ROHnalysis – DVD Review – Honor Nation – 10.5.2007 – Boston, MA

Reviews, Wrestling DVDs

-The DVD starts with, of all things, a promo by Delirious. Now re-read that sentence, and punch yourself in the mind. It goes on for around 45 seconds, and is more or less unintelligable, as should be expected from him. You do make out a few words, mainly “hangman” and “delirious” and a quick verse from the song, “I’m in Love with a Girl Named Fred” from the musical Once Upon a Mattress. I wish I was making that up.

-We’re then sent to the ring awaiting the introduction of The Hangmen 3, but there’s a scroll at the bottom of the screen telling us to watch the ROH Video Wire on the DVD before we watch any of the show. This would be a smart move on the viewer’s part, as this show is right on the heels of the debut of The Age of the Fall, and it greatly applies to certain events of the night. I won’t rehash it here, as you can find descriptions and videos of it all over this series of tubes that we call The Interweb.

-Sadly, the crowd is far from full, with tons of open seats visable from the main camera view.

Match 1:
Brent Albright and “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce vs. The Resilience (Erick Stevens and Matt Cross)

Albright and Pearce, as members of the Hangmen 3, are accompanied by BJ Whitmer and Shane Hagadorn. The handshake of honor is rejected when Albright spits into Cross’ hand. Ew. Albright and Cross start out doing some technical wrestling, and Cross orces Albright into the corner, and breaks clean, but Albright takes the opportunity to slap him in the face, following that up by running way to the outside like little girl andraising his hands in victory. Pearce is tagged in, and Albright acts like he wants to be tagged back in, nd so he is…and so he tags right back in. We also get Pearce pointing at his hand and yelling, “This is here the power lies!” What?

Stevens is tagged in, and we get a test of strength between he and Pearce. They do a bridge spot with Stevens, and he ends up reversing it into a kind of Northern Lights suplext on Pearce. Cross is tagged in, and we get a double team followed by a Matt Cross senton. Pearce against the ropes and dropkicked by Cross, and Stevens is tagged back in, and they hit Pearce with a drop toehold/standing moonsault combo. However, Pearce manages to recover and get the upper hand, and pounds on Stevens until he tags in Albright, who comes in and is quickly beaten down and, in a bit of payback, gets slapped across the face by a newly tagged in Matt Cross. Albright is scrambling, and Cross goes up top, but his leg gets grabbed by Hagadorn, and Albright takes the opportunity to push him off. Cross sent back in, and the Hangmen have the upper hand. Pearce is tagged in, and he beats on Cross, then takes a moment to slug Stevens. Ref, naturally, is distracted, and the heel beatdown continues as they fake a tag and Albright comes in to give Cross a nice snap suplex.

More heel domination continues, as Cross is catapulted into the middle turnbuckle in an awkward move. Cross tries to fight back, but he’s just overpowered by Albright and brought right back to the Hangmen corner, where Hagadorn and Whitmer abuse him for awhile. If this sounds incredibly exciting, then I’m not writing it correctly. It’s not exactly boring, it’s just sort of…there. There’s just nothing extraordinary special about it, although something remotely interesting happens when Albright tries to German Suplex Cross, but he lands…almost on his feet, and then stumbles back and tags in a fresh Erick Stevens who, naturally, cleans proverbial house. Normal stuff, although Stevens hits the somewhat hefty Pearce with a German Suplex, followed by a charge on Albright in the corner (yelling “Choo Choo!”), followed by a fireman’s carry position, where he uses Albright’s body to knock down Pearce, and Cross zips in and over the ropes with a somersault plancha before Stevens hits a TKO on Albright. It only gets two, so Stevens holds Albright in a reverse headlock, so that Cross can do a springboard double-stomp to the back of Albright, which gets two when Pearce interrupts the ref. Stevens starts pounding on Pearce, but Albright hits him from behind. They try to double team Stevens, but he double clotheslines them both, the hits a double-noggin knocker. They’re both in the corner, and he goes for a charge, but only gets a double chokeslam for his troubles. It gets two, but Cross breaks it up. Cool move where Cross goes for a crucifix on Pearce, but Pearce isn’t going for it; then, he tries to turn it into a sunset flip, but Pearce just holds him, making it look like he’ll give him a reverse driver of some kind, but Stevens lariats Pearce right over into a pin attempt for Cross. Neato. Cross is getting all riled up,a nd goes for a dive, but gets tripped up by Whitmer. He beats on Cross on the outside, while Albright and Stevens slug it out, and Stevens tosses a running Albright into the air and catches him in a powerslam for two. When Stevens is frustrated at not getting the pin, Albright locks in a cross armbreaker, but Stevens is too strong and picks him up using sheer force, only to be hit in the back by Pearce. Steven slugs him back, but it allows Whitmer to hit a half nelson suplex for the three count. Started slow, but the end was fun.
Winners: Brent Albright and Adam Pearce via half-nelson suplex

-Post-match, Whitmer has the mic as the Hangmen 3 celebrate, and he run down the fans and talks about how his eyes were opened by the one, the only, Adam Pearce. He is summarly rewarded by the audience with a rousing chant of “Shut the Fuck Up.” He mentions how Delirious was the first victim of the Hangmen 3, (“Ba! Ba! Ba! Ba!”) and then calls out the masked muppet. Seriously, hasn’t it occurred to anyone that Delirious is more or less Animal from the Muppet Show in pro-wrestler form? Delirious, it would seem, is only too happy to oblige, as his music hits, he runs out, clotheslines down Pearce and Albright, and starts attacking Whitmer.

