Project Rewatch - ROH: The Good Shit

[supersonic]

Escape From New York - July 9, 2005



Throughout the evening, Colt Cabana keeps getting questioned about CM Punk's attitude. Wow this is a fucking title reign.

ROH Title Shot Match
James Gibson vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Roderick Strong vs. Azrieal

This match doesn't happen, as the lights go out and Punk cuts another fantastic heel promo. He challenges Strong to a non-title match, which brings out Foley from behind in the darkness. Foley threatens to throw the chickenshit Punk over the balcony unless he puts the ROH Title on the line, to which the champion agrees. Great promo work, tremendous crowd heat, making a title belt matter, this clicked on all cylinders.

Pure Title Shot Match
James Gibson vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Alex Shelley vs. Azrieal

Shelley abruptly came out at the start of the match to replace Strong, and Gibson wondered why. Gee, it's a fourway match for a shot at a championship, why wouldn't Shelley, ever the opportunist, step in and capitalize on the chance? He's certainly a suitable replacement. As for the match, it wasn't anything special, but had enough going for it to make it good. I believe this is the ONLY time that Gibson and Shelley ever faced off - that they never had a singles match is fucking criminal.

What really matters in this match is that Rave and Shelley worked together on Azrieal, like they were natural tag partners, and also did everything they could to keep Gibson out of the match. There were also some inconsistencies with enforcing who was and wasn't legal, which really didn't surprise me. I liked having a jabroni like Azrieal in the match for Rave to pin. The Crown Jewel in the Pure Wrestling environment again? I'm interested.

The post-match is also great, with Jade Chung (who had a hairstyle and outfit that complimented her extremely well) being forced to kiss the bare foot of Rave. She even hinted that she was fed up, but succumbed to the financial and green card benefits of being an object for the Embassy.

Rating: ***

Pure Title Match
Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries

Nana comes out during the rules breakdown and offers Aries a chance for Generation Next to unite with the Embassy. Now, I can see why this was both logical and illogical for Nana. Aries had three clean pinfalls on Joe going into this match, and so Nana showed great confidence that Aries would win the Pure Title, which would be a nice coup for the Embassy as before with John Walters. However, how would Rave, who had the next shot at the Pure Title, had reacted if Aries obliged to joining and was the new Pure Champion? This didn't seem like a very well thought out proposal for Nana.

That this offer was made right as Aries was about to face Joe made the timing even worse for Nana. Aries made it very clear that his focus was on Joe and the Pure Title. When Nana attempted a rebuttal, Aries straight-up told him to fuck off. Hmm.

As for the match, this just couldn't measure up to their ROH Title matches, but that's not really a knock on this. It just never got a story developing that was as engaging as what they had done in the past. This was still very good though, and I liked Aries teasing an Ole Ole kick (he did it to Joe in the historic Final Battle 2004 classic), only for it to be a tease and flip off the crowd. That was a small step backward for someone who seemed destined to turn face.

Joe finally got his victory over Aries, in convincing fashion. Joe was not caught by surprise this time, mentally prepared to survive the trademark finishing sequence of Aries.

Rating: ***1/2

In another brief segment that elevates the importance of the ROH Title, Aries finds Strong in what looks like a janitorial closet, telling him how special this opportunity is, being there for his friend. Quite the sight to see Aries reciprocate and be a great friend and stablemate to Strong after the year they'd been united, compared to the Second City Saints.

ROH Title Match
CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong

This match was simply amazing. Before the match even began, the mere visual of Punk looking up at Joe in the balcony, smirking and holding up the belt, just told the story. Punk of course continued to mock Joe, as well as Foley and Gibson, as they all watched from the balcony during the match. Having them up there just really elevated the importance of the ROH Title that I hadn't seen from the company before.

Punk was of course a tremendous chickenshit heel. As with their match the month before, Punk spent about the first 10 minutes evading every single chop attempt from Strong. Whereas the first singles match they had, it was a simple story of Punk just being smart enough to avoid such heavy, painful strikes, in this match, while it had that simple story too, this time Punk was the hated heel, and Strong was the white-hot future bad-ass. So when Strong finally did get that chop on Punk, the crowd erupted, getting to see the champion get his comeuppance and take his physical beating.

Strong was tremendous with his comebacks and hope spots as Punk was equally tremendous in toying with the audience. As much respect as Punk had for Strong as a competitor (hard to see that behind his smugness and arrogance, but that respect was there), he really seemed taken by surprise by the challenger. Strong truly elevated his game in this one, not going down and giving the best performance of his career at the time of this match.

Strong, with the crowd fully behind him, also laid just a vicious beating on Punk. The backbreakers he delivered were just devastating, as were his usual gutbusters. Add in the tremendous false finishes also, and this match had the crowd rocking from beginning to end. This is a truly underappreciated match.

It lived up to the hype that came with this storyline. It had the crowd in a frenzy. It erased any doubt one could have possibly had that Strong was a bandwagon flavor of the month in ROH. And most importantly, it elevated the ROH Title to an emotional level that was unmatched. This was an old-school style of personalities combined with the modern-day physicality. This match worked on just about every level.

Post-match, Joe, Foley, and Gibson corner Punk in the ring. Gibson delivers a Tiger Driver to the champion and demands a title shot on the next show, despite the number of times he failed to win the big one before. Just raw emotion that was the driving force for these main events, and it was pretty damn fresh for ROH.

Rating: ****1/2

Cabana, disappointed in losing a gimmick match to McGuinness on this show and tired of answering for Punk, announces that he is going to Europe to improve his game and recharge himself.

Up next - Fate of an Angel
Matches will include:
AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong
Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave
Matt Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels
CM Punk vs. James Gibson

[supersonic]

Fate of an Angel - July 16, 2005



The DVD opens with a good promo from Samoa Joe that puts over the urgency of making sure CM Punk doesn't leave ROH still the ROH Champion. This is how every championship should be treated.

CM Punk comes out to the ring to point out that James Gibson has failed time and time again to win a championship in ROH, which is very true. Eventually Gibson gets sick of the trolling though and comes out for an altercation. He ends up getting ambushed by the champion and gets a gushing gash on his forehead for his trouble. Main event in jeopardy?

AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong

A very good match as expected, although it seemed like these two weren't completely gelling with each other, and a series would have done well for them to pull out something truly magical. My favorite moment was Strong dropping Styles back-first via side slam on the apron, and then Yakuza kicking Styles from behind into a guard rail, leaving no time for Styles to recuperate. Styles did a decent job of selling in this one. I didn't mind his temporary moments of fighting spirit here and there. The closing moment, in which Styles just had a fire lit in him leading to him getting a Styles Clash, was quite appropriate.

I am annoyed with Gabe Sapolsky on commentary saying that Strong is looking for his first major singles victory. He already got it in Buffalo.

Rating: ***1/2

Pure Title Match
Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave

This one never got going enough to be a great match, but this wasn't bad at all. It was a very basic story of Joe being the bad-ass babyface going against a very hated chickenshit heel, with all kinds of cheating and manipulation of the Pure Title rules being used. Rave got quite a bit of heat and I believe this was his first time getting the toilet paper treatment as well.

What matters is the post-match, when Prince Nana blames Jade Chung for Rave's loss (the commentary bitches about domestic violence which I'm going to get to in a moment), and is about to slap the shit out of her, but the lights go out temporarily, leading to the next match...

Rating: less than ***

Matt Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels

Hardy appears in the ring and the Embassy bails from ringside. He admittedly cuts a tremendous promo putting over ROH and how great it was at the time. It is amazing how badly he pissed away such a fantastic opportunity. He had a very real opportunity to be as high on the pro wrestling food chain as Edge and Chris Jericho, but for a number of reasons I won't get into, it turned out to be a very brief but incredibly hot bandwagon.

I don't care for Hardy cutting down WWE to put over ROH, as WWE despite some so-so booking was still doing great business at the time and often put on great shows with a stacked roster when this event took place. It was great to see him say that he ultimately came to ROH to work, not to talk. I must mention just how electric the crowd was doing this promo.

As for the match, wow was it ever a disappointment. I'll start with the announcer and commentary. Did you guys actually do your research when bragging about this being a once-in-a-lifetime, first time ever dream match? But honestly, that's the least of this match's problems.

I don't know what the actual cause was for this not living up to the hype (Hardy had actually made a shocking appearance on Raw earlier in the week and mentioned ROH specifically). Maybe Hardy had severe ring rust. Maybe Hardy just wasn't suited quite yet for ROH and needed a few more matches to properly gel. Maybe it really was Daniels just phoning it in. Perhaps these two just didn't have any semblance of chemistry.

The match was 20-25 minutes of absolutely nothing special. The absolute best part was the fans having dueling chants, and that wasn't a reflection whatsoever of the work in the match. It was all based on hype. There was no semblance of story. There was no peak. There was no valley. It was just two guys who are capable of much better going through a bunch of moves and holds. This match had zero emotional enrichment to it.

I've certainly seen much worse than this. But I must echo everyone who has said just how tedious this match really was once you get past the Matt Hardy bandwagon that was going at the time.

What matters most is that Punk came in near the end and there was a sports-entertainment finish leading to Hardy's victory. Punk says that's it, that was the main event, but of course Gibson comes out with his head bandaged. Wow, I cannot seriously fathom how much this show would be hated in retrospect if Hardy vs. Daniels had actually been the main event.

Rating: less than ***

ROH Title Match
CM Punk vs. James Gibson

This was good stuff but as a whole was disappointing. The Connecticut crowd was quite heatless in this one, and perhaps the majority of them were only in attendance to see Matt Hardy. But the match itself may not have done much for the heat either. Unlike Punk's defenses the week before, this match may have also suffered from not having Mick Foley involved in the segment. Foley likely would have been critical in building emotion for this match with Matt Hardy already bringing in a WWE-based audience.

There were moments when Punk would antagonize the crowd and he got little to no reaction. But with that said, these two still managed to tell an engaging story. Punk was no match early for Gibson, having run shoulder-first into a ringpost. Gibson, the experienced veteran that he was in his career, of course went to work on that shoulder and respective arm.

The champion managed to use occasional cheating to get the upper hand at times, and held the trunks of Gibson to get the victory. He once again says this it is for him in ROH, only for Daniels to come out and leave with possession of the belt, demanding Punk come claim it from him.

Rating: ***1/2

The DVD closes with a promo from Daniels that is fascinating. He wonders why Punk had an issue with him. Gee, I wonder what Daniels could have possibly orchestrated to make Punk to be so bitter towards him. That leads me to this real quick - why does Sapolsky on commentary take issue with Punk throwing one knockout punch on Allison Danger, and the continuous abuse of the Embassy on Jade Chung, when in fact a couple years earlier he said that Punk needed to get over the attack on his friend Lucy? Gabe said it was ridiculous for Punk to be so pissed off "over a girl."

Daniels in this promo creates another laughable narrative, claiming that Punk is jealous and wants to be him, that's why Punk dressed as him and came out to "Disposable Teens" once. Wow Chris, whatever helps you sleep at night. I'm sure that's why Punk did that, it wasn't in any way a fuck you to the Prophecy and the fanbase that irrationally supported a group of woman-beaters.

Dare I say it - this promo got me pumped to see Punk vs. Daniels not just for the champion to regain possession of the title that he actually EARNED the month before, but to have a chance to competitively and/or emotionally troll and humiliate the very man that had caused so much emotional pain to him in the past. I don't give a fuck that Punk is insufferable and disrespectful to ROH - his hatred of Daniels is justified and he once again has far more integrity than the Fallen Angel in this instance.

