ***
BJ Whitmer is telling someone off to the side of the camera about how he’s earned this title shot tonight via all the abuse he’s taken in ROH over the years. I would love to know what the idea is behind people not looking at the camera, because no one seems to get it and even fewer seem to like it. Whitmer spends quite a bit of time putting over Homicide.
MATCH #2: Jimmy Rave vs. Sterling Keenan
BG says: They lock up to start. Rave grabs a headlock. After many escape attempts Keenan gets out with an armdrag. He hits an avalanche and puts on a rope-assisted head scissors hold. Rave dodges a blind charge and stomps the face. He hits a back suplex for 2. Keenan hits a pair of clotheslines and a big boot. He hits a spinebuster and puts on the Regal Stretch. Rave gets to the ropes. He gets a sunset flip for 2 but Keenan catches him with a backbreaker for 2. Rave quickly puts on the heel hook for the win. I wouldn’t call it a squash because Keenan got so much offense in but it certainly doesn’t seem like the start of something big for Keenan.
Rating: *½
After the match Nigel attacks Rave. He uppercuts Rave through the barricade and brawls with him to the back.
JZ says: Someone throws toilet paper at Rave and he gets pissed, and I think the fan will actually be ejected now. Keenan hasn’t been seen in ROH since June of last year at In Your Face, and he has a significantly different look now. They do some back and forth in the early going, with nothing too interesting happening. Rave takes the advantage pretty soon and the crowd is actually sort of into it. Keenan comes back and puts on a modified STF and the crowd chants “Tap.” Rave gets to the ropes and gets up and goes for the Pedigree but Keenan blocks it and Rave gets a sunset flip. Keenan comes back with a cool backbreaker for two. Rave gets up and gets a dragon screw leg whip and locks on the Heel Hook and that’s all for Keenan at 5:50. That delivered about as much as it was designed to deliver. Nigel McGuinness comes out after the match and beats up Rave outside the ring and to the back.
Rating: *½
MATCH #3: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze
BG says: Haze attacks Lacey before the bell. Lacey hits a clothesline but Haze comes back with a Thesz press. Haze kicks Lacey to the floor and dives out onto her. Lacey gets a takedown on the floor and then rams her into and over the barricade. He stretches Haze around the post and hits a neckbreaker back in the ring. She hits a vertical suplex for 2. She hits a knee strike in the corner and a back suplex for 2. She puts on the cobra clutch as an injured Delirious watches on from the crowd. Haze hits a palm strike and a superplex for 2. Lacey dodges a dropkick but can’t dodge a German suplex. It gets 2 for Haze. Haze hits the heart punch and a pair of Yakuza kicks. Jacobs sneaks in and hits Haze with a spear which allows Lacey to get the win. Didn’t the referee wonder why Haze had suddenly collapsed? The match was one of Haze’s better outings in ROH actually.
Rating: **¼
Rebecca Bayless tries to ask Delirious some questions in the crowd but Delirious is in pre-match mode and isn’t talking. Bayless is awful.
Austin Aries cuts a promo in extreme close up mode. At least he spends a lot of it looking into the camera. He’s going to take out Roderick Strong in due time but first he’s going to take the Open the Brave Gate title from the cocky Matt Sydal. After that he’s going to start scouting talent for his new group.
JZ says: Jimmy Jacobs is accompanying Lacey to the ring. Daizee attacks right away and it’s a brawl from the get-go. This is actually the first time these two women have met in a singles match. Haze knocks Lacey to the floor and Jacobs tries to comfort her but Haze hits a cross body from the top rope onto both of them. Jacobs then distracts Haze on the floor, allowing Lacey to take control on the floor and whip Haze into the guardrail. Lacey uses some borderline illegal tactics to maintain her control on Haze. For some reason Delirious is sitting in the crowd; he’s too injured to compete tonight. Haze comes back with some slaps to the face and a palm strike. They trade big moves and Haze hits the Heart Punch and two Yakuza Kicks and the referee checks on Haze, so Jacobs sneaks into the ring and spears Haze, allowing Lacey to get the pin at 8:17. Wouldn’t the referee wonder why Daizee was all of a sudden down? At any rate it was a pretty good match, as Daizee didn’t seem as nervous as she sometimes does.