Match 2:
BJ Whitmer vs. Delirious

Delirious pounds on Whitmer, and they brawl about the ring. Delirious forces Whitmer into a corner and bites Whitmer, but Whitmer reverses with an eye gouge. More corner antics in the other corner, and they end up in the center of the ring, as Whitmer tries to hit some kind of piledriver or backbreaker that Delirious turns into headscissors, taking Whitmer down. Charge into the corner on Whitmer, and it’s reversed by Whitmer, who charges into a boot by Delirious, and he follows up with a dropkick off of the second rope to Whitmer’s back, which sends him to the outside. Delirious follows up by heading to the top turnbuckle and hitting a cannonball to Whitmer on the floor. Delirious throws him back in, and goes back to biting him, then chokes him in the corner and gives him a backrake. Irish whip to Delirious in the corner, but he hops up, only for Whitmer to catch him and dive him into the mat with an Alabama Slam. Bodyslam on Delirious, followed by an attempt to take off the mask. Albright taunts Delirious from the outside, and Whitmer brings him back up and chops him, which earns one in return, and we go into a bit of a chopping war. Whitmer ends that by picking him up and hitting a fallaway slam. Delrious gets up and tries to fight back, but he just get irish whipped and kitchen sinked by Whitmer, who then straps in a camel clutch

Delirious starts biting his hand, and that gets out of the hold. Whitmer goes back to beating on Delirious, and slaps him across the face twice. He goes for a suplex, but Delirious won’t allow it, and hits Whitmer with a snap suplex. Delirious goes ino crazy striking mode, but Whitmer retaliates with forearms, but when he runs off the ropes at him, Delirious hits a uranage, followed by some mounting punches. Whitmer forces him into thecorner, and Delirious boots him after a charge, then drop toeholds him after a second charge, and Delirious takes this opportunity to give him three Panic Attacks in a row. Delirious goes for a one count, but then decides to go out and get a steel chair, which he ref, of course, takes away. This distraction gives Whitmer enough time to hit a powerbomb into the corner, followed by a running boot, then another powerbomb with a folding press, but only for two. Whitmer’s frustrated, and goes for a frog splash, and Delirious was SUPPOSED to get out of the way, but it doesn’t quite work out that way, and he still gets some of it. Delirious is, for some reason, healthy again, and hits a jumping lariat on Whitmer. He then calls on the poewr of the Gods or something, and heads to the top, but Pearce crotches him. Whitmer grabs Delirious off the top, hits the Adrenaline Spike, and that’s all she wrote. Fun, if unspectacular. Perhaps I just have higher expectations from Ring of Honor, but this didn’t knock my socks off. Solid, but this isn’t a match I’m going to have to show to my friends.
Winner: BJ Whitmer via Adrenaline Spike

-We get a Bryan Danielson interview where he tells Morishima that he won’t forget about the eye injury that he sustained at his hands, and then talks about the Best of Three Series with Austin Aries, as they argue for the top spot. I’ll give you a hint to how it goes: Danielson says that it’s not Aries. Basically, he talks about how he’s been the top guy since the company’s inception, and how that’s not about to change anytime soon.

-Back at ringside, a screaming woman’s voice is heard, which signals the approach of The Age of the Fall in the form of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, and Lacey. Jacobs goes on about how Tyler Black isn’t in the upcoming Four Corners match for any real reason, and that what they really want is the tag belts, as the belts have the power, and that power will give them the ability to further their revolution. Really? Well, we don’t learn too much else, as Jay Briscoe comes out and takes on everyone, tossing them out of the ring and into the crowd, as they fight to the back. Unsurprisingly, Jay sells nothing and seems to have little trouble handling both AotF guys by himself. However, a fan says something funny when Jacobs uses a broomstick as a weapon: “Hey, that’s no fair, he got a stick!”

Match 3: Three Corner Survival Match
El Generico vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Hallowicked

Well, Tyler Black was SUPPOSED to be in this one, but I suppose we’re minus a corner, then. However, it’s no longer an elimination match, and it’s simply one fall to a finish. In a funny moment, they all shake hands, but McGuinness grabs Hallowicked’s horn. Starts out with Generico preening a bit and then chopping McGuinness, who returns the favor by clotheslining him out of his boots. Hallowicked gets hit by Nigel and put into the corner, where he gets a running European uppercut, but Generico hits him with a jumping calf kick to the face. Generico goes to follow up with a plancha, but he gets interrupted by Hallowicked, who Generico spins around and armdrops out of the ring. He makes it seem like he’s going to go for a tope on Hallowicked, but he instead jumps over the opposite rope and hits one on Nigel, much to the delight of the crowd. He tries to send Nigel back in the ring, but Nigel rebounds back out and, of course, hits Generico with a lariat. Nigel back in the ring with a kick to the midsection of Hallowicked, but Hallowicked tosses him against the ropes and hits a Sky High powerbomb, only go get up and be hit by a high cross body by Generico for two. Generico hits a belly-to-back suplex on Hallowicked for another two, then goes for a bilingual ten punch countalong on the toprope, but he gets snakeyed by Hallowicked. Nigel gets back into the sway of things, then hits Hallowicked with, you guessed it, another lariat. He set Hallowicked up in the corner, and Generico tells him to move out of the way for his Yakuza Kick. He does, but only so that he can lariat the running Canadian Luchador. Hallowicked on the apron, and Nigel tries to suplex him back in, but it’s no go, so he does one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen in a wrestling match, and pulls back the top rope so that it snaps Hallowicked right in the face. Dude, right on. Picks him up, and suplxes him into the shoulders of El Generico, who gts rana’d by Wicked. Backslide attempt by Wicked on Nigel, but he kicks out, and then whips him against the ropes, only for Wicked to catch him in another roll-up. No go, but it causes enough distraction that it gives Hallowicked a chance to boot Nigel in the back of the head. Generico tosses Wicked to the floor, and hits Nigel with an awesome superfly splash, but Nigel kicks out.