Up next - The Homecoming
Matches will include:
Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, & James Gibson vs. Low Ki, Homicide, & Ricky Reyes
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Alex Shelley & ???
Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles
CM Punk vs. Christopher Daniels

[supersonic]

The Homecoming - July 23, 2005



Christopher Daniels opens the DVD with a promo that's a bit more reasonable than the previous week. He simply doesn't want CM Punk to shit on ROH. That's fair although ironic for Daniels.

There's also a promo from Alex Shelley, talking about who his mystery partner could be. He comes across as a douche-bag as usual.

There's a segment in which Gary Michael Cappeta delivers a message to Prince Nana. ROH will no longer allow Nana to lay a hand in abusive fashion on Jade Chung. Nana is great with his smugness, and responds with covering up Chung's body with a blanket and also strapping a dog-collar on her. That's quite the loophole ROH left for him. Prince Nana was just incredible back in the day, and this got phenomenal heat.

Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, & James Gibson vs. Low Ki, Homicide, & Ricky Reyes

This is noteworthy for being the ONLY time Ki and Gibson ever collided. I wonder if Gabe Sapolsky had planned on eventually booking that dream match.

I hate to say this, but this trios match wasn't anything special. I'm not even worried about tags not being enforced - I can understand that in a trios match involving the Rottweilers. There just never seemed to be a cohesive narrative told through this. I reflect back to the eight man tag at Generation Next, which had great body work and segments of cutting the ring in half. This had none of that.

What makes this match worth watching is CM Punk on commentary. He was just absolutely fantastic, burying everyone in ROH, talking about how great he is, about all the favors he's done for ROH, all the money he drew for the company. Dave Prazak was great bouncing off of Punk's narcissism, even mocking Punk's trolling at some points. Unfortunately I'm sure Triple H would get mega-criticism if he ever provided commentary like Punk did during this match. They're so similar to each other.

Rating: less than ***

After intermission, Shelley comes out to reveal his mystery partner, but explains himself first. He is tired of getting no help. Wow, this guy robs a peer of a title match being restarted, and he wonders why he's all alone? He says that he's in the business to ultimately make money, and that he had not sold out, but bought in.

When the Embassy came out to welcome Shelley, it was a brilliant culmination of more than a year's worth of events. Jimmy Rave told Shelley he forgave him for his bullying the year before, and was even appreciative of learning how hard the business can be. This was so brilliant because Shelley had never fully gone babyface, the closest ironically being when he helped Punk fight off the Embassy as a now-transparent attempt to earn brownie points. (I must mention that if Shelley had REALLY wanted to try to earn back the locker room camaraderie, he should've challenged Punk for the ROH Title to protect the company. Also benefits his career too if that's all he really cared about.)

What also made this so great is that the cocky Generation Next (who are now without Jack Evans as he is on hiatus), faced the consequences for being so callous to their former leader in the previous seven months. Now, I'm not saying that I sympathize with either stable in this instance - both of them had plenty of dirt on them. GeNext had still shown zero remorse for the babyfaces they bullied the year before, and the Embassy were a group of prissy thugs funded and led by an uppity woman-beater.

This also was a great follow-up to the events two weeks before at Escape From New York. Rave & Shelley showed potential as tag partners when they worked together in a fourway match, with Shelley being a douche-bag in the match towards Gibson. Moments later, Prince Nana asked Austin Aries for the stables to join forces, only to be told to fuck off.

Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Alex Shelley & Fast Eddie Vegas

Star rating wise, this match was nothing remarkable, but that wasn't the point of this. It was a chapter in a phenomenal turning point for a storyline, and did its job exceptionally well. Shelley was tremendous at being a dickhead to GeNext, fitting right in with the Embassy. I loved the finish, which was Rave coming back out to attack Aries so Shelley could get a cheap pin. Shelley was welcomed into this stable with open arms, and the Embassy was united against Generation Next.

But of course this brought out Rave's opponent...

Hardcore Match
Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles

I would've liked to have seen a Styles/GeNext vs. Embassy trios match on this night, but with that type of tag match already booked on the card for the Rottweilers, I understand why it didn't happen.

This match was chaotic and brutal, and served as a nice appetizer for what was expected to come later in the feud. This wasn't meant to be a show-stealer, but it was still engaging. Styles as usual brought his pissed-off demeanor, likely not happy with the Embassy's actions that night, and this was his first chance at Rave since his former protege tried suffocating him with a plastic bag a couple weeks earlier. There was a LOT of stupid bumps and spots in this match, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't entertaining. If you are a fan of the Kevin Steen vs. Super Dragon feud, go ahead and watch this match, you'll really appreciate it.

Of course, Shelley reciprocates for Rave after the previous match, taking Styles out with a Shellshock and the Crown Jewel following that up with a Styles Clash finish. (I know Rave called it the Rave Clash, but I'm not a fan of using multiple names for the same move, even for storyline purposes.) GeNext come out as expected to bail Styles out, and they shake hands. It's a real shame the scheduled Styles & Aries vs. Rave & Shelley match didn't happen.

Rating: ***1/4

ROH Title Match
CM Punk vs. Christopher Daniels

This match definitely had its issues. I of course would've preferred for it to start out as a heated brawl, although Sapolsky's explanation as to why this was a traditionally wrestled contest when the opening bell was rung made sense. Just would've been my preference based on the two-year history between both men. This also didn't really need to go 60 minutes. Daniels could've done the job; maybe I've lost my mind, but I don't believe Lethal, Strong, or Gibson had their stock drop from losing to Punk. EDIT: Oh, now I realize why Daniels didn't job. TNA being too fucking paranoid about one of its guys putting over someone contracted to WWE. Gotta love TNA's office.

Those are all the negatives I have about this match. I was surprised at how well this match did with its circumstances. Is this Joe vs. Punk? Of course not. But Joe vs. Punk I was a MOTYC with its sequel arguably a MOTDC. A Broadway can still be great without living up to the standard of ROH's previous Broadways. Punk was a great chickenshit in this one, constantly avoiding Daniels in the early stages. I know, it was ultimately to kill time, but logically it still worked with Punk's gimmick.

Daniels was great with his usual offense on the neck of Punk to set up his finishers. In the middle of the match, Daniels wound up getting some pain in his ribs (I can't remember what from at the moment), giving Punk something to work on. The two were great at exchanging body part work as the match progressed. What impressed me the most is that the crowd was incredibly hot in the last 10 minutes, praying that Daniels would end the reign of terror. And that ultimately is what makes this match great - it wasn't something that kept me glued start to finish, but in the portion that matters most to the audience, it delivered.

Post-match, Punk knocks out Allison Danger again. He may be getting a bit carried away with delivering karma to Daniels and Danger now, I will admit. Gibson also comes out but gets knocked out with the belt. Joe comes out barefoot and chases Punk to the back as the show fades to black.

Rating: ****

I strongly recommend this show not just for its main event (which can have polarizing opinions), but also the storyline progression in the semi-main events. Very important event during the golden age of ROH.

Up next - Redemption
Matches will include:
Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Matt Sydal, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong
Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal
Matt Hardy vs. Homicide
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe vs. James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels

[supersonic]

Redemption - August 12, 2005



Some promos as I skim through to the four matches that matter. James Gibson says the rumors aren't important (reported that week that WWE rehired him), that his focus was on taking advantage of the FOURTH opportunity he had been blessed with to win the ROH Title, and to especially make sure it stays within the company. Daniels says that Gibson and Samoa Joe are non-factors. Yeah, sure thing Chris, you've had such great luck against Joe. CM Punk comes out to antagonize Brian Kendrick (also reported that WWE had rehired him), bragging that he'd be a real star while Kendrick would be a jabroni. Lastly, Joe simply is happy to get his hands on Punk for shitting on the 21 months of his body, heart, and soul he put into that championship.

Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Matt Sydal, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong

Wow, this was some great fun. If you're a fan of the Shield and Wyatt Family, watch this. Never got to being a MOTYC, but that wasn't the point of this. There were great moments in just cutting the ring in half, and Abyss was featured perfectly with the cruiserweight GeNext bouncing for him like pinballs. Abyss gave back as well though as usual, but in this one it usually took multiple members of GeNext to get damage on him unless it was a straight forearm.

I must mention just how Shelley and Sydal fit their stables like custom-made gloves. FINALLY, Shelley got to unleash the psychopath that he had been hiding for months as he attempted to gain allies against his former stable. On the other hand, Sydal got his opportunity to be featured in an important storyline, which he had earned on the previous Dayton show. I should mention that this match also featured two singles matches from The Final Showdown - Shelley vs. Strong and Rave vs. Sydal. What also impressed me were segments in which the ring would be cut in half, with the mind games of the Embassy even backfiring on them when the ref wasn't available to count a pinfall, and not once, NOT ONCE, were falls counted on the wrong man.

With the victory of GeNext, Sydal earned himself a permanent spot in the group, replacing Shelley. Humiliated and psychopathic, the Embassy of course attack them after the match. Moments later, they interrupt a promo by some ROH school jabronis, with Nana cutting his usual fantastic promo during the ROH golden age. It ends with Shelley, with such glee in his eyes, bragging about finally having help in his crusade against the monster he created.

Rating: ***1/2

Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal

Another match that wasn't great, and that was the right decision for business as well as the storyline. These two men laid into each other and to me this elevated Lethal to another level in terms of star power hierarchy. I loved that Lethal, desperate while also fed up with Ki's bullshit, shoved the ref to take the inaugural ROH Champion off balance and crotch himself on the top rope. I also loved that they brawled in the crowd and told the ref to fuck off, with the contest being thrown out. The crowd was HOT at this, which means that this angle was clicking despite what some idiotic Lethal bashers claimed at the time. This is just as good as their pre-feud match at Midnight Express Reunion.

Rating: ***

With the fight still continuing, Homicide comes out to help out Ki, but Matt Hardy quickly comes out to even the odds. Ki and Lethal brawl to the back as we get our semi main event. Hardy cuts a very classy promo about ROH and Homicide, but much like Walter White, the Notorious 187 only uses the positive feedback to piss himself off.

Matt Hardy vs. Homicide

This match was again nothing all that special, but was far more entertaining and engaging than Hardy's previous ROH match. No real story ever developed, and I'm thinking that if they had wrestled a series, they actually could have put up something special. With the commentary mentioning Hardy's feud with Edge in WWE at the time, perhaps the booker should've made this a hardcore gimmick match. Homicide at the time was obviously game for that any time, and it would have played into Hardy not only testing himself against what he said was the biggest bad-ass in ROH, but also for his feud with the Rated R Superstar. Hardy of course wins with a rollup when Ki comes out to help Homicide, only for Lethal to return and brawl with Ki, causing Homicide to be distracted. Crowd was MOLTEN HOT at points during this match.

Rating: less than ***

ROH Title - Elimination Match
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe vs. James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels

The crowd, just like with the prior match, was just amazing when this match began, detesting Punk even with this being his final weekend (legit this time since it was the Midwest) because of his earlier promo. I loved that Punk spent so much time finding out ways not to tangle with Joe. Even though he had been Joe's greatest opponent, he had never beaten him, and they had never collided with Joe this pissed off at him before.

I should mention that when Gibson and Daniels locked horns, Gabe Sapolsky said on commentary it was a first-time ever matchup. Are you sure about that? Not like the Internet was around at the time to put in the research. Anyways, as for the match itself, there really wasn't much told in terms of technical wrestling, although Punk and Daniels had a beautiful sequence earlier that had the crowd popping. This match was all about the story.

Around the 25-30 minute mark, Gibson had been thrown shoulder-first into the ringpost, and then moments later Punk smacked him in the head with a chair. Gibson bled profusely from the forehead, and was taken to the back, assumed to no longer be in the match due to a concussion. In all this chaos, I must mention that I was incredibly impressed that pinfalls were only counted on the legal men. That really is impressive.

