NOTE: Since this review was done a while ago, some statements might be out of date and check out Scott at BLUETHUNDERVIDEO~! (the ~!is required) because Scott is an awesome guy who does custom tapes so if you ever needed just the one match off of a show, he’s the man to go to
ROH World Title Classic
12th of June, 2004
GT, GM is with Colt Cabana is outside. Ace Steel joins him. They remind us that last time they were in Dayton they finished of Daniels; this time they’ll finish the Prophecy. They find Les Thatcher and a bunch of officials and mistake them for Generation Next. They then find Jimmy Rave. Cabana tells him he’s got some good news for him and Rave is glad because he could do with some good news. “Me and Ace just saved a ton of money switching to Geico”. Ace’s facial expression there was awesome. There’s a lot more to the segment and its pure gold.
Ring Crew Express vs. New and Improved Carnage Crew
NICC is Danny Daniels and Masada after what happened at Generation Next. This is just to build up NICC for the Original Carnage Crew, no more, no less. The highlight of the match is Chris Lovey (Gabe Sapolsky, the booker) is going to shed the identity and go with his real name, but switches to Jimmy Bauer. The NICC are out there just throwing out moves, to show what they can do. RCE don’t even get to do the Every Rose Has a Thorn and you bet I’m pissed. And yes, along with liking the Outkast Killaz, I too like the RCE. Finish comes as the Crew hit a double brainbuster over the knee for the win. *. Would’ve been way better if RCE could’ve got some of their signature spots in.
There’s meant to be a Do or Die tag match with some HWA boys, but Homicide kills them.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious vs. Matt Sydal vs. Loc vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Rainman
I’m usually up for SMM matches, but this one doesn’t look like it’ll turn out that good. I’m a fan of Jacobs’ and Delirious’ acts and Matt Sydal is pretty good , although these guys don’t have what it takes to make it truly good. There are too many style clashes in the match, and not in a good way. Delirious and Jacobs start off the match. It’s Lizard man vs. Huss. I enjoy their antics, but it’s not too long until the match breaks down. They dive, they kick and they slam and it isn’t doing it. Finish comes with Jacobs hitting an Avalanche Style Contra Code on Loc. *1/2. Parts of it were fun, but it was just meaningless in the long run.
Alex Shelley vs. Matt Stryker
This is meant to be the second match in the best of three series, but Shelley gives him an ultimatum, he can step down, or get beat down. Stryker chooses the later and gets his ass kicked. He gets busted open with a chain. Walters and Rave are out. Evans gets powerbombed over the top and onto the floor. Sick. Stryker is now covered in blood. “I think he needs a band aid” – fan. Rave and Walters want a fight, so Gen Net us happy to oblige since it’s 3-2. This is until Stryker is back and we’ve got ourselves a six man.
Generation Next vs. John Walters, Matt Stryker and Jimmy Rave
Aries, Shelley and Strong are representing Gen Next. Stryker is still covered in blood. The faces isolate Strong to start. Walters and Rave are still pissed after Gen Next attacked them at the last show, so they want revenge. Stryker tags in every now and then, keeping his stays short and sweet, but still effective. Aries is finally able to tag in but is met with chops from Rave. Gen Next show why they’re double/triple/quadruple team moves are awesome when Aries has Rave in powerbomb position, Strong in over the shoulder backbreaker position and Shelley in a neckbreaker and they all just drop down. Rave has is neck stretched in all sorts of different and painful ways. Rave is able to get the hot tag, but Gen Next distract the ref. I like the heel tag work before it happens again. That shouldn’t be done twice in quick succession like that. Rave is able to fight back though, hit Shelley with the Shining Wizard and tag out to Stryker. Stryker is able to take Aries down with a powerslam and Shelley down with Rolling Germans, but Strong hits some on Stryker. Rave hits a rana on Shelley and Stryker with a superplex on Aries for 2. Piggyback stunner from Walters on Shelley. Rave hooks the Dust Till Dawn (tilt a whirl crossface) but Aries hits him with the 450. Rings of Aries and Rave taps. ***3/4. Apparently Rave is gone from ROH, since ROH said start winning or we’ll give you you’re marching orders. But anyone who follows ROH knows what happened there. The match was great, it was sort of a mini version of the Gen Next match, except with six people. Psychology was great and Generation Next were the top heel group at this time with their heel work and Shelley rocking the mic better than HHH ever wishes he could.