Generico sets up for another running Yakuza Kick, but misses, and Nigel hits a brutal kick to the back of the head followed by a swift elbow down. Seriously, just…ow. Alas, Hallowicked breaks up the pin attempt, then whips Nigel into the corner, but Nigel puts on the breaks, goes into a headstand, and kicks Wicked in the cest with a mule kick for two. Nigel sets up Wicked straddled across the top rope, and gets ready to go for a lariat off the second rope, but Generico comes out of nowhere with the Yakuza Kick, sending Nigel to the outside. Generico heads to the lateral turnbuckle, then jumps, spinning in midair, and catching Hallowicked for a tornado DDT. Very nice, but it only gets two. Generico to the floor to go for a suicide dive through the turnbuckles on Nigel, but he gets hit with an elbow, and Nigel follows up with a Tower of London off the bottom rope to the floor. So long, Generico. Before Nigel can get his bearings, he’s hit by a somersault plancha from Hallowicked, and he gets tossed back into the ring. Wicked hits a low kick off a fireman’s carry (is that Go to Sleepy Hollow?), followed by a running boot to the head, but Nigel uses the momentum to do a little flip in the ropes and come back, dodging a Wicked clothesline, and hitting one of his own. One sloppy Tower of London later, and that’s the end of it. I have to say, I now see why people make fun of Nigel’s overuse of lariats, as it’s roughly 70% of his arsenal at this point. Yeah, they’re savage, but it’s still the same move over and over again. Anyway, in an odd show of respect, McGuinness checks on the other competitors, raising Hallowicked’s hand, shaking Generico’s, and giving them both a round of applause. Huh…still, certainly a fun match, and one I might show friends to get a sense of Ring of Honor.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness via Tower of London

-Next, Kevin Steen gives an interview talking about how his match with Morishima is huge for him, even if it’s nothing big for Morishima. In a funny bit, he tells Morishima to listen up…then realizes how pointless that is, since Morishima doesn’t speak English, but everyone ELSE should listen up. He talks about how he came to ROH with high hopes about two years ago, and most of those hopes have been destroyed. This is his one chance to prove the naysayers wrong, and while Morishima might be Godzilla, he’s King Kong. Rawr.

Match 4:
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero

I love Chris Hero’s gimmick and attitude, but I’ve never actually seen him in a match where he blew me away. He’s obviously got the athletic gifts, but I don’t know, I just haven’t caught the right match, I suppose. Also, it’s ridiculous how much the crowd responds to Claudio, as every time he lifts his arms, the audience just shouts “Hey!”

What follows is approximately 9400 minutes of stalling, as Hero has the announcer tell the crowd that, though the F word is expected in Boston, it is not to be used during his match, as he does not appreciate it. This, of course, only further pushes the crowd to continue their “Fuck You, Hero” chant, as I wince, seeing little kids in the audience. Way to go, parents. However, after more teasing and taunting, the match finally gets underway, and Claudio takes him down in the middle of the ring with takedowns and a magistral cradle, which sens Hero out to the ring to recuperate. Larry Sweeney tries to talk strategy to him, and he has Bobby Dempsey gives him a little back massage at Her’s request, which only leads to more embarrassment at the hands of Hero and Sweeney, as the audience gives a “Bobby Dempsey” chant.

Oh lord, the stalling continues! Possibly a knucklelock between the two, but wait, no…it’s just time for Claudio to get more “Hey!”s from the audience. The finally go into a knucklelock, which Claudio obviously wins, and he uses the opportunity to pander to the crowd some more. Hero runs out, takes a breather, then gets back, in, and I wonder if they’ll ever actually wrestle. Oh wait, here we go! Hero starts stomping on Claudio’s foot, then jumps off the second rope with a double axehandle. Hero celebrates with a kip-up, but Claudio recovers with a sloppy clothesline, followed by a snapmare. He runs against the ropes three times, building momentum…and hits a chinlock. Funny, but not what this match needs. However, Hero pushes Claudio into a corner, and just CLOCKS him with a right hand. Seriously, you just hear this sickening smack against Claudio’s head, and Hero screams in pain. Hey, it hurts when you really punch someone…anyway, he returns with an elbow to Claudio, then does a front flip for no apparent reason, then anoher elbow, then another flip, then a backflip off the ropes, and then, of course, gets hit by a Claudio European Uppercut, who follows up with a front flip and some celebratory crouchwalking. Claudio goes for a Boston Crab, but Hero grabs his legs, so he lands a big elbow on him, then goes for the legs again, and turns it into a giant swing! You know, this, and the fact that Danielson does the airplane spin blow my mind. Hero is released, but Claudio only gets to. Slams him to the floor to set up for Swiss Crabwalk, but Sweeney grabs his leg, and Hero boots him off the ropes to the outside. Hero off the apron onto Claudio with a double axehandle, then goes for the eyes a bit before throwing him into the ring. Hero hops over the top rope and lands a single stomp on Claudio’s chest, then kicks him some more before going into an elbowlock, but Claudio gets up and slugs his way out. However, Hero jumps on the second turnbuckle, and hits a blockbuster on Claudio for two. Nice thick senton by Hero for two, after a very light cover. More Hero stomping, but Claudio’s not feeling it although a chop to the head manages to keep him down. Hero digs at his face, and Claudio tries to escape to the outside. Hero pulls him back in, and gets a two-count with a folding press. Hero complains to the ref and gets rolled up by Claudio for three. Hero’s starting to get frustrated here, and slams him with a front fireman’s carry, followed by another senton for another two count. More plodding offense, with Hero stomping on hands, but Claudio jumps up and hits a flying forearm, only to be dropkicked to the face. Hero is literally dragging him around here, and there’s some weird submission where he’s supposedly stretching his arms and sitting on his hands, but it really doesn’t look like it hurts at all. The hold is ended when Hero pokes him in the eye as he tries to bridge out, and he follows Claudio to the floor, punching him in the side of the head.