Punk, the evil genius he was during this title reign, allowed Joe and Daniels to pummel each other while he rested, which honestly and obviously he did throughout much of the match. But when Joe had Daniels in a submission, Punk moved the foot of Daniels off the rope behind the ref's back, the Fallen Angel's hand falling for a third time. Once Daniels regained consciousness, he was livid and went to deal with Punk, but the champion ducked an enziguri and hit Joe instead, allowing Punk to finally pin the former ROH Champion!

Joe and Daniels began brawling, taking it to the back, leaving CM Punk alone in the ring, thrilled with what he had accomplished. But the crowd was BEGGING for Gibson to return to the match, and when "Country Boy Can Survive" came through those speakers, those in attendance fucking erupted. Punk was perfect in his facial expressions, seeing that he wasn't quite done yet, and perhaps he had run out of tricks.

With his forehead still bleeding, Gibson put forth a fantastic effort, determined to make sure Punk wouldn't leave and go to WWE with the championship. The turning point came when he dropkicked Punk's left knee. Moments later when they got outside, Gibson crotched the champion on the guardrail, and delivered a chairshot receipt to Punk's same left knee. Back in the ring, Gibson executed a gorgeous Tiger Driver on Punk, resulting in an amazing nearfall that had the crowd going apeshit. With almost nothing left, Gibson took Punk to the top rope, which was a huge risk, as the champion was set up for the former multi-time Cruiserweight Champion to be possibly reversed into a Pepsi Plunge.

But on this night, in front of the ROH crowd he had debuted in front of, the same audience in which he came so close to winning this title before, Gibson wasn't to be denied. He smacked and dazed Punk, double-hooked him, and dropped back for a modified (but oh so devastating) Super Tiger Driver. With the crowd knowing it was all said and done, they went ballistic when Gibson finally achieved his goal in ROH and won the company's top prize.

As I said, this match didn't have much in the way of technical wrestling. It was a storytelling narrative that was months, if not years, in the making. It was genuinely gripping from beginning to end. It elevated the ROH Title, and was arguably the top moment in Gibson's career as he stated in the post-match. While I wish folks would appreciate just good wrestling when they see it, watching THIS reminds me why so many today clamor for a truly special storyline. This was one hell of a spectacle and roller-coaster ride.

Post-match, the babyface locker room congratulates Gibson, who puts over just how much this moment means to him. The crowd chants "Please Don't Go!" to Punk and thanks him for his amazing tenure in ROH, but he says that this is Gibson's moment. I should note that Kendrick seems to have a self-serving agenda when he says he's looking forward to Gibson giving him a title shot. Punk and Gibson embrace in a magical moment for the company, the championship, and their careers.

Rating: ****1/2

Hey ROH, I'm gonna ask again: why did you fucking murder this red-hot Dayton market that appreciates great wrestling and buys into the storylines quite easily?

Up next - Punk: The Final Chapter
Matches will include:
Jimmy Rave vs. Austin Aries
Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki & Homicide
Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer vs. James Gibson & Brian Kendrick
Matt Hardy vs. Roderick Strong
CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

[supersonic]

Punk: The Final Chapter - August 13, 2005



The show begins with new ROH Champion James Gibson coming down to the ring, putting over how important the title and the company is to him, and that he won't leave for WWE until someone beats him for the title. Brian Kendrick comes out which Gibson doesn't mind as they're friends and challenging for the Tag Titles that night, and they agree to a singles match for the ultimate prize in the future.

Jimmy Rave vs. Austin Aries

Good stuff here, and exactly what it needed to be at this point in the Embassy vs. Generation Next feud. The story of the match started when Rave managed to drag the left ribs of Aries to the ring post. The Crown Jewel went to work on the midsection of the former ROH Champion, and Aries sold it tremendously. Of course, Aries managed to get in his fair share of offense too. Standout moment of the match for me, speaking volumes on just how hot this feud already was, was when Prince Nana simply yelled "JIMMY RAVE~!" and the crowd reacted immediately.

Post-match, Alex Shelley shows up for the Embassy to get the last laugh in this segment.

Rating: ***1/4

Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki & Homicide

The match itself - very good tag wrestling. Cutting the ring in half, Lethal playing the face-in-peril, Joe being antagonized and getting fed up with the Rottweilers, pinfalls only counted on the legal men. I loved the finish too, another cheap DQ loss for the Rottweilers to keep Lethal from pinning Ki.

What really mattered is the post-match brawl between the teams. They fucking laid into each other HARD to sell how much they hated each other. When combining this brawl, I've no problem going with the general consensus and saying this was easily match of the night. This brawl was so insane, so brutal, so jaw-dropping, and ended so perfectly, Ki standing in the ring with blood dripping down his face, and the crowd chanting his name. Excellent shit here.

Rating: ****

A taped promo from earlier in the day airs, with Ace Steel talking about how special this night is, both of his Second City Saints teammates colliding for the final time, and dictates that it be 2/3 falls to determine who is truly the better man.

Tag Titles Match
Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer vs. James Gibson & Brian Kendrick

Another good match here. No pinfalls counted unless both men were legal yet again. Good, solid tag team wrestling from both teams, fun pacing. However, while the booking of Kendrick betraying Gibson and throwing the match away elevated the ROH Title, it did no favors for the Tag Titles. No wonder those belts meant nothing for months throughout 2005. I really like Kendrick's motivation for the turn - Punk and Gibson got title shots before leaving for WWE, he should be entitled to one too.

Rating: ***1/4

Matt Hardy vs. Roderick Strong

Red-hot crowd for this one as usual for Hardy's matches. Wow, the GN tights that Aries & Strong wore back in the day were incredibly lame. As for the match, there was an obvious clash of styles, perhaps still some ring rust for Hardy. He seemed far too entrenched in the WWE style of wrestling, which isn't a knock on him. Any time someone wonders why a wrestler can't hop from the indies to WWE or vice versa without practice and development, I will point to this match.

This was still EASILY the best of Hardy's special guest appearances, although a major missed opportunity. I couldn't believe that when Hardy ducked a chop and Strong's hand struck the ring post, Hardy didn't go to work on that hand. Obviously he's no CM Punk. His selling of the connected chops, especially the first one, was marvelous though. His facial expression on that one told the story, of how being in WWE he wasn't used to that punishment, even though being on that roster had given him the opportunities to work with Chris Benoit and Bob Holly.

Hardy did do a great job of working on the left knee of Strong when it became prone, and of course Strong was fantastic in his selling of that too. But Strong was so brutal, with a red-hot crowd supporting him, waiting for his "first" major singles victory (ROH once again no-selling the one he already had in Buffalo), that he had to win this one, and he got the rub by being the only one of Hardy's three opponents to defeat the WWE superstar.

Rating: ***1/4

2/3 Falls - CM Punk's Farewell
CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

Punk gets TWO entrance themes here, and comes to the ring in tears. He doesn't even need to step in the ring and I've gotten my money's worth emotionally.

Punk steps into the ring, ropes stretched out by his true friend Colt Cabana, their issues during Punk's egotistical reign of terror behind them, and gets the farewell streamer treatment for the second time, this one even more special in his hometown.

As for the match itself, it was pretty damn good. Both men still wanted to win this battle of pride, and had differences in their personalities, which was a reflection of their careers both in and out of ROH. I enjoyed the lowblow first fall for Punk, showing that winning this meant something still, while showing that he wasn't in the mood for Cabana's comedy routine. On the other hand, Cabana was able to get the advantage not just with his comedic antics, but with his improved technical wrestling he picked up on while in Europe the month before. On the surface, this was the perfect match for Punk to go out on. But Cabana being put in this spotlight, showing off his European style and beating a true icon of ROH, was perfect in giving him legitimacy for his feud-ending match against Night McGuinness the next week.

Post-match, Punk gets a bigger sendoff ceremony than Paul London got at Death Before Dishonor, and that's saying something, because London's farewell was incredibly classy. This simply had everything going for it that made this more significant than London's goodbye. This was Punk's hometown, against Punk's best friend (a fellow Chicagoan), with Punk having twice the amount of time spent in ROH as London, and while London of course had some absolutely fucking masterpieces for matches, Punk had those, plus gripping storylines, reigns as the primary singles champion and tag champions, and the greatest farewell non-retirement tour in the history of the business.

As I post this in early 2014, it is uncertain what the future holds for CM Punk in pro wrestling. I hope that he and WWE can work things out. With all the tools WWE has compared to ROH, I want to see CM Punk get to say farewell in front of 20,000 of his hometown fans, and maybe, just maybe, it could be WWE"s biggest stage of the year in Chicago, in front of over 60,000 fans.

Rating: ***1/4

This show gets my easiest recommendation. Required for numerous obvious reasons that I don't need to spell out.

Up next - Night of the Grudges II
Matches will include:
Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness
James Gibson vs. Homicide vs. Brian Kendrick
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave & Puma (TJ Perkins)
Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

[supersonic]

I've added Tom Carter vs. Matt Stryker to my Do or Die post, and also edited almost every other reviewing post of mine for grammatical/spelling errors, portions in which I may have lost my thought while typing these reviews, and other things as well.

[supersonic]

Night of the Grudges II - August 20, 2005



Nigel McGuinness cuts a VERY brief promo, saying that he's been up for 36 hours and sniffing glue to get ready to end the feud with Colt Cabana. "Unique" would probably be the best term for that promo.

Winner Gets a Title Shot of His Choice - Hardcore Match
Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness

Based off of McGuinness choosing a European Rules match at Escape From New York, Cabana got to choose the stipulation in this feud-ender. Cabana chooses a "Soccer Riot" match, in which he spends the first minute or so just making up rules on the fly, but it basically turned into a hardcore match. I have to note that McGuinness took some incredibly stupid chairshots to the head early in the match. Was he REALLY that desperate to get booked higher and/or get this mid-card feud over, a feud that had been based off of mat wrestling and textbook mid-level cheating? This wasn't exactly a feud as violent as Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal or the Prophecy vs. the Second City Saints.

The brawling they did do sure did tell the story of how personal this feud had gotten (even though it was a bit much), and I certainly found it enjoyable overall. From a soccer ball being used (including McGuinness accidentally kicking it into the crowd and it being thrown back into the ring by the fans), to both men revealing that they both brought heating irons, this was an entertaining little spectacle. I must mention that Cabana rivaled the questionable chairshots McGuinness took, when he took a flipover bump off the turnbuckle through a table onto the concrete floor. No wonder both went on to perceive the business as grinding them out. Cabana obviously had to win this one to build off the momentum of beating CM Punk the week before, closing this chapter for both men.

I wonder what's next for Cabana and McGuinness, if the booker had anything as a followup to at least show appreciation for killing themselves in such unnecessary fashion.

Rating: ***1/4

ROH Title - Elimination Match
James Gibson vs. Homicide vs. Brian Kendrick

This had a chance to be really good, on par with a typical X-Division three way match right in the middle of the card. I enjoyed the action (with the exception of a cringeworthy double superplex spot, I really hate that type of contrived shit), there was some solid storytelling (then again, this also had the exception of Kendrick breaking up elimination attempts. WHY?)

Kendrick's illogical decisions didn't ruin this match though. The booking of having the match thrown out when Homicide was DQ'ed for using a chain and then Homicide going crazy was truly horrendous. Consider that this was immediately after the red-hot Summer of Punk which had brought the ROH Title to unprecedented emotional levels. The Gibson and Homicide issue also never really got over in the summer of 2005, but perhaps there were long-term plans for those two that couldn't quite come to be with Gibson on his way back to WWE.

But there was a MAJOR silver lining to this: the crowd was APESHIT when Homicide almost eliminated Gibson before the referee caught him cheating. They were FURIOUS that the Tri-State native and ROH pioneer didn't eliminate the former/future WWE superstars, and they hijacked the Gibson vs. Kendrick singles match that happened later on this show. I wonder if the booker was listening to that hijacking. Doesn't sound similar at all to anything in WWE right now either btw.

