The Ring of Honor Reviewer- A Night of Appreciation

Reviews, Wrestling DVDs

The Ring of Honor ReviewerA Night of Appreciation
-Pulse Glazer

Welcome back to the ROH Reviewer’s ROH Reviews. Hope you’re enjoying the reviews. This review is for the third show of Ring of Honor, A Night of Appreciation.

I promised a few giveaways for the holidays when the column went back up. Well, here’s the first. Due to recent server troubles, my ROH Chicago thoughts and TNA Turning Point Column seem to have disappeared. If anyone has them, the first person to send them to me via e-mail will recieve an ROH DVD of their choice.

If you don’t any of those, don’t fret, I’ll be back next week with another ROH giveaway.

As you’ve noted, if you’ve read the other reviews, I’m keeping a list of best matches by night and year, as well as best shows. I’ve been using star ratings to do that, so now’s a good time to go over what each star rating means.

A dud means the match received no stars. This is usually reserved for straight squashes with next to no purpose. I don’t do negative stars. Anything less than one full star means very slight redeeming qualities in something in the match.

A * match means the match was actively offensive. This is generally the lowest score you’ll see from me if there is an actual match taking place that makes any kind of sense. One is the low end of the spectrum here although anything between * and * ¾ is actively bad to some degree.

A ** to ** 1/4 star match is where things just don’t click. It’s bad, but not offensive. It usually denotes a match that could have been good but was derailed somewhere. ** 1/2 are our average, solid matches. ** ¾ star is a good match that just missed somewhere important, either due to a blown spot, a momentary, but large psychology lapse, or something else entirely.

The low end of the *** range is where most good matches fall. *** denotes, simply put, good. It means the match did what it was supposed to, but wasn’t overly impressive getting there. *** ¼ or *** ½ stars mean basically the same thing, with some better spots and pacing. These are not easy scores to achieve, nore are they insults. *** ¾ stars is reserved entirely for matches that would have been **** except one major issue, usually time.

**** is excellent and memorable. How memorable and special it came across is denoted by anything above ****. **** is a tough score to achieve in general, but it’s quite rare for a match to get above ****, so if it does, you know it’s special.

***** matches are perfection. I think about 6 (4 off the top of my head, but better safe) RoH matches have reached that plateau with me. The highest praise possible is a ***** match.

Now, so far we have three major feuds. We have Daniels refusal to shake hands and the feud that’s caused with Danielson and Low Ki, the other two RoH top carders thus far. This feud will receive an interesting bump that isn’t necessarily readily apparent right away, but besides that is mostly dormant for this show.

We also further the Whipwreck feud here with Brian XL’s ego continuing to be an issue and Eddie Guerrero, for whom the show is named, getting involved.

Lastly we have a part of the Showstopper Feud, with Danielson becoming prominently involved. Incase you’re just joining us, Danielson is among the best wrestlers in the world and is feuding with Daneils and Low Ki, but he was also trained by Shawn Michaels and Rudy Boy Gonzalez, so tonight he takes his place in the Spanky and Michael Shane feud, along with another soon to be breakout star, Paul London. We’ll also be seeing a further build to Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe’s arguments about Jay’s record.

As always, wrestler records in single matches are in brackets next to their names and the star ratings come at the end of the matches. Show time!

Ring of Honor: A Night of Appreciation
April 27, 2002
Philadelphia, PA

We start off with Brian XL refusing to take a submission from Chris Devine, who he calls a biotch, thereby annoying Quiet Storm.

The Christopher Street Connection attempt to hype the crowd, mostly to groans from the crowd. Da Hit Squad appear and CSC quickly retreat. Da Hit Sqaud then excites the crowd more effectively.

Chris Devine tells Bryan Danielson that Brian XL wants to learn a painful submission, so they go together to show Brian. Dragon shows XL a submission as XL screams in pain.

Devito wanders in to tell The Natural Born Sinners to be ready, that something is coming.

Spanky gets in trouble from the PA State Athletic Commission representative for listening to headphones. And from there, we finally go to the opening.