Hero tries to drag him back in, and he locks in a cravate, as Claudio punches out of it and hits a sunset flip attempt for two, and Hero rolls out and hits an elbow on Claudio to take control yet again. Chop by hero, followed by another, then another, then another, and FINALLY Claudio returns one, and we get a chop exchange, only to have Hero start hitting backfists. He sends Claudio to the turnbuckle, but Claudio rebounds off it with a flying European uppercut to finally take down Hero. A series of European uppercuts and a dropkick take Hero down again, and then he actually hits the Swiss Crabwalk Elbow. Hero gets sent to the outside, and Claudio follows with a suicide dive, but he only hits the plump Bobby Dempsey. Hero takes the opportunity to capitalize, and beats him on the floor. He tosses him back in the ring, and gets on the top rope. Double stomp misses, and Hero rolls out of it. Claudio goes for a running kick, which misses, but Hero’s connects, and follows it up with a cravate suplex for two. Hero tries to sit in the Hangman’s Clutch, but it’s a no go, as Claudio makes the ropes. They exchange punches, which Claudio starts to win, only to get hit by a Hero eye gouge. Hero goes for the Hero’s Welcome, but Claudio reverses it into a European Uppercut, and attempts the Ricola Bomb, but he can’t get him up. Claudio kicks him in the head, and attempts the Alpine Water Slide, but he can’t get it, and Hero gives him a belly-to-back suplex, hooking the knee. Up they go, and a bit of rope running results in a bicycle kick to the face of Hero for two. Another Ricola bomb attempt fails, and Claudio hits a sort of straightjacket gory special, but Hero get out of it. Hero tries to beat him down, but Claudio responds with a springboard European uppercut. Hero runs into Hero in the corner, but gets a foot to the face, and Hero grabs his neck, flips over into a cravate, and drops Claudio’s face on his knees. Powerbomb into a pin for Hero, but Claudio kick out, and he turns it right into a Hangman’s clutch, but he’s too close to the ropes, and he has to let Claudio go. Hero goes to the top, but Claudio uppercuts him and tries to hit a superplex, but Hero pushes him down. Claudio hits Hero with a kick and goes for another attempt, but he’s pushed back off and hit with a top rope dropkick. Hero kips up from the dropkick, but runs right into a tornado European uppercut…for the pin? Really? One gajillion uppercuts, and that last one did it? I was disappointed, as I’ve seen Claudio do much better stuff, but there was just too much deadtime in the earlier part of the bout that it lost my interest, even if the crowd was totally behind it.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli via European Uppercut

-Meanwhile, there be a brawl a brewin’, as Jay Briscoe and Necro Butcher are fighting near the front entrance! They’s just pushin’ people and stuff all over the place! They fight through the crowd, hitting each other with chairs, and my brow furrows as I watch the Necro Butcher scream as he slams chairs on top of Jay, and the Boston fans HAND him chairs to use. In an interesting move, Necro picks up a chair under Jay, then slams him and the chair down at the same time…interesting…Jay takes a chair and throws it right on top of Necro’s head, and Necro uses part of his ripped shirt to strangle Jay. It’s interesting to watch this, as Necro is obviously the guy who you go to in a brawl because…he doesn’t do much else, really, and when they get into a slugfest, Necro wins, which h should. However, it’s not in the Briscoe’s nature to sell anything for more than about thirty seconds, and that doesn’t change here. Necro throws a bunch of chairs into the ring, and tosses Jay over the barricade, only to get suplexed over onto the floor. Okay, they’re basically heading to the ring, so I’m going to say the match starts now.

Match 5: Anything Goes
Necro Butcher vs. Jay Briscoe

Jay hits Necro in the top of the head with a chair, and he throws him into the ring, and FINALLY the bell rings. Jay pounds away on the Necro Butcher, and sets up a chair in the middle of the ring. Chop from Jay to Necro’s chest, and more punches and chops. Necro gets whipped out of the corner, but he reverses and clotheslines Jay down. His elbow is really swollen, and you notice him shaking his arm, trying to get some feeling back into it. Headbutt by Butcher, and he crotches him on the chair, then follows that with a running boot and a stiff DDT for two. Necro piles up a bunch of chairs, and hits a damn TIGER BOMB on it. Whoa. Still, it only gets two, and the crowd chants “Man Up.” Necro goes for a powerbomb, but it’s reversed, and he gets a back suplex, almost a backdrop driver, on the chairs. Jay stomps him good, and punches at his bald pate, and then picks him up for a death valley driver on an open chair! Goddamn! However, before he can capitalize, Jimmy Jacobs comes out and starts pounding on him, but Jay fights him off. Then, out from the back comes Mark Briscoe crutches and all (from what the announcers say was a motorcycle accident where he broke his foot), and throws a crutch in to Jay, who swings at Jacobs, but misses, giving Necro the opportunity to whack him with a chair. On the outside, Tyler Black shows up with Lacey, and Tyler takes out Mark with repeated chairshots. Back in the ring, Necro hits a sideslam on Jay on an open chair, and that’s enough to put him down for the three count. Fun! Short, violent, and enjoyable. As the match ends, Mark is dragged to the back by the Age of the Fall, and Jay’s up about thirty seconds later, and he’s pretty well miffed
Winner: Necro Butcher via Chair Sideslam

-Backstage, an interviewer is hanging out talking about the match when Larry Sweeney shows up, complaining about how Hero totally had that match won before, and how important he is, and blah blah blah, when Jay Briscoe comes in, says some stuff that’s pretty much unintelligable, and then wanders off. I THINK he’s looking for his brother.

