The show starts with Colt Cabana starting to cut a promo backstage, talking about his match with Nigel McGuinness later that night, when suddenly Austin Aries walks into the picture. Cabana tells him their feud is over, but Aries says he’s not here to talk about Cabana, he’s here to talk about Punk. Aries tells Cabana that his friend (meaning Punk) needs to get his head straight. Aries leaves, and Cabana is frustrated that his promo was ruined.
Match One
Ring Crew Express & Dixie vs. Lacey’s Angels & Vordell Walker-
Marcos beats Cheech in the early going by trading holds and nailing a headscissors, but Cheech asks him to tag in Dixie, and he does so. Dixie nails a nice running roaring elbow in the corner, followed by a springboard…umm…fist drop? He didn’t seem to connect with anything, but it mostly looked like a fist drop. Team Ring Crew Express all do the air-guitar taunt in the ring, and then nail a big combo of moves on Cheech that ends with a superkick and a tornado DDT. There’s a double kncokdown between Dunn and Cheech until Walker is tagged in, who immediately stops Dunn in his tracks and nails a great wheelbarrow suplex. Deranged hits the ropes repeatedly at a fast pace, and ends the running with the dreaded CHINLOCK OF DEATH on Dunn. Deranged connects with a hurricanrana, tornado DDT, and cartwheel moonsault in succession. Walker enters, but Dunn fights him off and drops an elbow from the top rope. Dunn starts to fight back but Walker, like earlier, stops him almost immediately, this time using a trio of germans. Dunn makes the lukewarm tag (and I’m being generous) to Marcos, who takes Cheech down with an enziguri, and the team then attacks Walker with an assisted shiranui. All hell breaks loose after an assisted springboard ace crusher by Deranged onto Dunn, as every man starts hitting big moves on each other including a snap german from Dizie and spinning uranage from Walker. The match finally ends when Ring Crew Express nail the Stage Dive (top rope assisted back senton) on Cheech for the pin at 11:24.
Team Ring Crew Express defeats Team Lacey’s Angels via Stage Dive at 11:24.
This was just a huge spotfest with the same tired spots that we’ve seen from these guys time and time again. This would have been a more exciting opener if they had changed things up, but none of them did. At least Walker provided a nice ‘big man’ aspect to the match, but other than that, nothing was fresh or different. At least it was a hot opener.**
Backstage, Colt Cabana is attempting to cut another promo about his match with Nigel McGuinness, but this time he’s interrupted by Samoa Joe. It’s roughly the same conversation as the last promo, with Joe questioning Colt about Punk’s recent actions, and Colt backing out of the situation. Joe basically threatens Colt if he decides to stay on Punk’s side in this whole mess, and then leaves. Colt’s more frustrated than before and walks off.
Match Two
ROH Tag Team Championsips
Carnage Crew vs. BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs-
Jacobs beats Whitmer in a game of rock, paper, scissors to start the match…because ‘huss’ beats rock. Duh. Jacobs takes an early lead by giving Loc a headscissors takedown, leading to a double tag out. DeVito tries to technically wrestle Whitmer to taunt the fans that hate him, but Whitmer outwrestles him easily. Jacobs enters the ring, but DeVito immediately pokes him in the eye and tosses him to the outside, where Loc assists him in tossing Jacobs into the guardrail several times until Whitmer makes a quick save, only to get beaten down himself. DeVito suplexes Whitmer on to the steel ramp while in the ring Jacobs peppers Loc with jabs until getting planted with a back suplex. DeVito taunts Whitmer into entering the ring, allowing Loc and him to give Jacobs a double beatdown since the ref’s distracted. The Carnage Crew connect with a dropkick version of the Doomsday Device for a two count. Kind of a random double team move this early in the match, but whatever. DeVito gives Jacobs some vicious crossface strikes and then tries to make him pass out with a rear chinlock. Jacobs starts fighting his way out, but DeVito slams him to the mat. Jacobs rolls away from a DeVito moonsault and then spears Loc, allowing him to make the hot tag to Whitmer! Whitmer starts to clean house with big running attacks, followed by a series of suplexes on DeVito and a leg lariat on Loc. However, he’s soon cut off by a double spinerbuster by the Carnage Crew, as they then lock in a double single crab. Yes, that’s an oximoron, but what else do you call it? The double submission is broken by Jacobs though after he nails a double DDT, followed by Whitmer powerbombing Jacobs on to DeVito for a two count. Jacobs gets tossed to the outside as the Carnage Crew connect with a SICK spike piledriver on Whitmer for a nearfall! They try setting up Whitmer for a top rope variation of the spike piledriver, but Jacobs breaks it up which allows Whitmer to plant Loc with a quick exploder suplex, however the celebration is short lived as DeVito just throws Jacobs off the rope and to the floor! Whitmer tries for a top rope exploder on DeVito, but Loc pushes him off the top and he lands head-first through the ringside table! Back in the ring, the Carnage Crew nail their signature top rope spike piledriver on Jacobs for the pin at 14:14.
