On the 22nd of April 2006, Ring of Honor presented its seventh and final show in the Milestone Series and the 100th show in the company’s history, entitled The 100th Show. One can read my review of the sixth show in the Milestone series, Better than Our Best here. One can also read my review of the fifth show in this series, Supercard of Honor here.
This show is named “The 100th show†for obvious reasons. To celebrate this milestone event, ROH wants to end the feud with CZW by picking 3 of ROH’s best, to take on 3 of CZW’s best. The ROH squad consists of ROH Icon Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer and Adam Pearce; CZW’s consists of their leader, Chris Hero, Necro Butcher and Super Dragon. Also on this show, Colt Cabana (with momentum on his side after winning the feud with Homicide) gets a World title shot against Bryan Danielson, and The Briscoe Brothers take on AJ Styles and Matt Sydal.
For a non-spoiler review of this show, scroll down to the Summary section. Remember Summary!
Current Storylines: The ROH vs CZW feud has reached its boiling point. For months now, CZW wrestlers have interfered in matches, viciously attacked ROH wrestlers and have even ruined shows (Arena Warfare). ROH feels there’ll be no better way to celebrate the company’s than sending those CZW wrestlers packing for good. The all out 6 man war will main event tonight’s show.
Back at Arena Warfare, The Briscoe Brothers attacked Austin Aries and Matt Sydal after their match together. Sydal said he’d had enough of their attacks on Generation next, so back here in Philly, at ROH’s 100th show it’ll be The Briscoes vs him and his tag team partner, AJ Styles!
Homicide and Colt Cabana are moving on after their feud, which ended at the last show in the Milestone Series, Better than Our Best. As a payoff for their months and months of suffering, both of them will get title shots. Seeing as Colt won the feud, he will get a shot at the big one, Bryan Danielson’s ROH World Title. Homicide will continue the Rottwiellers’ feud with Generation Next, getting an ROH World Tag Team Title shot in the process. It will be Aries and Strong defending the titles against Cide and Ricky Reyes later tonight.
Like every other show in the Milestone Series, this show starts from where the last one ended. We see Bryan Danielson signing a contract, making him the new head trainer of the ROH Wrestling School. Along comes Austin Aries and hands over the keys. President of ROH, Cary Silkin tells us what’s happening, but Danielson interrupts him and cuts a promo, basically saying he now owns the place.
Colt Cabana is backstage. He cuts a happy promo, saying he’s glad the Homicide feud is finally over, and he’s gonna use his momentum from that to take the ROH World Title off of Danielson.
We are shown a pretty revealing shot of Lacey backstage. She says she’s so disappointed in Jacobs’ losing streak she won’t be in his corner for his match tonight. But to give him some extra motivation for tonight, she says if he wins, she’ll strip for him (and everyone else) right here, on ROHVideos.com. The promo was principally for ROHVideos.com, but seeing as it concerns this show, ROH put it onto this DVD.
1. Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli : The first 5 or so minutes consist purely of both men trading neat holds on the mat. Lots of nice chain wrestling. They start do a little lucha with the armdrags and such. Claudio gets control of Daniels for a short amount of time, hitting him with a delayed vertical suplex and applying a chinlock. Daniels comes back, and gains control with a dropkick to the knee. He works over CC’s leg, applying a few leg locks, stomping on it and hitting an Arabian Press directly onto it. CC makes a comeback with an enziguri and a second rope uppercut. He hits a few more uppercuts, then the Match Killer for 2. He goes after Daniels’ knee applying the Neutraliser (stretch muffler), but Daniels reaches the ropes. Daniels gets a rollup out of relatively nowhere for the 3 count.
Winner: Christopher Daniels.
Good match. It reminded me of Daniels vs Alex Shelley from Best in the World – not very story based, just a crisp, fun to watch technical match. With more selling in the finishing sequence and a few minutes cut off, this could have been great.
***.
*Post match, Daniels gets on the mic. He puts over ROH and talks about tonight being the big 100th Show. He starts to put over CC, and says he he’s the future of this company. In a shocking event, (for the first time ever) Daniels shakes hands in ROH, as he shakes Claudio’s hand!
Chris Hero appears in the crowd, once Daniels leaves. He rips on the ROH fans and has a go at Claudio for not joining the CZW side. As Hero leaves, the ROH fans chant “Joe’s gonna KILL you!â€Â
Here are the Top 5 Rankings for April ROH:
5) Roderick Strong
4) Jimmy Yang
3) Samoa Joe
2) Christopher Daniels
1) Colt Cabana
2. Four Corner Survival ¡V Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Delirious vs. Jimmy Yang : All 4 men need the win here. Jacobs needs it to satisfy Lacey, Delirious needs it to keep his momentum from Better than our Best going, Yang needs it to stay in the top 5 ranking and Rave needs it to keep him momentum from the Tripleshot going. In the absence of Lacey, Jacobs brings out a giant portrait style picture of Lacey, for support.