Rating: **½
Rebecca Bayless tries to get a word in with Delirious, but he apparently isn’t in the mood for speaking. He must be really mad about what Roderick Strong did to him.
Speaking of being mad at Roderick Strong, here’s Austin Aries. He says he’s looking for the best young talent and they will wage war on Strong’s No Remorse Corps. HE also promises to win the Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Title.
MATCH #4: Three Way Dance – Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Homicide
BG says: This match is happening because all three of these guys have been in ROH since the beginning, and it’s exactly five years to the date from the first show. The first show was also main evented by a three-way, which Daniels was a part of. They show clips of everyone’s entrances at The Era of Honor Begins, to hammer home the point that they have been around since the beginning. Even Allison Danger’s involvement at the first ROH show is recognized. She’s dressed like a total whore here however. Homicide attacks Daniels to start. Daniels comes back with a leg lariat and then rolls Jay up for 1. Jay hits a hiptoss and a dropkick on Daniels. He hits a big Manhattan drop and a crossbody on Homicide for 2. Daniels hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop on Jay for 2. Jay comes back with a snap suplex on Daniels and a belly-to-belly suplex on Homicide. He puts a chinlock on Daniels and hits a backdrop. Homicide hits Jay with a stiff kick to the back and hits Daniels with a chinbreaker. He hits his running knee in the corner on Jay and Daniels hits Jay with a clothesline. Daniels hits a blue thunder bomb on Homicide and a bodyslam on Jay. He slams Homicide onto Jay and then forces Jay to hit a legdrop on Homicide. He puts Jay in a Boston crab and Homicide in a chinlock at the same time, a la The Era of Honor Begins. Homicide hits an elbowdrop on Jay and puts on a hammerlock. Daniels breaks it up with a legdrop. Homicide puts Daniels in the STF but Jay breaks it up. Homicide hits an overhead suplex on Daniels and a neckbreaker on Jay. He hits a back elbow on Daniels and tosses Jay onto him on the floor. He follows them out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring he hits a T-bone suplex on Daniels for 2. Daniels and Jay come back with a double shoulder tackle. Daniels hits Jay with an enziguiri. Homicide hits a clothesline but Jay catches him with a superkick. Homicide and Daniels end up on the floor so Jay dives onto them. Back in the ring he hits Daniels with a facebuster for 2. He hits a fisherman suplex for 2. He sets Homicide up top but Homicide brings him down with a DDT. He climbs the ropes and hits a senton for 2. Daniels hits Homicide with a DVD for 2 and then puts on the Koji Clutch. Homicide gets to the ropes. Daniels hits the uranage but misses the triple jump moonsault. Jay hits a big boot on Homicide but Daniels catches him with the STO for 2. Jay blocks the Angel’s Wings and sets Daniels up top. Daniels fights Jay off but gets caught by Homicide who brings him down with the Ace Crusher for the win. The finish was really cool but, the match as a whole never found a good groove and was a far cry from the match that it was paying homage to.
Rating: **¾
JZ says: This is a tribute to the main event of the first show, which was Christopher Daniels vs. American Dragon vs. Low Ki. It’s kind of cool that all three of these guys were actually on the first show too, and they show clips of each guy from said first show. Even Daniels’ valet, Allison Danger, was on the first show. Danger takes off her shirt to reveal she’s wearing the same thing she wore on the last show. This one starts off fast, with Homicide being the first one who gets tossed to the floor. He gets back in and I’m having trouble keeping up with it. Everyone is in the ring at the same time, so it allows a lot of big moves and fast-paced action. Jay tries to superplex Daniels but Daniels blocks it. Homicide then grabs Daniels with a top-rope Ace Crusher to get the win at 13:04. That was solid action but had no build and no flow.
