Delirious opens the show. I wonder if they think we all talk like that. The No Remorse Corps attacks, but Jack Evans and Kataro Suzuki make the save.
Opening Match: Jack Evans & Kataro Suzuki vs. Rocky Romero & Davey Richards.
The babyfaces confound the NRC with their speed. Suzuki settles things down for a bit. Jack hits a double-stomp into a standing moonsault on Richards. He gets two off a Rolling Leg Clutch, so Romero gets pissed and springboards in with a dropkick to turn the tide. The Octopus stretches Evans, and Suzuki has to make the save. Richards hangs Evans in the tree-of-woe, and Romero follows with a running corner dropkick. Evans comes back with a series of kicks. HOT TAG TO SUZUKI! Suzuki cleans house on Romero, including a nice handspring back elbow. Suzuki cuts off Richards' springboard attempt and gets two off a German Suplex. Evans tags back in but takes an Alarm Clock from Richards. Davey gets two off a German Suplex. Evans comes back with the reverse rana. Romero makes the save. The 630-splashmisses, and Romero knocks Suzuki off the apron. Suzuki gets wiped out again, and Romero hits a flying DDT on Evans. ONE, TWO, TH-NO! Evans puts Romero on top, but Davey sneaks in with the German Superplex. Richards wipes out Suzuki yet again, allowing Romero to kick Evans' brains in with a series of kicks. Evans is out, and Romero gets the pin at 14:01. The style was very Japanese at the end with Richards constantly keeping Suzuki at bay while Romero tried to finish off pesky Jack Evans. **3/4
Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Akihiko Ito.
Oy. This is going to be difficult to recap. If you're not familiar with Japanese wrestling, the young developmental wrestlers are called "young boys," and they're limited to wrestling exhibitions (like this) or the occasional job to a superstar if there's a special event. Not only that, but they don't get any gimmicks or flashy tights. As a result, we get "guy with black hair" (Taniguchi) and "guy with red hair" (Ito). Most of the match is very basic, as you might expect. Ito works the arm, while Taniguchi goes after the knee and hamstring. I love matches like this. All the flashy crap is gone, so it's just about working a body part and executing your moves. I think the most high-tech move is a flipping neckbreaker from Ito. He spinebusters Tanigushi but misses a frogsplash. Ito gets two off an O'Connor Roll, but Taniguchi hits a belly-to-belly. One, twoNO! Taniguchi finishes with Rolling Germans at 9:55. Good job of building a match around basic moves. **
Bryan Danielson says he's out to test Shiozaki tonight and see if he's ready for ROH.
BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Rave.
Rave goes after Whitmer's ankle early, which is a good idea both because Rave uses an anklelock and Whitmer was out for a good amount of time with an ankle injury. Jimmy controls for most of the match, but Whitmer gets flurries of fired-up offense. A spinebuster gets two for Whitmer. Rave comes back with a spear for two. The running knee gets two. BJ dropkicks Rave's legs out from under him, and they start reversing hold after hold. Rave comes out on top with the Pedigree for the finish at 10:09. Didn't do anything for me. Average stuff. **
The Briscoes and Naomichi Marufuji are ready to JAPAN UP!
ROH vs. NOAH: Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki.
Shiozaki is basically auditioning for a run in ROH. Danielson outwrestles him early on, stretching out his arms and legs. Shiozaki comes back with chops on the floor. Shiozaki forces him down into a surfboard. Danielson tries his own chops, but Shiozaki no-sells and DROPS Danielson with a stiff chop. Danielson winds up in the tree-of-woe, and Shiozaki adds more chops. A running dropkick gets two. Shiozaki goes up, but Danielson dropkicks him off the top. Shiozaki dives off the apron, but Danielson sidesteps him and tosses him into the apron. Danielson goes right after the arm, sandwiching it in the railing. Back in, more armwork. Shiozaki tries chops again, but there's nothing behind them, so Danielson no-sells and tells him to chop him again. AWESOME! Shiozaki eventually comes back with a flying shoulderblock. Danielson knocks him into the crowd, though, and hits a springboard plancha out on top of him. Crowd chants, "ROH!" Back in, Danielson locks in the CFCW, but Shiozaki makes the ropes. Shiozaki takes him up for a Swinging Bulldog. Cool. They slug it out again, and Shiozaki hits a superkick. Danielson cuts him off with a ROLLING ELBOW! Shiozaki with a LARIAT and a SUPERKICK! Both guys are out of it. Danielson catches Shiozaki on the top rope and delivers the top-rope superplex. ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Shiozaki fires back with chops and a STIFF LARIAT! THE MOONSAULTmisses. Danielson grabs him and floats over into the Cattle Mutilation. Shiozaki makes the ropes and headbutts out of another attempt. Danielson has to settle for a Tiger Suplex. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Danielson elbows Shiozaki silly and floats back over into another Cattle Mutilation for the win at 26:43. An incredible showing from Shiozaki. I've seen a lot of hype for this on the ROH board as a MOTYC. I won't go that far, but it's a startling, out-of-nowhere match. ****
After the match, Danielson demands a title shot.
Todd "Deer-in-the-Headlights" Sinclair handles the backstage interview duties since Becky Bayless couldn't make it across the pond.
