ROH Live Review: 1/27/07 in Edison, NJ

Houseshows, Reviews, Shows

Welcome to Ring of Honor from Edison, NJ. This was a good card top to bottom with one major disappointment that we’ll get to later. I met up with BigAndyMac at the show and had a grand old time with him and several other friends. This was my first comped Ring of Honor show so thanks to Cary, Mike G and the Pulse crew for making that possible. I made sure to pick up 2 shirts and 4 DVD’s so I’d still be doing my part (like I wouldn’t have anyway).

I got horribly lost on the way home, which is why this isn’t up sooner.

We kick off with Jimmy Rave saying he wishes to raise the stakes to tonight’s match with Nigel McGuinness. To do so he makes the I Quit Match No DQ and Kiss the Winner’s Foot. Nigel comes out to accept and they agree to get it on now.

Match 1: NO DQ, I Quit Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave

Nigel started off working quite stiff here and then went to his arm work, which due to this being an I Quit Match actually made sense for the first time in awhile. A Greetings from Ghana clothesline reversal allows Rave to go to work on the knee for a good while.

They went back and forth working the arm and leg respectively until Rave got Nigel in the Crossface and Rave puked in the middle of the ring. A lot.

That broke the Crossface and allowed Nigel the advantage for the second rope lariat and some arm submissions, but to no avail. Some more counters and Rave gets the Heel Hook. Nigel gets in the ropes but won’t quit. The referee decides to stop the match to prevent permanent injury on Nigel to the dismay of the crowd.

Jimmy Rave defeats Nigel McGuinness (Ref Stoppage, Heel Hook, ***)

After the match the trainees clean up the vomit.

Match 2: Adam Pearce vs. Pelle Primeau

Pelle uses speed a bit early, but Pearce quickly catches Pelle and kills him dead. A piledriver finishes Pelle. I’m not sure what the point of this was.

Adam Pearce defeats Pelle Primeau (Pin, Piledriver, *)
Pearce wore goggles and got tons of Repo Man heat. That’s all I have to say about that.

Match 3: Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Christoper Daniels w/ Allison Danger

Hero and Claudio work together to destroy Daniels for a long while, until heel miscommunication allows Daniels his comeback. Apparently the long beat down worked because the crowd exploded for the comeback. Daniels managed to do well but kept being cut off by the other former King of Wrestling.

Claudio went up top with Daniels down, but Sweeney crotched Claudio hard. Daniels got up and went after Sweeney while Hero rolled up Claudio for the win.

Chris Hero defeats Claudio Castagnoli and Christopher Daniels (Pin, Roll up, ** ½)
A well put together match in which Hero came off as quite the devious jerk, Claudio looked like a jilted lover desperate for reconciliation and Daniels looked like a superman. Allison Danger was in a fantastic outfit, by the way, which never hurts anything.

After the match Claudio looks for a handshake from Daniels and is, of course, denied. This is eerily similar to the angle Alex Shelley ran when he was kicked out of Generation Next.

Match 4: Last Man Standing: Jimmy Jacobs w/ Lacey vs. BJ Whitmer

A wild brawl, as usual, including tables, chairs and the spike, which I can’t do justice live. Jimmy actually did the 10 punches in the turnbuckle with the spike, leading to Andy and myself deciding any old school move is far more deadly with the spike.

Notable spots included a spear from the ring to a table on the floor by Jacobs and a top rope exploder by BJ that killed Jimmy dead. BJ was going to win with that exploder, but he stopped the referee count (why not win, then continue the beating?) to try and powerbomb Jacobs through a table. This drew out Albright who saved Jimmy and put Whitmer through the table for the Jacobs win.

Jimmy Jacobs defeats BJ Whitmer (10 Count, Albright interference, *** ¼)
In my opinion ROH seems to be getting a little to reliant on the cheap wins. Four matches in we had a ref stoppage, roll up, and interference. The brawl was still wild, bloody, and a lot of fun, but a weak finish always detracts heavily.

Match 5: Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero with Julius Smokes vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe

A big, stiff brawl starts us off for a good five minutes before a heat sequence on Jay and cheap heel tactics by Reyes and Romero finally establish who’re meant to be faces and heels in this match. Mark Briscoe’s responses to the heel tactics are hilarious.

Hot tag allows for the regular high spots from the Briscoes and as they fight back and forth, Romero walks out on Reyes. Jay Driller get the pin and a win for the Briscoes.

The Briscoes defeat Reyes and Romero (Pin, Jay Driller, **)
Never really went anywhere and it took too long to establish Reyes and Romero as heels. The breakup felt really rushed and not built up at all. Yet another weak finish, but again the match was fairly good to that point.

Intermission followed.

Match 6: Colt Cabana and Sara Del Ray vs. Brent Albright and Lacey

The girls wrestled basically a straight match, but Colt and Brent went straight comedy. Colt is much more endearing in person than on DVD. Decent comedy match finished with Del Ray hitting a double underhook cradle into a double arm suplex on Lacey for the pin.

Colt Cabana and Sara Del Ray defeat Brent Albright and Lacey(Pin, double arm suplex, **)
The fun factor was significantly higher than the match quality, always a good sign at a live show.

Match 7: Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans vs. Delirious, Davey Richards, and Shingo

Really fun match built around high spots and head drops. Jack looked great and managed quite a few impressive spots. Delirious was hilarious and Shingo actually looked really good as well. A good portion of the match was a heat sequence on Jack, but it didn’t last too long and really picked up afterwards.

The finish saw an Ode to the Bulldogs moonsault to the floor by Jack, followed by a Alabama Slam and 450 by Strong and Aries for the win.

Aries, Strong and Evans defeat Delirious. Davey Richards, and Shingo (Pin, 450, *** ¾)
Match of the Night, with ease.

Match 8: ROH World Title Match: Homicide (c) vs. Samoa Joe

The crowd was really into this and it went 35 minutes. They were going extremely slowly all match and Andy and I thought they were aiming for 60 minutes because of it. The buzz is that Joe is more hurt than he’s letting on and that’s the reason.

The finish saw a top rope Ace Crusher, a regular variant, and four Lariats needed to keep Joe down, and it still felt out of nowhere and left the crowd stunned and silent. The biggest disappointment of the night was easily this match.

Homicide defeats Samoa Joe (Pin, Lariats, **))
I’m entirely unsure what the point of that was or what story they were trying to tell. The pacing was brutal and the finish was strange to say the least. I’d really love to hear from someone what the idea behind that was.

Overall, besides the main event and several annoying finishes, this was a very good show and a fun time. This was definitely worth picking up, but did more to advance the angles for the Fifth Year Festival than settle anything in its own right. Still, a show like this is a necessary step and gets recommendation to check out, although not ahead of several, obvious more deserving shows like Final Battle and the Fifth Year shows are sure to be.

Be sure to stay tuned for more ROH coverage here at Pulse Wrestling and check out my column each and every Friday. Thanks for reading and have a good day.

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