Death Before Dishonor is one of Ring Of Honor’s most important shows every year, and this year is no different as ROH Icon CM Punk is supposedly having his final match in the company, but plans to go out with a bang by winning the world title from Austin Aries in the main event. In other news, Jay Lethal finally returns to in-ring action to try and get some revenge on the man that helped nearly break his neck and put him out for over a month, Low Ki. Lethal has made his presence known on the last show when he got a sneak attack in on Homicide, but tonight marks the first official match between Lethal and one of the Rottweilers. Speaking of Homicide, James Gibson is out for revenge after losing to Homicide at the last show due to a low blow and doesn’t hide his intentions whatsoever. Samoa Joe defends the Pure Title against Colt Cabana, The Embassy promises to take out AJ Styles with a surpise opponent, the Ring Crew Express steps up to the bullies known as Carnage Crew in an Anything Goes match, and surprise return leaves fans on their feet…all at Death Before Dishonor III!
_________________________________________________
Colt Cabana is backstage in his ‘studio’ for Good Times, Great Memories. He tells the viewers to remember the date, because it’s his best friend’s, his fellow saint’s, his brother’s last match in Ring Of Honor, and of course he’s talking about CM Punk. He reminisces on their meeting and teaming, and says everything comes full circle tonight, but before Punk leaves he’s finally going to be on Colt’s show! Unfortunately, Punk isn’t there, so Colt promises to be back later with Punk.
Generation Next, the stable consisting of Jack Evans, Roderick Strong, and Austin Aries is outside as Aries talks about all the insane moves he’s taken but he’s still standing, despite his hurting neck. Aries assures Punk that his final chapter is gonna be ending with a loss. Aries changes gears and tells Jack and Roderick to focus on their match tonight so they can get a shot at the tag titles in the near future.
Paul London’s farewell speech from the original Death Before Dishonor is shown, as he says ROH is always in his heart and he kisses the mat.
As The Embassy comes down to the ring for their match, Nana grabs a mic and starts yelling at Jade Chung, telling her to kneel down and let Eddie step on her to enter the ring, and she does so. Nana tells the crowd to get down on their hands and knees every time he walks down the aisle to show him the proper respect. The Embassy is on an escapade to take AJ Styles out of business…because they did so well with CM Punk, right? Nana promises that Styles will be finished tonight and today marks a new beginning for The Embassy.
Match One
ROH Tag Team Titles
Fast Eddie & Jimmy Rave vs. BJ Whitmer(c) & Jimmy Jacobs(c)-
Jacobs dodges a few chops from Rave, so Rave responds with a kick to the gut. Jacobs and Whitmer double-pummel Rave in the corner, but Rave comes back by slamming Jacobs’ head against the mat. Rave tags out to Eddie, and the duo give Jacobs a double military press. Whitmer enters the ring and cleans house, taking it to Rave with a series of hard strikes, but Nana trips up Whitmer which allows Rave to nail the northern lariat. Eddie and Whitmer trade strikes in the ring until Eddie nails Whitmer with a firemans carry into a neckbreaker for a two count. The Embassy beats up Whitmer on the outside as Rave distracts the ref. Eddie continues to assault Whitmer in the ring until he connects with a quick Exploder Suplex and manages to tag out to Jacobs as Eddie tags Rave. Jacobs come in with a double missle dropkick and begins to clear house. Whitmer attempts a brainbuster, but Rave slips out of it and connects with the Ghannarhea followed by the running knee strike for a nearfall as it’s broken up by Jacobs’ back senton. Whitmer lifts Eddie for the doomsday-rana as Jacobs climbs the top rope, but Eddie slips out of Whitmer’s grips and shoves him into the corner, making Jacobs lose his balance. Eddie connects with the fallaway slam moonsault off the middle rope on Jacobs, but Whitmer breaks it up. Whitmer KILLS Rave with a lariat out of nowhere and then lifts Eddie onto his shoulders as Jacobs connects with the doomsday-rana for the pinfall at 10:02. **1/4
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs defeat Fast Eddie & Jimmy Rave to retain the tag titles via Doomsday-Rana at 10:02.
Decent match with absolutely nothing special. Not much to comment on; crowd seemed to enjoy it but no one actually thought The Embassy had a chance, there was a cool nearfall following a combination of moves from Rave, and it was paced well.
A message appears on the screen reading “All ‘CM Punk Memories’ segments were taped earier this week at the ROH studios.”
Clips of Punk’s debut in ROH from Unscripted are shown. There’s no sound though, as Punk is doing commentary about these moments. He tells us he showed up at the show because he wanted to see what it was all about, even though he wasn’t booked until November 9th. Punk lets us know that he was shocked the fans knew who he and his friend Colt Cabana were since they worked mainly in the midwest. At this time, his skull was fractured, so he shouldn’t have been walking let alone wrestling. Punk goes over some great memories from the Murphy Rec center like the main event of the first show, and the clip ends.
Cabana is shown in his studio once again and lets us know that Punk WILL be there, but meanwhile he goes on to talk about how he’s going to win the Pure Title tonight, the belt that Nigel couldn’t win last week. Colt tells Joe the belt’s coming home to Chicago where it belongs. Cabana can’t decided whether to stay and wait for Punk or go stretch for his upcoming match.
