To start the show, Jay Briscoe comes out and says that his brother Mark hurt himself bad last night, and will not be able to compete. This brings out Matt Sydel & Christopher Daniels. Daniels says that they deserve a ROH Tag Title match, and told Jay to get his crippled brother and start the match. Jay then says that he can’t do that since Mark is in the hospital, but he has a partner for tonight, and if Sydel/Daniels beats them tonight, he’ll give them a ROH Tag Title Match when Mark is better. Delirious then comes out. Delirious and Sydel stare each other down.
Jay Briscoe & Delirious vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydel
This match started very slowly, as it seemed like they were trying to figure out how to fit Delirious in the match, however once it got going, it was very fast paced. Finish came with Delirious pinning Sydel.
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Yamato
This was pretty much a filler match. Yamato really didn’t show much, however Claudio was WAY over.
Mitch Franklin vs. Erik Stevens – Do or Die Match
Stevens squashed Franklin, that’s it.
Larry Sweeny then comes out and says that he’s been having a great time showing Chris Hero the stars. He then brings out Hero, with Johnny Fairplay. Crowd boo’d the hell out of Fairplay. They run down the crowd a bit, and Nigel McGuinness heads out for a match.
Chris Hero (w/ Larry Sweeny & Johnny Fairplay) vs. Nigel McGuinness
This match wasn’t anything special, although it was very entertaining to see Fairplay get his a stiff clothesline by Nigel. Nigel picks up the win.
Roderick Strong & Davey Richards come out. Strong says that he is going to show his old partner, Austin Ares, how to lead a team, and he introduces Rocky Romero out to help his No Remorse Corps.
Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. Jack Evans & Naruki Doi
Richards was the highlight of this match. He was very athletic & very charismatic during the whole match. Evans does everything and more then you saw on WSX. This was a very good, very fast paced match. Evans scores the pin over Rocky.
Brent Albright vs. Homicide
This breaks down pretty quick in a no contest when Adam Pearce comes out and attacks Homicide. Colt Cabana comes out to take out Pearce…but oddly enough is also making the save for Homicide, one year to the day of their brutal Chicago Street Fight.
Colt says that last year in Chicago, after their Street Fight, Homicide showed him respect. Now Colt wants to return that respect, and team with Homicide against Pearce & Albright.
Homicide & Colt Cabana vs. Brent Albright & Adam Pearce
This was not much of a match after they restarted it. Jim Cornette came out, and it looks like they are restarting the Homicide/Cornette feud. Cabana & Homicide won…very odd sight to see them teaming together. Rumor going around the bleachers is that Colt signed a WWE deal earlier in the day.
They set up the cage during intermission, they had a lot of problems with the door.
Jimmy Jacobs (w/ Lacey) vs. BJ Whitmer (w/ Daizee Haze) – Steel Cage Match
This was pinfall or submission only. The corner girl can call for a weapon when her man has control of the match. This was just pure brutality. They both got spikes, and they hit each other at the same time over and over again. They then got a barbed-wire aluminum baseball bat. Jimmy hangs it on his hair, as to prove it’s real barb-wire. After Whitmer gave Jacobs an ‘Owen Driver,’ Lacey gets in the ring, and Whitmer gives HER an Owen Driver! Lacey is out, and needed to be carried to the back after the match. A table gets put in the ring, and Jacobs lays Whitmer on it, goes ALL the way up to the top of the cage, and hits a sitting senton bomb on Whitmer through the table for the win.
The crew then quickly tore down the cage, and Lacey & Jimmy both needed to be carried to the back, and Jimmy was heavily favoring his knee, which he is having surgery on soon.
Roderick Strong (c) vs. Austin Aries – FIP World Title
How these 2 can go on after that amazing Cage Match is beyond me. But not only did they go on, they shined. Lots of great technical mat wrestling. Strong hit a DVD along the ring apron that looked particularly sick. Strong put Aries up on the turnbuckle, and hit him hard, and Aries fell off the top through the time-keeper’s table! I don’t know if that was an accident or not, but Strong seemed a bit surprised by it. Strong then took one of the railings, laid it flat, and powerbombed Aries on it. Back in the ring, Aries would not tap to the Stronghold, but he eventually passed out, and the ref called for the bell.
CIMA, Shingo & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki
OK, so I had no idea who was who, except CIMA and Dragon Kid, obviously, but this match was so crazy, I don’t even know where to begin. Actually, I can’t begin. Just buy the f*cking DVD when it comes out. CIMA’s team wins.
The Inside Pulse
For my first experience at a ROH show, I was very pleased. The first 1/2 of the show was not as good as I was hoping for, but I have to imagine that if both Briscoes were there it would be a different story. The final 3 matches were all amazing, with the Cage Match and the Dragon Gate match all being early MOTY candidates. On a personal note, I think those 2 matches should’ve switched spots on the card. Due to all the emotion in that cage, it could have easily been the main event.
This will not be my last ROH show, next time they head to New York & Philly, you’ll see me there.
~PK