Match 1: Da Hit Squad vs. The Christopher Street Connection vs. Prince Nana, Elax, and Simply Luscious

Seems like another squash match to start us off, and that’s exactly what we get. Two minutes in Prince Nana kicks out Elax and makes Luscious his partner. CSC and Nana’s team take advantage momentarily, until the heels fight over Allison Danger hitting on Simply Luscious. This lets Da Hit Squad spear them all and nail some stiff moves. Prince Nana retreats and Luscious gets destroyed with a Burning Hammer for three.

Da Hit Squad defeat Prince Nana, Simply Luscious and Elax, and The Christopher Street Connection (Pinfall, Burning Hammer Dud).
Just as pointless as it was last time out. Elax gets put through a table after the match.

Jay Briscoe cuts a promo and he and Mark argue about his lack of wins.

Match 2: Tony Mamaluke (0-0) vs Jay Briscoe (0-2) w/ Mark Briscoe

Tony is a former member of the FBI. He’s small, can grapple, and bumps like a madman.

Handshake and stare down start us off. Mat work starts us off, as usual. Jay dominates that and Tony ends up on the floor. The announcers let us know that Jay and Mark’s parents are in attendance. More mat wrestling and we get a clean break. Tony Mamaluke is refusing to stop using the FBI gimmick.

Jay maintains dominance on the mat. They hit the ropes and after several reversal sequences Jay hits the leg lariat and follows up with a snap suplex and then nails another. Mamaluke counters with a fujiwara armbar, but Jay is in the ropes. Hammer lock belly-to-belly, into a cross armbreaker as Tony is focusing in on the arm. Hope spot, but Jay gets caught in an octopus hold. Jay mistakenly taps as Mamaluke lets go, but the announcers ignore it to talk about the tag rope and the match goes on.

Superplex attempt, but Jay reverses with a sit-out gordbuster. Chop battle won by Jay as he’s completely forgotten his hurt arm. Quick pin sequence from both men but Jay hits the Jay Driller after rolling through a backslide for three.

Jay Briscoe (1-2) defeats Tony Mamaluke (0-1) (pin, Jay Driller **1/4)
The arm work went nowhere, but Jay’s dominance on the mat lead to him managing the reversal into the Jay driller. This match was short and inoffensive, but also fell just short of average due to the wasted arm work.

After the match the Briscoes’ parents congratulate Jay while Mark says he almost lost. Tony Mamaluke is also yelled at by James Maritato for doing a comedy act.

Generic promo for York and Matthews leads us to the next match

Match 3: Christian York and Joey Matthews vs. Divine Storm w/ Brian XL

Matthews and Storm start the match off with a lockup and they trade hammerlock and headlock reversals to start. Pin sequence and they continue the feeling out process until Matthews, lures Storm into his corner where he’s nailed with a missile dropkick from York.

They continue with back and forth action of Devine and York. Inverted Boston Crab and Pendulum swing by York broken up by the forearm of Storm. York takes a double team STO and dropkick, which gets two. Corner clothesline and York flies out of the corner with a clothesline, but he gets dumped to the floor. Brian XL nailed a running moonsault dive from the ring, but his teammates are unhappy about him breaking the code of honor.

Back in and York is worked over more. Top rope inverted atomic drop and hot tag. Matthews cleans house on both opponents. Full Effect Sideslam, but Matthews is tripped up from the outside, and Devine takes York outside with a corner hurricarana. Storm calls for the Storm Cradle Driver, but Matthews counters, countered again to a reverse figure-four and Matthews taps.

Divine Storm defeat York and Matthews (Submission, Reverse Figure-four **)
Solid tag formula match with nothing fancy happening. No leg work and no time in the finisher made it a bit out of nowhere. York and Matthews are crisp, but Devine Storm look a bit green and are still a bit obvious with everything they do in the ring.

An interview each with James Maritato and Scoot Andrews set up the upcoming three way match. Scoot cuts a good old school promo.