Fight Without Honor: Roderick Strong vs. Delirious.
Delirious goes nuts at the bell and blitzes Roderick, knocking him out of the ring with a dropkick. Strong catches him going up and unleashes the chops. They fight around the ring, and Delirious wipes out Strong with a flip off the top. Strong tosses a few chairs into the ring and then tosses a table on top of Delirious. Delirious fights his way back and pulls a ladder out from under the ring. Roderick tries to jump him, but Delirious reverses and sends Roderick into the ladder. Big pop for that. Back in, Strong sets up a chair in between the ropes and Pendulum's Delirious' face right into it. Strong gets the ladder now, but Delirious drop toeholds him into the chair. PANIC ATTACK! Delirious bridges the ladder across the apron and barrier, but he runs into the Half-Nelson Backbreaker. Delirious comes back with a Bizarro Driver for two. They fight to the apron where Roderick picks Delirious up and drops him on the ladder. Fans chant, "Ho-ry Shit!" Back in, Delirious hits the Cobra-Clutch Suplex, but Strong no-sells and boots him in the face. Delirious pops up and delivers Chemical Imbalance II for the win at 16:35. I'm not a big fan of this sort of "fighting spirit" match, which is just an excuse to no-sell everything without a lot of psychology behind it. I mean, why should the Chemical Imbalance II be any more effective than the Cobra-Clutch Suplex? It all seems rather arbitrary. The spots were there. The intensity was there. The brain didn't seem to be, though. **3/4
Nigel McGuinness doesn't want to trot out any more clichés.
Six-Man Tag: Naomichi Marufuji & The Briscoe Bros. vs. Matt Sydal, Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki.
If anyone ever thought that Sydal or Matt Cross were incredible spot-masters, they should check out Marvin's work in this match. His stuff is insane in this match, but more importantly, it's incredibly crisp and well-executed. The Briscoes go heel here, mercilessly abusing poor Atsushi Aoki. For his part, Aoki does a pretty damned good Ricky Morton impression if Morton used flying enzuigiris and cross-armlocks. Marvin eventually gets the hot tag and destroys Jay Briscoe. He walks the ropes and springboards into Mark. Craziness~! Marufuji and Marvin then slug it out with a series of moves and counters that is every bit as cool as the fabled "Matrix Segment" between Red and Low Ki. All hell breaks loose into a series of doubleteam maneuvers and counters that I could never hope to recap. The Doomsday Device backfires once, but Marufuji joins in, and it's successful on the second try. The Briscoes and Marufuji pick up the win at 22:37. Tremendous spotfest with a little bit of southern formula in there. Just fun and exciting stuff. Nothing wrong with that. ****
ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima vs. Nigel McGuinness.
These two had a hard-hitting match at Fighting Spirit in which Morishima came out on top. The Jawbreaker Lariat is blocked, but Nigel shifts his weight to reverse a backdrop driver. He picks up two. Nigel targets Morishima's arm and grounds the match with a hammerlock. He tries a sunset flip bomb, but Morishima blocks with the butt-splash. Morishima takes over and starts trying to cave in Nigel's chest. Nigel knocks Morishima to the floor and comes off with a crossbody. Back in, Nigel fires away with forearms, but he runs right into one of Morishima's that stops him cold. Morishima uses the power of the ass and gets roundly booed for it, even in Japan. Nigel hits a few corner charges and a lariat for two. Morishima nails him during the handstand and puts him down with a lariat. Nigel catches him going up, though, and hits a sloppy Tower of London for two. Nigel slings himself up for the Jawbreaker Lariat, but Morishima blocks and delivers the Backdrop Driver. Morishima can't cover right away, though. Nigel crotches Morishima and WIPES HIM OUT with the lariat. They fight on top, and Nigel manipulates him into a Tower of London on the apron. Better idea in theory than practice there. Morishima clubs Nigel down and tosses Todd Sinclair aside. BACKDROP DRIVER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Nigel fires back. The Jawbreaker Lariat is blocked, so Nigel goes with a small package for two. They slug it out, a battle that Morishima wins with a lariat. Another lariat! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! BACKDROP DRIVER! ONE, TWO, THREE! Nigel comes up short again at 20:15. If not for a number of blown spots, this would have been Morishima's best title defense to date. If nothing else, this match showed that Morishima is a great power wrestler, even if his body is too awkward to work that highly athletic style that ROH prides itself on. ***3/4
After the match, Danielson interrupts the handshake and slaps Morishima for carrying around "his belt." Nigel knocks Danielson's dick in the dirt and puts over Morishima as the real champ.
The No Remorse Corps talk about how great they are and plan to go out to party later. Davey ensures that there is, in fact, fruit juice at the bars in Japan.
Brent Albright threatens to take out Morishima.
The 411: Most of the show left me flat. Even the Danielson/Shiozaki match, while technically fine, just lacked a certain intensity that you need to generate interest. I will say that's definitely a match that gets better as it wears on. The final two matches, though, were "off da hook" as Tazz might say. The Nigel/Morishima match works well as the second chapter in their feud, and now that Nigel has finished his chase, it gives you a better idea of the overall story. It's odd, but a show with matches as good as this should get me more excited about the show. Recommended, but without much enthusiasm.