Rating: **¾
MATCH #5: Dragon Gate Open The Brave Gate Title Match – Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries
BG says: It’s becoming very hip in Japan to defend belts in the states. They lock up and Aries forces Sydal to the corner. Aries puts Sydal on the mat but Sydal is too fast to be kept down. Sydal puts on a wristlock and they trade strikes. Aries gets a headlock takedown and counters the head scissors to one of his own instead of the dropkick, which Sydal probably would have had scouted. Aries comes out of the corner with a back elbow and hits a facebuster. He misses a senton but forearms Sydal to the floor. Sydal dodges a dive and hits a baseball slide. Aries trips him up and hits the slingshot senton. He hits an elbowdrop for 2. He hits a rolling spear in the corner and a gutwrench suplex for 2. Sydal goes after Aries’s bad ankle and hits a dropkick to the back. He hits a slingshot dropkick in the corner for 2. He puts on a grapevined anklelock but Aries gets to the ropes. Sydal hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. He misses the cannonball legdrop and walks into a clothesline. Aries hits two more clotheslines and a Manhattan drop. He hits an atomic drop sending Sydal to the floor. Aries follows him out with the Heat Seeking Missile. Back in the ring he hits a bodyslam and a corkscrew press to the legs. He hits a springboard moonsault for 2. He climbs the ropes and hits a missile dropkick. He hits a dropkick in the corner for 2. Sydal hits the Slice for 2. The standing moonsault hits knees but Sydal hits the reverse tombstone piledriver for 2. He gets a roll up for 2. He gets a backslide for 2. Aries hits the soccer kick and a brainbuster for 2. He climbs the ropes but Sydal brings him down with a hurricanrana. He hits the pumphandle piledriver and a shooting star press for the win. That’s a huge, clean win for Matt Sydal. Unfortunately Aries was a step off for most of the match, leading to all kinds of awkward moments. There were some fun technical characteristics to the match but they weren’t enough to make it a rewarding experience to watch.
Rating: ***
After the match Davey Richards & Roderick Strong attack Aries. Delirious breaks out of his zone in the crowd and rushes the ring to make the save. He cuts a promo promising revenge.
JZ says: These two have wrestled many times before, but this is the first time a Dragon Gate Title has been defended in America. He beat Masato Yoshino for it a few weeks prior to this. They start out with mat wrestling but it doesn’t take long before they start the striking. They trade moves and keep it a very ever, back-and-forth match. Sydal is able to do some damage to the ankle, and that looks to be his focus. Sydal tries his cannonball legdrop but Aries moves out of the way. The battle spills to the floor, where Aries takes control with a dive. Back in the ring Aries hits a missile dropkick and the running dropkick, not really worrying about selling the injured ankle on either of them. Sydal comes back with a couple of near falls. He goes for the Here It Is Driver but Aries reverses to a brainbuster, which Sydal reverses to a small package for two. A backslide gets two also. Aries is up and kicks Sydal in the face and delivers the brainbuster for two. Sydal hits the Here It Is Driver and follows it with a shooting star press to get the win and retain the title at 13:44. Their match at Arena Warfare was much better. This one seemed very pedestrian for what both guys are capable of. Roderick Strong and Davey Richards come out to attack Aries and pitch Sydal outside the ring. Delirious comes in from the crowd and runs them off.
Rating: ***
INTERMISSION
BG says: Rebecca Bayless reminds us that it’s exactly five years to the date since ROH’s first show. She’s glad that she’s not in the same place she was in ROH five years ago. Well, moron, you weren’t in ROH five years ago. She’s talking about Special K of course but that group didn’t get started until later in the year and she didn’t join until long after that. Rambling aside, she congratulates Lacey on her win but chastises her for cheating. Lacey doesn’t care whether or not the match was fair, and she loved having Jacobs out there supporting her at ringside. She’s been more and more impressed with him lately. She really liked the way he choked Cabana out with the guitar string. Tomorrow night she wants Jacobs to kill Cabana in the Windy City Deathmatch. If he does she’ll give him something that will make him very happy. His facial expressions during his subsequent emo rant are hilarious.
JZ says: Rebecca Bayless is backstage. Turning your head every few seconds doesn’t make you a good interviewer. Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs are there, and Bayless says the match with Daizee Haze earlier wasn’t fair. Good question, interviewer. Lacey says nice things to Jacobs and then asks him to kill Colt Cabana tomorrow night in the Windy City Death Match. Jacobs is excited.
