The Ring of Honor Reviewer- The Round Robin Challenge
-Pulse Glazer
Alright, thanks for stopping by for my second column here at the Pulse. Today we have a real treat because of several interesting matches and debuts. If you didn’t check out the column last week here’s the link to my review of the very first Ring of Honor show.
This review you’re about to look through right now is of the second ever Ring of Honor show. We’ll be continuing this at a rate of about one a week until we’re all caught up. I’ll be keeping a list of best matches and best shows by year so that you’ll have a better idea what’s worth your money should you have an inclination to go out and buy some of these DVDs.
So far in Ring of Honor we’ve got three major feuds. The first of these is just starting and it involved the SAT, The Amazing Red, Divine Storm, and Brian XL. All of the above were trained by Mikey Whipwreck except for Brian. Brian’s cocky personality might or might not be able to take being the outcast of the group. We’ll call this the Whipwreck Feud.
Next is the Texas Wrestling Academy Feud between Spanky (Brian Kendrick) and Michael Shane over the Showstopper name. Michael is HBK’s cousin and thinks he deserves the name, while Spanky believes himself the star pupil and wants the Showstopper moniker for himself. Michaels himself is still retired at this point due to his bad back and thus the name is up for grabs. We’ll let this be known as the Showstopper Feud.
Lastly, we have the Brian Danielson, Low Ki, and Christopher Daniels feud. This one’s all about respect as Daniels refuses to shake hands, while Danielson doesn’t feel Low Ki is a better wrestler than him because in their match last month Ki managed to pin Daniels and not Danielson in a three way match. This will be the beginnings of the Prophecy Feud.
Last bit of note: I will be including wrestler’s records, but only in singles matches from here on out. If you like the feature then let me know. If you don’t, then do the same. It should be interesting to see how the records evolve with pushes and feuds down the line. Without further ado, let’s get to the show!
Ring of Honor: The Round Robin Challenge
March 30, 2002
From Philadelphia, PA
We kick off with Daniels cutting a promo on Ring of Honor as a promotion. He explains why Ring of Honor is not a special promotion and is just like everyone else. Daniels swears off shaking hands, instead saying he’s here to pin shoulders to the mat. Daniels then explains he’s the best Independent wrestler in the USA and he’ll prove it tonight. He’s always been an underrated promo, but this is not one of his best.
Da Hit Squad interacts with the fans a bit before the start of the show, urging them to make some noise. This happens with various wrestlers even now at RoH shows and is just another very good reason to catch them live. I met Samoa Joe and Aries at their last show, Aries before the show and Joe after.
The Code of Honor runs across the screen. The code is basically shaking hands before and after matches, no interference, no touching the referee and no sneak attacks.
Divine Storm practices a cross face chickenwing. Danielson happens past and shows them the proper way to do the hold. From there, we’re on to the show.
Match 1: “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
If you need a bit of an introduction on these guys (or anyone else on the card), check out the last show, Wikipedia, or Obsessedwithwrestling.com. The idea behind tonight is that these two will wrestle each other and then each will wrestle Low Ki in separate matches to show who the best man of the bunch truly is.
They begin with back and forth action using the ropes and strikes, but quickly change to mat work. Danielson gets the best of it, coming through with a sleeper in the ropes. Test of Strength, won by Dragon with the heel trip. Daniels fights back up and heel trips Dragon who bridges out and stays up while Daniels tries a knee to the gut to break it. Danielson spins out and gets a crossface variation, which Daniels turns into a pin. Danielson takes him over with a headlock. Working the headlock, Danielson retains control through various counter attempts.
Eventually Daniels counters into a belly-to-back and goes to work on Danielson’s neck with various holds and moves. Dragon is selling the neck like a champ here and Daniels is going right for it. Daniel’s finishers, the Angel Wings (Sit-Out Pedigree) and Last Rites (Roll the Dice), both work the head and neck. After quite a bit of neck work Dragon takes control with a wicked overhead belly-to-belly. He continues to maintain advantage with Irish-whip based offense until he nails a double-arm suplex. Great psychology there, as Dragon couldn’t hit a vertical suplex because of his hurt neck. Dragon then goes up and nails Daniels with a swan dive headbutt, but takes a moment to make the cover, again because of the bad neck, so it doesn’t finish.