Match 4: Scoot Andrews (0-1) vs. James Maritato (0-1) vs. Xavier (2-0)

For the third straight show “AC Slater” chants start us off. Maritato and Scoot start off working the mat as Xavier recovers from an early back body drop. Solid back and forth action and tilt-a-whirl faceplant from Scoot on Xavier. Flipping assited DDT by Xavier on Maritato. Xavier then takes it to Maritato. Finisher reversal sequence and Xavier and Maritato go up top.

Fall away slam on Maritato while Scoot powerbombed Xavier. More back and forth action, but Scoot hits the Force of Nature on Xavier as Maritato breaks it up. Powerslam on Maritato by Scoot, and a counter belly-to-back by Maritato. Sunset flip attempt turned into a reverse DDT by Scoot, but Xavier goes up and gets crotched. Still managed to fly at Maritato who caught Xavier with a Fujiwara for three.

James Maritato (1-1) defeats Xavier (2-1) and Scoot Andrews (0-2) (Submission, Fujiwara Armbar, ***)
Good match. Scoot was countering everything again. He and Maritato refused to let Xavier hit any big moves because of his previous victories. Eventually, the king of the three way, Maritato, furthered his shoot persona with the Fujiwara for the win.

Simply Luscious complains about Prince Nana and is promised something better next month.

AJ Styles gets a promo to hype his debut against Low Ki.

Match 5: AJ Styles (0-0) vs. Low Ki (2-1)

AJ is the Phenomenal one of TNA fame. Their first big, homegrown star, he’s one of the best wrestlers in America today. He mixes innovative high flying with power moves and his debut is clearly meant to be a big deal since he’s going against a Main Eventer. At this point AJ has quite the buzz about him due to some early WCW work and time in NWA Wildside.

They go to the mat to start and reverse who maintains advantage several times. AJ wins the test of strength but gets kicked by Ki on the mat. Nice spot as they trade kicks, then kick each other’s shins, Low Ki ducks one of AJ’s kicks and spears him in the back. Ki floats into a headlock but AJ pics him up and slams him and Ki holds on. Ki turns his headlock into a cross armbreaker and AJ reverses THAT into a reverse bridge and front facelock.

Ki reclaims control on the mat, but AJ uses his strength to stay on top. AJ goes to punches to take advantage but Ki fights back with chops. They lock up and Ki kicks for advantage. AJ take him down and rolls him up in a small package, but Ki is first up and kicks AJ hard to the eye. Ouch. Ki destroys AJ with strikes. AJ comes back with a clothesline that gets two. AJ with a vertical suplex into a neckbreaker, a usual AJ spot. AJ charges in the corner and Low Ki kicks his face off again. AJ sells like a madman. Think mid-90s Michaels or late 80s Hennig.

AJ comes back with a standing enzguiri and Ki hits the floor for a breather. More kicks from AJ on the floor. Brain buster by AJ back in. Rolling kick from Low Ki counters an Irish whip attempt, and a killer Yakuza Kick right in AJ’s mush in front of the camera. AJ falls to the floor. Ki takes AJ to the apron and a Ki crusher attempt is blocked. Ki manages a Dragon clutch through the ropes, and when he releases, he gets two.

Ki Crusher signaled for, but its reversed from the air into a DDT. AJ is reversed and stuck in a Dragon Clutch, but AJ reverses again into the springboard reverse DDT, another common AJ spot, for two. “AJ” chants from the crowd. Ki counters a ‘rana into a powerbomb pin and got two. Kawada Kicks by Low Ki and he’s destroying AJ. Styles kicks out again!

Ki nails a tiger suplex, again for two as he struggles rolling through. AJ reverses an Irish Whip attempt to a clothesline and hits roll through German into a forward faceplant for two again. Ki reverses a suplex attempt into a sit-out gutbuster and goes for chops in the corner and nails a Tidal Crush. Ki goes to the top for the Phoenix Splash and eats knees. Crucifix powerbomb into a brainbuster by AJ and Low Ki kicks out. Oh my. This is brutal. AJ goes up for the Spiral Tap (Twisting senton) and hits nothing! Both men fighting as they rise to their feet, but an enziguiri puts AJ right back down. Ki goes for the Ki Crusher again and AJ counters to another crucifix, but is rolled up, finally for three.