Carnage Crew defeats BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs via spike piledriver to win the ROH Tag Team Championships at 14:14.
Definitely better than I expected. I absolutely LOVED how the Carnage Crew took it to the outside almost immediately, since they’re more comfortable and experienced as brawlers, and only decided to take it back to the ring when they had the clear advantage. The ending moments were great and really unpredictable, which just added more excitement to the already fast pace they were going at. A lack of any real selling takes this down a notch, but it was still a lot of fun and any time a title changes hands, it’s important.***
Pre-match for the Four Corner Survival, Azrieal, Jimmy Rave, Roderick Strong, and James Gibson are all in the ring and ready to start their scheduled Four Corner Survival match, when suddenly the lights go out and a spotlight moves to the balcony, revealing CM Punk! A HUGE reaction of mixed emotions echoes through the building, until Punk mockingly tries to start a ‘Let’s Go Gibson’ chant. Punk says he was fully ready to give the winner of this match a shot at the ROH World Title later that night, but because Gibson acted so unprofessionally last night (trying to attack Punk twice at Sign Of Dishonor) he doesn’t want Gibson to have any chance to be champion. Punk insults Gibson, calling him a loser due to his poor win-loss record, and goes off on a tangent about Gibson being a redneck. The crowd won’t shut up, so Punk starts getting annoyed and reminds them that he’s the one with the belt and the mic. Punk says he has sights on one man in the ring right now, and it’s Roderick Strong, because he’s going to beat some respect into him tonight and teach him a lesson he’ll forgentverit. Punk unscrambles his words to say ‘never forget’, but the crowd is already chanting ‘You Fucked Up!’. Punk says he’ll have Strong in the ring tonight, but it’ll be non-title…that is, until Mick Foley appears behind Punk! Foley holds Punk over the balcony by the neck and threatens to drop him onto the cold, hard floor. Foley says when he hears ‘non-title match’, he feels like splitting a man’s skull open. Foley says maybe he’ll do it, and maybe he won’t, but he wants Punk to ask himself one question…’Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya…punk?”. Foley is the master of word puns. Foley fits in his cheap pop and Punk agrees to make the match a title match. Gibson gives Strong a pep talk before he walks to the back to prepare for his title match. And then…
Match Three
Azrieal vs. Jimmy Rave vs. ??? vs. James Gibson-
Rave jumps the distracted Gibson from behind and starts beating him down. Suddenly, Alex Shelley walks down the aisle and jumps onto the apron, apparently placing himself in the match! The match cuts away for a second to some mysterious eyes, and then cuts back. Uhh, they already revealed the man to be Matt Hardy last night at ‘Sign Of Dishonor’, so what’s the point? Gibson and Shelley lock up in the ring and go through some quick mat wrestling that ends in a stalemate. Gibson ties up Rave’s legs in an awkward way and bridges back to apply pressure, but Shelley breaks it up for some reason. Weird. Azrieal tries wearing down Gibson with suplexes and headlocks, but Gibson fights out and nails a big clothesline. Rave blocks a top rope move from Azrieal and tosses him onto the ropes. Shelley disects Azrieal with a modified surfboard stretch followed by a second rope moonsault, but Azrieal won’t stay down. Rave takes over the disection of Azrieal by applying a body scissors, followed by Shelley giving him a back suplex. Shelley tosses Azrieal onto the ropes, similar to how it happened before. Gibson tags Shelley, but Rave distracts the ref so he doesn’t