AJ Styles cuts a promo backstage, saying he’s back for good and not going anywhere…which is bad news for Jimmy Rave. AJ says he’s gonna hit Rave into next week.
Clips of the first ever match between Punk and Raven are shown. Punk says this was the start of the ‘CM Punk’ that we all love to hate, the debut of the straight edge gimmick. He says this feud brought out the best in him, and also the best of Raven. Clips are now shown from their Dog Collar match from the original Death Before Dishonor. Punk says him and Raven hated each other, but they also taught each other. He says he respects Raven after their war, and hopes Raven respects him as well.
Match Two
Anything Goes
Carnage Crew vs. Ring Crew Express-
Dunn and Marcos charge the ring and jump Loc and Devito from behind, as the crowd chants their names. The Ring Crew Express nail their kick-combo on Devito, followed with a big DDT on Loc. The RCE takes out their opponents with a series of garbage can strikes. The brawl spills to the outside as RCE continue to dominate until Loc whips Marcos into the guardrail and Devito hits Dunn with a chair. Loc nails a suplex across two garbage cans, but Marcos kicks out. Devito is KILLING Dunn on the outside, and both of them are bleeding heavily. Loc pulls out a box of plunder and starts to choke Marcos with rope. Punk and Prazak are busy hyping the world title match and Punk’s supposed ‘final match’ this entire time. Devito places a chair in the corner and charges towards Marcos, but Marcos headscissors him into the chair! Meanwhile, Dunn sets a table up on the outside as the RCE make their comeback. RCE goes for their assisted Sliced Bread #2, but it’s blocked and reversed by the Carnage Crew. Loc back body drops Dunn out of the ring and through the table! The CC bring another table into the ring and set it up before connecting with the top rope splash mountain/neckbreaker combo through it for the pinfall at 8:35. **1/2
Carnage Crew defeats Ring Crew Express via splash mountain/neckbreaker combo through a table at 8:35.
Once again, these two teams put on a very entertaining brawl with a nice underdog story mixed in. I loved how the RCE jumped the CC like in their last match, but this time they had a better strategy and actually dominated the beginning instead of getting crushed like the last time. However, the Carnage Crew were just too big and too pissed off as they proceeded to absolutely kill the RCE once again. The action was lots of fun, and these brawls just keep building up to a huge blow-off match where, if the RCE win, will put them over huge after all the punishment they’re taking now.
A clip of the ending to a Lacey vs. Cindy Rogers match Lacey then cuts a promo backstage about how she’s the top business women in Ring Of Honor, and disproves the thought that no one can make money in wrestling. For some reason, she says all men are scumbags. Suddenly, Lacey is shown in front of the ROH office building! Holy crap that was fast! Lacey gets hot (angry hot, she’s already hot-hot) and goes off on a random yet extremely scripted-sounding tangent about how the guy should drive into the wall since he’s a waste of space, life, and brain cells, not to mention being a disgusting pervert. She walks through the door into the offices…but she’s suddenly back to the original backstage area! She talks about how all men are perverts and have no chance with her again, before we cut back to the ROH offices where she finishes a business deal. Well, the deal goes like this; Lacey asks, “Is it done? Lacey’s Angels is ready?” while the man responds, “I got it. I got it. I got it.” Yes, all business deals really are THAT simple! Lacey catches the guy giving the camera guy a thumbs up after looking her over, and goes off on another over-reacting rant about him being a stupid pervert. Back to the backstage area, Lacey talks about breaking up Special K all by herself and is manipulating Izzy to do whatever she pleases. Now the camera cuts to the ROH gym where Lacey is working out and the students are all staring at her. Hagadorn says she looks good, and Lacey says he’s a disgusting pig and challenges him to a wrestling match. Lacey slaps Hagadorn and IT’S ON! Lacey wins a short, clipped, basic match with a fujiwara armbar. Lacey finishes it off by saying Lacey’s Angels is going to the top of ROH. I honestly have no idea why people think Lacey is a good talker, she always sounds so awkward and scripted when she’s angry, and she’s pretty much always angry…which is pretty much the definition of a bad talker.
Clips of CM Punk’s match against Homicide from Retribution are shown as Punk talks about this being one of his favorite matches that year, and is proud of it since the ROH fans got to see he’s more than just a big talker but a good wrestler as well.
