Live Review from Ring of Honor’s Return to Philadelphia

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Live Review from Ring of Honor’s Return to Philadelphia

RoH must have convinced some CZW fans of the superior product because opening both sides of the bleachers has now become a regular occurrence at the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. The fans in attendance were treated to another stellar showcase of the best wrestling roster in America today.

“M-Dogg” Matt Cross vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels

It is kind of odd to see someone with a “blank”-Dogg moniker and not come out to some form of rap or r&b, but such was the case for Cross. Daniels got a huge reaction which was no surprise. This was my first time seeing Cross, having heard a lot about him there were certainly expectations to deliver. Cross has the athletic moves and ring presence to become a fixture in Ring of Honor and he proved his mettle against one of the founding fathers of RoH in Christopher Daniels. Cross with hi Sasuke Special and other dives to the outside were not enough to stack up to the Angel’s Wings. Daniels got the victory and showed his respect with a handshake.

Then the disrespect began. The Kings of Wrestling came to the ring and attacked Daniels who has been in a quest for a title shot from the champions. The hit the devastating KRS-1 finisher on Daniels, and whoop whoop it’s the sound of “¦.Matt Sydal, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong. Daniels then swore revenge on the Kings of Wrestling.

Jim Cornette, RoH Commissioner, made his way to the ring with Shane Hagadorn. Cornette proceeded to truly go off the deep end and announce Hagadorn as the special guest referee in the main event. He also said there would be no rules”¦for Steve Corino but Homicide must abide by the rules of Ring of Honor or risk disqualification. Homicide would also need to pin Corino for a ten count to gain victory. This brought out the Rottweilers and Konnan. Konnan proceeded to run down Cornette and his enlightened Kentucky political views (note the sarcasm.) This was actually some of the better mic work I have heard from Konnan. Not once did he say “odelay” or “let me speak on this.” He also made a few good jokes.

The verbal diatribe led to the next match.

Shane Hagadorn vs. Ricky Reyes

Hagadorn was not pleased with the fact that he would be wrestling the tenacious Ricky Reyes. The fans started counting the seconds in the match assuming that the Top of the Class Trophy holder would not be able to make it to 30. Hagadorn actually did make a decent showing, but eventually succumbed to the Dragon Sleeper.

Tank Tolland vs. Pelle Primeau vs. Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer

Pelle is fast becoming one of the most over wrestlers on the RoH roster. Tank Tolland was met with chants of “He Takes Steroids.” Colt Cabana had the crowd in the palm of his ands as usual, and the return to Philadelphia of BJ Whitmer was met with a large round of applause. The match was mostly comedy with all three men beating the poop out of young Pelle. Colt has been playing into his “cocky jock” persona with Jimmy Jacobs and carrying it over, especially in this match. Tolland did a lot of decent power moves, and I am sure he will be back. He does bring something a little different than most other wrestlers on the current roster. The match ended when Pelle surprisingly upset Tolland with a flash pin which oddly enough may have gotten on of the loudest cheers all night. Pelle then went for a surf through the Philadelphia fans. After the match Tolland refused to shake hands much to the chagrin of the other competitors.

Dream Partner Tag Team Match: Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave and Ring of Honor World Champion “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson

Jimmy Rave got the toilet paper treatment, which I must admit as funny as it was, is starting to get a little bit old. Joe and Nigel came out to a huge reaction. The match saw some great old school heel tag team work from Dragon and Rave. It had a very Memphis/Southern style with Rave and Dragon dictating the pace and dominating Nigel while Joe chomped at the bit to make his mark on the match. Eventually Joe and Dragon took the fight to the floor and Nigel was able to finish off Jimmy Rave with a vicious lariat.

After the match more toilet paper got thrown at Rave and he flipped out heading into the stands to find the culprit. Nigel got on the mic trying to calm him down and several RoH staffers had to take Jimmy to the back.

Jime Cornette then returned to the ring with the Briscoes to announce that Shane Hagadorn was injured and could not referee the main event. Cornette then canceled the main event. This brought out Konnan and the Rottweilers. Konnan informed Cornette that he had talked to the owner and matchmaker of RoH and they said, that the fans would decide who would stay Cornette or Homicide. In an event about as surprising as the end of a porno movie, Cornette was booed out of the building. RoH staffers then escorted Cornette, kicking and screaming to the back.