Roaring Elbow countered into the STO and Daniels nails the Best Moonsault Ever, but that doesn’t effect what Daniels has been working and thus only gets two. Back up and back and forth action takes us to an eventual Cattle Mutilation by Danielson. He can’t hold the move due to”¦wait for it”¦ his bad neck and instead goes Rings of Saturn, but Daniels gets to the ropes. A Dragon suplex is blocked and Daniels nails a piledriver. This isn’t Memphis, so that’s only two. Last Rites into a crossface and, with that yanking up on his neck, Danielson is forced to tap.
Christopher Daniels (1-0) defeated Bryan Danielson (0-1) (Submission, crossface *** 3/4)
Great psychology by Danielson and selling by Dragon make this an underappreciated great match. Daniels often appears to have no role in the ring, but his vicious, neck focused offense here made certain that was not the case. Great classic heel stuff. The usual masterpiece from Danielson. All that prevents this from going 4 star or more is that it didn’t go ten minutes longer.
After the match Daniels offers a handshake to Danielson because he won and Danielson accepts. The announcers call this a mockery of the Code of Honor.
CW Anderson calls Elax his partner for his match with Joey Matthews and Christian York because the match is so easy he can choose anyone.
Match 2: Prince Nana and Eric Tuttle w/ Simply Luscious vs. Da Hit Squad
Nana is a Prince from Ghana. Not a great worker, but he has a ton of charisma and is legitimately hated. Eric Tuttle is a random cowboy character. He’s really thin and does not last long in Ring of Honor. Da Hit Squad was covered last show. Nana cuts a promo, but bad audio makes it inaudible to this reviewer. This is RoH’s biggest problem for me and it still plagues them today. I still often can’t understand a word of what they say in their promos. Tuttle cleans Nana’s boots and Da Hit Squad hit the ring.
Nana is destroyed with a figure-four and frog splash double team. Tuttle is then speared HARD and a variation on the Hart Attack knocks Tuttle out. Prince Nana runs away, abandoning his partner, and Tuttle is destroyed with the Burning Hammer for the three.
Da Hit Squad defeated Eric Tuttle and Prince Nana (Pin, Burning Hammer- Dud)
Not a match, just annihilation, and this one I don’t see the point of. Hopefully they stop wasting time with this soon. The extra five minutes of this could have been better tacked onto the previous match.
After the Match Buff E. of The Christopher Street Connection plays YMCA at the sound stage. CSC come out and Tuttle is pressed onto all of them. Simply Luscious is pressed onto the heels, like Tuttle, and dragged to the back by her hair by Nana. So we basically have Da Hit Squad as the bootleg Dudleyz in a semi-feud with CSC, a gayer Billy and Chucky. I didn’t tune in for this; we need to move on.
Boogie Knights discuss shitting in The Natural Born Sinners’ bag. The Natural Born Sinners chase of Boogie Knights with chainsaws.
York and Matthews cut a generic promo on CW Anderson.
Match 3: Joey Matthews and Christian York vs. CW Anderson and Elax
Matthews and York are an ex-ECW pretty boy tag team in the mold of the Rockers. I never really enjoyed them, but they aren’t actively bad or anything. CW is Arn’s Kayfabed cousin and uses most of his moves far less effectively. He’s a good worker without a lick of charisma. Elax is a random jobber there for storyline purposes. If you don’t know where this is going you haven’t watched wrestling long.
Anderson and Matthews match up to start with CW gaining the advantage. Matthews comes back with a headscissor, and Elax and York are tagged in. Elax is getting beat badly by Matthews and York, but CW comes in and takes control. CW back in with some hard standard Arn Anderson/NWA-esque offense. Elax in and retains control. Back to CW who really clearly is a better tag wrestler and maintains dominance and has yet to become repetitive. CW hits a delayed superplex, which is quite impressive.