MATCH #6: Tank Toland vs. Mitch Franklin
BG says: Larry Sweeney comes out to the ring and introduces Dayton to his new charges, Tank Toland and Mitch Franklin. Hero is on tour in Japan, giving him an opportunity to showcase his new talent. He reveals that Toland will be Hero’s new fitness instructor. Then he lets Franklin know that the reason he asked him to the ring was to insult him for having no tan and weighing as much as Toland’s left pectoral muscle. Toland clotheslines Franklin down and a match begins.
Toland press slams Franklin across the ring to start. He tosses him back across the ring by his neck and hits a boot to the face. Franklin tries to fight back with a hurricanranas but Toland puts him down for good with a fireman’s carry spinebuster.
Rating: ½*
JZ says: Larry Sweeney comes out with both Toland and Franklin. He spends the first part of his promo time putting over Chris Hero, who is currently in Japan. Sweeney emphasizes how Toland is a “natural” athlete. He names Toland Chris Hero’s Fitness Instructor. He turns his attention to Mitch Franklin and says he’s the opposite of everything Toland is. He badmouths him for another minute and then Toland hits a clothesline and this apparently impromptu match is on. Toland dominates, and Franklin gets a brief hope spot in before Toland finishes it with a Death Valley Driver into a spinebuster to get the pin at 1:57. Sweeney’s promo before the match was better than the match.
Rating: ¼*
MATCH #7: Six Man Mayhem Match – Roderick Strong vs. Shingo vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Cross vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Pelle Primeau
BG says: Primeau and Strong start. Claudio hits a cheap shot on Primeau from the apron. Strong overpowers Primeau but Primeau comes back with a roll up for 1. He hits a hurricanrana but runs into a backbreaker. Strong tosses Primeau into the corner but Mark comes in with a yelping dropkick. He hits a northern lights suplex on Claudio for 2. Cross tosses Claudio to the floor and hits Shingo with a dropkick. He dropkicks Strong and Shingo to the floor and hits a hurricanrana on Claudio. He dives out onto Strong and Shingo after faking a dive on Claudio. Mark hits an enziguiri on Primeau and puts on the Mark Nulty Special. Claudio puts Mark in a seated abdominal stretch. Break it up ref! Strong puts Claudio in a crossface chicken wing. Cross puts Primeau in a leglock and Shingo puts the Mark Nulty Special on Cross. The referee appropriately breaks it all up. Shingo hits Primeau with a bodyslam and the sleeper toss for 2. Everyone fights over the right to beat up Primeau and Claudio wins the opportunity. He slams Primeau around for 2. Shingo tags in and hits a double spinebuster for 2. He puts on a half crab but Claudio tags him out. He doesn’t do much before Strong tags in and chops Primeau down. Strong lifts Primeau up as if to hit a delayed vertical suplex but then sets him down and slaps him. That’s clever. Shingo tags in and steals Strong’s thunder by chopping Primeau down for 2. Strong comes in and shows Shingo how it’s really done and gets 2 on Primeau. He hits a fall away slam but Claudio tags him out. Claudio chokes Primeau with his tie and hits a European uppercut for 2. Shingo comes in and hits a vertical suplex on Primeau for 2. Claudio comes in and hits distracted by Shingo long enough for Primeau to hit the coolest head scissors takedown ever on him. Cross gives Primeau a break and hits a hurricanrana on Claudio for 2. Strong hits a slingshot suplex on Cross for 2. Mark hits Strong with a double stomp for 2. Shingo hits a neckbreaker on Mark but Primeau catches him with a Thesz press off the top and a double stomp for 2. Strong hits Primeau with a backbreaker for 2. Claudio hits a spinning Alpamare Waterslide on Strong for 2. Shingo hits a lariat on Claudio for 2. Mark hits a spinning yelping splash on Shingo for 2. Cross hits a neckbreaker and a twisting splash on Mark for 2. Strong hits the gutbuster on Cross and an enziguiri on Shingo. He dodges the Ace Crusher from Mark and hits the Sick Kick. He hits the tiger driver on Claudio for 2. He hits a backbreaker on Primeau but Aries runs out and chases him away. Primeau hits a hurricanrana on Claudio on the floor. Mark hits a T-bone suplex on Shingo and follows him to the floor with a shooting star press. Cross tries to follow suit but Claudio hits him with an elevated European uppercut for the win. This accentuated everyone’s strengths and was probably the best six-man mayhem match ever. Primeau gets a huge chant after the match.
