Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor - Glory by Honor VII

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 12.19.2008

There's something to be said for quitting while you're ahead.

Ring of Honor — Glory By Honor VII
by J.D. Dunn

ROH Videowire

• Recap of Delirious joining the Age of the Fall.
  
• EXCELLENT vignette on Daizee Haze as she talks about not wanting to be a "diva" but a wrestler and how Rhett Titus ruined her locker room reputation. She tearfully apologizes for turning Delirious down and promises to get him back.
  
• Recap of the Briscoes, Steenerico, Age of the Fall brawl.
  
• Finally, we get the Necro Butcher throwing a fit and becoming ROH's loose canon.
  

September 20, 2008

From Philadelphia, Pa.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.

Opening Match: Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King.
Matches like this can be nothing but good for Kenny King who has mountains of potential but hasn't had the veteran competition to push him in FIP. Lynn looks really good, sharp and quick enough to compete with King physically and smart enough to see his moves coming a mile away. King does manage to dominate for most of the match, but he either gets too cocky at times or gets caught cheating. That allows Lynn to come back with a huracanrana and finish with the Cradle Piledriver at 10:18. Good showing from the 45-year-old Lynn, and while I don't like Kenny being a jobber, hopefully he's learning. **3/4

Recap of Brent Albright winning the NWA Heavyweight Title.

NWA Heavyweight Title: Brent Albright vs. Adam Pearce (w/Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.).
Can they replicate the success of their previous bout? Like that one, this is less ROH and more old school NWA. Albright is coming in with his elbow taped. Pearce tries every cheap heat tactic he can think of early on, including tossing Albright over the top when the ref isn't looking (yes, it's still illegal in the NWA). Pearce doesn't have a lot of flashy moves, but he knows how and when and where to do things, so even the Philly crowd starts rooting against him. Hagadorn wedges a chair into the ropes behind the ref's back, but it backfires as Pearce misses a spear and rams his own head into it. Albright reverses the figure-four to a small package this time, but it only gets two. Pearce actually uses Albright's Half-Nelson Suplex against him, but it also only gets two. It's tit for tat as Albright blocks Pearce's piledriver and hits his own for two. Scary moment as they fight on top over a suplex, and Shane Hagadorn shoves them to the floor as Sweeney distracts the ref. Both guys would be fine. They're tough. They're wrestlers. Back in, both guys go for clotheslines and nail each other. Albright recovers first and takes Pearce down into the Crowbar. Pearce rolls through, though, elbows Albright's bad elbow to block the Half-Nelson, and takes Albright down into his own Crowbar for the surprise submission at 13:57. Not as good as their last match, but it still provided a lot of old-school fun. I know the average ROH fan doesn't care for Adam Pearce, but his style of wrestling draws you in more than the usual spotfest and he's one of the few guys who draws legitimate heat. ***1/2

Recap of Shiozaki winning the FIP World Title. Apparently, that was a really good match, but it hasn't been released yet.

FIP World Title: Go Shiozaki (w/Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.) vs. Kevin Steen.
So Sweet 'n' Sour is already having a good night. Go is starting to evince the dickish heel role I was hoping for, targeting Steen's bad knee because it will piss people off and makes sense rather than just busting out moves because they're his favorites. Great slapfest early on as Shiozaki nails him with total disdain. Funny moment as Hagadorn calls for a high ten, but Shiozaki grabs his head and uses it to headbutt Steen. Back in, Steen avoids a flying kneedrop, but Shiozaki gets his knees up to block the Swanton. Go beats him down but runs into a powerbomb. SHARPSHOOTER! Go makes the ropes and hits the Go Flasher and Orange Crush at 15:20. Up and down match, like most of Steen's matches. The slapfest and Go's vicious beating were fun to watch. ***