Another guy I instantly like better (after Xavier and Scoot last show).
Matthews turns a clothesline into a neckbreaker and gets the hot tag to York. York cleans house and hits the Gory Special on Elax, but York takes time in putting him down giving CW time to hit York with a Ferris Wheel Suplex. Stunner from Matthews, but Elax comes up with a top rope dropkick, and CW nails a Spinebuster for two as the save is made. Heel miscommunication and CW takes the Problem Solver (assisted DDT) and Matthews and York get three.
Joey Matthews and Christian York defeat CW Anderson and Elax (Pinfall, Problem Solver **1/2)
Solid tag formula match. CW was impressive as he doesn’t have time to become boring in a tag match, and Matthews and York hide their weaknesses well in tag bouts while emphasizing their good selling and high impact moves.
CW beats on Elax after the match, blaming him for the loss.
Xavier cuts a promo about showing what he’s about. Common midcard face promo. He announces that since Scoot Andrews isn’t there, he’ll be wrestling James Mariato.
James Maritato cuts a promo about ECW closing and going back to before Little Guido was known, when he was just James Maritato, a shoot fighter in Japan.
Match 4: James Maritato vs. Xavier (1-0)
Xavier was covered last time. James Maritato is an excellent ground based wrestler. It’s always been a shame he’s rarely given time to show what he can do, as his matches in ECW with Super Crazy and Tajiri and later in Tag Team matches against Whipwreck and Tajiri, consistently stole the show. The three best matches I’ve seen live were Mr. Perfect-Bret Hart at Summerslam, American Dragon-Kenta in September, and Guido and Mamaluke vs. Tajiri and Whipreck in the Hammerstein Ballroom. I always root for Maritato because put on such a great show when I saw him live, but he really does lack the size and charisma to make it big anywhere as a singles wrestler.
“AC Slater” chants start us off again and we get mat work, as usual to start. Lots of mat wrestling back and forth. A nice “Where’s my Pizza chant?” by folks that didn’t get the memo about the gimmick change. For whatever reason, Xavier dominates on the mat for a good long while, always with a ready counter. A bit annoying as we really should establish Mariato, not Xavier, as the mat technician.
Maritato counters an attempted Frankensteiner into a top rope Boston Crab, and nails a dropkick to Xavier’s forehead from the ropes. Xavier quickly reclaims offense, and he’s dominating this match. Maritato dumps him out of the ring and hits a fame asser from the apron to the floor in a nice spot. Deathlock into a rolled over facelock by Maritato. Xavier gets a counter into Cobra Clutch. This is reversed by Maritato, who connects with a dropkick. Unprettier attempt from Maritato, but Xavier counters into a rollup for the three.
Xavier (2-0) defeats James Maritato (0-1) (Pinfall, Rollup **)
I don’t know what that was, but it sure put Xavier over strong. He dominated that match, and while the action and pace were solid, there was no evident story or psychology. Decent, but basically there to just get Xavier over an established name.
Frank Talent of the Athletic Commission gives a speech to the boys about not cursing and steals the “If you build it they will come” line. Spanky is amusingly brushing his teeth during the whole speech.
The Natural Born Sinners cut a promo about killing The Boogie Knights. Since one member is Homicide, I’d take them seriously.
Match 5: The Natural Born Sinners vs. The Boogie Knights
The Natural Born Sinners are Homicide and Bugaloo. They’re hoodlums who wear Halloween masks (well, Homicide is a Michael Myers mask, while Bugaloo wears a Leatherface mask) out to the ring and can really go. Homicide in particular is extremely important and certainly one to watch. They’re from Brooklyn, always a plus. The Boogie Knights are a Bronx based team who beat the Sinners at the opening show through shady means.
Bugaloo starts dominating and the Knights ask for mat wrestling but get destroyed at that as well. Homicide comes in with a T-Bone Suplex and a Ghetto Stomp off the top. Assisted Powerbomb onto a knee by the Sinners. Clothesline into a head-and-neck suplex for the pin.