Rating: ***½
JZ says: This is quite the eclectic group. Strong and Primeau start, and Primeau gets a few moves in before Strong just uses his power to take him out. Briscoe comes in and is soon followed by Castagnoli. This could be one of those matches I have a hard time keeping up with. Shingo and Cross wind up as the last two in the ring. The Ohio native Cross does some cool stuff. Briscoe puts a submission hold on Primeau, Castagnoli puts one on Briscoe, Strong puts one on Castagnoli, Cross puts another one on Primeau, and Shingo puts one on Cross for a goofy six-way submission spot. Primeau takes a majority of the abuse here. Everyone takes turns just destroying this poor kid. Pelle is finally able to tag out to Cross, who hits some big high flying moves on Castagnoli. It soon breaks down to a big brawl with everyone hitting moves on everyone else. The crowd is behind Primeau here. The crowd busts out the “this is awesome” chant, which according to many on the ROH Message Board means there are a lot of TNA fans in the crowd, since they’re the ones who chant that. Austin Aries, dressed as gay as humanly possible, comes out and chases Strong out. Primeau hits an amazing headscissors on Castagnoli on the floor where he actually lands on his feet. I’ve missed so much action here in my PBP, but I’m enjoying it so much. Castagnoli tosses Cross high into the air and hits a European Uppercut to get the win at 15:34. The crowd deservedly chants “Pelle Primeau” after the match. Primeau really shined in this match and should really get past feuding with Shane Hagadorn pretty quick. That was probably the best six man mayhem match ever, alongside the one from ROH Reborn: Stage One on 4.23.04. Cross gets a “M-Dogg 20” chant on his way to the back too. Primeau and Cross are great additions to the main roster.
Rating: ***½
MATCH #8: Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards
BG says: Sadly Joe doesn’t come out to Another Body Murdered here. Instead he uses the infinitely less awesome LL Cool J entrance. They dodge each other’s kicks to start. Richards gets a takedown but Joe gets a roll up for 2. Joe puts on a wristlock but Richards escapes with the arm kick. Joe catches a kick and smacks Richards around until Richards hits an enziguiri. Richards puts on a chinlock. Joe hits an enziguiri and then jabs Richards down. He hits another enziguiri for 2. Richards catches a kick and hits an enziguiri. I’ve never seen so many enziguiris in one match. Joe casually dodges the handspring kick and hits the Big Joe Combo for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits a knee to the gut. Joe kicks Richards down and finishes up with a disgusting kick to the head. Richards wisely takes some time on the floor. Back in the ring Joe gets 2. Richards hits a springboard missile dropkick and Joe bails. Richards follows him out with a baseball slide and a suicide dive. Joe recovers and hits the Olé Kick three times. Richards comes back with a tornado DDT on the apron that looked pretty sick. It gets 2 for Richards. Joe counters a powerbomb to a slam into the turnbuckle. He goes for the Muscle Buster but Richards counters to a sunset bomb for 2. Joe hits a powerslam for 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2 and puts on the STF. Richards gets to the ropes. He hits the handspring kick and a German suplex for 2. Joe counters a roll up to the choke. Richards tries twice to escape but Joe keeps it on. Richards hits a low blow to escape. Joe starts jabbing so Richards goes low again. He hits a legdrop and climbs the ropes. He hits the shooting star press for 2. He goes for another DDT on the apron but Joe blocks it and hits a Muscle Buster on the apron for the win. Stiff as hell match that entertained more than I thought it would. Richards fought hard and then used some dirty tricks to gain the advantage but was simply outclassed by the dominant veteran. Richards has now lost seven matches in a row, as his last win was over Aries in November. If I were in charge this would be the only match that Joe would win on his farewell tour (maybe over Rave too) so it felt appropriate here.
Rating: ***¾
After the match Joe asks for a handshake but Richards spits in his face. Joe finds a clever way to call Richards a woman and then gives Dayton his farewell speech. Like the ones before he puts in enough humor that it doesn’t feel completely self serving. He puts over the Dayton fans for being small in number but big in heart. He celebrates with an older, bald fan on his way out. Great stuff.