Match Three
Pure Title
Colt Cabana vs. Samoa Joe(c)-
The two men shake hands…but Colt immediately grabs Joe in a wristlock and pulls him into the ropes, meaning he loses a rope break! Joe is absolutely pissed at this decision and shoves the ref, so the ref takes away Joe’s one warning! Now, Joe has two rope breaks and if he uses a closed fist, he loses another break, or if he’s out of breaks he gets disqualified, and the title DOES change hands on a DQ! The two trade basic holds and counter holds to start, with neither man getting an advantage. After a few minutes of back and forth work, Joe gets frustrated with Cabana’s antics and gives him a STIFF punch to the face, as the ref takes away another rope break, meaning he only has one left. Cabana unloads with a series of open hand strikes, but Joe is completely unaffected as he takes Cabana down into an intense armbar, making Colt use one of his rope breaks. Joe nails his snapmare/kick/knee drop combo and starts to work over the arm more with various holds. Cabana tries to fight back, but Joe takes him down with an armbreaker and continues to work on the arm even more. Cabana makes it to the apron and goes for a shoulder thrust, but Joe kicks his arm and sends him to the floor. Joe starts to signal for his big dive and hits the ropes, but Cabana cuts him off with a sunset flip pin and Joe kicks out so he goes right into the STF, taking a page out of Joe’s playbook and making Joe grab the ropes. Joe is out of rope breaks, and to make matters worse Cabana nails him with an Asai Moonsault followed up with the flying butt-butt in the corner and a leaping lariat. Cabana goes for a headscissors, but Joe plants him with a powerbomb and goes into the crossface, so Cabana decides to use his second rope break. Joe nails the jumping knee strike and attempts the Muscle Buster, but Cabana fights him off and hits a missle dropkick. Cabana attempts his tricky european routine, but Joe cuts him off with a huge enziguri, and after a series of quick reversals and counters, Joe plants Cabana with the snap powerslam and goes into the cross armbar, making Cabana tap out at 17:04. ***1/4
Samoa Joe defeats Colt Cabana to retain the pure title via cross-armbar at 17:04
Like most matches held under pure rules, this was a pretty good match with a lot of basic wrestling that built up and built up into a satisfying finish, but for the most part it’s nothing special. This had some solid, and at times fun action that carried on throughout the entire match. I also enjoyed the booking of the match, having Cabana frustrate Joe so much that he pretty much loses two rope breaks and a warning over it, causing him to wrestle smart instead of fierce, which isn’t normally his style. Overall, it’s definitely worth a viewing, but nothing memorable.
After the match, Nigel waits at the top of the ramp and shakes Joe’s hand while taunting Cabana. Cabana tells Nigel to meet him in the ring, but Nigel leaves and nothing comes of it.
Backstage James Gibson cuts a promo on Homicide, telling him that he got a cheap win over him by kicking him in the balls, but he’s opened up a can of worms by doing so. Tonight, he’s coming for him in the four way, and after he gets through him tonight he’s going for the belt.
Clips of Punk’s very entertaining match against Steve Corino from Empire City Showdown are shown as Punk tells us that his match marked his six year anniversary of being a wrestler. Many people tell Punk he reminds them of Corino, except he works out. Classic line. Punk tells us this match was more about one-upping each other, as both men pride themselves on their asshole reputations and wanted to be the biggest asshole. He finishes by saying this is one of his favorite matches and he looks back on it fondly.
Jay Lethal’s cutting a promo backstage…and somewhere in the world, a child is crying. He says people saw a new side of Lethal last week and taught the Rottweillers a lesson. Lethal says he won’t stop until he pins Ki’s shoulders to the mat, and he’s gonna get it done tonight in their singles match. Phew, this was kept short and simple.
Nana and The Embassy (minus Rave and Eddie) is in the ring, as Nana lets us know that he’s the most paid man in ROH and has cleared out many of his bank accounts and cut a lot of his employees pay in order to negotiate with workers from the WWE and TNA. He says he should be dancing and partying now because the man he’s bringing in is going to be a shock, and the music of Christopher Daniels hits! However, Allison Danger comes out all by her lonesome and shakes hands with Nana. Gary Michael Cappetta comes out of nowhere (can he teleport like Lacey?!) and asks where she’s been. Danger says the queen has returned to rule with her king and announces Daniels return date is the next Long Island show, saying that ‘The Prophecy’ is gonna reign terror like never before in ROH. Danger tells Nana that his Embassy is doing an awesome job and requests that he destroys AJ Styles tonight. Nana finally unveils his hand-picked opponent for AJ Styles and tells the fans to get on their knees as he introduces…Petey Williams! And the fans don’t really care!
Match Four
Petey Williams vs. AJ Styles-
Things start with very quick with a shoving contest that leads into a series of back and forth wrestling holds with lots of reversals until Williams slows things down by twisting the arm of Styles. Styles tries to go for his signature setup into the dropkick, but Williams has it scouted and grabs Styles arm once again to keep control of him. Styles finally connects with his dropkick, which doesn’t look as good as usual, to change the tides of the match, and follows up with a series of knee drops. Williams starts to fight back a bit, but Styles stops him with a nip-up hurricanrana, as Punk continues to make fun of Williams on commentary. “You know his payday’s getting killed on the Canadian exchange rate.”, awesome. Styles tosses Williams to the outside and tries for a dive, but stops since Williams steps onto the apron. Styles attempts a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor, but Williams sits down with a leg drop and then connects with a hurricanrana on the outside. Williams sets up a chair and drops him gut/shoulder first onto the object. Williams dominates Styles in the ring, patly due to a cheap shot from Nana. Petey hits a vertical suplex/back suplex combo, but Styles doesn’t stay down for the three count. Styles starts to come back with a spin kick, big clothesline, and a pumphandle gutbuster, wearing down Williams. Styles then connects with his springboard inverted DDT, which doesn’t look very good, but it doesn’t matter as Williams takes Styles down with a swinging neckbreaker. Williams goes for the Canadian Destroyer, but Styles blocks it and lifts Williams into a Styles Clash position, only to have Williams flip out of it and plant Styles with a DDT. Styles manages to nail the Pele Kick and takes Williams to the top turnbuckle, but Williams fights back and attempts a top rope Canadian Destroyer, however Styles blocks it and turns it into a back body drop. Styles sets himself and goes for the Spiral Tap, but Williams moves out of the way. The two trade quick pinning combinations until Williams manages to lock on the Sharpshooter, but Styles gets out of it and nails the Styles Clash for the three count at 16:06. ***
AJ Styles defeats Petey Williams via Styles Clash at 16:06.