Match 6:
Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black vs. Mitch Franklin and Ernie Osiris

Complete and utter squash by the Age of the Fall, although this is worth watching for two reasons: one, to see that Tyler Black can actually look like a power wrestler when he’s of a generally average height; and two, Jimmy Jacobs changing his finisher to an extraordinarily nasty guillotine choke. To make a guy with a name like Jimmy Jacobs, who’s only 5’7″, seem like a dangerous, but almost rational, psychopath is interesting. Anyway, like I said, the Age of the Fall annihilates the students, and it’s mercifully ended after a few minutes with The End Time, Jacobs’ snap DDT into a guillotine choke, and Osiris taps out, although what’s actually counted is the Small Package Driver that Tyler Black delivers to Mitch Franklin. More an exhibition than a match, and yes, it makes the Age of the Fall look very, very dangerous, although it should be noted that they’re basically beating up the least experienced guys in the company.
Winners: The Age of the Fall via Small Package Driver

-Hey look, it’s Jay Briscoe! Totally healed, and full of hate!

And, we’re going right to the next match! No interviews, no more hype, no more nothing! Just two great wrestlers beating the crap out of each other.

Match 7: First in the Best of Three
Austin Aries vs. “American Dragon: Bryan Danielson

I have to say, Austin Aries in ROH is much more enjoyable to watch than Austin Aries in TNA. I mean, he still walks kind of strangely, but his gait and mannerisms aren’t quite as quirky as they were there. Oh, and Bryan Danielson’s entry music? Brilliant choice. Who doesn’t like Final Countdown? But, ROH fans already know that, I just wanted to say…y’know…okay, mini-rant over.

They shake hands, which is so pleasant to see before two men tear each other to small bit-size pieces. They lock up to begin, and wrestle a bit before breaking. One more time, and they show off that they have the grappling skills if that’s the path they choose to follow. One more time, same result, and a third lockup leads to the two of them trying to grapevine the legs of the other, and they actually roll out to the floor. In an interesting move, while they’re grappling out on the floor, Dragon starts calling, “Aries, Aries, Aries!” until Austin stops…and he offers his hand in respect, WHILE they’re trying to wrench the other one’s leg off. Aries shakes his hand, and they break. Very nice.

Back in the ring, Aries gets a headlock on Dragon, but Dragon pushes him off the ropes, and Aries shoulderblocks him down, but Dragon just kips right back up, so Aries grabs a headlock. Dragon reverses into a hammerlock, and Aries goes to th headscissors as an escape. Really neat story being told here, of two guys who know each other really well, and so they know how to reverse almost everything the other can throw at them. Test of strength starts, and Dragon starts to slowly force Aries down, but Aries comes back. They even out, but neither can seem to get an advantage, so they turn around, and Dragon backflips over Austin Aries, then whips him against the ropes and hits him with a dropkick. Dragon quickly goes into an armbar, and then a side headlock, but Aries gets out, locking Dragon’s head between his legs. Dragon forces himself out but Aries just shoves his head right back down, much to my amusement. Danielson manages to get out and force himself over, and he gets Aries into a deathlock, but Aries reaches the ropes and Dragon breaks. Irish whip to Aries, and Dragon leapfrogs him, but Aries grabs him right into another side headlock, but Danielson escapes and gets Aries in headscissors, which he, obviously, tries to escape, which he does so by putting DRAGON in a deathlock, and then getting up, putting his foot in Dragon’s tangled ankles, and falling back into an Indian deathlock.

Dragon is on the ground, carefully approaching the upright Aries, and they’re playing this part like it’s MMA or amateur, with one trying to keep the other one down while maintaining some kind of vertical base, and the other going for a takedown, the latter in this scenario being Dragon. Tons of reversals here, but Aries gets the upper han ith a hammerlock, and they then go nto a double wistlock, and Dragon bridges. Austin tries to break the bridge by jumping on him, but it doesn’t fly, and Dragon gets up and the do the exact same backflip sequence as before, but this one results in Dragon going for a sunset flip, but Aries continuing to roll into a dropkick, and nailing Dragon right in the face. Dragon rolls to the outside, and Aries fakes a body press over the top, which Danielson gets out of the way of, but Aries lands on his feet and hits a running elbow to the top of Dragon’s head on the outside. Aries picks him up and beats on Dragon with elbows, then rolling him back in, and entering the ring with his slingshot senton, then bounces off the ropes with a big splash for two. Chinlock put on by Aries, but it sees to fit with the style of the match, not like the momentum estrying ones that Randy Orton uses. Dragon against the ropes and elbowed down, and Aries hits the Pendulum Elbow for two, then goes riht back to the chinlock, yelling to the ref, “it’s on his chin, dumbass!” Danielson tries to get out, but Aries knocks him down, and stops everything Dragon tries with Japanese arm drags. Dragon tries to arm drag him right back, but Aries is tenacious, and won’t release it. Dragon tries using the turnbuckles to arm drag out, but Aries ill won’t release. Aries turns it into a headlock, and they run the ropes for a bit until Danielson finally gets the upper hand by giving Aries a knee to the gut.