JZ says: The Samoa Joe farewell tour continues. Prazak makes me think Joe might not be totally gone because he says Joe will no longer be a “regular,” which seems to leave the door open for special appearances. They start it off a bit tenuous, with both guys going for kicks. They trade enziguiris and Joe’s is proven more powerful. Richards tries his handspring kick and Joe avoids it easily. Joe continues to keep control, but Richards keeps fighting back. Joe delivers a sick looking kick to the back of Richards’s head. Richards wisely rolls to the floor. The battle spills to the floor and Richards is actually in control for a minute or so. Joe sets up for the Ole Kick and hits it. Richards comes back with a DDT on the ring apron and gets a near fall. Joe soon recovers and tries a superplex but Richards reverses it to a sunset bomb. They trade some more moves and Richards foolishly tries the O’Connor roll, and Joe is able to lock on the Choke. Richards actually is able to get out of it, something the new ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima couldn’t do. Just sayin’. Richards cheats to gain an advantage, but it sure doesn’t last long as Joe delivers a Muscle Buster on the ring apron and Richards is dead at 19:43. That was a fun match, as Joe pretty much dominated but Richards looked pretty good in losing. It is annoying that he escaped the choke, but other than that I really enjoyed this match. Joe offers Richards a handshake, but Richards spits on him instead. Joe cuts a promo putting over Dayton and saying goodbye to them.
Rating: ***¼
5TH YEAR FESTIVAL – MATCHES OF THE YEAR
BG says: This DVDs Fifth Year Festival video highlights the best matches of 2006. Featured are Delirious vs. Sydal in what I think was the Survival of the Fittest finals, ROH vs. CZW in Cage of Death, Joe vs. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA, KENTA & Richards vs. Aries & Strong, Aries & Strong vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe, Nigel vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Nigel vs. Danielson, Danielson vs. KENTA, Danielson and Joe vs. KENTA & Marufuji and Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer. The video ends by saying “To Be Continued,” and I hope that’s true because there are quite a few notable matches they left out. From my own top ten list I didn’t see Strong vs. Danielson, Blood Generation vs. Generation Next, Aries & Strong vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi, Danielson vs. Alex Shelley, Danielson & Jay Lethal vs. Strong and Aries and from Jake’s list Danielson vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs. Good video even with the omissions.
JZ says: I’ll identify each match and give my star rating. Matt Sydal vs. Delirious from Survival of the Fittest ’06 (***¾); Cage of Death from Death Before Dishonor IV (****); Samoa Joe vs. KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson from In Your Face (****¼); KENTA & Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong from Honor Invades Boston (****½); Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong from Unified (****¼); Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji from Glory by Honor V Night Two (***¾); Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson from Unified (****¾); Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA from Glory by Honor V Night Two (****¾); Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji from Best in the World (****¼); and Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer from Supercard of Honor (****¾). That’s a damn fine list going by my ratings.
MATCH #9: ROH World Title Match – Takeshi Morishima vs. BJ Whitmer
BG says: Whitmer got this title shot on the basis of being an idiot and walking into a Morishima beat-down. ROH sent him to get the title back from Morishima so that the champ wouldn’t take it back to Japan and it could be defended in England and Detroit. Morishima is a gangster. Bobby Cruise flees the ring as Morishima attacks Whitmer before the introductions. He sends Whitmer to the floor and chokes him with a chair. The referee takes the chair away so Morishima rams Whitmer into the post. Back in the ring Morishima strikes Whitmer down for 1. He hits a double stomp and stands on Whitmer’s stomach. Whitmer goes for a sunset flip so Morishima sits on him for 2. He hits a handspring avalanche and his seated butt splash for 2. They trade strikes and Whitmer goes down. Morishima plows right through Whitmer’s offense but goes down when Whitmer dropkicks his knee. Morishima bails so Whitmer follows him out with a suicide dive. He goes for an exploder on the floor but Morishima counters to a powerbomb. Back in the ring he gets 2. He climbs the ropes and hits a missile dropkick for 2. Whitmer hits a DDT and a frog splash for 2. He hits an exploder suplex for 2. He goes for the wrist-clutch exploder but Morishima blocks it and hits the sidewalk slam. He hits the Amaze Impact for 2. He hits the uranage but Whitmer comes back with a German suplex. He hits a lariat for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Morishima quickly counters to the backdrop driver for 2. He hits a lariat for 2. Morishima says he’s had enough and hits another backdrop driver for the win.