This match was just…there. Crowd didn’t care much about it, and the first ten minutes of the match were decent at best since these two men were just not clicking, and neither man was bringing his A-game, which was quite obvious from the sloppiness of some moves and reversals. Plus, the pacing was weird, they would start real quick, slow it down, go into fast mode again, slow it down…just very weird. The one thing that really annoyed me though was how the match played out. I mean, Williams nearly breaks Styles arm with a chair, so they continue to wrestle a normal match, and Styles doesn’t seem upset at all? Lame. Other than all that stuff, solid action that was saved by the last few minutes.
Nana gets on the mic, obviously pissed at the result of the match, telling Styles that he stole his finishing move from Jimmy Rave and is starting to embarass The Embassy, which is annoying Nana to no end. However, Nana says he has one more surprise and tells Jade Chung to get in the ring and slap Styles, just like what happened at the last show with Cabana. Chung reluctantly enters the ring and doesn’t want to slap him, but Nana says he’ll send her back to Vietnam with her sixteen brothers and sisters. Styles starts to shove Nana, and Chung low blows him (Styles)! Rave takes advantage of this and runs out, nailing Styles with the Rave Clash!
GMC is backstage with BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs. Whitmer starts to talk, but Jacobs gets upset that Whitmer does all the cool stuff. Whitmer says Jacobs gets to do the ‘rana, but Jacobs tells Whitmer he can do the ‘rana next time and he’ll start lifting people. Jacobs says he wants to be the mouthpiece and says…’huss’. Whitmer takes over and says they’re gonna keep the tag titles for a long, long time. GMC hypes the world title match later tonight.
Clips of CM Punk putting Christopher Daniels through a table via top rope Pepsi Plunge (SICK move) at The Battle Lines Are Drawn are shown as Punk talks about the faction wars back in the day, and how the Second City Saints were dominant. Another clip is shown, this time from Reborn: Stage Two, where Punk gives Mark the Pepsi Plunge and he lands RIGHT ON HIS HEAD, allowing Punk and Cabana to win the tag titles. Punk says it’s one of the happiest moments in his life and loved winning it in front of his friends and family. Punk puts over the Briscoes and says he misses them, since the Briscoes are out of action at this time (Mark was injured in an accident and Jay decided to take off time with him). Punk talks about the Chicago Street Fight between the Second City Saints and The Prophecy of Maff and Whitmer. He goes on to say he loves Steel and Cabana like brothers, and nothing will replace the feeling of wrestling in front of his hometown.
Cabana is in the arena rafters during intermission and talks about Nigel trying to ‘take the piss out of him’, but quickly changes gears and says he’s finally going to get to interview CM Punk on his show. Cabana starts to introduce him, but Punk’s nowhere to be found once again. Cabana says by the end of the night he GUARANTEES Punk will be on the show.
Match Five
Izzy & Deranged vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans-
Evans and Deranged start things off with a bit of a dance-off, but Evans interrupts Deranged’s whacky moves with a stomp to the groin, followed by a jumping knee strike. Evans sends Deranged out of the ring with a headscissors and starts to do a victory break-dance, but Deranged interrupts him with a stop to the groin himself. Evans tags out and Strong starts to wear down Deranged with a painful looking submission hold, but Deranged manages to tag out to Izzy. Both men try to dominate Strong, but Strong gives Deranged an overhead belly-to-belly and Evans connects with a springboard dropkick on Izzy. All three men are on the outside as Evans performs a springboard 630, wiping all of them out. Strong uses Evans as a weapon and throws him into Izzy, and then suplexes Evans onto Izzy for a pin that gets broken up by Deranged. Izzy comes back with a springboard tornado DDT on Evans and tags in Deranged, as they perform a double team suplex. Deranged tries a cocky pin, but Strong gives him a KICK TO THE FACE to send him a message. Deranged and Izzy isolate Evans in their corner and continue to dominate him with lots of quick tags and even a double team move of springboard ace crusher/facebuster combo. Evans finally comes back with a springboard double elbow strike and tags in Strong, who cleans house in a big way. Evans takes out Deranged with a reverse hurricanrana, but Izzy gets payback by KILLING Evans with some sort of piledriver. Evans and Strong are on the outside at opposite ends of the ring, and the team of Deranged and Izzy hit simultaneous dives to each opponent! However, Strong fighs back and places Deranged horizontally in the corner, and throws Evans into the air to connect with a double stomp to the back of Deranged! Strong and Evans connect with their Ode To The Bulldogs double team move and pin Izzy…but the ref is pulled out of the ring by the rest of Lacey’s Angels! Deranged and Izzy lift Evans to the top rope and connects with some weird double team piledriver for the win at 12:22. ***
Izzy & Deranged defeat Roderick Strong & Jack Evans via “Whacky Top Rope Piledriver Thingy” at 12:22.