Yang starts with Jacobs. They do the usual feeling out process. Yang ¡¥humps’ the giant picture of Lacey, which makes Jacobs mad! Jacobs tags to Delirious, and he and Yang have a feeling out process. Delirious tags to Jacobs, and Jacobs starts to work over Yang. Rave comes in and continues to work over Yang. All 3 men work him over some more, this is boring. Yang eventually makes a comeback with a moonsault and tags to Jacobs. Jacobs headscissors Delirious into the turnbuckles then presses himself off the turnbuckles into a headscissors on Rave! Just as he gets up, Rave nails him with a Spear! Yang hits a crazy kick on Jacobs, but misses Yang Time. Jacobs grabs him…CONTRA CODE! 1…2…Jacobs stops the pin himself! Yang didn’t kick out. Delirious tags a dead Yang. He puts the cobra clutch on Jacobs…Cobra Clutch neckbreaker! COBRA STRETCH! Jacobs fights it, but is eventually forced to tap.
Winner: Delirious.
That was generic, usual 4CS formula with a hot finishing stretch. Nothing very significant.
**.
3. ROH Tag Team Title Match: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Homicide & Ricky Reyes : This is the blowoff to the GeNext/Rottwiellers feud that never really got going. Unfortunately, no BADASS Ricky Reyes music today.
It starts with Homicide and Aries, feeling out process. Cide and Reyes start working over Aries (which doesn’t really work since Strong hasn’t even tagged into the match yet). They dominate his leg. He flips out of a backdrop attempt and makes the hot tag to Strong, 5 minutes in. Strong comes in and cleans house, sloppily. I’m guessing we’re now in the finishing sequence.
Well I guessed wrong, as Cide and Reyes slow it down and start working over Strong. What the fuck? They work him over for what feels like an eternity. Damn this is boring. He makes the hot tag to Aries. The fans pop for it, because they want this to end. The finishing sequence has 1 ¡V 2 nice spots in it, but it’s mostly everyone looking lost having sloppy exchanges. Reyes puts Strong in the Dragon Sleeper. No one has escaped that hold yet in ROH. Aries goes up top, as Reyes deliberately breaks the Dragon Sleeper on Strong. 450 FROM ARIES! 1, 2, 3. That was one sweet 450.
Winners and still ROH Tag Team Champions: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.
God, that was terrible. Everything that is wrong with pro wrestling was here. The start –> Aries workover period –> hot tag to Strong –> workover period on Strong formula was retarded and left the match completely heatless. It had no build whatsoever, everyone looked lost and many things (ie the finish) didn’t make sense. Easily the worst Aries and Strong defence of them all.
1/2*.
4. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana : They work a normal match for the first 3 minutes. They go into a series of rollups, with Dragon getting one for the win, out of nowhere!
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Bryan Danielson
Too short to be anything good, but it looks like they’re leading to something interesting.
*.
*It’s intermission, and GMC is with Jimmy Jacobs. He asks him why he didn’t take the opportunity win in his match earlier. Jacobs insults the internet fans, saying he didn’t want to see them naked.
Colt Cabana walks by, and GMC approaches him, but Colt walks off, still in shock about how quickly he lost to Danielson. GMC promises to get word with him later.
5. Derrick Dempsey vs. Pelle Primeau : They wrestle a bit. Derrick hits a big Saito suplex. He hits a spinebuster for the 3.
Winner: Who gives a fuck? (Derrick Dempsey)
That wasn’t particularly offensive, but it was beyond pointless.
1/2*.
Bryan Danielson comes out after the match. He cuts one of the most entertaining promos I have ever seen. He rips CZW, CZW fans, ROH fans, puts over the students (because he’s the new head trainer) and more. He says he wasn’t satisfied with beating Colt Cabana, in what, (asking where Green Lantern Fan is!) 6 minutes. He says he wants another match, so he’s gonna pick a wrestler who won a match from the first half of the show. “Christopher Daniels? Oh wait, I’ve ALREADY beaten him. Austin Aries? I’ve ALREADY beaten him. Roderick Strong? I’ve already beaten him THREE times! So Delirious, if you have the guts, come out here and challenge me for this belt!â€Â
6. ROH World Title Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious : Danielson gets control on delirious right off the bat and goes straight to work. He’s pissed off. He disrespects Delirious and ties him up on the mat with all kinds of submissions. Great stuff here from Dragon. He continues to work Delirious over.