see it! Lots of teamwork between Rave and Shelley in this match. Azrieal tries to fight off Rave, but he’s caught with a huge spear. Shelley and Rave together throw Azrieal onto the ropes and then attack Gibson, but get met by Azrieal with a springboard double dropkick, however Shelley and Rave cut off Azrieal from making the tag and whip him into the corner. Gibson finally runs in and smashes Rave and Shelley together before giving Azrieal a HUGE hip toss towards his corner, just so he can make the tag and enter the match legally! Gibson cleans house in the ring and ends up superplexing Rave, following through with the momentum to apply the guillotine choke, however it’s broken up by Azrieal. Azrieal sends Shelley to the outside and nails a big flip dive over the top! Rave connects with Ghanarhea on Gibson for a two count, and then calls for the Rave Clash, but Azrieal springboards into the ring and clotheslines Rave. Azrieal and Rave are in the corner…attempting to do….something. I have no idea what they were going for, but it went wrong, so Azrieal fixes the problem by dumping Rave on his head with an almost running death valley driver. That’s how I solve MY problems, too! Shelley gives Azrieal a frog splash for a nearfall, but Azrieal responds by attempting his top rope double stomp, however Shelley moves and plants him with a powerbomb. Gibson starts to beat up Shelley, but he quickly changes the momentum with a superkick. Shelley and Rave try a double back body drop, but Gibson fights them off and DDTs Shelley, placing him in the guillotine choke for quite a while until it’s broken up by Rave’s running knee strike. Rave rolls through a sunset flip from Azrieal and connects with the Rave Clash for the pin at 22:13.
Jimmy Rave defeats James Gibson, Alex Shelley, and Azrieal via Rave Clash at 22:13.
This was a nice, technically sound wrestling match, although it may have been hindered by going a bit too long. I really liked Shelley and Rave teaming up on Azrieal and working over the same body part as much as they could, but halfway through they started doing the same thing over and over, and the repetition made it uninteresting. However, I applaud the crowd for staying into it and popping big when Azrieal made the tag to Gibson. Not much else to say; it was just a good match.***1/4
Post-match, a very excited Prince Nana tells the crowd the Embassy is going to party like it’s 1979 tonight. He’s acting so excited that he starts shouting ‘Fire me! I’m already fired! Fire me!’, quoting the infamous Ric Flair return speech on Nitro. Wow, I just marked out BIG TIME from the quote. Nana reminds the crowd that Rave was the winner of the match. Nana’s mood changes when he gets mad at Jade Chung for celebrating with them, telling her she’s supposed to be a foot stool and nothing more. Nana tells Rave to take his boot off so he can show him what he taught Jade Chung, as he then commands her to kiss Rave’s foot. Chung hesitates, but Nana threatens her into doing it. Suddenly Jade fires up and gets ready to slap Nana, but Nana intimidates her into stopping and then drags her out of the ring and to the back. No mention of the ongoing Styles feud or anything? Umm, okay.
Pre-match for Samoa Joe versus Austin Aries, Prince Nana comes out and tells Aries that he’s been watching him very closely, and that Aries should join the Embassy tonight so he can have the limousines and jets that he deserves. Aries reminds Nana of ‘the big, mean Samoan’ in the ring and says he has more important things on his mind than Nana’s get-rich-quick schemes. Nana says he has bank accounts in Switzerland! Aries repeats himself and tells Nana to go back and draw his bath water for him, and then MAYBE they’ll talk business. Nana leaves, obviously upset.