Rating: less than ***

Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave & Puma (TJ Perkins)

This was originally booked as Aries & AJ Styles vs. Rave & Alex Shelley, but their injuries likely at TNA's Sacrifice 2005 forced Styles to cancel while Shelley was just a ringside character for this one. I have to assume if that dream partner tag match had taken place, it'd have been in the main event slot for this show.

This match was good, and I didn't happen to notice any issues with tag legalities in this, although that may have been because I wasn't too emotionally stimulated by this match. I'll put the blame for that on TJ Perkins, who has a habit of lacking crowd engagement, thank you very much. I did appreciate that the match didn't go on for much longer when GeNext got the hot tag.

Post-match, Mick Foley comes out to try to convince Jade Chung to ditch the mistreatment she was receiving from the Embassy, but Rave & Shelley attacked him. GeNext came back out to save Foley, and with this being their first true moment of doing the right thing (trying to dethrone Punk was nice, but also a nice career booster had Strong been successful), especially after trying to make their names at the HOFer's expense the year before, I consider this the official babyface turn for them.

Rating: ***

Pure Titlte Match
Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

The positives: I liked that Joe worked on the abs and back of Daniels, which would logically prevent Daniels from hitting an Angels Wings, while also causing damage to Daniels should he choose to use the Best Moonsault Ever later in the match. I liked that Daniels worked on similar areas of Joe too, setting Joe up for the Angels Wings if the Fallen Angel were to go on to pull it off.

Now we get to the negatives.

I HATE a rope break penalty when someone just uses the rope to get themselves out of position. That's not using the ropes to request a break. Fucking hated that in the first ever Pure Title match, still hate it here.

This match also had zero emotional enrichment to it. Maybe everyone was right about Daniels being a chore during his second tenure in ROH. I've certainly seen Daniels phone it in on occasion, so he's not above doing it here. The crowd was fucking dead throughout most of this match, which not only was due to lack of a dramatic pace, but admittedly because the crowd was still pissed off from the Homicide booking.

I give these men the benefit of the doubt though. As I stated in my PWG Smells Like Steen Spirit post, Joe just had a brutal schedule in August of 2005, and if he was holding back here, I don't blame him for it at all.

Rating: less than ***

Cabana puts over McGuinness, saying that he senses the bad blood between the two will heal, and that he is opting to challenge for the ROH Title.

Also of note: Carnage Crew and Dunn & Marcos shake hands after the show. This was the final ROH appearance of Carnage Crew.

Without a doubt, this has to easily be the worst ROH event of 2005. There are some positives of course. It's a historic event for Homicide, Cabana, and McGuinness, as will be indicated very soon as I continue this rewatch project. I must also mention that this was the first time Generation Next did something that was a purely babyface move. But all you need to see is Cabana vs. McGuinness, which is available on the Cabana compilation; no need to waste your hard-earned dollars on this awful show.

Nobody is really at fault for this show falling apart. Injuries played a huge part with Styles and Shelley being out, putting Joe (who I believe was very tired from his schedule) and Daniels (who can have a tendency to take it easy) in a slot for this show that they had no business being in. Add in the booking misfire of Homicide and the ROH Title, coming off the molten hot Summer of Punk run, and this was a massive disappointment.

I must also mention this: the previous month, ROH hosted four events in the same calendar month for the first time, and this show makes it glaring that perhaps that wasn't a good idea after all. I recall not enjoying Fate of an Angel that much, but that show was WrestleMania X-Seven compared to this. Maybe Joe's schedule was just a symbol of ROH feeling burned out as well, especially with no red-hot angle on this event and its real main event being thrown out the window.

Up next - Dragon Gate Invasion
Matches will include:
Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness
Jimmy Rave & Brian Kendrick vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
CIMA vs. AJ Styles
James Gibson vs. Colt Cabana

[supersonic]

Dragon Gate Invasion - August 27, 2005



Good Times, Great Memories
Guest: Homicide

The DVD kicks off with this segment, which is the peak of the entire event. Sucks for those who attended the live event and didn't get to see this backstage segment.

This segment, although brief, is what ultimately keeps this from being the worst ROH event of 2005 for me. It is easily the most important GTGM segment ever. It was Homicide and Colt Cabana being rewarded for their hard work and getting over in ROH. With Cabana just finishing his feud with Nigel McGuinness, and Homicide a few months past wrapping up his feud with Bryan Danielson, this was an excellent new chapter for both men.

Homicide was very sarcastic in playing along with Cabana's antics, such as being in Chicago and that they would take a jet straight to Buffalo. Homicide becomes annoyed when Cabana compares being grounded for not doing dishes in his middle-class upbringing to Homicide's Bed-Stuy background. Ultimately, Cabana crosses Homicide's personal boundaries when he makes an innocent joke and says "my nizzle" to the Notorious 187. Excellent clash of cultures here.

Nigel McGuinness cuts a promo that it's time to start winning, and that's that. Sounds like a desperate man.

Pure Title Match
Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness

This was the Nigel McGuinness Show, and while it didn't make for a remarkable match, it was the right thing to do for business. With two failed Pure Title shots, failing to win the Cabana feud, and close to a year away from his lone major singles victory over Homicide, it was time for McGuinness to get results.

McGuinness, learning from his feud with Cabana, used borderline dirty tactics when getting in position to discreetly punch Joe, attempting to troll the ROH Icon. That works when Joe blatantly retaliates with a closed fist, costing him his rope break warning. Later, McGuinness sacrifices a rope break when he uses a chair on the left shoulder of Joe to stop a tope suicida. (That brought back memories of Triple H using a chair shot DQ in the middle of his 60 Minute Iron Man Match against the Rock at Judgment Day 2000, which Brock Lesnar also did in the same type of match against Kurt Angle in 2003.) McGuinness of course worked on that shoulder throughout the rest of the match. Now Joe was game any time for a fight; but not in this kind of environment, which required manipulation. And THAT is how McGuinness finally secured the Pure Title, much to the crowd's disapproval.

Rating: less than ***

Jimmy Rave & Brian Kendrick vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong

This match had its moments, but overall was very hollow in front of a dead Buffalo crowd. With Prince Nana not present, Alex Shelley became the designated abuser of Jade Chung, who was forced to use her dog leash to drag Rave & Kendrick on a wooden platform to the ring.

This was a disappointing way for Kendrick to wrap up his second ROH tenure, and when Aries talks about this war escalating afterwards, it is pathetic to hear how little reaction that gets.

Rating: less than ***

CIMA vs. AJ Styles

Now this is a dream match. Too bad it didn't live up to such dreams. Again, like the tag match, this had its moments of WOW. The problem is that no enriching story ever developed to go with all of the nice-looking moves these two did. I've seen CIMA have much better singles matches than this, but at least this woke the crowd up. Perhaps these two needed a series to really get their chemistry developed.

Rating: less than ***

Joe cuts a boring, unremarkable promo.

ROH Title Match
James Gibson vs. Colt Cabana

This is another match on the show that had its moments, but was empty in the end. Don't get me wrong - I believe these two had something really good in them, but it wasn't as a 25-30 minute serious business ROH main event. On the undercard, the funny Cabana against the hillbilly heel Jamie Noble w/ Nidia? Now that sounds far more entertaining.

In hindsight, I would've booked Gibson vs. McGuinness here, as I believe they would've had significantly better chemistry (and if McGuinness was cheating that could've possibly gotten the crowd more behind Gibson), with Joe successfully defending the Pure Title against Cabana on the undercard. Then have McGuinness win the Pure Title from Joe at Glory By Honor IV to make that show have just a bit extra historical impact, to give it that Cena/Batista WrestleMania 21 feel.

Rating: less than ***

The DVD ends with Homicide ambushing Cabana while signing autographs outside the venue. It's good to see Homicide in something substantial again instead of a tedious Gibson semi-feud and playing second fiddle in the Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal program.

No matches on here even crack *** for me. But I'll take this sometimes-dead crowd with a fantastic kickoff to a blood feud and important title change over the mess that was Night of the Grudges II. Gibson vs. Cabana wasn't nearly as tedious as Joe vs. Daniels. But this was definitely the worst ROH event of 2005 in terms of match quality across the board though, and it really sucks for anyone who attended this and couldn't see the GTGM segment. Second worst ROH event of 2005 I believe is fair, with Trios Tournament at #3.

Also of note: this was the 8th show in 8 weeks for ROH, and it was VERY glaring that the schedule wasn't just taking a toll on the roster, but on Gabe Sapolsky as well. In some ways, it's similar to WCW being on such fire in 1997, but those in charge being too cocky and arrogant to forecast the potential long-term damage.

Up next - Glory By Honor IV
Matches will include:
Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal
Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong
James Gibson vs. Bryan Danielson
AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave

[supersonic]

Glory By Honor IV - September 17, 2005



Jay Lethal abruptly enters the ring to kick off the show, demanding his feud-ending match with Low Ki immediately. This brings out Julius Smokes, who somehow convinces Lethal (and ROH even goes along) that Ki become "officially reinstated" with the company in order for the match to take place.

Hardcore Match
Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal

This was one hell of an entertaining opener, probably because this was indeed the end of an under-appreciated feud. LOL at everyone who found Lethal to be overpushed in 2005. Sure, he can struggle to channel his charisma and his promos aren't special, but he knew how to connect with the crowd in the ring and this angle got over in front of the demanding audiences that ROH attracted.

For opening matches, does this compare to Brian Kendrick vs. Bryan Danielson? Of course not - that was a PPV main event disguised as an indy opener. But what I loved so much about this is just how brutal it got. With their Midwest matches the month before being thrown out, Ki and Lethal finally got the chance to just fight. And this got ugly at points, complete with Lethal bleeding from his forehead.

Coming into this match, it was obvious that had the Rottweilers not been interfering throughout this feud, Lethal's Dragon Suplex was Low Ki's Kryptonite. And while Ki won this match, to bring this feud to its apparent close, Lethal still got put over, because he never got his finisher on the first ever ROH Champion. On the other hand, Ki got his double stomp, but Lethal managed to kick out. That nearfall had the crowd rocking. That is some quality storytelling, my friends.

Ultimately, I can't say that this is a GREAT match. But it's so fucking close to it. Give this just another 2-3 minutes and I believe it really could've been.

In an unusual move, the buildup video for this feud is shown AFTER the match due to Lethal abruptly crashing the show to have this as the opening match. And I'm sure that's the only reason too.

Rating: ***3/4

Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong

Another solid match that won't get a special star rating, but accomplished its goal in getting the audience accustomed to McGuinness and his antics as the Pure Champion. Looks like we're getting the heel reign that was probably planned for John Walters when he joined the Embassy. After the thrilling Summer of Punk, I'll gladly take another heel tile reign that gets the crowd wanting to see the champion get his comeuppance.

Rating: less than ***

I get to the end of Homicide vs. Colt Cabana, which gets thrown out when the Rottweilers interfere. What matters is that Samoa Joe comes out to help Cabana, leaving Ki in the ring. Ki talks shit and this had to be the beginning of Ki vs. Joe II. I just wonder when it was planned to happen. Death Before Dishonor IV? Glory By Honor V?

Lethal comes out and wants to fight Ki again. I really like the concept, that Lethal wasn't backing down and wouldn't allow the cocky bully to get the last laugh, especially since Lethal knew he could beat him.

Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal

This wasn't on par with the opening match, but it got the job done. Lethal gets the big win finally, truly bringing this feud to an end, with a successful Super Dragon Suplex (not to be confused with the PWG ace.) The crowd's reaction to the finish earns my star rating.

Rating: ***

McGuinness cuts a great interview with Gary Michael Capetta, playing dumb about his cheating antics. This should be one amazing Pure Title reign to watch unfold. It's a shame this guy didn't make it to WWE.