European uppercut by Dragon, and he starts setting up for the Mexican surfboard, but Aries isn’t going wih it, so Danielson releases one leg and pulls back on the chin, then gets off and turns it into a wrenching single leg crab, almost like a one-leg Haas of Pain. Aries rolls through, and so he kicks him hard in the back. He picks Aries up, and gives him the biggest snapmare I’ve ever sen, then follows up with a knee drop, then gets on the ground locking in an abdominal stretch. Aries tries to roll back to force Dragon’s shoulders to the mat, but it’s not working, and Dragon turns it from some crazy abdominal submission move to some crazy abdominal pin for two. Dragon pulls Aries up by one arm, and gives Aries two hard kicks to the chest before going for a cross-armbreaker, but Aries isn’t having it, so he rolls to the ropes, and Dragon breaks at four. Dragon slingshots him neck-first across the bottom rope, then gives him a snap butterfly suplex, then climbs to the top. He steadies himself, but Aries catches him and knocks him to the floor. Aries gets shoulderblocked from the apron, but blocks the second one, and kicks Danielson in the head, and gives him a neckbreaker along the second rope. This is just incredibly interesting stuff. Dragon and Aries pound each other with elbows until Aries stuns Dragon along the top rope, sending him to the outside, and Aries smashes into Dragon with a suicide dive. Rolls Danielson back in, and hits a twisting body press back inside, then follows up with a no-hands moonsault off the second rope. Aries throws Danielson into the turnbuckle, but Dragon rushes out and nails him with a flying knee strike. Dragon goes for the cover, but only gets two, and follows up with two European uppercuts, but Aries blocks the third, and they try to roll each other up in a variety of positions, and it all ends with Aries kicking a seated Dragon in the chest.

Dragon put on top by Aries, and Aries chops him right in the chest. He goes for a superplex, but Aries can’t get him, and Dragon pushes him off the top, then follows up with a missile dropkick. After a few seconds, Dragon gets a burst of energy and kips up, then hits Aries with a roaring elbow, but that only gets two, so he hits him with a tiger suplex, and that ALSO only gets two. He already has the arms locked, so he goes into Cattle Mutilation, but Aries won’t give him, so he picks him and starts elbowing his chest. However, Aries gets up and forces him into a corner, and starts returning with elbows of his own. Dragon comes out of the corner with an elbow, and it sends Aries against the ropes, who rebounds with an elbow, but HIS elbow only GETS elbowed by Danielson, who then kicks the arm and goes into a crossface chickenwing on Aries. Aries is trying to hang in there, and he manages to flip over and onto his feet and, somehow, grabs Dragon’s knee and gives him a kneebreaker/suplex combo. Aries runs from one turnbuckle to another and dropkicks the taste out of Danielson’s mouth. He tries to hit him with the braibuster, but Danielson reverses two of them with knee strikes, although Aries is able to get the upper hand back with stiff kicks to the head, and finall, on the third attempt he hits the brainbuster! Aries goes up to the top for the 450 Splash, but he only hits Dragon’s knees! Dragon pulls him right in and locks in a triangle choke You can actually hear Dragon yelling “tap!” while the audience pleads him not to. His arm falls twice, but finds his strength the third time, and Aries manages to power up and flip Dragon off of him. However, before Aries can get his bearings, he gets locked in ANOTHER triangle choke and pounds him in the head with elbows, but Aries reverses it into a bridging chinlock of sorts, wrenching back on Dragon’s neck and arm. Aries then flips over and viciously knees Dragon in the head repeatedly, then flips BACK over into the chinlock to get the tapout from an exhausted Dragon.
Winner: Austin Aries via Bridging Chinlock

Okay, Glazer wins; I will now acknowledge that both of these guys are fantastic, and in particular Danielson, who I’d always kind of discounted. Just a fantastic match, and this may be enough to save the rest of the show, which has been more or less mediocre.

-Austin Aries then gives an interview talking about how Dragon is, indeed, the best in the world, and that he brings out the best in him. Aw, that’s sweet. Regardless, he wants that ROH World Title, so hell or high water, he’s getting through him. Huh…significantly less “aw.”

Match 8: Tag Team Scramble
No Remorse Corps (Roderick Stong, Rocky Romero, and Davey Richards) vs. The Vulture Squad (Jack Evans, Ruckus, and Jigsaw)

I make no promise about being able to follow all of this action, so I’ll do the best I can. With Scramble rules, no one needs to tag; once a guy leaves the ring, his partner can come in. This is also the Vulture Squad debut of Jigsaw, who everyone now knows rather well.

By the way, I don’t get the stretched out teasing “Roderick” chants. That’s his name! However, it seems to bother him enough that he teases going back to the lockerroom. Jigsaw and Strong to start, and they circle round each other for a bit before locking up. Strong gets Jigsaw in a wrestlock, but he as some neat little reversals, such as some small seated kicks to get Roderick Strong off his hands, then a quick kick to his stomach to back him off. They both run to the corner, but Jigsaw hops off the turnbuckle (yelling, “Woo!”), and rolls up Roderick, then takes him out of the ring with a hurricanrana, which brings in Davey Richards with a strong dropkick, sending Jigsaw out and Ruckus in. Ruckus blocks Richard’s kicks with kicks of his own, and hits some ridiculously crazy flippy arm drag out of the corner, but he gets kicked in the gut and they both get out. Evans and Romero are next, and Evans flips like a crazy man, and Romero responds with forearms and kicks, but Evans cleans his clock with a snap hurricanrana. The rest of the Vultures are in, and Ruckus and Jigsaw create a seat for Evans, who moonsaults off of it onto Romero for two. Strong is now in the ring, and he’s the new bitch, getting a double face stomp of sorts from Ruckus, a stomp/senton combo by Jigsaw, and a stomp/standing moonsault combo by Evans for another two-count, and they’re interrupted by Richards. Ruckus and Jigsaw try to double eam him, but Richards its an STO on Rucks, and then turns to Jigsaw, giving him hard kicks in the corner. Evans is next, and he tuns to the turnbuckle, but gets shoved down by Strong, and Richards gives him a hard kick to the chest for two. Order has been restored, and Romero is tagged , and he hits Evans with an inverted atomic drop, then hits him a dropkick to the head. Strong is tagged in next, and he elbows Evans, then bodyslams him and catapults him into Davey, who pushes him back down onto the knees of Strong, and Romero hits Evans with a springboard kneedrop. Triple team move with Evans slammed gutfirst into the turnbuckle, and Strong elevates Romero into a dropkick into the back of Evans.

