Underrated ROH Shows

[Colt45]

What shows do you like that may not be on everyone's top ten list?


I just recently got my hands of Dragon Gate Challenge and damn was it good. Whitmer/Jacobs had the nastiest bump/botch I've ever seen. And was a great match before and after it. Such an underrated feud. All Dragon Gate matches were crazy, and were different from the much acclaimed SCOH six-man, because they were ROH vs Dragon Gate. Really dig inter promotion matches.

Joe/Daniels was very good. The ending was surprising. I didn't know the outcome before watching.

Great show. Im thinking a solid '8' or B+ rating.

[adam08]

A cut Above
Era of honor begins
Sotf 2009
Eliminating the competition.

[ROHWorld_Steven]

What shows do you like that may not be on everyone's top ten list?


I just recently got my hands of Dragon Gate Challenge and damn was it good. Whitmer/Jacobs had the nastiest bump/botch I've ever seen. And was a great match before and after it. Such an underrated feud. All Dragon Gate matches were crazy, and were different from the much acclaimed SCOH six-man, because they were ROH vs Dragon Gate. Really dig inter promotion matches.

Joe/Daniels was very good. The ending was surprising. I didn't know the outcome before watching.

Great show. Im thinking a solid '8' or B+ rating.

I loved that show, I gave it 8.5 when I reviewed it, here: http://rohworld.com/news/043.html

That Whitmer v Jacobs match was epic and the powerbomb botch was absolutely brutal. Will have to dig the DVD out and watch it again now!

[Colt45]

Midnight Express Reunion. 2004.
Really fun show. I thought Low Ki vs Lethal was the best of their matches. Lethal's mother getting involved was hilarious. Homicide vs Nigel was pretty good too. The 6man tags was good, except Punk got eliminated too early, and we were left with John Walters. Joe vs Dragon is in my top five ROH matches of all time.

MOTYC and a solid undercard get a B+ from me.

[sideeffect]

Rising Above 2007

I thought this was a really fun show and easy to sit through. Danielson vs Morishima, Briscoes vs Strong & Romero and Aries vs. McGuinness were great matches.

Also Hero vs. Castagnoli and Stevens vs. Richards were fun little matches.

[TYFDK]

Survival of the Fittest '07.

Human Tornado was in TWO matches that night.
Awww yeah.

[D2Kvirus]

The ironically-named Unforgettable

Kobashi/Homicide vs Joe/Ki, Gibson's farewell match against Roddy, plus Daniels/Yang was a fun match.

[Rooskie]

Midnight Express Reunion is a darn good choice. That Dragon-Joe contest was easily the best those two had (IMHO), and if not for Joe vs. Punk II would have been the ROH MOTY.

I'm not sure what shows are properly rated, but I'm going to throw out there Nowhere To Run from May 2005 in Chicago. Superb show from top to bottom. BJ Whitmer vs. James Gibson in Whitmer's best non-hardcore match. One of the best Dragon vs. Aries matches. CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave in a nifty steel cage main event. A great clash of styles with Homicide vs. Doug Williams. Great, great show.

[D2Kvirus]

Showdown in the Sun Night 2

With the combination of the storm in the area, and the minor civil war in the official discussion thread, the show could do with a little appreciation right now...

[RobOfAllTrades]

Big Bang i think would be considered underrated. The show just flew by when watching it, and everything except the lucha match and maybe the opener was entertaining. The double mainevent was fantastic.

[Colt45]

Rising Above 2007

I thought this was a really fun show and easy to sit through. Danielson vs Morishima, Briscoes vs Strong & Romero and Aries vs. McGuinness were great matches.

Also Hero vs. Castagnoli and Stevens vs. Richards were fun little matches.

After reading this I was lucky enough to find a copy on Amazon. I have to agree on Rising Above being an awesomely underrated show. The scramble match was just spot-driven insanity. Claudio/Hero was another great match. It fit right in with Dragon/Morishima, in that they were quick matches PACKED with action. Both were awesome and continued the rapid fire flow to the show.

NRC/Briscoes was surprisingly good, and the first pin fall surprised me. Who would think Rocky/Roddy would break the streak? And Nigel/Aries. This match was fucking insane! Only way to describe it.

Overall this was not the one match show some make it out to be. They crammed a lot of good stuff into two hours, proving ROH doesn't need all 15+ minute matches to feature real wrestling.

[ninetwentyfour]

Showdown in the Sun Night 2

With the combination of the storm in the area, and the minor civil war in the official discussion thread, the show could do with a little appreciation right now...