Delirious makes a comeback, hitting Shadows Over Hell! He follows it up with the Panic Attack, which gets a 2. He goes for the Leaping Lariat…Dragon catches the arm…CATTLE MUTILATION! Delirious gets his foot on the ropes! COBRA STRATCH! Danielson reaches the ropes. Danielson realises Delirious has too much momentum, so he takes it to the outside and starts to destroy him. With aid of the ringpost, Dragon busts Delirious open. He rips at his mask, exposing the top of his head. He airplane spins him on the floor, then rams him head first into the ringpost!
Back in, Dragon picks up a dead Delirious…DRAGON SUPLEX! CATTLE MUTILIATION! Everyone thinks this is it, Delirious looks out…but he reaches the ropes! Dragon goes up top for the Diving headbutt…Delirious moves out of the way! Delirious hits a desperation kick to the head. Danielson puts Delirious on the top rope, destroying Delirious’ hand on the post in the procedure. Backdrop Superplex! MMA ELBOWS! Delirious is knocked out, as Sinclair rings the bell.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Bryan Danielson.
Good match. It was mostly an extended squash, but Delirious played a great underdog and got some good heat at the end. The best thing about this was Danielson made Delirious come out looking like a million bucks. He did some lovely heel work, gave Delirious a GREAT beatdown and made Delirious look 100% credible on his comebacks. Not the best wrestling match, but a helluva a lot of fun.
***.
7. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Matt Sydal & AJ Styles : The Briscoes try to catch AJ and Sydal from behind to start, but they dodge the attack and use their speed to gain control. AJ and Sydal hit some cool double teams in the corner. The faces run wild for a little longer, until the Briscoes isolate Sydal and work him over. He makes the tag to AJ, but he also falls victim to the Briscoes’ double team offence. They go back to working over Sydal. The Briscoes hit some lovely looking double team sequences. Mark goes up top, but Sydal catches him from standing with a hurricanrana! Hot tag to AJ!
AJ comes in and cleans house. He hits a clothesline and spinning lariat. He kinda botches a gutbuster, but makes up for it by hitting a perfect springboard moonsault DDT. AJ grabs Jay…Germans him on his head! Backdrop faceplant! It gets 2! Sydal goes up top, as AJ lifts Jay in suplex position…top rope splash/neckbreaker combo! 1…2…NO! AJ and Sydal pick up Jay again…SICK double team neckbreaker! 1…2…NO! The Briscoes get Sydal alone…BEAUTIFUL SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE! 1…2…AJ breaks it up! Man that move was sweet. Jay tries for a Jay Driller on Sydal…Sydal sweeps the legs…Standing Moonsault! 1…2…NO! The Briscoes double team Sydal…SPIKE JAY DRILLER! AJ dived to stop Mark’s springboard, but he was too late. Pin on Sydal…1…2…3! The Briscoes take this one.
Winners: The Briscoe Brothers.
Great match. The story saw the double team strength of the Briscoes conquer the speed of AJ and Sydal. AJ and Sydal would have the advantage when they were alone with a Briscoe (or if it was 2 on 2), but when both Briscoes were in the ring they were unstoppable. The match worked the normal tag formula well, and when the finishing sequence hit the match got amazing. With a stronger heel/face dynamic and more time, this could have been as good as some of Aries and Strong’s defences which were also from the Milestone Series.
****.
A video package is shown, highlighting 99 shows worth of great moments and matches. Cool, fitting video package.
Now it’s time for the ALMIGHTY VERBAL DEBATE OF DOOM between Cornette and Zandig. This thing basically consists of Cornette verbally pwning Zandig, with him pointlessly swearing to keep up. It’s a massive clusterfuck, but at least it gets the fans warmed up for the main event. Team CZW come out through the crowd and scare Cornette away. Samoa Joe’s music hits, the fans go mental, and we have our main event!
8. ROH vs. CZW ¡V Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce vs. Chris Hero, Necro Butcher and Super Dragon : The ref for ROH is Todd Sinclair, for CZW it’s Bryce Remsburg There’s no commentary here. The fans are so loud throughout the match you don’t need it though.
Everyone brawls with everyone to start. Claudio Castagnoli makes an appearance, but that’s just to take Zandig’s barbed wire bat to the back. Everyone is brawling and it’s crazy. CRAZY. Joe hits the atomic drop ¾Ã‚³ Big boot ¾Ã‚³ Senton combo on Hero in the ring. Joe kills Hero with an Ole Kick outside the ring. Pearce starts bleeding, and fuck does he bleed a lot. They brawl in the crowd. Lots of chair shots. Whitmer and Joe grab Super Dragon…Double Suplex onto chairs! Everyone brawls some more. This is great.