Outside Dave Prazak is with CM Punk. Punk cuts an awesome promo, talking about his track record isn’t the best, but he gets it done in big match environments. He calls the ROH Title the biggest title in North America. You damn right. It’s probably just behind the Triple Crown and GHC right now because they don’t put belts on shoot fighters. I would also like to add that Dave Prazak is a fine announcer and should get a shot at commentating an ROH show.
Les Thatcher is with Joe outside. Styles has been stripped of the Pure Wrestling Title and a new champs will be crowned soon. Joe says the title failed the first time and will fail the second. Joe runs down the big names he’s beaten. He should’ve made a note that he put Styles and Homicide down, Punk didn’t. Joe tells us that New Japan is sending their guy to get the belt. Seriously though, if you really wanted a belt, you wouldn’t send Togi Makabe to get it done. Thatcher tells Joe they’ve got a surprise for him tonight.
Hydro vs. Chad Collyer vs. Superstar Steve vs. Ray Gordy
This is clipped, so I’m not gonna say much about it. Winner goes onto have a chance to win the Pure Title. Hydro wins with a choke hold. 1.15 shown.
Backstage Gen Next invite Hydro again but he declines. Evans is injured but still serves them.
ROH World Title: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk
Given the title of this show, think it’ll be a classic? Joe gets presented with a new belt by Les Thatcher. Joe gets the streamer treatment.
Punk’s purpose in this match is obvious, yet so subtle in the early going. Joe has obviously been worn down by all of his title defences, so Punk wants to slowly wear him down. He starts by working him over with headlocks, but still avoiding Joe’s big offence. He pisses Joe off by cheap shotting him in a shoulder block challenge so he can shoulder block him down. Joe gets the Samoa Joe Crab locked in but because of his anger, he gets rolled up. Punk his happy to get hit with a few shots from Joe, but avoids a lot. As I said, his Punk wants to slow him down because Joe’s defences don’t usually go longer than 20 mins, but he’s going it subtly so Joe can’t notice. It’s so simple yet brilliant. Joe brings the headbutts and face washes, but the final misses as Punk bails to use one of his time outs. He’s got 2 left. Joe brings the slaps, but Punk covers up. Joe then uses the knees. Joe is finding ways around Punk’s defences, but Punk doesn’t mind this, as long as Joe is getting tired. Joe with a leg sweep, but Punk catches a kick and takes him down and hits some crossface punches. Joe now takes a breather, which is not usually for the champ. He exchanges words with a Punk fan and then psyches him out with a fake punch. “What a little bitch” – Joe. Joe then gives all the fans high fives. Punk then goes to the outside and then fakes him out with a handshake. I feel sorry for the kid, but it’s still funny. After Joe escapes a headlock, he tries for his chop, kick and knee combo, but Punk moves on the knee drop attempt and goes back a headlock. Joe escapes this again and goes back to the combo. Chop hits, kick hits but this time, Joe waits for Punk to move before hitting the knee drop. 20 count vertical suplex gets a delayed 2. Everything is now taking a toll on Joe. The Rope-a-Dope method is working. Joe with some more slaps, but Punk goes to he eyes and takes him down with another headlock. Joe tries to backdrop out but Punk holds on. “We love headlocks” – crowd. Punk bails after the chops and drags Joe out. Olay Olay kick from Joe is blocked. Punk tries his own but Joe stands up, so Punk just goes back inside. Now he’s getting into Joe’s head, very smart. Joe is on him with slaps and knees and Punk can’t cover up. Elbow Suicida and its Olay Olay time. Punk is able to avoid with a shoulder to the mid section. Punk tries a rana off the apron, but Joe catches him and swings him face first into the rail. Punk gets hit with THREE Olay Olay Kicks. This is not good for Punk because now Joe is controlling the pace, not Punk. Joe drags Punk back in and hits the STO Slam. Joe with the face wash, and he connects with the third this time. 30 mins are now gone and have eclipsed the longest Samoa Joe title defence by at least 8-10 mins.