A storm didn't cause the issues. The show had one fantastic match and a couple of decent ones. Don't think anyone is underrating it at all.

[D2Kvirus]

Showdown in the Sun Night 2

With the combination of the storm in the area, and the minor civil war in the official discussion thread, the show could do with a little appreciation right now...

A storm didn't cause the issues. The show had one fantastic match and a couple of decent ones. Don't think anyone is underrating it at all.

On the board it was being shat on like it was one of the worst shows in ROH history, which it wasn't. There's a long list of early Pearce-era B-shows with undercards made up of local workers, as well as plenty of Gabe-era shows that haven't aged at all well, that were far worse.

[Colt45]

In Your Face 2006



Got my hands on a copy of ROH In Your Face. I'll start by saying it's pretty much my favorite B-show of 2006. Richards vs Rave is another great match, and further displayed the chemistry between the two. Stiff affair that impressively got the new guy over. Davey can thank Jimmy Rave for getting his ROH career off to a good start.

Things get better with Jacobs/Whitmer whom deliver another fun match, and yet again, another car wreck of a spot. After, Homicide battles Chris Hero in what would become a forgotten ROH vs CZW classic. This match had just about everything from straight wrestling to the use of weapons, and was backed by an uber hot crowd. Long at times but compelling.

Capping things off KENTA vs Samoa Joe vs Dragon in an insane main event. The three worked an extremely violent triple threat, so stiff KENTA go KTFO from a slap! The interactions between those two in particular make me long for a match. Total missed opportunity if I'd ever see one.

Overall I'd say IN YOUR FACE benefits from a strong undercard and final match that stands out at the end of a year a four star matches. I'd say that makes this a DVD a B+ show.

[DBSommer]

On the board it was being shat on like it was one of the worst shows in ROH history, which it wasn't. There's a long list of early Pearce-era B-shows with undercards made up of local workers, as well as plenty of Gabe-era shows that haven't aged at all well, that were far worse.

I'm surprised at that as I found it an all around good show with the weakest match being Alexander Ciampa, mostly due to time. The Cole O'Reilly match was the weakest of their series, but still good. TJP Fire Ant was way better than I expected, and the ME definitely delivered. Everything in between I would watch again and skip nothing.

As to worse shows than that, amen. Some of those card underdelivered especially during the 08 early 09 era.

As to good shows that slipped through the cracks, I think Omega Effect is seriously underappreciated. Dragon Gate Invasion gets overlooked since there were only 2 DG stars and it was in between Summer of Punk and JoeBashi. This Means War (I not II), DBD IX, Richards vs. Daniels, Honor Takes Center Stage Day 1 (that might get more recognition that I'm aware of).

[DXvsNWO1994]

Here are a few of mine...

Death Before Dishonor V: Night 2 - This show had a few questionable undercard matches but made up for it with Steenerico/Briscoes singles matches, Danielson/Quackenbush, a surprisingly great Morishima/Albright World Title Match & an 8 Man Street Fight that's one of my favorite ROH matches.

Breakout & The French Connection - I feel like these two have a lot of common but don't get the recognition they deserve. Both had relatively solid undercards and the final two matches on both shows proved to be great. These two are also a few of my personal favorites and I found them easy to get through.

There were a series of shows at the end of 2009 on the road to Final Battle that were all very good quality wise but not enough people talk about. Clash of the Contenders, Aries vs. Richards/The Omega Effect (arguably one of the best house show weekends ROH has ever had) and Eye of the Storm 2 (which was better than Final Battle) were all very good in their own right and deserve more attention.

[supersonic]

BItter Friends, Stiffer Enemies
Midnight Express Reunion
It All Begins
Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 3
A Night of Tribute
Tag Wars 2006
Weekend of Champions Night 2
Irresistible Forces
Fighting Spirit
A Fight at the Roxbury
Domination
Death Before Dishonor V Night 2
Proving Ground 2008
Without Remorse
Bound By Hate
Clash of the Contenders
Pick Your Poison
Salvation
Only the Strong Survive

[DBSommer]

Doesn't Irresistible Forces go for like a hundred dollars on ebay?

[Mike Adamle]

Beating The Odds is an incredibly underrated show.

A real fun 4 Team Scramble
Mark Briscoe vs. BJ Whitmer
Homicide vs. Trent Acid in a match I thought was better than their Fight Without Honor
One of the best 4-corner survivals in ROH history
And to cap it all off, Punk vs. Raven in the Clockwork orange house of fun cage match.

[ShaunSperling]

The first ever ROH champ torny show (not the 4 way) is one of my all time favourite shows.