Not much structure to this match, just some fun spotty action that never got boring, and I swear some of these moves just cannot be properly named because of how insane they are. It did what it was supposed to do and provide the crowd with some exciting stuff right after intermission to warm them back up, as well as produce a nice match. However, I question the booking here, because Izzy and Deranged going over Strong and Evans, even in 2005, is just wrong.
Clips of Generation Next beating down Ricky Steamboat from Reborn: Completion are shown. Punk says Steamboat was one of his favorites growing up and he has tons of respect for him, but he decided to butt heads with him in order to make waves in the wrestling business. However, when four men were beating him down and stealing his idea, Punk was annoyed that they would do that to someone he respected. Punk talks about working with Foley and Steamboat, and the clip then shows Punk trying to take on Generation Next solo, and fights them off for a moment only to get taken out, until Steamboat gets back up and helps him out. Punk and Steamboat clear ring, as Punk talks about how that memory will live with him forever, and Steamboat told him that he saw a fire inside him and he can go far in the business.
Match Six
Four Corner Survival
Azrieal vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Homicide vs. James Gibson-
Azrieal and Homicide start off with basic wrestling holds until Azrieal tags in Gibson, which prompts Homicide to vacate the ring immediately. Gibson decides to be patient and it ends up being Azrieal and Homicide in the ring once more. They trade quick aerial reversals and armdrags, coming to a stalemate. Gibson tags in again but Homicide teases the fight only to tag in McGuinness. Gibson and McGuinness now start some fancy matwork which McGuinness gets the better of, however Gibson escapes the tricky holds and a stalemate occurs between these two as well. They go back to really nice and competitive mat work, with neither man haiving a clear advantage until he springboards out of a wristlock and elbows Gibson in the head, following up with a volley of european uppercuts and forearm strikes. Homicide tags in and goes for Gibson, but Gibson catches him with the arm drag and starts to work over the shoulder. Gibson continues to wear down Homicide with a series of moves and holds, such as a regular backbreaker. Homicide finally scurries to the corner and tags in Azrieal, who takes advantage of a worn down Gibson, but Gibson manages to stop Azrieal with a jawbreaker and tag in Nigel. Nigel starts to strike his opponent before putting him in a unique submission hold, like a cradle bearhug, before planting him with a spinebuster. Nigel locks on a cobra clutch hold and goes for a short arm lariat, but Azrieal ducks it and connects with a flapjack. Homicide runs in but Azrieal gives him a hip toss and cuts him off with a sleeper hold. ‘Cide fights out and taunts Gibson a bit before giving Azrieal a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Nigel makes a blind tag to Homicide as Homicide monkey flips Azrieal into a superkick from Nigel! Homicide then takes Nigel down with an Exploder Suplex, but Gibson runs in and places Homicide on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but as he does so Azrieal connects with a powerbomb on Gibson, and all the men hit Nigel! All four men are down! Azrieal tries covering each man, but each one kicks out. Nigel tries for the Tower Of London on Azrieal, but Homicide cuts him off with shoulder thrusts. Gibson then nails a German Suplex on Azrieal, but Homicide steps on his groin! The ref starts arguing with him, but Gibson and Nigel start beating down Homicide until they end up fighting each other. Gibson shoves Nigel away, nails a Tiger Driver on Azrieal followed by a swinging neckbreaker on Homicide. Homicide goes for the same low blow he used in their last singles match, but Gibson dodges it. Homicide sends Nigel to the outside and nails the tope conhilo, as Gibson follows up with a springboard crossbody and Azrieal performs a top rope moonsault, prompting the first ‘ROH’ chant of the show. Back in the ring, Homicide accidentally holds Nigel in place for Azrieal to nail the top rope double stomp, but immediately after Homicide lays him out with a lariat. Gibson and Homicide both attempt their finishing moves, but Nigel shoves Homicide out of the ring and nails the Tower Of London on Gibson for the win at 20:28. ***1/2
Nigel McGuinness defeats three other men via Tower Of London at 20:28.
Ah, I love when Four Corner Survival matches are actually good matches with a story involved, just like this one. The build up to see Gibson and Homicide finally square off was done really wel, and the interactions between the two didn’t disappoint. I love how well they played off their singles match from the last show the entire time, trying same tricks and having them scouted this time around. Also, both Azrieal and Nigel looked like stars, moreso Nigel than Azrieal, bringing two different dynamics to the match as Nigel was hard hitting and Azrieal performed the high flying moves. All in all, this was twenty minutes of really good action, and not very a spotfest like some 4CS are.