Pearce and Necro enter the ring. Pearce goes up top…top rope fist drop OF DOOM! It gets 2. Whitmer nails Super Dragon with a chair. Necro chokes Joe. Whitmer gets control of Hero in the ring…Brainbuster! 1…2…NO! Dragon and Whitmer fight in the ring. Dragon goes up top…high angle top rope senton! That MUST have hurt BJ. It gets 2. Joe and Necro now duke it out in the ring. They set up 2 folded chairs. Joe kills Necro with a sick flurry of forearms…grabs him…BACKDROP ON THE CHAIRS! The fans go nuts. Joe covers him! 1…2…NO! No one can believe it. Joe continues to dominate, giving Dragon a side slam through a table on the outside.
Dragon recovers and gets Pearce in thr ring. CURB STOMP. Everyone loves it. Super Dragon gives the fans the middle finger, not seeing BJ Whitmer come in the ring. LARIAT KILLS DRAGON! That was fucking awesome. The fans are going crazy for Whitmer. He sets up a chair in the middle of the ring…EXPLODERS DRAGON THROUGH THE CHAIR! 1…2…3! Dragon comes back, and traps Whitmer’s head inside a set up chair, leaving Whitmer’s head/face on the part one sits down on. SD goes up top. DOUBLE STOMP ON WHITMER’S HEAD! 1…2…NO! The pop for Whitmer’s kickout is incredible.
SD is pissed, so he takes Whitmer out to the apron to do more damage. There’s a table set up on the floor. SD hits a headbutt, and then puts Whitmer in Torture Rack position. OH NO! PSYCHO DRIVER THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR! BJ Whitmer is appropriately dead after that. The CZW side take over as Zandig comes out and Necro knocks out Todd Sinclair. Claudio comes out to make the save for ROH! He holds Hero in place for Joe, but lets go of Hero, and nails Joe with a European Uppercut! Claudio turns on ROH and joins the CZW side! The fans chant for Homicide but he doesn’t come. Hero and Claudio pick up Pearce and nail him with a double team Hero’s Welcome. 1…2…3! CZW wins at ROH’s 100th Show!
Winners: Team CZW (Hero, Necro and Dragon).
That was amazing; it has to be the best chaotic brawl I’ve ever seen. The intensity, crowd heat and realism here was fantastic, so great I was marking out at every move. All the brawling was stiff and realistic, and some of the exchanges in the ring were red hot. The Claudio turn was also great. Perfectly done 6 man war type matchup.
****1/2.
Post match, the students come out to stretcher a dead BJ Whitmer to the back. Pearce is also dead. Joe is the only person on the ROH side alive, and he has a sick expression of anger on his face. Team CZW go up to their bleachers and celebrate with the fans. What a war.
Colt Cabana is backstage with GMC. He says he’s sorry to the fans for losing so quickly, with all the months of brawling with Homicide he forgot how to wrestle. He says he’s gonna start at the bottom of the card and work his way back up into the World Title picture.
Best Match: Team CZW vs Team ROH.
Worst Match: Derrick Dempsey vs Pelle Primeau. (Aries/Strong/Cide/Reyes were lucky this was on the show)
Overall Show Thoughts: This was a good show. It’s a little underwhelming compared to the tripleshot which preceded it, but ROH wasn’t really hading for the insanely high match quality here. It was more of a fun show celebrating the 100 shows of ROH, while having great wrestling. The main event was completely awesome and must see, and with all the angle advancement on this show I recommend buying it.
Overall Score: 7.5/10.
As always, check out rohwrestling.com if you’re interested in picking this show up.
The Inside Pulse
Summary
1. Christopher Daniels vs Claudio Castagnoli: Sharp, fun technical match. ***.
2. Jimmy Yang vs Jimmy Rave vs Jimmy Jacobs vs Delirious: Generic 4 way. **.
3. ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Aries and Strong vs Homicide and Reyes: Terrible match, everything sucked. ½*.
4. ROH World Title match: Bryan Danielson vs Colt Cabana: Starts out how you’d expect it, then ends out of nowhere 5 minutes in. It’s leading to an angle though. *.
5. Derrick Dempsey vs Pelle Primeau: 3 minute student match. ¼*.
6. ROH World Title match: Bryan Danielson vs Delirious: An extended squash, but a really good one at that. ***.
7. The Briscoe Brothers vs AJ Styles and Matt Sydal: Not as good as Aries and Strong’s title defences, but still really good. ****.
8. Team ROH vs Team CZW war: Perfectly done 6 man war type match. Insane crowd heat and intensity from bell to bell. Make sure to see this match. ****1/2.
Overall Thoughts: This was a good show. It’s a little underwhelming compared to the tripleshot which preceded it, but ROH wasn’t really hading for the insanely high match quality here. It was more of a fun show celebrating the 100 shows of ROH, while having great wrestling. The main event was completely awesome and must see, and with all the angle advancement on this show I recommend buying it. 7.5/10.