The heels continue to dominate, and when the No Remorse Cops attacks the Vulture Squad on the ohr side of te ring, Strong hooks Evans in a tree of woe on the outside of the ring, and bends him through the ropes, making his head almost touch his foot. Pin attempt by Strong gets two, and Romero comes in, and he nails Evans with kicks and dropkicks for two. Strong comes back in and only gets elbows from Evans, who flips backwards over the ropes and hits Strong with a springboard blockbuster. Richards is in and holds Evans up for a powerbomb, and Romero springboards off to do something nasty to him, but Evans hurricanranas Richards down and Romero hits nothing. They try to double clothesline him, but he flips OVER the clothesline and tags in both Ruckus and Jigsaw, which I didn’t know was allowed in this style of match, but whatever. Wait…I thought he just had to get outside the ring, not tag anyone. Okay, I was enjoying this, but now the rules don’t really mean anything, and it’s all just whatever they want to do. Jigsaw and Ruckus clothesline everyone, and Ruckus hits a rebound flipkick as i begin to question everything.

Ruckus rolls Romero out of the corner, and Jigsaw catches him in a powerbomb in an awesome move, and Ruckus immediately follows up with a crazy spinning neckbreaker on Strong. Richards is in, and hits Ruckus with an overhead belly to belly suplex, then hits him with a forearm smash and a clotesline before hitting a German suplex for two. Richards up top, but Ruckus stops him, eventully hitting him with a palm rike, and Jigsaw jumps right up and hits him with a hurricanrana, and then follows up with a tornado DDT. However, Jigsaw then gets annihilated by Romero, who destroys him with palm strikes, followed by a tiltawhirl backbreaker, tiger suplex, and a knee strike, then goes for a pin which is broken up by both Ruckus and Evans. Now, Evans is on Romero, who kicks him, pushes him down, and hits an amazing standing twisting body press that’s interrupted by Strong, who plant Evans chestfirst with a reverse powerbomb of sorts. Brings Evans up in a fireman’s cary, and Romero hits him with a running knee strike to the head into a Strong flapjack, and then a hard kick to the chest from Davey. Evans is saved by Jigsaw, and all hell continues to break loose, as we get a trainwreck spot going on in the outside. Picture every crazy flip and dive you cn, as that’s more or less what you get and, naturally, it’s all capped by Jack Evan with a springboard corkscrew body press to EVERYONE on the outside.

Evans rolls Strong in the ring for a two count, and Evans hits a chinbreaker, followed by a number of spin kicks and a reverse hurricanrana (oucharoo), and Strong then eats a handspring moonsault from Ruckus and a Jigsaw frogsplash, but it’s broken up at two. We’re left with Jigsaw and Davey inside the ring, and they reverse all sorts of things on each other, but he just ends up getting brutalized by the entire No Remorse Corps, as Strong flapjacks him up and Davey kicks him in the stomach on the way down, Strong hits a fireman’s carry gutbuster, and a powerbomb/springboard knee strike combo from Davey and Romero, which is broken up at two by his teammates. Ruckus takes Richards and hits a handspring elbow, but gets a hard boot from Roderick Strong, who gets a knee strike from Jack Evans, who gets crotched on the top turnbuckle by Romero, who tries to backdrop Evans off, but Evans crotches HIM, and he falls into the tree of whoa. Evans leaps off with a double knee to the chest of Romero, who then gets a FLIPPING coast-to-coast kick from Ruckus, which takes him off the turnbuckle and into a quivering lump on the canvas. Jack Evans then hits the 630 senton off the top, and this crazy-ass spotfest is FINALLY over.
Winners:

Okay, that was a bitch to recap, but a TON of fun. Don’t really look for storytelling, and to look for realistic selling would be absurd, but if you’re willing to put your snob away and just watch a match for hard hits and high flying, this one is for you. This match is kind of like Chinese food: it’s delicious when you eat it, but it’s not going to stay with you for too much longer after you watch it. Danielson/Aries is kind of like a fine wine, meant to be savored and enjoyed at a slower pace. Don’t just gobble it up like you would the tag scramble match.

-Backstage, the Vulture Squad gives an interview, and Ruckus is actually my favorite speaker of the bunch. “You have three of the greatest high flyers in the world right here. What are you gonna do against three of the craziest motherfuckers in the world? Nothing.” That’s right brotherman.