This was what you’d call a main event squash. In a fifteen minute match Whitmer hit only a handful of moves and was never in control for more than a minute. He got seriously devalued here, but on the upside this is the way I’ve wanted to see Morishima fight. It’s just that Whitmer isn’t in the place that Homicide and Joe are at, where a squash from a new wrestler would be seen as a huge, game-changing event. Those guys are established enough where a loss like that could see them easily recover, but Whitmer is on the bubble with ROH fans. The commentators might try to put over the fact that Whitmer takes punishment and keeps coming, but when it comes down to it the fans don’t see him as a threat. At any rate, the match was entertaining for what it was.
Rating: **½
JZ says: Morishima has been the champion since 2.17.07, and this is his first defense. I believe Whitmer is getting this shot because he for some reason wanted to congratulate Morishima on his big win or something, so he came out to the ring after the match with Homicide in Philly. Morishima attacks before the bell, and I guess that will be his gimmick of sorts. The champion takes it to the floor right away and goes to work on Whitmer. Back in the ring not much changes as Whitmer continues to take abuse. Lenny Leonard impresses the importance of tonight’s match, since Morishima is not booked for the four March shows, if he is the champion those four big shows will have no ROH World Champion. Morishima is dominating here, just like he should. Morishima powerbombs Whitmer on the floor, and this is just a slaughter. If Morishima retains tonight, he will defend it At Budokan, just like the Bob Dylan album. Whitmer keeps trying to fight back and he eventually hits the Exploder, but it only gets two. Whitmer tries the Wrist-Clutch Exploder but Morishima blocks and hits a Boss Man Slam. Whitmer tries a sleeper but Morishima hits a Back Drop Driver and Whitmer kicks out. A huge lariat follows but Whitmer actually kicks out. Another Back Drop Driver is enough to get the pin and retain the title at 14:10. That was a perfect squash for Morishima, but it also made for one of the duller main events in the ROH canon. Whitmer kicked out of a lot of stuff, but he wasn’t able to capture the underdog magic of say Jimmy Jacobs against Bryan Danielson back at Throwdown.
Rating: **½
Aftermath
BG says: The Briscoes are excited to start their third title reign in the place where there first title reign ended. Three times! Man up! Three times! Man up!
Austin Aries cuts a promo not looking at the camera, but for the first time it makes sense as it turns out he’s actually talking to some young up-and-comers about scouting them for his new group. We don’t get to see who they are however as the “To Be Continued” screen comes up.
JZ says: The Briscoe Brothers are excited about the opportunity to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles for the third time. This would actually be the first time they’re World Tag Team Champions, as both of their previous reigns came before Austin Aries & Roderick Strong turned the belts into World belts.
Austin Aries is talking to some people off camera about what Roderick Strong is doing and how he is responding. Unlike the other stupid times people look off camera, Aries was actually talking to real people, but who he was talking to is a mystery. One must assume they are the guys he has picked for his new group. But who could it be??!?!?
TO BE CONTINUED…
MVP
BG says: Samoa Joe. He put on what I consider to be his best match of the farewell tour so far and cut a classy and humorous promo afterwards. That’s all I need from him on his way out.
Coming soon will be our review of FIFTH YEAR FESTIVAL: CHICAGO!
The 411: BG says: This felt like a filler show. The highlights are a very good but not amazing Joe/Richards match and a great six man mayhem. The main event was just there to get Morishima’s dominance over and the rest of the show fleshed out the midcard feuds. It was an entertaining show, but not an essential one. Thumbs solidly in the middle for this.
JZ says: I didn’t go wild for this show. Several matches were outright squashes (Rave vs. Keenan, Whitmer vs. Morishima) and other matches should have been better than they way (Aries vs. Sydal, Daniels vs. Briscoe vs. Homicide). I can recommend this DVD only on the basis that I’m a big proponent of having all of a set, and there’s enough good stuff on the Fifth Year Festival to have all the shows, but this is probably the worst of the bunch.