Punk takes control on the mat to take control and get an important breather. Punk with a crossbody and kicks at Joe, but they’re not manly enough for Joe and requests them to be harder. So Punk boots him in the face. Punk goes back to a chinlock. Russian leg sweep and Indian Deathlock. Of course, since Joe’s size it took a bit to get on. Joe can’t punch out because he’s too tired, but since he’s Samoan he headbutts out. Joe then starts to stretch Punk on the mat. Punk fights out with a knee and gets a few 2 counts to further wear the champ down. He takes time out to show boat, so Joe kicks him in the head and backdrops him. They both hit each other with a Lariat, but Punk bounces back with a rolling elbow. Few more elbows and now the sleeper is hooked. Perhaps he was building to this hold; he’s worn Joe down so much this is the most logic move to use. Joe, though, is able to fight out. He tries to lock on the Choke but Punk goes back to the sleeper. Joe is able to get to the ropes to prevent passing out. Joe up and hits a backflip kick. I jumped out of my seat when that happened. Backbreaker and Samoa Joe Crab after a regular crab. After Punk makes the ropes, Joe kicks him in the head and hits a high knee in the corner. Punk fights off Joe and hits a top rope elbow drop for 2. To the top and Punk nails Joe with a superplex. Joe is able to nail a powerslam and attempts the juji-gatame but Punk clasps his hands and rolls into the ropes. Joe is pissed now and kicks the holy high hell out of Punk’s face. First attempt at a powerbomb is reversed into a sunset flip for 2, but the second hits and he segues into the Samoa Joe Crab. Punk doesn’t quit so Joe goes into the STF. After the match has been going along great, a problem occurs. Punk can’t flip out of the corner because he’s tired, so they then repeat the whole spot, on camera, before doing it once again. Now we’re into the final 10 mins, they start going crazy with the near falls. The CM Punk Original, Joe’s Lariat, Punk’s Shining Wizard and Joe’s Half Crab are all great false finishes, but it gets taken to the next level with the Pepsi Plunge. Punk has the match won, but Joe falls to the outside. What costs Punk is the injured knee. They then slug it out after a bit of selling, but then a double Lariat puts them both down. Punk now has no choice but to go all out, injured knee or not. They battle it out some more, with Punk hitting a DDT in the final seconds for a dramatic 2 count. This is a hard match to rate, as it is great, but the sloppiness at the end costs them. After watching all three of their matches back to back, I can easily say this is the worst, but look at the rating and then you see how great this feud was. ****1/4.
Post match Homicide rears his head and attacks both men, stealing Joe’s new belt in the process. When both men come to, they shake hands and hug. That’s a true ROH moment there.
Ultimate Endurance: The Briscoes vs. Austin Aries and Jack Evans vs. The Prophecy vs. Colt Cabana and Ace Steel
UE is an elimination tag match where each fall has a different stipulation. First fall is submission, second Scramble match and third No DQ.
First Fall
The match suffers from a dead crowd for the most part, after the previous match. They do a little feeling out process to start, before Jack Evans (surprise surprise) gets pounded on. He gets killed with backbreakers, and when Aries tries to save, Evans is used as a weapon to stop him. Finish to the first fall comes as Whitmer uses a sick Boston Crab on Evans. There wasn’t much going for the fall, but it was ok.
Second Fall
As per usual for Scramble matches this is just a mess. Sure, it has its moments, but in the end, they don’t mean anything as it’s just going to be forgotten going into the next fall. Maff prevents Colt from using the Colt 45 for only one reason I can think of and that’s that he wants SCS in the final fall. The finish to this fall is also weak, as Whitmer hits a Shining Wizard on Mark to end the second fall.
Third Fall
Cabana cuts a heel promo before the final fall to distinguish who the heels are and who the faces are. The final fall just degenerates into a brawl, like all SCS/Prophecy matches. Some sick spots follow like Cabana getting killed with the ring bell and Maff taking a sick shot to the head with a chair, but nothing compared to the finish. SCS go back to BLAD and try to put Maff through a table much like they did to Daniels, but Whitmer cuts them off. Whitmer then brings Steel off the top with an Exploder through the table. Maff then hits Cabana with the Burning Hammer on the remains of the table, with Cabana landing awkwardly, for the win. An ok match, but all the changes between gimmicks didn’t allow the match to get going really. ***.
Loc cuts a promo about how he’s pissed at Masada and Daniels. He says there will be a Weapons match at Reborn: Completion. Carnage Crew vs. New Carnage Crew.
Maff and Whitmer then split up The Prophecy because they got Daniels revenge and when they work together, they’re unstoppable. This pisses Danger off, but they don’t care.