Clips of the CM Punk promo after Punk and Samoa Joe’s first one-hour draw at World Title classic are shown. Punk says the ROH title is the most important thing in the world to him, and it’s because of Joe it’s so important. The two embrace and together hold up the title as Punk yells “f*ck everybody who tries to stop us!”. Clips are then shown from the infamous match between the two from Joe vs. Punk II, which I would definitely give five stars. Punk says he had a messed up back, Joe had a hurt knee, and the match wasn’t even supposed to happen (Corino couldn’t make it for his title shot). Punk says the match had no business being as good as it was, but it’s the perfect example of two hungry rookies trying to make a name for themselves. Punk says he never beat Joe, but he’s beaten Aries before and he thinks he can do it again tonight. Punk says he finally got the no time limit match he requested, but it didn’t go his way, as clips now show the final moments of their final match of the trilogy from All Star Extravaganza II. Punk says he looks back on the matches and is amazed, and talks about how Ricky Steamboat saw the trilogy as a ‘classic.’ Punk explains that he was busted open early which pretty much killed the no time limit situation he wanted. These will be three matches Punk will remember fondly and definitely the highlight of his career until tonight.
Disc 1 ends at 2:48:21, so lets move on to the final two matches located on Disc 2!
Match Seven
Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal
Ki immediately chases Lethal as he comes towards the ring, but Lethal smartly runs around and back into the ring and catches Ki off guard as he re-enters himself. Both men trade hard punches to the head and Lethal gets the advantage, following it up with a springboard dropkick to the chest that takes Ki out of the ring. Lethal nails a big suicide dive to the outside, taking out Ki as he sells his ‘hurt’ neck throughout. Lethal takes it to Ki in a big way, nailing suplexes, a backbreaker, and a beautiful leg lariat, however Ki dodges a dropkick from Lethal and responds with a dropkick of his own. Ki dominates Lethal with strikes and toys with him, pulling him around by the hair as Lethal continues to clutch at his neck. Meanwhile, the commentary team continues to make comments like “When’s the last time Ki lost a match? It’s like Ki never loses!”. I understand he may have an attitude, but you’re the booker Gabe, so don’t put the blame on him. Ki toys with Lethal some more, kicking his head and telling him to ‘fight back’. Ki sends Lethal to the outside and distracts the ref, allowing Julius Smokes to get in some cheap shots. Suddenly, Lethal spins behind Ki and gets him in a full nelson, attempting the Dragon Suplex, but Ki backs him into the corner and slams his head backwards into the mat. Ki charges at Lethal in the corner, but Lethal takes him over with a sunset flip pin, only getting a two count. Lethal attempts another sunset flip pin but Ki blocks it and goes for the double stomp, however Lethal rolls to the side to dodge it and Ki just double stomps his back! Ki places Lethal in the tree of woe and signals for the double stomp, but Lethal pulls him off the top rope and gets out of the corner. Lethal makes his big face comeback which allows him to hit an atomic drop/gutbuster/gutwrench suplex combo. Lethal then hits another combo, this time consisting of a gutbuster, knee strike, and neckbreaker but it only gets a two count. Lethal attempts his running suplex, but Ki knees Lethal in the head and gets out of it, and then jumps up and double stomps his back! That was AWESOME! Ki tries for the Ki Krusher, but Lethal turns it into a small package pin for a nearfall. Ki gets angry and connects with the shotgun dropkick, sending Lethal flying into the corner, but Lethal kicks out of the pin! Two two fight on the top rope and Lethal shoves Ki off, allowing him to hit the diving headbutt. Smokes distracts the ref on the apron and Lethal grabs him by the collor, allowing Ki to grab the metal bat and try to hit Lethal…but Lethal ducks it and nails the Dragon Suplex on Ki! One…two…Smokes breaks it up, and the ref calls for the DQ at 15:12. ***1/2
Jay Lethal versus Low Ki ends in a no contest at 15:12.
At first, it started kind of boring and almost too-squashy, seeming to be more of an angle advancer than a match. While it really was more of an angle advancer (indicated by the finish and aftermath), these two still managed to turn it into a great match with Lethal’s underdog story really getting the fans behind him and making some great comebacks. The fans went NUTS when Lethal ducked the bat and nailed the Dragon Suplex, because these guys told such an effective story that the fans bought into it hook-line and sinker. Ki played such a good heel, absolutely toying with Lethal until he finally got worried during the big comeback at the end. Also, Ki pulled out some sick moves, like jumping about four feet into the air to double stomp Lethal’s back when he charged at him. Lots of praise for this match, which really could have fallen flat since Lethal had to spend most of the time selling his ‘hurt’ neck instead of wrestling.
Smokes tosses the ref out of the ring and tries to piledrive Lethal, but Lethal gets behind Smokes and attempts the Dragon Suplex, however Homicide pulls him out of the ring. Homicide grabs the table at ringside and threatens to put Lethal through it, but he retreats to the back along with Smokes and Ki as the crowd applauds Lethal.