Natural Born Sinners over The Boogie Knights (Pin, Clothesline to Head-and-Neck Suplex, Dud)
Not a match so much as the set-up of another dominating tag team. I wonder who they could be on a collision course with”¦
Promo by Low Ki on Christopher Daniels. This one is about Daniels lack of respect, subrise. Ki sounds like Isaac Hayes.
Match 6: Christopher Daniels (1-1) vs. Low Ki (1-0)
Both men are covered last show. Let’s get it on.
Ki keeps his hand out for a handshake, but gets it slapped away, so Low Ki chops the crap out of Daniels. He misses the Tidal Crush, but retains control with kicks and striking.
More kicks and Daniels lifts his middle finger. Low Ki gets that a good kicking and then kicks Daniels head in kicked. Cool spot.
Ki is dominant so far, with a kick through the side of the ropes, but Daniels finally counters with an STO. Daniels is in control. He works over the back. Daniels drapes Ki over the top of the rope and comes off the top with a leg drop. From there he hits a half crab, staying on the back as the announcers mistakenly say he’s working on the neck again. STF, as Daniels finally gets to the neck, but after that he goes for a bow-and-arrow as its right back to the back. Falcon Arrow for two by Daniels, and a urinage is followed up by Daniels missing what would be the Best Moonsault Ever.
Ki up with a Tidal Wave and he gets control, but has the Ki crusher blocked. Daniels gets a Dragon Clutch and hits Iconaclism and then the Angel’s Wings. Daniels didn’t hook the leg and Ki got his shoulder up. That’s a hell of a series of moves to be kicked out of. Ki rolls through a powerbomb and hits the Ki Crusher, but doesn’t have the energy to make a pin. Tidal Crush as both men rise to their feet, but that only gets two. Ki Crusher and Angel’s Wings are both reversed, Last Rites reversed, and Ki gets the Dragon clutch to finish.
Low Ki(1-0) defeated Christopher Daniels(1-1) (Submission, Dragon Clutch ***)
Not nearly as good as the earlier effort by Danielson and Daniels. A hot finish, but the working of the back never came into play, and again this match felt short. Daniels arrogance proved to be his undoing as Low Ki just hit too hard and was too quick. It’s important to note that before Ki and Danielson came along, Daniels was clearly the top guy in the Indies, so he thought he could just run off his regular moveset and win, but Low Ki shows here that he’s a force to be reckoned with on par with Daniels. There’s a lot more to this, but that covers what’s important for this match, so we’ll get back to that at a later date.
Daniels after the match refuses to shake hands or wrestle Low Ki again until there is the RoH title on the line, a title which doesn’t yet exist. Ooh, foreshadowing. In the back Xavier congratulates Daniels. Ooh, more foreshadowing! Daniels gets heat for not shaking hands from the rest of the lockeroom, but we don’t see how this unfolds because Spanky steals the camera to dance.
Match 7: Paul London vs. Chris Marvel
London is the current Smackdown tag champ and a graduate of the Texas Wrestling Academy. He’s a high flier with great psychology and is yet another RoH wrestler worth noting. If you’re only familiar with London from his WWE work, you’re in for a treat. People always say “Watch his RoH stuff for Punk, and it’s true, but they should really be saying the same thing about London just as loudly. Marvel graduated the Dory Funk, Jr. Dojo. That’s about all we need to know about him for now. Find out why next paragraph!
We’re back with a feeling out sequence to start based around Irish Whips and counters. London with a nice moonsault dropkick, followed by a Asai Moonsault. Marvel broke his leg legit taking the move and the match is called.
Paul London(1-0) defeats Chris Marvel (0-1) (Ref Stoppage, broken leg, Dud)
Well, nothing to really say but ouch. Poor Marvel.
Briscoes cut a promo as Mark wonders if Jay can win.
Match 8: Jay Briscoe (0-1) vs. Spanky
Both men are covered on the previous review. I really enjoy them both and am looking forward to this one.