Low Ki (3-1) defeated AJ Styles (0-1) (Pinfall, small package **** ¼)
Low Ki is on an amazing hot streak and AJ is among the better workers you’ll find. The crowd ate this up and so did I. Both men tried their own ways to get ahead, with neither man able to go high risk due to the other’s speed (we saw both fail when they tried). Ki focused on using his kicks and quickness while AJ went with a power game. The power game eventually worked against AJ as Ki was able to use his quickness to escape for a rollup victory. The pace of this match was furious, which can be a problem often, but they hit so hard, and AJ sold so well that it didn’t take away from anything. In case you’re curious, Meltzer gave this match a quarter star more than I did. Great match. If you’re looking for great early AJ, look here.

Daniels promo about how great it is to wrestle Donovan Morgan who’s a “top notch talent” much like Daniels himself.

Match 6: The Carnage Crew vs. The Ring Crew Express

The Carnage crew are Loc and Devito. They’re unhappy at home and like to come out and beat people up to get away from their miserable lives. The Ring Crew Express are Dunn and Marcos. They’re high fliers who set up the ring before the show.

Looks like our tag division is a number of squashes so far. Lots of brawling and throws until Devito misses a moonsault and takes a tornado DDT. Some little man offense from The Ring Crew Express, but two side suplexes end that. Running Razor’s Edge doubleteam into a neckbreaker gets three.

The Carnage Crew defeat The Ring Crew Express (Pinfall, Running Razor’s Edge double team into a neckbreaker, ½*)
Hooray for more squashes. They beat on The Ring Crew Express with trash can lids after the match.

Donovan Morgan appreciated the kind words but wants to fight. Let’s get to that.

Match 7: Donovan Morgan (0-0) vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels (1-2)

Morgan is a big deal in Japan and a great wrestler. He spends far more time overseas than here. Sadly, Morgan lacks the look for America so I’m glad a man of his talent found success somewhere.

Still no handshake for Morgan and they lockup to start. The usual mat wrestling back and forth serves as a feeling out process. Morgan consistently controls on the mat with a headlock that he’s working in beautifully through several counter attempts. Daniels eventual escape is a belly-to-back suplex and he takes control with a front cravat, snapmare, and knees.

Daniels maintains control with combination moves as he pound on Morgan’s neck. This serves the dual purpose of setting up for Daniels finisher and taking away Morgan’s power. Daniels is reversed as he attempts a northern lights suplex into a neckbreacker. Now Morgan goes back to work on the neck with several moves, including a wicked dropkick to the back of the neck.

Daniels comes back with a lariat and more neck based offense, and they go with a rollup sequence which Morgan turns into a single leg grapevine. Daniels back up with a jaw breaker but is taken over by a urinage flip. More reversals and Daniels nails a German Suplex.

Thus far both men have stalemated and worked over each other’s neck. STO as Daniels has control and nails the BME (Best Moonsault Ever)”¦ for two because he didn’t hook the leg. I like that Daniels is still cocky, but since we’re building his respect for Morgan it seems a bit out of place.

Daniels puts Morgan on the second rope and Morgan hits a second roped DDT. He throws Daniels into the turnbuckle and follows with a clothesline to the back of his neck and a big back drop.

A crossface on Morgan! The move he beat American Dragon with, but Morgan makes the ropes. Daniels takes control, but runs into Morgan’s elbow. Daniels with a Last Rites attempt, reversed into a swinging fisherman’s buster..1″¦2″¦. aaaand Daniels has the ropes. Standing switch, a few reversals, and Morgan hits the swinging fisherman’s buster and holds onto it for a pin and the three!

Donovan Morgan (1-0) defeated Christopher Daniels (1-3) (Pin, swinging fisherman’s buster, *** ¼ )
Very good match, and they stayed even the whole way. The lack of neck selling after all the neck moves was disappointing, as was that Daniels failed to establish a role, whether for good or ill in the ring. He does that fairly often and it hurts the match. Because of that Morgan didn’t seem to have a roll either, and the match fell short of what it could have been.