I catch the end of BJ Whitmer vs. Samoa Joe vs. Ricky Reyes vs. Adam Pearce, and as I'm FF to the post-match I notice Lacey is at ringside taking notes to possibly make personnel changes in the Lacey's Angels stable. I'm intrigued. As for the post-match, Joe proclaims he wants to be ROH's first triple crown/grand slam champion after pinning Tag Champion Whitmer.

I must note: I know that Joe was recovering just six days removed from TNA's Unbreakable PPV, so he definitely wasn't gonna steal the show on this night, but whose bright idea was it to put a damaged Joe in a 20+ minute match involving Whitmer, Reyes, and Pearce?

ROH Title Match
James Gibson vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson returns to ROH not only with a new theme, that being Europe's iconic "The Final Countdown," but also with a much improved wardrobe that is reminiscent of Bob Backlund. Very, very nice and professional.

This was some fucking quality professional wrestling. It was not a spotfest. It was technical wrestling at its finest.

So much of this match, probably the first 12-15 minutes, were mostly on the mat, just both guys trying to get leverage, trading holds, struggling to find a weak spot. Danielson's time in Europe while away from ROH was really paying off here, as the much more experienced and successful Gibson couldn't find something to work on.

Gibson did get his moments. He did some work on Danielson's back, but never got enough done on it to make any kind of impressionable damage, which had to be disappointing for him after defending the title against Roderick Strong earlier in the month for FIP, and that he also liked to use the Texas Cloverleaf.

Danielson was just amazing in this match, finally getting momentum about 20-25 minutes in when he worked on Gibson's left arm and shoulder. Gibson did a phenomenal job of selling the work Danielson did on him, constantly in pain going forward in the match. This was so critical going to the finishing stretch.

Gibson, oh man he fought so valiantly when Danielson kept locking him in submission and pinfall attempts, and his counters were just as impressive as Danielson's. But on this day, Danielson was to no longer be denied. After working on Gibson's left arm and shoulder, Gibson failing to escape the hammerlock, Danielson locked in the Crossface Chickenwing, leaving Gibson no choice but to tap out, much to the crowd's ecstatic approval.

Post-match, Danielson is classy as expected, taking time to acknowledge the hard work Gibson put into the ROH Title, and said he will be proud to defend the title going forward, that he had no plans at the time of going to WWE or TNA.

This is not the match of the year for 2005, not even for ROH. It was a purist's dream, a true throwback to the days of Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, etc. So in that sense, this lacked the immediate electricity of CM Punk's key farewell tour matches. But in the last several minutes, the Long Island crowd was way into this. This match told a great story and was paced incredibly well. I'd much rather see a match build its way to a frenzy, than to blow its load so fucking early.

To me, this is above Punk vs. Alex Shelley, Kendrick vs. Danielson, Punk vs. Jimmy Rave, and Joe vs. Gibson for 2005 so far in this rewatch. But ultimately, if you put a gun to my head, I'd have to lean towards those key Summer of Punk matches (Death Before Dishonor III, Escape From New York, and Redemption) over this one. On a different day though, I might choose this work of art instead. This was an undeniably tremendous MOTYC, and arguably the best match of Gibson's career.

Rating: ****1/2

Hardcore Match - Hit the Clash to Win
Defeated participant can no longer use the Clash in ROH
AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave

Of note is that Mick Foley, in his final ROH appearance, accompanied Styles to offset Prince Nana. This was an entertaining popcorn match, but it just never stood a chance to be anything memorable. It could not follow Gibson vs. Danielson, but Styles, just like Joe, was six days removed from that killer Unbreakable spotfest. To nobody's surprise, Styles got the win here, although the finish was definitely highlight reel material: he executed the Styles Clash on Rave off the top rope through a table, having the crowd going apeshit.

Post-match, Foley gives a nice farewell speech. I'd have closed the show with Gibson vs. Danielson, because nothing was gonna follow that, but I understand the sentiment here. Sure, Foley had that awful philosophy feud with Steamboat, but he did a lot for ROH, playing a hand in getting Punk signed with WWE and going to bat for Joe, Homicide, and Austin Aries too. He had that amazing brawl with Joe which had the crowd rocking, and had an important supporting part in the Summer of Punk. He also orchestrated ROH branching out to Long Island. He deserved the sendoff.

Rating: less than ***

Cabana cuts a comedy promo on Homicide, not taking the issue seriously at all here. I'm sure that'll last long.

Lacey shows the art of saying absolutely nothing in an interview about her scouting of matches earlier in the night.

A touching, must-see video closes the DVD, chronicling Bryan Danielson's journey to becoming ROH Champion.

Up next - Survival of the Fittest 2005
Matches will include:
Samoa Joe vs. Milano Collection AT
James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels
The 2005 Survival of the Fittest Elimination Match

[supersonic]

Survival of the Fittest 2005 - September 24, 2005



I only had the key matches saved on my hard drive, so I glanced through JD Dunn's review of this show for any brief important segments or announcements, and yep, I see this one.

Lacey announces that she's found new Angels to build around. So long, Cheech. We hardly knew you.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Samoa Joe vs. Milano Collection AT

Nothing special or awful here, just a showcase for MCAT in his ROH debut. Joe was just a body that advanced to the main event, with no intention of stealing the show here. Probably a good idea considering his upcoming schedule, as Gabe Sapolsky announces to the DVD audience on commentary that Kenta fucking Kobashi is coming to ROH the next weekend, booked in singles against Joe, and teaming the next night with Homicide against Joe and Low Ki. OH FUCK YES~!

Rating: less than ***

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels

I was very happy to see this singles match happen before Gibson left for WWE, as I considered this to be a pretty even matchup. Daniels amuses me yet again when he bitches that Gibson didn't win in his ROH Title defense against Bryan Danielson the week before. Yeah Chris, Jamie was obligated to make sure you got a third title shot in three months.

Daniels worked early on Gibson's back, but after a few minutes, it turned out that work wasn't quite so devastating enough, as it didn't play that heavily, if at all, in the finish. Gibson was good playing the subtle heel, likely a response to the attitude of Daniels as the match started. He went to work on the neck of Daniels, which will never get old considering that nasty bump Daniels took while in WCW. Speaking of WCW, as I mentioned in their PWG threeway match, I bet these two could've been stealing the show in fantastic PPV openers for WCW at the time of this show.

This was overall very good stuff, and my pick for match of the night. I would've liked to have seen one more singles match between them to see if they had a MOTYC in them, but I appreciate Gabe Sapolsky getting this match to happen while Gibson was on borrowed time on the indies. And LOL at TNA's paranoia: They refused to allow Christopher Daniels to cleanly put over the WWE-contracted Matt Hardy and CM Punk just a couple months before this, while WWE realized this is just an indy match and allowed their boy Gibson to cleanly put over TNA's Daniels.

Rating: ***3/4

Here's a brief segment I should've saved on my hard drive, as it sounds fucking awesome going into the big NYC/PHI weekend.

Prince Nana promises that Jade Chung will face consequences if she messes up again. He makes her crawl around like a dog for her insolence.

Survival of the Fittest Elimination Match
Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong vs. Colt Cabana vs. Christopher Daniels

This just could not touch the timeless 2004 match, but let's be honest: no SOTF match ever will.

Important little stories coming into this match were that Daniels was still sore in his neck from by far the most grueling qualifier match of the evening, and Aries had been struck in the back by Jimmy Rave with a steel chair after their qualifier match.

While this lacked the pacing and drama to be the timeless classic of the previous year, this did have one very noticeable advantage: the referee enforced tag legalities. While it confused the participants at times, I actually see that is a good thing: how many times has the rulebook in other sports confused and frustrated the athletes, coaches, and fans? The integrity of the game is important.

I really liked that Joe was the first elimination for a number of reasons. It was a nice way to follow up on him being the first elimination the year before, and perhaps this type of match being his weakness could make for a compelling narrative going forward. Also, it was best for business: Joe has two little main event matches coming up against that Kobashi fellow the next weekend. Might wanna preserve him for that. I also liked that Strong got the pin on him (a nice little extra notch for Strong's stock), but just like the Pepsi Plunge at Scramble Cage Melee got Homicide the victory the year before, it was the Best Moonsault Ever of Daniels that put down Joe here, thus putting Daniels over as a threat to the former ROH and Pure Champion. That's gotta give Daniels confidence too since he's never gotten a victory over Joe at all yet in ROH.

Also early in the match was Joe & Lethal working together, but that obviously went out the window with Joe being eliminated early. On the other hand, Aries & Strong worked together fluidly, sending a nice message to any other factions and tag teams, specifically the Embassy. Not once did they ever become divided throughout this message, sticking to their plan to make sure that one of them would get the victory and guaranteed ROH Title shot.

Now that I mention the ROH Title shot, one may wonder why Aries would wanna be in this. Yeah, the narrative was that Aries wanted a SOTF win on his resume, but here's the reality. Even with Aries, as a former ROH Champion, guaranteed to eventually get a title shot in the future, why wouldn't he want an additional one just in case?

When Daniels was eliminated next, Aries & Strong just took advantage of Lethal and Cabana as the other two remaining participants. Lethal was great going up against GeNext, which played off of him winning his feud against Low Ki and the rest of the Rottweilers. After several minutes, it finally dawned on Lethal and Cabana though to work together, temporarily turning this into a tag match. I have to mention real quick that Lethal hit a gorgeous spinebuster during this match that surpassed Gibson's, although I believe the latter was coached on it the previous few years by Arn Anderson.

When Lethal was eliminated, Cabana said "fuck this" and left GeNext in the ring to fight against each other, but they intelligently locked horns and brought themselves to his corner. Strong politely tagged Cabana in with a razor-sharp knife-edge chop and then throwing the former Tag Champion in the ring. After a brief effort, Cabana was of course eliminated. However, the back of Aries went out when he attempted a 450 splash. Hey, injuries can come back to bite at the strangest and least convenient of times.

Before squaring off against each other, Aries cut a promo that I had no problem with, pointing out that friends and teammates are there for each other. Aries of course was in bad pain with his back, which obviously played into Strong's notorious backbreaking. This was some quality wrestling, and the crowd popped when Strong made Aries tap out to the Liontamer, but this didn't have the frenetic pacing and drama to be the classic they wanted this to be.

In hindsight, the more compelling story would have been this: Have Rave vs. Strong as a qualifier. Enraged from losing, Rave attacks the dominant hand of Strong with a steel chair. In the main event, Aries does everything he can to protect his stablemate from being preyed upon, and GeNext still manages to make it to the end. Aries then does a promo, but says "I'm sorry, Roddy, I love you like a brother." Strong puts up such a valiant effort as Aries works on the hand, which of course increases the difficulty for Strong to hit his chops, gutbusters, and backbreakers. Strong still finds a way to win out the match as the crowd has been in an absolute frenzy for the closing stretch, chanting "Match of the year!"

Back to reality. Post-match, the red-hot Strong, with major victories over Matt Hardy and Alex Shelley on his resume, challenges Bryan Danielson for the ROH Title on October 29 in Connecticut. OH FUCK YES~!

Rating: ***1/2

I must now mention that I'll be taking a break from these ROH/TNA/FIP/PWG rewatch projects for now. There are a number of reasons. I'll be watching the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar matches for the first time in my life, while rewatching all of the good shit from the past year or so of WWE to get ready for my trip to New Orleans. Considering that match quality in WWE has probably never been higher than since the Shield's debut (which is probably where I will start for my annual WWE rewatch), that's gonna take up the rest of March for me.

On top of that, the next ROH shows for me have Kenta Kobashi in them as I mentioned before. I will be taking the time after NOLA to watch many of Kobashi's most important matches that took place before October 2005, because I am going to make sure that I fully understand the story told on the evening of October 1 in the New Yorker Hotel. I will make sure that I give the very best reviews possible for the iconic singles and tag matches involving Joe and Kobashi. I also have a farewell weekend for James Gibson to look forward to, but with him, I have seven months of work I've watched to be familiar with his work.