Match Eight
World Title
CM Punk vs. Austin Aries(c)-
The two men start with the usual exploratory mat work in a main event title match, taking things slow and trying to feel each other out. This leads to Punk placing Aries in a very strong side headlock and keeping it locked on tight for a while, no matter how hard Aries tries to fight out. After a long period of time in the headlock, Punk finally drops Aries with the bulldog, obviously working on the neck. Punk continues working the neck with a knee drop and a dropkick, followed up with a Pefect-plex. Punk really takes it to Aries with various holds on the neck, along with vicious strikes as well, and eventually sends Aries to the floor with a triangle dropkick. Punk nails a suicide dive to the outside, taking down Aries. Punk tries to suplex Aries into the ring, but Aries blocks it and manages to lift Punk up and drive him into the apron with a Death Valley Driver! Aries takes a huge breather before kicking Punk in the chest several times and whipping him into the guardrail. Aries attempts another whip into the guardrail, but Punk reverses it as Aries crashes into the metal, however as Punk walks towards him Aries trips him into the guardrail himself. Aries now starts to disect Punk’s neck with elbow strikes and knee strikes, and follows it up with a twisting body press/lionsault combo. Punk starts to come back and the two trade big strikes, but Aries ends it by sending Punk into the ringpost, making the crowd shower him with boos. This crowd is HOT, really pro-Punk and anti-Aries. Aries sends Punk into the turnbuckle a few more times, working over the shoulder and neck in the process. The crowd starts to energize Punk, but Aries dumps him on his neck with the sidewalk slam. Still, Punk manages to fire off a few chops and connects with a HUGE lariat to the back of Aries’ head, making him flip foward. Punk fights back in a big way, striking Aries hard and knocking him down with several clotheslines, followed by a back body drop. This crowd is just getting hotter and hotter as the crowd goes on, and the match is getting better and better! Punk nails the double-underhook backbreaker followed by a flying crossbody, but only gets a two count. Punk nails a series of mule kicks and goes for the Pepsi Twist, but Aries cuts him off with a big clothesline, signaling for the brainbuster as the crowd starts to get to him. Aries goes for a pinning combination, but Punk bridges up and backslides Aries, only getting a two count. Aries just spikes Punk down with a piledriver, but Punk kicks out. Aries nails the rolling fireman’s carry and climbs to the top, but Punk tosses him off, and nails him with a shining wizard for a nearfall! Punk calls for the Pepsi Plunge and climbs the top rope, but Aries fights back with a ton of strikes and nails a SUPER BRAINBUSTER…but Punk kicks out! Aries climbs to the top, but Punk gets up and fires off some big punches to the head as the crowd cheers every single one! Punk climbs up and hooks Aries for the Plunge, but Aries fights him off and hooks the arms of Punk…and he nails the Pepsi Plunge himself! One…PUNK KICKS OUT AT ONE AND FIRES UP! But Aries cuts him off with the roaring elbow, followed by the kick to the head, and the 450 splash! The ref can’t count though because Punk puts him right in the Anaconda Vice…but Aries gets to the ropes. Punk goes for the Vice in the enter, but Aries rolls him into a pin for a VERY nearfall! Aries attempts the crucifix bomb, but Aries turns it into a TKO…shining wizard…they climb to the top…PEPSI PLUNGE! 1…2…3! PUNK WINS ON HIS FINAL NIGHT IN ROH AND THE CROWD GOES WILD AT 30:17! ****1/2
CM Punk defeats Austin Aries to win the ROH World Title via Pepsi Plunge at 30:17.
Wow. You know, the match itself is really good, actually really great, but it’s not as special without the crowd. The crowd truly made this match so much better and exciting, being hot the entire time and absolutely insanely towards the end. The action in the ring was great and it built up perfectly, and Punk kicking out of the Pepsi Plunge at one and just firing up to his feet is one of my favorite moments in ROH history, again mainly due to the fans. Outstanding match and moment. Thank you Punk…or…maybe not?!
The crowd requests a speech from Punk after his win, and he obliges. This promo is so good that I’ve written it out in full. “Isn’t this the prettiest little thing you’ve ever seen? It was over a year ago I held this belt high in the air after I fought for it for the first time in Dayton, Ohio against Samoa Joe and I proclaimed this belt the most important thing to me. Right now, in my hands, as of this day 6/18/05, THIS becomes the most important belt in the world! This belt in the hands of any other man is just a belt, but in my hands it becomes power. Just like this microphone in the hands of any of the boys in the back is just a microphone, but in the hands of a dangerous man like myself it becomes a pipe-bomb. These words that I speak spoken but anybody else are just words strung loosely together to form sentences. What I say I mean, and what I mean I say, and they become anthems! You see, if I could be afforded the time here a little bit of a story. There was once an old man, walking home from work. He was walking in the snow, and he stumbled upon a snake frozen in the ice. He took that snake, and he brought it home, and he took care of it, and he thawed it out, and he nursed it back to health. And as soon as that snake was well enough, it bit the old man. And as the old man lay there dying he asked the snake, ‘Why? I took care of you. I loved you. I saved your life.’ And that snake looked that man right in the eye and said, ‘You stupid old man. I’m a snake.’ The greatest thing the devil ever did was make you people believe he didn’t exist…and you’re looking at him right now! I AM THE DEVIL HIMSELF! And all of you stupid, mindless people fell for it! You all believed in the same make-believe superhero that the legendary Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat saw some year ago today. No, you see, you don’t know anything. You followed me hook-line and sinker, all of you did, and I’m not mad at you…I just feel sorry for you. This belongs to me! Everything you see here belongs to me, and I did what I had to do to get my hands on this. Now I am the GREATEST PRO WRESTLER walkin’ the Earth today! This is my stage, this is my theater, you are my puppets! When I pulled those marionette strings, and I moved your emotions, and I played with them, and honestly it’s ’cause I get off on it. I hate each and every single one of you with a thousand burns and I will not stop…I will not stop until I prove that I am better than you, that I am better than Low Ki, that I am better than AJ Styles! I’m better than Samoa Joe. Ladies and gentlemen, the champ is here! You don’t have to love it, but you better learn to accept it. ‘Cause I’m taking this with me, and there’s not a single person in that locker room that can stop me!”