Rudy Boy gives a speech to his trainees and all the rest of the trainees complain about his lack of respect.

Match 8: Texas Wrestling Academy Gauntlet Match: Paul London (1-0) vs. Michael Shane (0-0) vs. Spanky (1-0) vs. “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (1-2)

Alright, gauntlet rules and as one man is pinned another can come in. We’ll only count one winner and all others as losers from this match as the idea is to run the gauntlet. This should be good if they don’t get too spotty.

Paul London starts off with Michael Shane. Simply Luscious on commentary for the match. Quick spots to start and London being countered regularly by Shane. Huricarana and moonsault dropkick from London gets two. London keeps in control with regular little guy offense, but he eats a spear from Shane. Shane takes control with a Haas of Pain but London reaches the ropes. London faceplants Shane and misses the shooting star from the top. Shane nails a top rope elbow and Paul London is done.

Michael Shane and Spanky are next and they really hate each other. Spanky’s a huge fan favorite and they slap one another through the handshake. Fighting back and forth but Spanky gets a dropkick as he tries a flying cross body from the top. Spanky reclaims offense and slams Shane into a chain link fence to bust Shane open.

Spanky takes him into the ring post as he’s wrestling a clear heel style but the crowd loves him anyway. Back in and strikes from Spanky wake Shane up and he dumps Spanky to the floor. Spanky eats fence and we’re back inside. Charging Spanky is Shane, but a dodge and Shane hits the floor outside again.

Back in and Spanky keeps control. Spanky hits elbow on a charge and gets hit with a senton from the top. Shane with a comeback and dropkicks Spanky in the head as he attempts to skin the cat. Running plancha from Shane takes Spanky down on the floor. Jumping stunner from the corner counters the blind charge by Shane and Spanky gets two. Shane knocks Spanky off the top, but is shaky on the top himself because off the loss of blood and falls off. Spanky going for Sliced Bread #2, but eats a superkick for two. Standing switch and Sliced Bread #2 from Spanky gets three.

And its Dragon time. Danielson in the ring and they go hard to the mat to start. Danielson retains control early using the mat, but Spanky continues to fight back. Test of strength and Danielson end up on top with a headlock. Spanky rolls him up for two and they separate. Spanky controls the headlock out of another test of strength, but Dragon grabs the standing arm bar, and back to the headlock.

Dragon dominates the tired Spanky, but a German attempt is flipped out of and Spanky drops Danielson’s neck on the top rope. Another few hope spots, but Dragon retains control until Spanky decapitates him with a clothesline. Neck vice by Spanky, but Danielson reverses it to a neck vice suplex of his own. Spanky goes up top but lands on Dragon’s forearm. Dragon strikes to retain control and hits a big belly-to-back suplex.

Reversal sequence and Spanky nails a leg lariat, but blows a suplex attempt. Another German suplex from Dragon gets two. Forearm shots blocked, but Dragon hits an enziguiri and a Yakuza Kick for two each time. High angle powerbomb gets two. Spanky suddenly hits Sliced Bread # 2, but Danielson kicks out!

Dragon gets a boot up in the corner and Spanky runs right in, so Danielson hits a roaring elbow for good measure. Dragon Suplex follows up for two again. Danielson mistakenly puts Spanky up top and Spanky hits Super Sliced Bread #2 for the three and the win.

Spanky (2-0) defeats Bryan Danielson (1-3), Paul London (1-1) and Michael Shane (0-1) (Pinfall, Super Sliced Breat #2 ***)
Good match based around these guys personality clashes. London is coming off as generic so far, but Shane and Spanky’s heat is put over huge here, as are the differences between Spanky and Danielson. Good idea for this match to make sure each of these guys is different from the other so they don’t become the generic TWA guys with no personalities.