Match Four
ROH Pure Title
Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe-
Joe overpowers Aries easily in the early going, using his strength to keep Aries down and grounded until he slips up and allows Aries to nail a his backspring elbow and a running clothesline. However, Joe regains control with a big spinebuster, and then locks on a boston crab following his signature back senton, making it obvious that he’s targeting the back and forcing Aries to use his first rope break. Aries catches Joe with a snapmare and chops his back, followed by three repeated kicks to the chest, and finally attempts to finish the combo with a knee drop (mocking Joe’s own combo), but Joe rolls out of the way and kicks Aries HARD in the ribs. Joe connects with the facewashes in the corner, including the running variation, maintaining control of the match. Aries smartly rolls to the outside and waits until a count of fifteen before re-entering the ring, but gets met with a series of stries from Joe, however he’s able to dropkick Joe off the apron and connect with his heatseeking suicide dive. Aries signals for the Ole Kick, but then taunts the fans with the middle finger before rolling Joe back into the ring. A lionsault gets Aries a two count and he immediately goes into a cross armbreaker, making Joe use his first rope break. Both men have two rope breaks remaining. Aries nails a running dropkick and then a missle dropkick before signaling for his patented brainbuster, but he can’t lift Joe. Aries charges at Joe but gets planted with a NICE STO. Joe elevates Aries over the top and to the floor before running at full speed and hitting his suicide dive, followed by two Ole Kicks. Back in the ring, Aries reverses a powerbomb attempt with a sunset flip pin, and then turns it quickly into an STF, once again mocking Joe and once again making Joe waste a rope break. Aries goes for his 450 Splash but lands awkwardly as Joe rolls out of the way and plants him with his snap powerslam, and then places him in a cross armbreaker to force Aries to use his second rope break. Joe changes it up and puts Aries in the STF, as Aries uses up his final rope break. Aries now has no more rope breaks. Things change quickly though as Aries nails his amazing cruifix bomb, followed by the brainbuster and the 450 splash…for a three count! NO, Joe’s feet were in the ropes! Awesome camera angle; I thought Aries had won until Sinclair physically pointed out the final rope break. Joe fires up with a flurry of slaps on Aries, but Aries ducks an enziguri and kicks Joe in the face before attempting another 450, however Jow blocks the attempt and gives Aries a deadly Muscle Buster for the pinfall at 16:08.
Samoa Joe defeats Austin Aries via Muscle Buster to retain the Pure Title at 16:08.
Excellent match. The one thing that brought things down for me was the early back-work by Joe and the early arm-work from Aries was just short term and only used to get a rope break out of the way. Everything after that though was great, as these guys really told a great story by countering and nailing each other’s moves (moreso Aries than Joe), playing off their past encounters. And the nearfall when Aries hit the 450 was TREMENDOUS, as was the crowd reaction. Probably the best Pure Title match to this point, right behind Lethal’s defense against Joe.***3/4
Backstage, Gary Michael Capetta introduces the NEW ROH World Tag Team Championships. Carnage Crew says tonight was three years in the making, and their current war with the Ring Crew Express is forgotten about for just one night, because for once the company is finally focused on Carnage Crew. Carnage Crew head off to the nudie bar to celebrate, but tell GMC he’s not invited. Aww, poor Gary.
Match Five
European Rules
Nigel McGuinness vs. Colt Cabana-
There will be three-minute rounds, and a winner will be decided by two pinfalls, two submissions, or a knockout. Punches and kicks are not allowed. After being thrown to the mat, the wrestler has a ten count to get back up, and a failure to follow the rules will result in a warning. Three warnings, and you’re disqualified. Basically, it’s a 2/3 Falls Last Man Standing Pure Rules match. What is this, TNA? Nigel gives Colt a punch when the ref’s not looking, making Cabana respond with vicious punches, so the ref issues him a warning. Nigel taunts Colt into punching him again, but it doesn’t happen. Instead, Colt falls to his knees and sells like he got hit in the groin area, and even though Nigel swears against it, the ref issues a warning to Nigel. Colt ties up Nigel’s arms, and the round ends. Prazak clears up my confusion by telling the viewers that there are 8 seperate 3 minute rounds. Yeah, this is DEFINITELY TNA. Nigel unloads on Colt with clubbing blows and forearms and tries to slam Colt’s face into the mat several times, but Colt escapes by rolling around and ends up slamming Nigel down face-first instead. Nigel tries to ask the ref if what Colt did was wrong, but Colt sneaks up and does it again, however Nigel thinks the ref did it and shoves him! The ref responds by issuing another warning to Nigel. Colt moves extremely fast now, attacking Nigel with a series of dropkicks and a very quick rollup to score himself a pinfall, so he now leads the match 1-0. Nigel spits water in the face of Colt at the start of the third round and continuously headbutts him into the gut until Colt tries for a sunset flip pin, however Nigel bridges up. Colt can’t break the bridge, so he slaps Nigel in the groin, leading to his second warning. Colt gives Nigel a big hiptoss followed by a leaping lariat, but the ref doesn’t count the pin for some reason, and then a few seconds later the round ends. Either someone screwed up, or these rules are too damn confusing…hard to tell which. It doesn’t matter though, as the screen fades out and reveals Matt Hardy cutting a promo! Hardy says it’s almost time for his ROH debut, and it’ll be an honor to step into the ring against Christopher Daniels. Nigel gives Colt the divorce court and then starts to work over the arm as well as bending his leg back in an awkward way, making Colt tap out, so it’s now 1-1. Colt stops Nigel’s momentum with a dropkick, as a fan screams “HE KICKED HIM! IT’S OVER! PLEASE!”, which I find hilarious. Colt continues with a double knee strike in the corner before placing Nigel in the single leg boston crab. Nigel taps Colt’s back, so Colt thinks he won even though he didn’t, allowing Nigel to forearm him in the face. Colt attempts a backslide for two. Nigel sits down on Colt to block a pin attempt and scores his own pin to end this abortion of a match at 13:47.