Suddenly Christopher Daniels comes through the crowd and appears behind Punk as the crowd goes wild and chants ‘Fallen Angel’ and ‘Welcome Back’! The two men stand off in the center of the ring and a quick bawl occurs, with neither man able to score with one of their signature moves. Daniels finally scares Punk off, and Punk teases giving him a title match, but ends up telling him to kiss his ass and retreats out of the building with his belt. Daniels cuts a promo in the ring, saying the ROH belt IS the most important belt in wrestling, and he wants it for himself. He goes on to say that he bided his time since he was put out of comission due to an injury from Punk’s attack, but he was told to make a decision in Nashville where whichever he chose, he would end up losing something he loves, and his decision involved walking away from Ring Of Honor, even though it tore him up inside. It didn’t matter where he was, he would bust his ass in the ring, but no matter where he went he never forgot the effort he put forth in ROH. He remembers getting kicked so hard he lost feeling in his legs, and the one-hour ironman match for the title. He got the ROH DVDs in his time off and watched Aries, Shelley, Gibson, Lethal, Strong, etc make their way to the top by stepping up and becoming the backbone to ROH, but now those men have to deal with him, because they all need to understand just ’cause he was gone doesn’t mean what his destiny was, which is to be the ROH world champ. Daniels says he will beat anyone and everyone if it gets him to the ROH title, and now he’s back!
Backstage, Evans is telling Strong that he thinks he needs to disappear for a while, because he’s been pinned three times now, and he’s holding Strong down.
Ring Crew Express are helping to tear down the ring, and they say that they have Carnage Crew running scared. Wow, I hate them.
In his studio, Colt Cabana is very upset and frustrated, in a saddening way, as he keeps calling Punk’s name and saying he’s going to be on the show like he promised. Colt keeps shouting to nothing, obviously distraught. This is really emotional to be honest, very well done by Colt, and the whole angle throughout the show has rocked.
A promo from Aries, which is noted as ‘taped several days later’, lets us know that Aries is going to rebound from this tragedy. He says every great champion has lost their belt at one point, and he says he’s proud of his reign, and he took on everyone head-on. Aries defended the belt in five countries and kept the integrity of the title on it’s peak, but he’s not proud of handing the belt to Punk because he pissed on everything he worked so hard to build. Aries says Punk’s time is coming when he faces the locker room. Aries says his plans don’t involve taking time off because he has so much to accomplish, like getting Generation Next back to the top. Some people say it’s the end of an era, but Aries says it’s the beginning of a legacy.
Bonus Match
CM Punk vs. James Gibson-
This is the cliff-notes version, since I dislike FIP and it’s a bonus match. Punk jumps Gibson as he enters the ring and chokes him with his ring jacket, and proceeds to use various heel tactics to try and dominate, but Gibson uses his technical wrestling to overtake Punk and start to gain the advantage. A lot of basic mat wrestling for the first part of the match, until it stats to build up in the second half as Punk keeps trying to wear down Gibson, working over mainly the midsection and back, while Gibson takes it all and dishes out even more. The closing stretch is really hot, as both men pull out their big moves and try to do what they can to win, but Gibson scores the upset in his FIP debut by rolling up Punk for the pinfall at 10:28.***
James Gibson defeats CM Punk via pinning combination at 10:28.
For a match of this length, this was really solid. A lot of good wrestling technique here, and it’s nice to see how well Punk plays his heel character, which is a mix of his current character with an old school twist. Punk used a lot of heel tactics such as choking to keep Gibson down, which made Gibson look even better as he took it all and fought back the entire match, even having a stretch of dominance. The match was good, and both men looked good afterwards, which is always a plus. For a bonus, this rules.
Moment Of The Night: This is a real tough choice, both involving the same man. Is it CM Punk’s world title win, which represents more than three years of blood, sweat, and tears that he put in to ROH in order to keep it alive? Or is it the infamous and most shocking heel turn ROH has ever seen, as well as most likely the best promo in the company’s history? It’s basically a decision between good and evil, and just for the sake of being optimisitic, I’ll go with the Punk’s ROH World Title win.
Wrestler Of The Night: CM Punk.
Match Of The Night: CM Punk vs Austin Aries.
The Inside Pulse
This show, with the bonus match included, runs a total of 4:29:25 over the span of two discs. That’s 4.5 hours of great wrestling, and lots of variety in the wrestling, as well as a load of good and entertaining promos, plus a look back on CM Punk’s ROH career. Also in that span of time time there’s an absolute classic match and amazing moment for ROH, something that will be remembered for years to come. That right there should make someone want to buy the DVD. Up until the Punk/Aries match, to be honest, the show was just good, nothing special. Then, after the Punk/Aries match, the show felt like it was important and meant something, especially due to the aftermath and all the possibilites that could stem from it. Three real good matches, one amazing match, one amazing title change, one amazing promo, one amazing return, the start of one amazing storyline AND a bonus match equals a must buy in my book.