Spanky finishes up by announcing that he’ll win the RoH title and calls himself the show stopper. Dragon announces that this is the first time Spanky ever beat Dragon and he’ll be in the title tournament, as well. Daniels comes out and announces he’ll be in the tournament and the other two aren’t in the same league as him. Scoot Andrews turn to announce his intention to be a part of the tournament and battle The Fallen Angel in round one. Xavier hits the ring to throw his name in the hat as well and says he’ll be honored to be in the tournament. Jay Briscoe announces he’ll be in the title tournament, as does Prince Nana. Low Ki punches out Nana and he’s in the tournament too while putting everyone else over in the process, though he laughs and turns from Spanky, and insults Daniels for not having respect, while swearing Daniels won’t win the belt.

Main Event: Eddie Guerrero and The Amazing Red vs. The SAT

Well, this should be interesting. Hopefully, it won’t be used too much of an angle advancement, though I don’t expect it will. Eddie is the WWE Intercontinental Champion at this time.

Here we go with Red and a Maximo. Flippy nonsense to start and Jose Maximo looks sloppy. Eddie uses a satellite headscissors with Red on Jose, and he takes Joel out as well. Eddie maintains dominance in the ring, but a rope run ends in a ‘rana by Maximo. Eddie, however, turns a sunset flip attempt into a sharpshooter and Jose Maximo heads for the ropes.

Eddie continues working Jose over with a belly-to-back suplex, tope and chinlock. Eddie switches to a side headlock and breaks Jose down. Maximo makes a tag and the Maximos go double team dragon sleeper, reverse bow and arrow combination. Joel goes chinlock on Eddie and hits a nice bridging German and then a northern lights suplex for two each time.

Maximo goes up but Eddie nails a top rope superplex. Red in and he hits his usual high impact offense for a series of twos. The SAT take control after the flurry of Red, who’s suddenly in trouble and cut off.

The SAT maintain control for awhile and we await our hot tag sequence. This works because of how badly the crowd wants to see Eddie, but the nice double teams of The SAT are counterproductive since they’re working heel here. Red with a spin kick on Jose as he comes off the second rope and Red gets the hot tag.

Not nearly the reaction that one would expect. Brainbuster from Eddie gets two and the locker room clears out to watch Eddie. Crucifix powerbomb turned into a rollup by Jose, and another quick pin gets two for Jose. Eddie claims control with a hard clothesline but is caught up top for a Spanish Fly attempt”¦ but Red dropkicks a Maximo out and flings himself on top of the fallen Maximo for good measure.

Eddie on top misses a ‘rana, but reverses a tornado DDT to a slingshot ‘rana by Red. Eddie goes to the top and misses a Frog Splash, but rolls through and hits the Gory Driver for three!

The Amazing Red and Eddie Guerrero defeat The SAT (Pinfall, Gory Driver **3/4)
Just a tag match to showcase Eddie. Good work from all involved, but nothing more than a nice standard tag formula match with a lot of Eddie. Good to see Eddie though, even if the match wasn’t special.

Brian XL after the match complaining about being ditched by Red for Eddie and being disrespected for not being Mikey’s student. Eddie gets the mic and calls XL “Little Bow Wow,” which the crowd chants. Eddie gets into a fight with XL, powerbomb’s him, brainbuster’s him, and hits the Frog Splash for three, in what was not really a match so much as a way to honor Eddie and get XL separate from the others. Eddie says “Thank you” and looks like he’s crying in the ring. “We will miss you chant.” Eddie finishes his emotional speech and we do still miss him.

Spanky acts the heel at the end of the show, refusing to pay respect to Eddie by staying in the back. A brawl between Morgan and Daniels and Ki and Dragon concludes the show.

Matches of the Night: 1. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (**** ¼)
2. Donovan Morgan vs. Christopher Daniels (***1/4)
3. Maritato vs. Xavier vs. Scoot Andrews (***)

Matches 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. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (**** ¼) A Night of Appreciation
4. Daniels vs. Danielson (*** ¾)- Round Robin Challenge
5. Super Crazy vs. Eddie Guerrero (*** ½)- Era of Honor Begins

Best Shows so far:

1. The Round Robin Challenge 3/30/02
2. The Era of Honor Begins 2/23/02
3. A Night of Appreciation 4/27/02

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.