The Briscoes vs. Delirious and Davey Richards

Delirious actually spoke three coherent words in this match telling a fan to move their car as per announcements being made prior to the match. While English may not be Delirious’ first language, he does have a decent grasp of our language, better than most lizard men anyway. The story of this match is: the Briscoes are a great team, Davey Richards kicks dupa, Delirious is hilarious and can go in the ring. This was a great modern style tag team match that saw the Briscoes win with the Spike J Driller on Delirious.

We now pause for an intermission.

RoH Tag Team Titles: The Kings of Wrestling, Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero (Champions) vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong

This is of course the rematch from their stellar tag team encounter at Glory by Honor 5, night 2. Most of the match saw Aries and Strong dominate the champions. New tag titlists seemed likely at several occasions, but eventually the chicanery of the Kings of Wrestling caused a turn in the tide. Eventually the ref went down and the Kings of Wrestling tried to use the Haliburton briefcase that gave them the titles in the first place. Aries was able to get control of it however and went to town and back on the champions. Unfortunately, senior official Todd Sinclair saw it and disqualified the challengers. The ensuing brawl spread throughout the National Guard Armory and outside the building. This is far from over.

KENTA’s farewell match: Matt Sydal vs. I can’t remember

Chris Daniels seconded Sydal to the ring. I was a little surprised that Davey Richards was not in KENTA’s corner. To say that KENTA beat the holy hell out of Matt Sydal is an understatement. If KENTA got paid per vicious Kick he would have made enough money to buy a plane back to Japan. Sydal in probably his best showing I have seen, withstood every violent strike KENTA threw at him. A couple of times it seemed Sydal may have pulled out victory. Daniels did his best to coach his less experienced teammate, but eventually KENTA proved to be too much. Sydal even kicked out at 2 after a Busaiku knee kick. Eventually though, Go 2 Sleep was enough and Sydal’s valiant effort came to a close.

After the match KENTA thanked the Philadelphia fans, Ring of Honor and the USA. Samoa Joe came out and praised KENTA’s contributions to Ring of Honor over the past ten months or so, and then said he had a message for Morishima, Kenta Kobashi, and all the other wrestlers in Pro-Wrestling NOAH. The message was a slap across the face. The lockerroom emptied to separate the two, and it would seem that a match between KENTA and Joe will happen sometime in 2007.

Fight without Honor: Steve Corino vs. The Notorious 187 Homicide

The expectations were at astronomical levels of violence and disregard for human safety in this match. Some would argue they delivered some would argue that it was impossible to meet the expectations set for this match without someone losing a limb or their face being burned off or something. I am not typically a fan of the old ultra-violence unless it makes sense in the context of the feud, and the context was there for this one. Homicide crossed into sick mother effer territory with the reckless abandon that he went after Corino’s ear. He went after it with his fists, a fork, and a barbed wire baseball bat. Corino put forth his best offensive attacks to which Homicide usually kicked out after only one. Homicide eventually got the win after a Lariat. Now this may not have been as bloody as their no rope barbed wire match, or as unexpectedly brutal as their match from Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies, but it delivered a conclusion to the longest running feud in Ring of Honor.
After the match Homicide informed Corino that as per Mexican tradition when a feud comes to a close the losing competitor pays for it with his hair. Corino obliged and Homicide shaved his head.

Final Thoughts

I think that RoH fans are letting their expectations far exceed them. Ring of Honor is partially guilty putting on amazing shows with multiple match of the year candidates, but RoH fans need to realize, that while this show may not have any match that will rack up year end awards it was start to finish better than anything being put out in American Wrestling today. It was a great show, maybe not the greatest, but I would assume that every fan in attendance left satisfied at the very least. It is also important to remember that Ring of Honor has more cars in the parking lots for their shows than most independent wrestling companies have fans in the building. Ring of Honor is the best thing going in American wrestling today.

You can always e-mail me at bigandymac@yahoo.com

I’ll see you next time