Then throw in that in April will be in the NBA and NHL postseasons, and it's gonne be tough for me to get back on this. But I will do it. There's no way in Hell I will not get around to Danielson's title reign, the ROH and NOAH working relationship, and all the other good shit that's to come.

Up next - Joe vs. Kobashi
Matches will include:
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Azrieal
Jimmy Rave vs. Roderick Strong
James Gibson vs. Jimmy Yang
Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi

[supersonic]

Joe vs. Kobashi - October 1, 2005



The DVD starts with a Samoa Joe highlight package, reminding the viewer that he is still the gold standard in ROH despite not having a championship, a parallel of his opponent for this event. Too bad NOAH didn't release any Kenta Kobashi footage to really make this a special video package.

Elimination Match
Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Azrieal

Not all that emotionally stimulating, and Azrieal just looked really out of place with these two. The action was crisp and good, but one could tell that once it got to Sydal vs. Daniels, they were holding back a little bit. Definitely interested in seeing their series now though.

Rating: ***

Jimmy Rave vs. Roderick Strong

This match itself is nothing special, the equivalent to a present-day SmackDown! match. Strong of course got the victory, and what mattered was the post-match.

Prince Nana is pissed and tells the dog-leashed Jade Chung to help Rave choke out Strong. After about 30 seconds, she collapses because the leash is too short, and begs the Embassy not to mug Strong. She finally has enough and removes both the dog-leash and coverup outfit, giving low blows to Nana & Rave, and then unites with Strong once he takes them out. The crowd popped HUGE for this, and then popped yet again when Strong laid down the gauntlet.

NEXT TIME ROH COMES TO MANHATTAN, IT'S THE EMBASSY VS. GENERATION NEXT IN STEEL CAGE WARFARE.

The First Half of James Gibson's Independent Farewell
James Gibson vs. Jimmy Yang

Good match, but not that stimulating and it was a bit difficult for me to pick up on the story. The wrestling was really solid and crisp though. This match definitely had some sentimental value to it, as not only was Gibson on his way out, but this was Yang's debut in the company. I'm sure these two rivals could've done something really special, but considering that this event is Joe vs. Kobashi, it's understandable why they didn't go out to steal the show.

Post-match, Gibson gives a great speech saying how much he will miss being on the indies, and wants to face Roderick Strong in his farewell match the night night in Philly. OH FUCK YES~!

Rating: ***1/4

Dream Match
Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi

I put a lot of effort into understanding this match. Before watching this for my rewatch, I watched numerous acclaimed matches of Kobashi's in NOAH, starting with his classic GHC Heavyweight Title victory over one of his greatest rivals, Mitsuharu Misawa. Other classic matches along the way included Yuji Nagata, Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Jun Akiyama, and Akitoshi Saito. I hope that my readers feel I have done this match justice.

After watching the match, I also went to the two most conflicting reviews, because while I will of course never 100% agree with anyone on everything, I respect the perspective these two have when reviewing and discussing wrestling.

The first is 411Mania's Mike Campbell, but I will link to his direct site: http://splashmountain.150m.com/reviews/joevskobashi.htm
The other is Dave Meltzer, the most esteemed journalist in the history of the business: http://pwchronicle.blogspot.com/2005/11 ... a-joe.html

Now, on to the match itself.

There are so many times in wrestling that the fans have to sit through a lot of bullshit. Terrible gimmicks, titles getting buried, go-nowhere storylines, storylines that never have a proper finish, rushed decision-making, and most of all a lot of horrendous professional wrestling.

What is rare are those special moments, those truly special ones that stand the test of time, that will forever be etched in the memories of all witnesses. A moment that makes fans realize that all the shit they sit through as fans of this business, there is a payoff. Now for ROH, a moment like that had already happened in 2005 when Austin Aries and CM Punk provided a WrestleMania quality moment at Death Before Dishonor III. I'm sure any reasonable fan of ROH would've been satisfied with just that one in 2005, or may have felt they got that already with the other two ROH Title changes that year.

But leave it to Kenta Kobashi to come in to New York City and give the ROH fanbase one more truly unforgettable moment in the same calendar year.

Is this the greatest match ever? Of course not. I don't hold it in as high of esteem as Kobashi vs. Takayama or most of the ROH matches I've given ***** to. But Kobashi came into a rinky-dink little ballroom across the street from Madison Square Garden and gave the absolute best performance he could possibly give with his physical limitations. That's a testament to how badly he wanted his resume to have a classic match on American soil, and also the 15-20 years he had invested in the business telling stories and getting moves over the right way.

Before these two men even lay a finger on each other, the NYC crowd is going apeshit, and who could blame them? They are getting to see the fucking man of ROH, Samoa Joe, collide in what would turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime dream match against KENTA FUCKING KOBASHI.

Just like Takayama and Takeshi Rikio did, Joe slaps Kobashi right in the face when their tie-up gets to the ropes. Of course the crowd goes apeshit for that, and the facial expressions of both men are tremendous. Joe has delivered a simple message: you are not here to collect an easy paycheck in my fucking territory. Not that Kobashi was here to do that, but he did get the reinforced message.

The majority of the match had cream-of-the-crop heat from the crowd, with them popping for just about everything. From Kobashi taking Joe's adopted Kawada kicks, to the chop exchange that was influenced by Kobashi vs. Sasaki, to Kobashi countering Joe's second attempt at the Ole kicks, everything in this match clicked.

Do I believe Joe was buried in any way in this match, despite him throwing almost everything out there while Kobashi gave a taste of his arsenal? Not in the least. Kobashi understood throughout his career the importance of not burying moves, and it paid off in fucking spades on this night. Meanwhie, Joe put forth a phenomenal effort to elevate himself. Let's be honest here: Joe was the underdog going into this one based on star power alone.

Joe also got a taste of his own medicine. I've stated numerous times that many of Joe's opponents had never faced an opponent as physical and dominating as him. And on this night, Kobashi would be the most physical and dominating opponent Joe has faced to date. That is why despite unleashing everything but the Island Driver, Kobashi was able to put Joe away with a fraction of his offense. The blows Joe took both in strikes and head-drops (especially the last one being a very, very painful looking sleeper suplex) were too much for him.

Post-match, Joe cuts a promo and looks to be in BAD shape. No wonder he phones it in for a low-rent federation like TNA now after seeing him here. Meanwhile, Kobashi is interviewed and looks like he could go another round right then and there.

This is another defining match of the 2000s decade. It is not something I recommend watching cold. I had to put in a lot of viewing of both ROH and NOAH to truly appreciate, grasp, and understand the story and structure of this match, as well as why the crowd was so ecstatic to witness this true example of a dream match. I have a few more months to go, but from an objective standpoint, I must admit that so far this IS ROH's match of the year for 2005.

Rating: *****

Up next - Unforgettable
Matches will include:
James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong
Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi

[supersonic]

Unforgettable - October 2, 2005



The DVD starts with a backstage promo from Jimmy Rave & Prince Nana, who are furious over Jade Chung's decision to use the freedoms she's entitled to. Really good short promo.

After the first match, Jade Chung cuts a hilariously awful backstage promo. This should be seen to be believed.

Percy Pringle shows up and announces that he's the new authority figure for ROH. The segue was absolutely cringe-worthy, with Ricky Reyes beating up Pelle Primeau. Bobby Dempsey then tried to help his fellow student, and out of fear said for someone to "call an undertaker."

Jim Cornette, in the exact same building, one year to the date after the memorable Midnight Express reunion segment, comes out minutes later and reveals he's the actual authority figure. With how chaotic and emotional the Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal feud and Summer of Punk was, it was time for someone to come in and bring the company back to its pure sports roots. Little did Cornette know the emotional chaos that was soon to come.

James Gibson's Independent Farewell
James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong

This is simply the greatest non-retirement farewell match ever, even better than the sentimental double farewell matches hosted by ECW in 1995 and ROH in 2009. While Austin Aries vs. CM Punk was an advertised farewell, and thus had all the emotional elements of that dynamic, I don't count it since it wasn't the actual farewell for Punk.

Strong of course did a tremendous job on Gibson's back, even better than in their previous singles matches both in ROH and FIP. He was ferocious in this match. But despite the roll he was on, and how badly he wanted a victory over his mentor with this being his last chance at that, let's not forget that his opponent on this night was James Gibson.

Gibson also so badly wanted the bragging rights of going out on top in his final ROH match. And boy did he show how hungry he was for that. Deep into the match, Gibson allowed the younger, less experienced Strong to get over-zealous, baiting Strong into landing a rock-solid chop on the steel ring post. Fortunately, Gibson channeled Punk instead of Matt Hardy and went to work on that right hand. Strong would sell the arm tremendously as the match progressed as well, showing the pain of landing a chop and improvising with forearms.

Earlier in the match, both men took a segment from their FIP match and had a phenomenal strike exchange segment on the floor that had the Philly crowd rocking. Once Strong had the advantage, he immediately threw Gibson again onto the ringside barricade, inflicting more damage on Gibson's back. However, as badly damaged as Gibson's back would get, he would show just why he was going back to the big leagues, finding ways to counter many of Strong's attempted submissions as only a pro as successful and experienced as him could pull off.

After about 15 or so minutes of the match having its foundation established, they went into the near-falls. What really stood out to me is that the third act of the match wasn't a spotfest. They just logically hit their established finishers on each other and paid off the story they had established throughout the match, and the crowd was going insane! And when Gibson lifted Strong onto the turnbuckle to deliver the same Super Tiger Driver that won him the ROH Title, Strong sniffed it out (knowing he would have no way of kicking out of such a move), delivering a super gutbuster and finishing off the former ROH Champion with a final Liontamer, leaving Gibson no choice but to submit as the crowd was in a frenzy!

This is nowhere near the best match I've ever seen, but it exemplifies everything that I love about pro wrestling. It had a tremendous story, a sentimental dynamic, a fantastic payoff, a phenomenally built pace, and elevated Strong for his upcoming ROH Title shot while giving Gibson arguably the best match of his entire career, a fitting finale to a relatively short but unquestionably invaluable chapter in ROH history.

Post-match, Gibson gives a fantastic farewell speech, declaring Strong as the MVP and future of the company, solidifying all the work that Punk, Hardy, Alex Shelley, and Austin Aries had put into elevating the Survival of the Fittest winner. Strong, Gibson, and BJ Whitmer (a close friend of Gibson's) embrace after the match to a tremendous ovation.

After getting to the back, Rave & Nana ambush Strong, leaving Gibson to beg for medical help.

Rating: ****1/2

BRYAN DANIELSON RETURNS ON THE NEXT SHOW TO DEFEND THE ROH TITLE.

Lacey fires Izzy & Deranged in a backstage segment, and reveals that she is now the agent for Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs, who mug Lacey's former top associates. Lacey promises to elevate their careers and maximize their star potential. Apparently this angle had to be shot because the match these two teams had was absolutely god-awful. What a night to put forth a bad match.

Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi

Here's my lone nitpick of this instant classic: the crowd didn't pop that loudly when Kobashi finished Ki off with a lariat.

Joe's history with the Rottweilers is being set aside as all three independent stars are aware that being in a tag match with Kobashi is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I did like the underlying tension still between Joe and Homicide before the match though, with Kobashi giving his partner a simple look to convince Homicide to half-heartedly follow the Code of Honor.

This was simply an excellent tag team main event. Every single matchup in this was just awesome. Joe and Kobashi did a great job in following up their singles match, with both men exchanging teases of not giving each other clean breaks when the match begins. Of course, they would have the chop exchanges and Joe taking the stupid sleeper suplex too. Ki would get tagged in early, using his quickness to manipulate Kobashi into getting a submission locked in. Much later in the match, Joe would go back to work with submissions on that same left arm.