We begin as Jay forces Spanky to the corner. The mat work and shoving is controlled by Jay early. Spanky finally reverses, but a leg trip to a majistral cradle by Jay send Spanky outside to regroup.
Back in for a test of strength to a wastelock by Jay, takedown and headlock reversal, Spanky bridges out, and the chain wrestling continues. Jay ends that with two snap suplexes. Spanky takes control with a stun gun off the top to a springboard knee drop. Leg lariat by Spanky and he hits the mat. A lot of mat work, which is wearing down Jay, the bigger man, while Spanky is mixing high impact in with his mat wrestling as he hits a neck vice from the second. Sliced bread # 2 attempt is countered into a German Suplex. Jay is still too strong for that. Spanky eats post on the counter and is busted open.
Jay takes control as Spanky has a gusher. Gordbuster leaves Jay is in control. Spanky manages with the Tiger Mask Walk but is hit with the Yakuza kick. Jay takes him up top, but Spanky knocks Jay to the floor. Pop up suicida onto Jay. Spanky fails to stop to wear down Jay and so eats knee on the big splash and takes a vicious powerbomb pin, which only gets two. Arguing with the ref leads to a counter sequence and Sliced Bread # 2, which gets the pin.
Spanky (1-0) defeats Jay Briscoe (0-2) (Pinfall, Sliced Bread #2 *** 1/4)
Well it was fun. Spanky wore down Jay, but Jay used power to nearly finish Spanky. Jay in frustration at not getting the pin began to complain, set up beautifully by the “But will you win?” of Mark to him prior to the match. If that were in the match, however, this would rate higher. As is, a really good performance by both men, but really, the finish seemed to make Jay out as more of a heel, while Spanky was the heel for the majority of the match, slowing it down and taking the crowd out of it.
American Dragon wins an internet voting for best wrestler out of the Texas Wrestling Academy.
Match 9: The SAT vs. The Amazing Red and Brian XL vs. Divine Storm
All of the above are covered last time. Expect a spotfest. This is elimination rules.
Divine and XL start it off with spot counters that pop the crowd. “Lucha Libre” chant is appropriate. Quiet Storm and Joel Maximo do their own spot counter exchange. Storm struggles for footing on the ropes while Joel patiently waits. Strike exchange and they shake hands. Red and Jose Maximo begin striking each other due to Red being upset that Jose pinned him last month. Reversal sequence and back to the strikes, and again the reversals to pop the crowd. Dive sequence to the floor capped by Red with a blown spot, but recovers to a slingshot moonsault corkscrew to the floor.
Quiet Storm and Red go at it until Quiet Storm hits the Spinal Shock for two. Northern lights bomb and we have a mess in the ring as everyone runs in again to hit their spots. Superplex by Maximo on Storm. Red comes off the top with knees on Maximo. Red Star Press on Storm and he’s eliminated. Red maintains control with a back body block and a brainbuster. Backdrop driver counter by Maximo on Red. XL with a stepping moonsault press for two.
Maximos reclaim offense on Brian XL, who goes for a 450 which is reversed to a powerbomb. Exclamation point (Pumphandle Driver) by XL gets two, and its now Maximo and Red. Red with a sunset flip bomb off the top for two. Double Spin kick on Joel. Red Alert on the knee of Joel and XL with a springboard senton, but they fight over the cover. Schoolboy rollup by Jose Maximo on Red gets the win.
The SAT defeat The Amazing Red and Brian XL, and Quiet Storm (Pin, Schoolboy rollup *).
A couple of pretty spots, a lot of blown spots and everything looking wildly choreographed, but badly practiced. Spotfests can be good, but this is not an example of that.
Low Ki cuts a promo about beating American Dragon.
Match 10: Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson w/ Ken Shamrock as Referee
Let’s get this out of the way at the start: This is among my favorite matches. These two put on an absolute classic here. If you enjoy mat wrestling and have patience, you will love this match. This one will get a full move-by-move play-by-play. This kind of effort demands it.
About a minute in Shamrock comes out and demands to be special referee because he respects both men so much.