Nigel McGuinness defats Colt Cabana 2 falls to 1 via pinning combination at 13:47.
This was just awful. The rules were both confusing and stupid, and then the match ended up just being antics between both wrestlers to progress their feud, and they filled the gaps with boring, pointless wrestling holds. The fans wanted to care, and really tried to, but by the end you could literally hear them begging for it to end. Points for effort, but nothing more.*
Backstage, Roderick Strong is standing around until Austin Aries runs in and starts hyping him up for his title match tonight, telling him it’s his night and the only thing on his mind should be his world title match. Aries tells him to forget Shelley, forget Aries’ losing the pure title match, forget everything except CM Punk. They walk off and ignore the camera man, who politely asks for a promo.
Match Six
Grudge Match
Homicide vs. Jay Lethal-
HUGE double chant from the crowd to start things off. Lethal takes it to Homicide early with chops and dropkicks him out of the ring. After tossing Homicide into the guardrail, Lethal brings him back in the ring and gives him a back suplex, followed by a second rope crossbody, dominating the match thus far. Lethal avoids an atomic drop by Homicide and hits the ropes, but Homicide cuts him off with a spinebuster. Homicide keeps control by chopping Lethal a few times and then giving him an ace crusher on the ring apron. Homicide distracts the ref in the ring while Julius Smokes cracks Lethal in the head with his baseball bat! Lethal is bleeding…or sell Prazak tells us, because I see a small dot of blood and nothing more. Anyway, Homicide claws at Lethal’s forehead until he spots a Red Sox hat in the crowd, which he snatches off the man’s head, wipes his bottom with it, and throws it into the balcony! Homicide brings Lethal into the ring and starts jabbing his forehead with the fork! Okay, NOW I see blood! Homicide continues working the forehead of Lethal with elbows and punches, but Lethal starts firing back with big chops in the corner, however Homicide cuts him off with a poke to the eyes, followed by a legdrop across the back of his neck. Lethal tries fighting back again, but he’s too weak as Homicide just decks him in the face with a right hand. Homicide blocks a headscissors in the corner and ends up giving Lethal a sitdown Alabama Slam. Lethal blocks a hiptoss from Homicide and manages to give him a belly-to-belly suplex. Lethal literally ‘hulks up’ and gives Homicide a succession of moves, such as a back body drop and standing dropkick, leading to a knee strike/neckbreaker combination that takes Homicide down. Lethal leaps off the top with his diving headbutt and connects, but Homicide gets his foot on the ropes. Lethal goes for his Dragon Suplex, but Homicide escapes it and piledrives him! Homicide has a table placed into the ring and connects with a running knee strike in the corner. Homicide sets up the table near the turnbuckle and attempts the superplex, but Lethal fights him off and gives him a jumping DDT off the top through the table…for a two count! A woozy Lethal climbs to the top rope, but one of Homicide’s thugs (I believe Grim Reefer, whom I love) gives him a sidewalk slam off the top and Homicide covers him for a nearfall! Homicide attempts the Cop Killa, but Lethal rolls through and gives Homicide the Dragon Suplex, but the gang pulls the ref out of the ring before the three count can be made. Homicide ducks an enziguri and uses a chain to nail Lethal in the back of the neck before nailing a HUGE lariat to score the pinfall at 19:14.