Homicide & Kobashi did a great job of temporarily working on Joe as the weak link, and would go on to do the same thing to Ki. Kobashi even stepped in illegally and trolled Joe into also stepping in illegally to draw the ref's attention with a simple glare. Ki then suffered two brutal chops to the chest as his friend Homicide held him captive.

Earlier in the match, Ki was also thrown outside the ring so that Kobashi could brutalize him with a DDT on the steel entrance ramp and throwing him into a barricade. He then stared at Joe, drawing the two men to tease an abrupt collision right there on the floor. Little things like this are what make these matches have a major league presentation despite being in a tiny rinky-dink armory.

I must mention that the only time Ki and Homicide locked horns in an ROH ring, it was one spectacular fucking doozy. A shame their planned match a couple years earlier didn't end up happening.

What also stood out is that in the last 10 minutes or so of incredible nonstop action, Kobashi's HOF influence showed because fall attempts were only counted for those who were legal. And not once did that ruin the dramatic pace of this match or kill the red-hot crowd.

I also liked that moves weren't buried in this match. When something devastating was used as a near-fall, the reason it wouldn't finish is because the pinfall or submission would be broken up, which kept the match going (while still remaining hot of course) but also putting over the severity of the move being done if nobody made the save. There were also two or three tremendous cutoff segments when one guy would get an advantage on another.

One of the best spots of the entire match was Kobashi getting his signature rapid fire chops on Joe, only for Ki to attempt a cutoff, getting thrown in front of Joe, and getting the rapid fire chops for his trouble. Yet another moment that only these men and very few others could pull off the right way.

This was simply an incredible tag match, and along with Gibson's farewell, gave this show its appropriate "Unforgettable" name. Post-match, Kobashi is given the proper respect by the crowd and other participants. I cannot thank Kenta Kobashi enough for what he did with just two nights in ROH. I will be forever grateful that he came to America and put forth matches that were so fucking good they could have plausibly headlined an event at the Tokyo Dome or now-named AT&T Stadium.

Kudos of course to Joe for sucking it up after the brutal singles match against Kobashi, Homicide for sucking it up with an injured left shoulder, and Ki for telling his jet lag to fuck off after working for 1PW on the other side of the Atlantic the day before. I am aware that I'm not the easiest wrestling fan to please, but I definitely appreciate and grasp the toll these four men put their bodies through for my entertainment.

Rating: ****3/4

To me, this is ROH's version of WrestleMania X, and here's why: both shows had key storyline moments. They were performed in front of tremendously receptive crowds. And also feature cards with only two worthwhile matches, but boy oh boy are the two matches on both shows absolutely splendid, contain sentimental/historic significance, and are very different from one another. This show is an absolute must-have.

I have a new feature to debut here too. Unfortunately, James Gibson's career had to end abruptly in 2009 due to a terrible back injury, and since then he has only done a couple of quick matches within the WWE umbrella. I am very happy for him though to be rewarded for his dedication and skill, as he now has a cushy WWE producer job, certainly playing a part in the incredible in-ring consistency that WWE has had in the past year.

But it is because of that injury and the position Gibson has in WWE, that I can confidently say he will never wrestle in ROH again despite his sincere expression in his farewell match that he hoped he would have the opportunity to do so.

A key word I use to describe Gibson's time in ROH is "invaluable," as a play off of the MVP narrative ROH pushed during his time in the company, and because one really can't put a price on what he brought to the company despite being there for only eight months.

With that in mind, I debut a feature, one that can be expected to be done again for other great ROH talents that have moved on and are highly unlikely to ever wrestle for this federation again.

James Gibson's 10 Greatest ROH Matches
James Gibson vs. Brian Kendrick - Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 ***3/4
James Gibson, Brian Kendrick, & Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, & Vordell Walker - Trios Tournament ***3/4
James Gibson vs. Rocky Romero - Back to Basics ***1/2
James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong - Best of American Super Juniors Tournament ***1/2
James Gibson vs. Austin Aries - The Final Showdown ****
James Gibson vs. Samoa Joe - New Frontiers ****1/4
James Gibson vs. CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels - Redemption ****1/2
James Gibson vs. Bryan Danielson - Glory By Honor IV ****1/2 (Gibson's greatest match in ROH)
James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels - Survival of the Fittest 2005 ***3/4
James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong - Unforgettable ****1/2

Up next - Enter the Dragon
Matches will include:
Jimmy Yang vs. Roderick Strong
Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley
Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries

[Robareid]

I just thought I'd say how much I enjoy your reviews. You can be an obnoxious douche sometimes, but I know you know that and revel in it, and I'm pretty sure you do it for effect, but it must be said these reviews are first class. I really enjoy reading them.

Have you ever thought of going through some of the classic IWA:MS matches from around this period (well, a bit earlier) involving many of the wrestlers you're reviewing here?

[supersonic]

Once I have all the good shit from those days, I will. Hopefully that comes this holiday season, as last year relocating to Seattle and spending most of my spare change on Seahawks tickets left me very little for Black Friday.

[Robareid]

Cool, I'll look forward to that.

[supersonic]

Enter the Dragon - October 14, 2005



Jimmy Yang vs. Roderick Strong

This was a match that would fit right in with the current TV product for ROH: good, crisp wrestling, nothing wrong with any of the work itself. But if one is looking for a deep in-ring story, look elsewhere. Now that I mention the SBG TV era, I'm surprised Yang doesn't work for ROH right now, he'd seem like a natural fit. Of course the red-hot Strong wins to build up for his second ROH Title shot (in an ROH ring.)

Rating: ***

Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley

Prince Nana is absent from ringside. Really fun tag match, with the Embassy first getting a very brief advantage on Joe, but then would get a much stronger and more logical advantage on Lethal. Early in the match, someone who I assume is a Buckeyes mark told Shelley to go back to Michigan. Lethal was later sarcastically heckled by I believe the same little shit, whoever that was. Also early in the match was a cute segment in which neither Rave nor Shelley could make Joe flinch when chopping him, and kept tagging each other until Rave conveniently had to get in the face of a fan in the front row, preventing his partner from tagging him back in.

The Embassy did a great job of working on the back of Lethal's head and neck, specifically with clotheslines, skull-fucks, and full nelsons. Dave Prazak then shows that he's likely never done a mat wrestling match in his life when he questions the difficulty of getting out of a full nelson. (Important: Prazak mentions that Rave is working on a new, devastating finisher that he will utilize when the time is right after losing his legal rights to the Styles Clash.)

After several minutes, Joe finally gets the hot tag, which the crowd was begging for and reacted accordingly with enthusiasm. He's a house of fire for a few minutes, but with Lethal out for the time being, the Embassy regained the advantage. I really like that because even though Samoa Joe was still the face of the company at this time with an incredible ROH resume, not even he could take on Rave & Shelley by himself and come out on top.

They have a really good finishing sequence, not once ever having nearfalls counted on anyone that wasn't legal throughout the match too. In the end, Lethal, who was still fresh off of his feud-ending victory over Low Ki, took Rave out of the equation. This allowed Joe to finish Shelley off with the musclebuster. Really good.

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries

After a four month wait, Aries is finally cashing in his rematch clause as a former ROH Champion. I love him being the first defense for Danielson, as he has two straight victories over the champ and left him so devastated that he left for months to work on his game in Europe.

This match had some sloppy points. It also had a mediocre crowd. And for reasons that are totally understandable, it was definitely a bit one-sided in showcasing Danielson. That was absolutely necessary to establish Danielson as a worthy champion and transition him into becoming the face of the company.

At this point I wanna mention just what an excellent commentator Lenny Leonard was during his time in ROH (not just for this match.) He really did such an outstanding job explaining the in-ring story, especially body part work. Gabe Sapolsky stepped in to provide commentary for this match too. In an eerie foreshadowing of Danielson's career, Sapolsky mentions that Danielson isn't "marketable" or "sexy," that he's all about business in the ring.

The majority of the match was on the mat, with Danielson owning Aries early and displaying how much he improved his game while away from ROH. He specifically was able to target the left arm and shoulder of Aries. While this match wasn't super-hot, Aries did a great job to keep this segment from being a complete squash, finding brief submission counters and using forearms to force Danielson to release.

I believe this was also Danielson's debut of his "I have till 5!" gimmick. I don't recall him doing this in his title win against James Gibson.

Back to the actual work of the match, Aries was tremendous when it was his turn to briefly get the heat as the match was coming to the third act. Sure, he used his left arm to inflict damage, but he sold that shit. There are so many guys on the current indy scene that could learn from this match, and this is actually one of the worst in the Danielson vs. Aries series!

Danielson also once again showed that he still had Aries scouted, first early in the match with the head-scissors, negating an explosive dropkick from Aries by using his arms and elbows for leverage and bouncing Aries in what I would describe as seated piledrivers. But Aries is so good he found a way to land a dropkick on Danielson anyway, albeit for a very, very, very brief advantage. Later, when Aries attempted the brainbuster with his damaged left arm, Danielson just kept kneeing him in the head to prevent it. But Aries, the former ROH Champion himself, gutted it out, absorbing the pain of the knees and successfully landing a brainbuster.

Once it got to the finish, Danielson showed that he was simply better now, positioning Aries to be the victim of either a Tiger Suplex or Cattle Mutilation, and then using that leverage to lock in a Crossface Chickenwing for the submission victory, the same move that won him the title.

This was definitely a nice kickoff to the Danielson era, even with all of the flaws in this match. These two men were like Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage in the 1980s: they had such natural chemistry that they could sleepwalk their way through a *** match.

Rating: ***3/4

Up next - Buffalo Stampede
Matches will include:
Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe
Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans
Low Ki vs. Colt Cabana
Bryan Danielson vs. Steve Corino

[supersonic]

Buffalo Stampede - October 15, 2005



Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe

As referee Todd Sinclair breaks down the rules in the prematch, the fans heckle him. McGuinness immediately improvises and grabs the mic, insisting on the fans giving the referee and rules some respect, and that he understood that they were excited for his next Pure Title defense. He then makes some amusing remarks about Buffalo and the game of gridiron football, then moves on to comparing Joe to a vicious bear and also says he's the future of the business. He then reveals it was all mockery when he says that Dreamworks has cast Joe for the lead role in Shrek 3.

Joe immediately goes to work on McGuinness, and loses a rope break in the process when it gets on the mat. Joe would then lose another rope break seconds later, and then lose his last one when McGuinness planted Joe's hand on the ropes. All of Joe's rope breaks were lost within the first minute of the bell ringing. Tremendous trolling by McGuinness.

Joe would spend the majority of the match dominating McGuinness, forcing the champion to eventually lose all of his rope breaks too. This paid off when they got to a corner for the finish. McGuinness put Joe in position for the Tower of London, and Joe even obliged, putting his arm over McGuinness, only to reveal he was just setting up for a chokehold. McGuinness then used his leverage to pin Joe down in a visual similar to what Bret Hart did to Roddy Piper at WrestleMania VIII and Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996, but was able to use the ropes for extra leverage due to the rules of the match.

Rating: ***

Hardcore Match
Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans

This match has a video highlight package chronicling the feud, weird with this not being the finale. The video is nothing special until it becomes a highlight reel of the action that the Embassy and Generation Next have inflicted on one another. That portion was tremendous.

This was a tasty appetizer not just for the remainder of this feud, but would also turn out to be a preview of another hardcore trios match to come for ROH many months later. This lacked the emotion to be truly great and memorable, but I'm fine with that since this wasn't the finale. As I said about the Redemption match, this is required viewing for anyone that enjoys the matches between the Shield and the Wyatt Family.