Test of strength and leg kicks to start. Danielson uses a front takedown. Ki attempts to hold him off. Danielson attempts to turn it into a cross arm breaker, but fails yet still ends up back on top of Ki. Ki rolls on top with mounted punches and both men struggle more on the map with Ki ending up on Dragon’s back for more mounted punches.
Ki goes with a body scissors and head butts to the back of Danielson’s head. Dragon leans back to stop that so Ki grabs a sleeper. Smooth counter. Dragon rolls out into a form of surfboard and gets up and swings Ki around by his legs! Down to a rear naked choke by Dragon and Ki struggles to get out. Low Ki escapes and goes back to mounted punches, as they fight over headlocks on the mat.
Dragon applies a half-nelson to a camel clutch and he pulls up on the nose of Ki. Ridiculously fluid chain wrestling evidenced there. Forearm strikes hit the sides of Ki’s head and back to a read naked choke from Danielson. Ki rolls out and gets a front facelock with knee strikes. Dragon forces Ki back to the ropes and they break, while both blocking each other’s strikes.
Test of strength, but Ki takes out the leg of Danielson. More mat struggle as Dragon takes a few hits to get a cross armbreaker and Ki is in trouble. A roll through and kick to the face gets Ki out. Ki chinlocks and Dragon gets to the ropes. Shamrock drags them back to the center and Ki maintains a leg scissor, but Dragon smashes Ki with his head to escape. Ki manages to turn it into a cross armbreaker attempt but Dragon powerbombs him out. This just about ends our mat portion as Dragon has proven a touch superior. They surely brought the awesome with that segment. The only mat segments as good off the top of my head are Benoit and Angle’s together.
Both men separate and grab a breather. They slowly grapple as Ki shoots himself down in an attempt to get a cross armbreaker of his own. Dragon bridges and locks his arms to prevent the cross armbreaker and rolls through to a strange facelock-deathclock combination. Ki makes the ropes and we separate again. Ki on the mat and Dragon on his feet, but Ki, FROM THE MAT, kicks Dragon in the eye. Danielson is forced to the floor.
Danielson back in the ring and they circle one another. Low Ki goes behind and takes Danielson down. Low Ki bridges to a pin but majistral from Dragon counters. Dragon now gets the top. Deathlock and Danielson falls back and pulls on the arms. Roll over to a pinning combination pops the crowd. That’s released into a leg grapevine by Danielson. Ki with some more stiff kicks to escape. That’s been his standby that’s continually keeping him even with Danielson even though Low Ki is inferior on the mat.
Kawada kicks by Ki, who has finally has had enough. Dragon had a cut last match and Ki is attempting to re-open it. Ki succeeds in his attempt. Danielson jumps right back in and mounts with punches and turns to the cross armbreaker, but Low Ki gets the ropes. Danielson focuses on the mat work where he has clearly been established as superior, but Ki is a bit too quick to get caught with it.
Test of strength to a fisherman’s suplex position by Dragon, who rolls through with a pin for two. Danielson attempts to hold the arms for a pin but ends up on Ki’s back instead and goes for Cattle Mutilation. Ki manages to get back up and makes the ropes. Dragon right back into a full nelson, but can’t hit a dragon suplex, so he instead uses a belly-to-back suplex. Danielson strikes with kicks and chops but only gets two. Low Ki with a Pele Kick to take out Dragon who was behind him. Danielson probably shouldn’t be striking at Ki at this point when he clearly has another advantage.
Ki to his feet first, and a snapmare and kick followed by another snapmare and chop. Ki drops a knee and gets only one. Dragon Clutch by Ki, but he’s unable to hook it and instead ends up with a cobra clutch and body scissors. Danielson powers up and dumps them both outside the ring. Once they were on the mat Danielson was again able to find a ready counter.
Low Ki holds on to a rear naked chokehold. Ki takes Danielson back in the ring and nails a double stomp. Dragon bridges out with Ki on top of him! We’re now done with the wear down grapples and strikes. Ki has won this area of the contest and heads into the final rung of their battle with the advantage, chasing his finisher first. He still must be careful of any slowdown giving Danielson back the edge.