Homicide defeats Jay Lethal via lariat at 19:14.
Another tremendous match in the ongoing feud between Lethal and the Rottweilers. Simple but effective use of a wrestling formula, with the babyface starting off hot until the heel uses his cheap tactics to dominate him until the big comeback, leading into a fantastic and unpredictable ending sequence. The crowd and myself really had no idea who would win, which was aided with the table spot and run-in by one of Homicide’s thugs. And another positive note; the fans were HOT! The entire match was filled with double chants for the wrestlers, and they were really into it. Also, this match helps strengthen my belief that Lethal is currently the best underdog in wrestling.***3/4
Match Seven
ROH World Championship
Roderick Strong vs. CM Punk-
Punk chops Strong across the chest, and then flees to the opposite corner and hides when Strong attempts to chop him back, leading to a ‘pussy’ chant. They trade some basic holds until Punk chops Strong across the back and once again runs away when Strong tries to get him back. Punk uses constant headlocks to keep Strong grounded and worn down, but Strong eventually gets back to his feet and attempts both his Stronghold and double-knee gutbuster, however both moves are blocked by Punk, so he decides to give him the Foley-clothesline over the top rope and ends up taking a nasty looking spill to the outside. Punk gets another chop on Strong and slides into the ring before Strong can chop him back. He is REALLY selling Strong’s chops like something deadly. Punk hits chop after chop while ducking Strong’s the entire time, and brings Strong down with a headlock takeover. Strong finally shoves Punk off and gives him a wicked chop to the chest! Strong continues an assault with chops until Punk pokes him in the eyes, however it doesn’t stop Strong for long as a chop battle ensues which Strong easily wins. Strong whips Punk into the corner and he does the Flair flip over the ropes and onto the apron, only to be knocked off with a forearm by Strong. I’m loving the Flair refrences tonight. Strong dives over the top with a crossbody, taking Punk out. Strong takes him around the outside, chopping him repeatedly, until he brings him back in the ring and delivers his first backbreaker of the match, prompting a ‘break his back’ chant. Strong gives Punk a running clothesline and a running forearm, but goes for another running attack and gets tossed onto the top rope by Punk. Punk brings Strong to the corner and delivers a few hard kicks to the chest, as the camera shows Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, and James Gibson watching the match from the balcony. Punk taunts them after giving Strong a dropkick to the back of the head. Punk stays on him with a russian leg sweep, but Strong manages to nail a second rope crossbody, only to be cut off with a clothesline shortly after. Both men exchange forearms, which Strong gets the better of, but Punk stops himself from being hit with a dropkick as Strong falls backwards.
Punk delivers a nice delayed vertical suplex to Strong and then locks him in a rear chinlock. Strong fires off some quick chops but Punk cuts him off once again, this time with a rising knee strike, and then mocks Strong by giving him a backbreaker. Punk stays on Strong with a mixture of strikes before applying a chinlock that almost makes Strong pass out, but he fights up to his feet! Strong sunset flips Punk, and in the process pulls down his tights to reveal his bare bottom! Punk wanders around with his tights pulled down and climbs to the top, but Strong slams him down to the mat, and then nails his double-knee gutbuster for a nearfall! Strong unleashes a fury of chops and clotheslines, finished with a dropkick for good measure. Strong manages to give Punk a half-nelson backbreaker for a two count. Strong attempts a second half-nelson backbreaker, but Punk rolls him up for a two count and nails him with the Shining Wizard before Strong could react, and then tries to lock on the Anaconda Vice but Strong turns it into a pin for a two count, and then rolls Punk up for another nearfall! Punk ends up hitting a superkick immediately followed by a tornado DDT before trying for the Anaconda Vice once again…but Strong gets to the ropes! Punk gives Strong the Pepsi Twist, but misses a springboard legdrop, allowing Strong to apply the Stronghold, but it doesn’t last long as Punk crawls to the ropes. Punk escapes several half-nelson backbreaker attempts and connects with the hammerlock DDT. He attempts a running forearm, but Strong catches him with the half-nelson backbreaker again, followed by a package backbreaker, finished with the pumphandle driver for a nearfall as Punk has the foot on the ropes! Punk reverses an O’Conner Roll by Strong into his own pinning combination and puts his foot on the ropes for leverage to win the match at 26:30.