Match 9: ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Kevin Steen

Aaaand here we go. Actually, Steen’s face and mic skills are slightly reminiscient of Chritian Cage, but only in Ring of Honor could a guy like this get to be in a main event slot. He’s too “fat” for WWE (although still allow tubby monsters like Big Daddy V and Umaga on the roster), and TNA he’d just be compared to Joe, but not as good. When Morishima enters, Steen wastes no time and just goes right or him, but the shoulder tackles don’t work at all, as Morishima’s just too big, although an enziguiri does enough damage that another shoulder block is enough to take the big Japanese man down and to the outside. Steen beats on Morishima with chops and punches on the outside, and sends him headirst into the ringpost, and Steen’s doing pretty well for an underdog. He rolls Morishima under the bottom rope and hits him with a senton on his way back in. Whips Morishima into the ropes, takes him down with a rop toehold, and hits him in the back of the head with a somersault leg drop. He picks up Morishima and pastes him with chops, but Morishima just screams at him. Steen irish whips him, but Morishima reverses and hits Steen with a jumping hip attack. He charges Steen in the corner but misses, and Steen gets outside the ring and wraps his leg around the ringpost. Steen then tosses a chair into the ring, and then hits Morishima’s knee with a chair…which means that there’s no disqualification, I guess. He continues to pound on the leg, hiting with a legdrop on the apron, then dragging him out to the floor and beating on it some more. He rolls him back in, and actually resorts to BITING his knee. Steen is NOT messing around, and that kind of move is a neat touch to show much he wants this, as Steen is quite the face. More working on the leg, and Steen is really dominant here, much to the surprise of, well, everyone. Morishima’s just stying on the ground, and Steen waits for him to get up…but he can’t. Steen: “Awwwwww,” before jumping right on the knee and giving it a head up. However, Steen is getting a bit cocky, and Morishima is huling up, and the leg attacks just aren’t working, and neither are Steen’s punches. Steen runs against the ropes, but just runs into a Morishima sidewalk slam. Morishima sets him up on the outside, and charges at Steen with a hip bump, and smashes him against the rail Umaga style. Should I just allow Morishima to stop selling on the excuse that he’s Japanese?

Steen in the ring and into the turnbuckle, and Morishima cartwheels and avalanches him in th corner, then goes into a neck wrench. Morishima runs against the ropes and hits him like a bowling ball with a rolling body press. Steen is set up on the second rope, and Morishima puts all of his sizable girth upon the neck of the challenger, and now Morishima is the super dominant one. Steen is getting beaten in the corner, and he’s gone from the surprise dominant into the overwhelmed challenger, and when it looks like he’s going to get some energy back, Morishima boots him right in the face on a corner charge, and knocks him silly. However, when Morishima goes to the backdrop driver, Steen knocks him away, then hops right up to the top and hits a sky twister press. Morishima boots him in the face, but it’s no go, and Steen dropkicks him in the knee, then hits a dragon screw leg whip, but it causes Morishima to fall on him, and they’re both down. Morishima and Steen lock up again, and Morshima hits him with a German suplex. Morishima goes up to the top, but the dropkick falls short, and Steen goes for a Scorpion Deathlock, but he’s pushed away, although a second one gets locked in. However, Morishima makes the ropes,and he has to break it. Hey, El Generico is out for encouragement! Morishima’s leg can’t sustain a forced run, so he falls in the midst of an irish whip, and Steen hits a number of calf kicks, followed by a superkick, which knocks the big man down. Steen jumps up to a turnbuckle…swanton! He rolls right off, hops to the opposite turnbuckle, and hits the big frog splash…for two! That’s it, he’s boned. He can’t believe that didn’t do it, and so he goes for the moonsault, but Morishima moves out of the way, and his Steen with a running kick, then follows that up with a running lariat.

Morishima up top, but Steen stops him, and hits him with a superplex off the middle rope, but Morishima just no sells it like a beast, and runs into a Steen spinebuster (Steenbuster?) for a very close two. The crowd chants “bullshit” on that one. Steen goes for the package piledriver but he can’t get him up, an Morishima backdrops him and Banzai drops him for two. Steen and Morishima exchange blows, and Steen hits an enziguiri, then goes for a lariat, but Steen just gets annihilated by a Morishima lariat, and I mean just bashed to shit. Steen gets up, and Morishima nails him with ANOTHER sick lariat for two, and then gives him the backdrop driver to finally put him away. A valiant effort, but not valiant enough.
Winner: Takeshi Morishima via backdrop driver

Post-match, Generico tries to help his partner up, but Steen just continually pushes him away. Generico seems willing to forgive, but Steen just doesn’t want him around, yelling at him, “I need you like I need herpes!” from the entrance ramp. Harsh. In an interesting directorial move, we watch Generico frustrated and saddened at ringside, really getting an idea of how much it hurts to have Steen treat him that way, and the last thing we see is a look into Generico’s saddened, confused eyes…followed by the side of his mask as he turns his head away.

The Inside Pulse
I’m very much divided on this show. On one hand, Aries/Dragon is outstanding, and everyone should get a chance to see it. That being said, most of what’s on this DVD, including the very fun Necro/Jay and Tag Scramble matches, and even Steen/Morishima, are more or less skippable.

When I’m thinking of buying a Ring of Honor DVD, the main qualifications I have are, “Would I show this match to friends of mine who have no idea what Ring of Honor is?” And, while they’d enjoy all of the matches I listed to you, with the possible exception of Steen/Morishima, I don’t know if I could recommend them buying this for the one great match, which is Aries/Danielson.

Of course, there is historical significance here, as this DVD chronicles the first appearance of The Age of the Fall, and, sick as it is, it’s tremendously interesting. You might not quite be able to figure out exactly what this “revolution” that Jacobs speaks so much of is about, but all of the members are dangerous, and that’s exactly what they needed to go for here. These are not people that you want to get in the way of, as not only will they brutalize you beyond your wildest imaginings; in fact, they have plans that are beyond your understandings, and you never know if you’re going to be a crucial piece in their disgusting, diabolical puzzle

My advice with this one? Wait for a sale, then pick it up, as Aries/Dragon alone almost makes the DVD worth buying. Nothing is BAD, but most of it won’t make you want to go back except for that first match.

Ivan prides himself on being a wrestling fan that can tie both of his own shoes by himself, as well as having an analytic mind when it comes to the fake sport that he's loved ever since he watched Jake Roberts DDT Boris Zhukov on Prime Time Wrestling.