Ki going for the Ki Crusher, but Danielson counters into a roaring elbow and Dragon Suplex gets two! Double underhook suplex from Dragon with a diving headbutt follow up. No! Ki gets the knee up to his head! Tidal Crush by Ki. Dragon Suplex by Ki, but he’s unable to bridge and doesn’t get the pin. Cattle Mutilation by Ki on Dragon, but Dragon powers out to his own Dragon Clutch! Ki manages the ropes after a long time in his own hold. As soon as Ki went for the submission the match slowed down and Danielson reclaimed control.
Danielson goes with a neck vice and a suplex out of it. That gets two and a running elbow and a northern lights get two more on Ki. Combination moves keep Danielson’s advantage. Big chop battle, and Dragon starts using elbows and dropkicks Ki as he attempts the Tidal Wave. Ki manages a brainbuster on a suplex reversal. More Kawada Kicks on Danielson and Ki signals for the Ki Crusher. He nails it and One”¦ two”¦ two and ¾”¦ Kick out! Phoenix Spash attempt by Ki lands on the knees. It worked last show, but not again. Love the inter-series continuity.
Dragon suplex gets two for Low Ki. Danielson with a counter to a top rope belly-to-back suplex, but even that only gets two. Attempting a second belly-to-back off the top Ki nails a top rope Ki Crusher to a “Holy Shit” chant! Neither man can get up, as Ki crawls across the ring, but Danielson rolls to the floor. Slowed down, Danielson is able to escape.
Ki rolls Danielson back in but a foot on the ropes prevents the three. Ki goes for Tidal Crush again, but Danielson counters into a backdrop suplex with a bridge. That gets two, but leads to a quick Cattle Mutilation. The combination is a part of the chain wrestling, where Danielson excels, but Ki still fights out. Danielson goes right back to the maneuver! Ki is out! The arm raises and drops three times and Danielson wins!
Bryan Danielson (1-1) defeats Low Ki (1-1) (KO, Cattle Mutilation *****)
I love this match. You want a storyline? How about “Who’s better?” They go through an extended mat sequence, a strike sequence, submission sequences. Who’s better? Who’s got the answer for the other’s counter? Will a big strike take out Danielson? Will a combination of moves be enough to keep down Ki? What a match!
We end with a standing ovation, a handshake, and both men’s names being chanted.
Concluding thoughts: Buy this show. What a main event. As far as developing a feud, all three men beat one of the others and nothing was settled except that Daniels really is the heel.
Brian XL’s ego has begun to matter in his matches already and Red is having issues with the SAT. After the show Mikey kicks out XL, who isn’t his student and they all argue some more.
The Texas Wrestling Academy guys of London, Dragon and Spanky also argue about who’s best, setting up a match thus making me happy.
We have a new storyline here as Jay Briscoe is being mocked by Mark because he can’t win. This one is just getting started it seems, but all that really matters is there are three *** matches and a ***** main event so this is definitely a show to own.
Matches of the Night: 1. Danielson vs. Low Ki (*****)
2. Daniels vs. Danielson (*** ¾)
3. Jay Briscoe vs. Spanky (*** ¼)
Best of 2002 so far: 1. Danielson vs. Low Ki(*****)- Round Robin Challenge
2. Danielson vs. Daniels vs. Low Ki(**** ½)-Era of Honor Begins 3. Daniels vs. Danielson (*** ¾)- Round Robin Challenge
4. Super Crazy vs. Eddie Guerrero (*** ½)- Era of Honor Begins
5. Jay Briscoe vs. Spanky (*** ¼)- Round Robin Challenge
That’s all I’ve got for this DVD. In case you couldn’t tell, I loved it. Hope you give it a shot and will return next time for A Night of Appreciation and an explanation of the star ratings!
The Inside Pulse
The undercard on an early Ring of Honor show was usually fairly weak, but here its a major strength with several *** matches and a main event that gets 5 snowflakes. Give this one a try because, once again for about $12, you can’t really do better for the money.