CM Punk defeats Roderick Strong via pinning combination to retain the World Title at 26:30.
About on par with their encounter at The Future Is Now, but for different reasons. Punk’s tremendous heel work and body language really helped shape this match and turn it into something special, as he was a complete coward when it came to Strong’s chops but a vicious competitor when he had the advantage. Strong definitely played the underdog well, but at this point in his career he was still a bit bland and one-dimensional, which was shown by his lack of ferocity in trying to claim back the belt for ROH. It’s kind of sad when the guys rooting for you (Aries and Gibson) seem more excited and hyped. Not trying to diss Strong, as he did do really well and helped make this match so great, just pointng out some flaws.****
Post-match, CM Punk gets on the mic and says that the ROH World Championship belongs to him, and since tonight is his last night, everyone should say goodbye to the champ. James Gibson runs out and chases off Punk into the crowd, but he gets cut off by Samoa Joe as he tries to leave! Punk tries escaping through the curtain, but Mick Foley’s behind him and clobbers him with a few right hands! Gibson gives him the Tiger Driver in the ring as Foley counts 1, 2, 3! Of course, it’s not a real match by any means. Gibson holds the belt up and says it’s coming to him. Gibson says if Punk has any guts, he’ll wrestle him next week, and then nicknames himself the ‘Redneck Messiah’!
Backstage, the camera man begs Colt Cabana for an uninterrupted promo, but Colt assumes it’s about Punk’s problems and explains that everyone has problems, so he’s sorry if he’s annoying people but he can’t help it. Colt talks about his loss to Nigel and says that he’s off to England because he has a lot to learn.
Moment Of The Night: There was a lot of cool stuff going on during the show, but my favorite and probably the most memorable was Mick Foley holding CM Punk over the balcony ledge, just because it was so awesome to see Foley borderlineing his Cactus Jack character while mixing it up with the current top ROH guy.
Wrestler Of The Night: Tough choice, as so many guys performed well on the show and went above the call of duty, but I’m going to pick CM Punk for being such a cocky, arrogant heel and generating an ungodly amount of heat considering how loved he was by such a smart crowd. Punk’s entrance alone shows how he just oozes heel charisma.
Match Of The Night: Have to go with the main event, CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong, as it was just the best match of the show with possibly the most crowd heat and was important to the ongoing main storyline in ROH.
The Inside Pulse
Ring Crew Express & Dixie vs. Lacey’s Angels & Vordell Walker- ** (Repetitive spots a-plenty)
Carnage Crew vs. BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs- *** (Surprisingly good match with some shocking moments)
Azrieal vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Alex Shelley vs. James Gibson- ***1/4 (Good, technically sound match)
Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe- ***3/4 (Excellent match that played off their previous encounters well)
Nigel McGuinness vs. Colt Cabana- * (Disaster, and nothing more)
Homicide vs. Jay Lethal- ***3/4 (A great fight between enemies with unpredictable twists and turns)
Roderick Strong vs. CM Punk- **** (On par with their last match for different reasons; felt like an important match and Punk’s heel antics and body langauge shaped it into something special)
The show runs just a minute shy of 3 hours, and with all of the storyline advancement going on as well as three great matches and a shocking title change, I’m not sure why you shouldn’t purchase this. Let’s get the bad out of the way first: the opener continues to expose the men involved as nothing but spot monkeys who offer nothing but the same spots over and over and over, no matter what match it is. Although, I will say that I love Deranged because he tries to incorporate some nice wrestling aspects into his matches at times. The other part of the show that had me both baffled and annoyed was the European’s Rules match. Not only was the stipulation and rules stupid, but the entire match was there just to advance their feud further, so they spent most of the time doing random antics and boring wrestling that made no sense in the long run. Basically, it was a waste of time, and the lives fans thought the same. With the bad of the way, let’s focus on the good…or should I say GREAT? Two matches are on the verge of being four stars, and one match makes the cut. That’s a really strong showing, and it’s backed up by two other well-wrestled matches on the undercard. Plus, you have a very memorable segment between Foley and Punk midway into the show, along with a shocking tag title change. The good far outweighs the bad on this show, and it’s an important show in the progression of ‘The Summer Of Punk’. Two thumbs up and a high reccomendation.