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima.
The matchlist doesn't show a title match, but the title is on the line. I could have told you exactly how this match would go, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. Nakajima is able to hang with Danielson on the mat initially, and he even knocks Danielson on his ass with a swift kick, so Bryan TAKES IT UP A NOTCH! Danielson works in a number of unorthodox British maneuvers to gain the advantage (take that, Nigel). Danielson works the arm with a lot of sickening maneuvers while Nakajima zeroes in on Danielson's injured knee with both kicks and holds. Nakajima is a total no-nonsense guy, and his kicks are brutal. He tries to put Danielson away with the Anklelock, but Danielson makes the ropes. Danielson gives him a taste of his own medicine with an Anklelock German Suplex. Danielson gives even more payback, tying Nakajima in the tree-of-woe and kicking him while he's exposed. That leads to a German Superplex and the eventual Cattle Mutilation at 23:03. Pretty frickin' awesome with a lot of stiff kicks and stretches. More than that, they had good strategies coming in, and while Nakajima was overmatched, he came out of it looking great. ****

Jerry Lynn is MOTIVATED, BABY! He says he has one last big run in him.

Erick Stevens vs. Rhett Titus.
Rhett gives some ringside ladies his hotel room keys. Stevens has switched to Audioslave as his entrance music, and thank God for that. Rhett wants to play his character, but Stevens is pissed about the loss and just wants to bust him up Shaft style. Titus busts open Stevens' nose and rips at it. Titus' face-humping is really disturbing. Stevens doesn't even look like he wants to sell it. He slips away from Titus, lariats him, and finishes with the Doctorbomb at 3:24. Just a squash. Rhett doesn't really need wins, but it would be nice if he could get one on occasion. 3/4*

After the match, Larry Sweeney comes down to offer Stevens a deal: join Sweet 'n' Sour so he can make the jump to either TNA or WWE where the big money is. Stevens turns him down, so Sweeney tries to strong-arm him. That doesn't go well for Sweeney, so the rest of Sweet 'n' Sour run down and do an old-fashioned beatdown. Jobbers try to save, but Sweet 'n' Sour hold them off while Shiozaki tries to Pillmanize Stevens' neck. Roderick Strong runs down to turn the tide, setting up…

Roderick Strong & The Vulture Squad (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards & Shane Hagadorn (w/Sweet 'n' Sour).
Hagadorn plays the heel-in-peril to start the match, and that makes for a long period of awkwardness. They seem lost at times, and sometimes, they just walk each other around the ring without any real rhyme or reason. Then, the train-wreck portion starts, and it gets much better. Roderick looks great, of course, booting Edwards right in the face to break up a quebrada. Ruckus does a shooting star press off the apron, which is stupid because his own manager is in his way and he lands on Hagadorn's shins anyway. Sweeney eventually tosses in the foreign object for Hero, and after an initial miss, he knocks Roderick cold for the win at 11:07. The Vulture Squad is not that great at working matches (fancy moves, yes, but not working). They are pretty good when the match breaks down, but since this was just a backdrop for Hero/Strong, this just fell flat. **

Non-Title: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Claudio Castagnoli.
Talk about your clash in styles. Claudio seems content to piss off the crowd with rest holds and stalling. Drunken Jimmy Bower crashes the announce booth to entertain me and thank all the fans for supporting ROH. I like both of these guys, but this is not a good match for them. I think it's because Claudio is more of a finesse wrestler while Kensuke is a bruiser. It doesn't help that Claudio has to drop anything interesting because it might get him over as a babyface. He does hit a nice bicycle kick right to the side of Sasaki's face, but when he tries again, Sasaki just picks him up and powerbombs him with one hand. Don't fool with Mr. Zero. Sasaki gets sick of taking a beating, clubs Castagnoli silly, and finishes with the Northern Lights Bomb at 14:43. A waste of Sasaki, especially considering Claudio has been persona non grata since turning on Danielson, and everyone knows he's just a stopover feud until Danielson can get his hands on Nigel again. **

Recap of Nigel winning the title from Morishima.

ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico.
The crowd gets on Nigel right away for using the lariats. Then, for a long stretch, it's just kind of quiet grumbling because El Generico can't mount any serious offense. Nigel just goes about his business, clubbing Generico around and working his shoulder. Even the announcers talk about how blithely he's wrestling. Finally, Generico makes a big comeback and works the crowd back into it. Generico might be one of the best guys to wrestle from underneath outside the WWE. Fluke rollup! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Brainbuster! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Nigel gets desperate and grabs the title belt, but Steen sneaks in and superkicks him behind the ref's back. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Crowd thought that was it. Generico sets up for the Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Nigel blocks it and turns it into a Jackknife Pin at 21:00. This was a tale of two matches. The first part was bland, typical Nigel working over an opponent. Once Generico made his comeback, though, they had the house rockin'. Their Age of Insanity match was basically the same only with better pacing and more patience from the fans. ***

Recap of the formation of the Age of the Fall and the breakup of Jimmy and Lacey at the hands of Austin Aries.

Steel Cage Warfare: Austin Aries & The Briscoes vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Delirious vs. Necro Butcher.
If you've never seen one before, Steel Cage Warfare is basically Wargames in one cage, and it's elimination rules. Necro is a "wild card," which probably would have worked better had they teased his exodus from the Age of the Fall before this show rather than having him sever ties several weeks earlier. Aries and Black start as Aries meets Tyler at the door and hits the heat-seeking missile suicida. Nothing much of note after that. Jimmy Jacobs comes in, so Austin is screwed. The door of the cage is constantly open. In fact, it looks like there's just a section missing, thus negating the concept of the cage. Jimmy rips Austin's head open, and they give him a good working over. Necro Butcher is next in. He goes after everyone and, in effect, evens up the sides. Jay Briscoe is out next and he tosses some chairs in. Still nothing happening. Delirious is in next, and he hits Jay from behind. Finally, Jimmy and Austin team up (!) to BLAST Necro with repeated chairshots. That sets up the Brainbuster from Aries, and both guys cover him for the elimination at 14:08. Mark Briscoe is the last one in, and he brings a barbed-wire table. He sends it in but gets in a brawl and can't use it. Jay and Delirious battle on the outside, and Jay goes off the cage through the table. Mark sets up the table but gets powerbombed through it, and Aries has to help him out of the barbed-wire. Tyler breaks up the IEDs with an F5 and sets up Delirious for multiple Panic Attacks. Aries is out, so Jimmy is able to finish with the End Times at 21:53. The Age of the Fall quickly takes control on the outnumbered Briscoes. Jimmy hands Delirious his spike and tells him to stab Jay in the face. That brings out Daizee Haze to reason with Delirious. Jimmy tells him not to listen to her. Delirious is torn, but he finally goes nuts and STABS DAIZEE IN THE FACE! Delirious can't believe he's done it, but the crowd loves it. I appreciate the attempt at big drama, but it would have been better if the announcers didn't just go on calling the match while the referees dragged Daizee out of the ring. I know people bitch about Jim Ross' "Owen voice," but there's something to be said for an announcer being emotionally affected by the events in the ring. Prazak is the anti-Cole here. Even the Briscoes don't sell it. Mark comes off the top with a cannonball to wipe out everyone, and the Briscoes eliminate Delirious with the Doomsday Device at 25:47. Jimmy and Tyler dominate after that, but suddenly the Briscoes decide to no-sell the laws of physics and shrug off a few chairshots. The Briscoes hit their individual finishers and eliminate both Jimmy and Tyler at the same time at 29:09. No. Wait. I'm shocked. The Briscoes no-sell someone else's offense and go over again? This kind of stale wrestling is why they needed the cosmetic change of going back to "ground and pound," which they didn't anyway. But I'm being kind of hard on the Briscoes. It's not that I don't like them, but they need to do something else or go somewhere else. The whole match was ill-conceived and clumsy, especially in comparison to the original, which is one of the best-booked matches in ROH history. I appreciate what they were trying to do with Necro's "wild card" role, but it just didn't work in the context of the match, and it was subtraction by addition. **1/4

The 411: You know, if you just took the first half of the show and ended with Danielson/Nakajima as the main event, you'd have a hell of a show. Unfortunately, it just sputters after that with disjointed matches, bad matchups, and booking-gone-wrong. Danielson vs. Nakajima is worth a look, but it doesn't make up for the second half of the show. And at over three hours, it *really* drags over the last half.

Mild thumbs down.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]