Prince Nana is present, leading me to realize I was wrong about him being gone for the weekend, and he wasn't at ringside for Rave & Shelley's match the night before because he was busy with the aftermath of the singles match between Abyss and Evans beforehand. Jade Chung is also present for this match. Both teams beat the shit out of each other, including getting a ladder involved. Aries & Strong use it to get an advantage on Abyss and use it as a platform for corner strikes, but Aries slips on one of the rungs. That looked painful.

Rave showed his greatness in being a chickenshit heel, as did Nana of course, using his presence near the end of the match to help Shelley regain the advantage on Strong. Abyss and Jack Evans were taken out when GeNext ganged up on the beast, laying him on a table, and Evans crashing through by doing a 630 senton splash off of a cage platform already engineered as part of the building.

Per good booking and storytelling, Nana's distraction led the Embassy to win this chapter in the feud. As I said earlier, a fine appetizer, as the time wasn't right to deliver the full-course meal.

Rating: ***1/2

Low Ki vs. Colt Cabana

First time ever singles match here, interesting clash of personalities and styles. Cabana starts the match by mocking Ki, causing the Rottweiler to break character and chuckle. Cabana spent much of the match frustrating Ki, getting into his head with his comedic antics and European style. Ki was still able to get his work in, including a variety of vicious stomps. Cabana looked to pull of the upset, but as a receipt for what happened in NYC two weeks earlier, Homicide comes out and talks shit to Cabana, allowing Ki to finish off the former Tag Team Champ. I really like that after Homicide was there for Ki when feuding with Jay Lethal, Ki reciprocates being there for Homicide for this feud with Cabana.

Rating: less than ***

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Steve Corino



Good match, with Corino using his sandbagging weight advantage, but simply just not being as technically skilled as Danielson. Danielson constantly found advantages, from getting three overhead suplex nearfalls while in a knuckle-lock, to getting a new chant over ("You're gonna get your fucking head kicked!") to get in Corino's head. Danielson wins his third straight ROH Title match with the crossface chickenwing.

Rating: ***1/2

Ignoring that the roster at this time of course had far more charisma across the board, this event reminded me of ROH in its current era. Some good and fun wrestling, each good match being of a different variety, but nothing blowaway. And sometimes it's okay for an obvious B-show like this one not to be a show of the year contender.

Up next - This Means War
Matches will include:
Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli
AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries
Jay Lethal vs. Curry Man
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong

[supersonic]

This Means War - October 29, 2005



Terrible promo to kick off the DVD, with Jade Chung thanking Roderick Strong for saving her, and Strong being comical with his followup.

Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Bold prediction: ROH will never have an opening match with this much combined charisma again. A couple have come close, but not to this level.

Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness comes out prior to the match starting, putting Shelley over as a great pure wrestler much to Prince Nana's delight. He then says Castagnoli's victory over him in Cleveland was a fluke, and needs to have an impressive non-losing performance tonight in order to truly earn a Pure Title shot.

This is one of the best openers in ROH history. Castagnoli was still a bit green, but he held his own against one of ROH's top names. The exchanges and counters were really something to see. I can't really begin to explain them.

In terms of storytelling, my favorite moment by far was Shelley spitting in Castagnoli's face, lighting a fire under the Swiss native, dishing out European uppercuts. Shelley just stood there and absorbed them, daring him to throw more. Shelley then countered one of the uppercuts with a backslide. Shelley also gained a major advantage deep into the match with a tornado DDT to the outside.

The match went to its 20 minute time limit, which I liked seeing. Neither man needed to be doing the job at this point, but it was time for Castagnoli to be put in a position to have a standout match and he delivered. Afterwards, McGuinness says no Pure Title shot was earned, but Castagnoli tells him that he said he would get one if he did not lose, not that he had to win to earn it. Jade Chung comes out to draw the Embassy to the back, leaving McGuinness to cheap-shot Castagnoli.

Before the match, McGuinness said that he was the best there is, the best there was, and "you know the rest." After laying out Castagnoli, the segment ends him with saying "and the best pure wrestler there ever will be." Awesome.

Rating: ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries

First time ever matchup here, and it delivered. While it lacked the pace to be considered great, it was as close to great as matches can get. After going back and forth in the early segments with beautiful mat wrestling and acrobats to establish this as an even matchup, Styles got the advantage when he used his own back to give Aries a backbreaker. Aries wasn't the same throughout the rest of the match.

Aries pulled out his usual tenacious persona in this one, digging down deep to scratch and claw his way to victory. But the damage to his back was too much, as multiple attempts at a 450 splash were thwarted, the second time with a super Styles Clash to bring the match to its conclusion. Very, very good wrestling.

Rating: ***3/4

At intermission, Jay Lethal says he's happy to help out Samoa Joe (who isn't booked for an ROH event for the first time in ages) and take on Christopher Daniels tonight. Joe was there for Lethal against the Rottweilers, so this makes sense. Lethal ultimately wants them to go after tag gold though.

I skip to Colt Cabana finishing off B-Boy in their singles match. Grim Reefer tries to ambush Cabana but gets treated like the jabroni that he is. The lights go out and Homicide comes out. Homicide and Cabana then have a turning point in this feud; it's no longer comedy, mind games, or trash-talking. They have a brutal brawl for several minutes throughout ringside, going all the way to the bleachers. It comes back to the ring and Homicide drops Cabana with an Ace Crusher from the apron through a table, taking both men out in the process. Horrendous for their long-term health, tremendous moment for their feud.

Jay Lethal vs. Curry Man

Allison Danger comes to ringside and says that Daniels is unavailable due to the birth of his newborn son, but a suitable replacement is found with Curry Man. The crowd goes apeshit for him.

The wrestling throughout this match was really good. But that's not what really matters: midway through the match, the crowd begged for comedy dancing, and both men delivered with great homages to past wrestlers, choreographed sequences, and also both Danger and referee Mike Keaner raising the roof (the latter getting probably the loudest pop of the entire match.)

For anyone currently in ROH that reads these: BOOK DELIRIOUS VS. CURRY MAN WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE.

Rating: ***1/2

Jimmy Rave cuts a promo from Ghana, the best of his career. He articulated his points very well and his voice was perfect to go with his false narratives regarding CM Punk and AJ Styles. He warns Generation Next about Steel Cage Warfare, and also takes the time to mention he is still planning to debut his new devastating finisher in ROH soon, when the time is right.

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong

The match starts out with them copying Joe and Kenta Kobashi's tag match, teasing a lack of a clean break on one another. After a few collar-and-elbow tie-ups though, Danielson gives Strong some chops in the corner anyway. Of course, he does his best to avoid a receipt from Strong because he knows how dangerous it is. It also shows how seriously Danielson is taking this challenger, fully aware this would be his greatest challenger up to this point.

After several minutes, Strong finally landed a chop on Danielson. The champion responded by taking a powder to the floor, obviously irritated while absorbing the pain. He retaliates with repetitive chops, and gets even angrier when Strong lands another one on him. I must mention that Danielson during these first 10 minutes or so also did great work on Strong's left arm to minimize any potential backbreakers.

The pain of Strong's second-to-none chops caused Danielson not only to get irritated with Strong, but with the fans in attendance as well, talking shit to them and at one point simply telling them to fuck off. His heel turn in this match was amazing to see, and perfectly timed also with the support Strong had gotten in the previous several months.

About 20 minutes into the match, Strong finally kept this from being a glorified squash and landed a backbreaker on Danielson. The champ did a PHENOMENAL job of giving himself adrenaline when necessary to ignore the pain but then immediately selling it afterwards. Certain things also happened in this match that only helped Strong's backbreaking cause, such as Danielson slowly tumbling from the turnbuckle and losing his grips on the ropes, falling back-first on the floor.

Showing just how seriously he was taking Strong's devastating backbreaking offense, Danielson teased a surfboard, but just drilled Strong's knees on the mat and followed that up with a figure four leglock to take away Strong's base, thus taking away yet another body part to reduce Strong's ability to land anymore backbreakers.

In the closing minutes, both men laid into each other, while also selling the work that was established throughout this classic, with Strong briefly knocking out the champ. Danielson dead-weighted Strong while down, causing Strong to scream "FUCK OFF BITCH!" In response, Danielson got a rush of anger, regaining consciousness and trading blows instantly. Strong mounted him for punches, but Danielson then abruptly ended the match by making Strong tap out to an Omoplata shoulder lock! Strong immediately left the ring and Danielson was right on him, spitting on him from the ring and wanting more.

That was an insane and SAFE finish, that taught the audience a match can end at any moment, especially when Bryan Danielson is involved. It also paid off the work Danielson had done on Strong's left arm, since that was the limb Danielson targeted to finish the match. An instant classic and just what Danielson's title reign needed to raise eyebrows.

Rating: ****1/2

The DVD closes with Cornette talking about the next weekend's double-shot. Chris Sabin is cashing in the TNA portion of Danielson's open contract to get an ROH Title shot on the Detroit show. Should be good.

Now the great shit: Regardless of who is victorious in Danielson vs. Sabin, Chicago is getting DANIELSON VS. STRONG II the next day. OH FUCK YES~!

Highest recommendation possible for this show.

Up next - Showdown in Motown
Matches will include:
Sal Rinauro & Chad Collyer vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans
Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries
Abyss & Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal
Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Sabin

[supersonic]

Showdown in Motown - November 4, 2005





(Second photo is the original stock photo, but with the front enlarged to the best it could be since the actual stock photo isn’t in my possession and was unable to be located online.)

Sal Rinauro & Chad Collyer vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans

Tedious tag match, and I put the blame on Rinauro because he has zero presence and charisma. I almost fell asleep to this and now that I reflect back on how hollow this match was, I wish I had.

Rating: less than ***

Relaxed Rules Match
Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries

Despite this being in Detroit, Aries gets the greater support from the crowd. Pretty good stuff with Shelley working on the left arm of Aries, who did a great job of selling. This wasn't designed to touch the greatness they had had six months earlier, but with this being a B-show, I understand why. Lame finish, also for understandable reasons.

Rating: ***1/4

Post-match, the Embassy gangs up on Aries, causing AJ Styles & Matt Sydal to come out for the next match.

Abyss & Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal

Fun tag match, with Rave playing the obvious chickenshit and relying on Abyss to do the dirty work. Of course, the work that Abyss does on Sydal is spectacular, and he shows his natural chemistry with Styles as displayed in TNA and other indies. I appreciated no pinfall or submission attempts on those who weren't legal as well.

Rating: ***1/2

ROH Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Sabin

Sabin actually does get the hometown support, largely because Danielson was a great prick in this one. This was his debut of the buzzcut while ROH champion, a PERFECT look for him. He truly carried himself like a star in this one, antagonizing the crowd, using the ropes for leverage, and working on Sabin's back to send a message to Strong. Sabin worked on Danielson's neck to prepare for the Cradle Shock, but Danielson was the man at this point, and Sabin had to tap out to the Liontamer.

Rating: ***1/2

I attended the next day's event in Chicago, the first ROH show I ever saw live, an experience I'll never forget. But I feel a bit spoiled and guilty, because assuming the key matches hold up, I witnessed three standout matches while Detroit got ***1/2 at best. There's having a B-show, but one of the two killer matches from Chicago could've been booked for Detroit to REALLY hook this market. Luckily, Detroit's next ROH event would be a major one, a portion of a particular milestone for this federation.

Up next - Vendetta
Matches will include:
Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong
AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Jack Evans, & Matt Sydal vs. Prince Nana, Abyss, Jimmy Rave, & Alex Shelley

[AmericanDolphin_3]

Is This Means War worth picking up from Highspots? I was really hoping it would be included in the $5 Sale, but it still is up there for $20.

I really enjoy these reviews. It's a great look back at a time point in which I wish I was an ROH fan.