On January 18th, 2007, Ring of Honor aired its fourth PPV, ‘Undeniable’, via the DishNetwork. Most of the show was taped October 6th, in Edison, NJ, with one other match being taped November 29th in Dayton, OH. Considering the quality and how well received the previous ROH PPVs have been, it will be interesting to see if they can keep this hot streak going.
To read my report of the previous PPV, Man Up, click here, and for more Indy goodness read Pulse Glazer and Jake Mulligan.
– We open with Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak in the ring introducing us to the show. Claudio Castagnoli is also there, waiting for a match with Chris Hero. Sweet and Sour Inc come out, and Larry Sweeney informs us Claudio didn’t pay enough to get a match with Chris Hero, so unless the price is right, Claudio’s off the PPV.
– The opening video package airs, showing highlights from the Man Up PPV to the sound of the Smashing Pumpkin’s new hit.
– Back to the show as the Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, Necro Butcher and Lacey) are in the ring. Jacobs says on the mic that the AOTF need power, and to do so they need the ROH tag titles (that’s why they attacked the Briscoes). They need a stepping stone to get to the Briscoes though, so the Vulture Squad (Jack Evans, Ruckus, Jigsaw and Julius Smokes) come out and charge the ring.
Match 1: The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) vs The Vulture Squad (Jack Evans and Ruckus): It starts a bit chaotic as both factions brawl, Necro and Jigsaw brawl with each other to the back. The AOTF (Jacobs and Black) gain control early as Black hits a big SSP to the outside and Jack and Ruckus. We get back in the ring, and Ruckus does face-in-peril. The fans get behind him, as he makes a comeback with a sick spinning neckbreaker on Black. Hot tag to Jack, and holy sh*t is it a good one. Jack hits loads of funky strikes and stuff, including a swank dropkick/SSP combo. Ruckus hits his stuff and the fans are going nuts!
It goes to the outside, where Jacobs hits a cross-body onto Ruckus who’s sitting on a chair, and Black KILLS Jack with a running powerbomb into the guardrail. Back in the AOTF hit this ridiculous double team sequence on Jack, ending with a guillotine choke submission for the tap-out win. That was only 6 minutes. Wow.
Winners: The Age of the Fall.
Really good way to start things off. We got good formula, great chemistry between both teams and some really lovely stuff in the finishing stretch. Can’t ask for more from an opener.
***.
– ROH World Champ Takeshi Morishima is backstage. He gets angry at the camera and his translator tells us he doesn’t want anybody in his locker room.
– A video package highlighting Erick Stevens is aired. He talks about himself as a wrestler and how you won’t find anyone else as determined as him.
– Sweeney comes out pre match and announces he and his client, Sara Del Ray are gonna present us with the first ever women’s match on ROH PPV, as Sara faces off against Daizee Haze.
Match 2: Sara Del Ray vs Daizee Haze: Del Ray uses her power to start, but Haze counters with some Lucha arm drags. She follows them up with a top rope dive to Del Ray and Bobby Dempsey on the outside! Back in Sara dominates Daizee with her power. Lots of slams and such. Daizee comes back, a few nearfalls, then a cool over-the-top sunset flip gets her the 3.
Winner: Daizee Haze.
Fun storyline advancer. A mostly smooth power vs speed match from the ladies, despite some sloppiness here and there. Great finish.
*.
– As soon as the match finishes, Claudio is out, and Hero hits him with his Hero’s Welcome finisher on the floor! All of a sudden, the lights go out, and Bryan Danielson‘s music hits! He enters the ring, grabs the mic and berates SNS Inc. He says of Hero thinks he’s the best athlete in wrestling, step in there with Danielson and prove it!
Match 3: Chris Hero vs Bryan Danielson: They do lots of smooth mat stuff to start. Hero starts stalling and doing his usual acrobatic routine. After a few minutes Hero decides to start wrestling again, but Dragon controls him on the mat. Hero gains control with a boot to the face though, and works over Dragon. He hits his usual offence, but takes time in-between to showboat to the fans and mock Dragon. Dragon makes a comeback with some kicks, and the fans are mega into this. We get some nice sequences in the finishing sequence as well as some stiff strikes. Hero steals Dragon’s moves (eg the Small Package) but can’t keep Dragon down. That just ends up firing Dragon up even more, as he hits running gamenguiri (kick to the face), then grabs Hero’s wrists and STOMPS the crap out of his face. Hero is out, so the ref rings the bell, Dragon is your winner!
Winner: Bryan Danielson.
Good match. The story was based around both men’s characters – Hero being the arrogant, annoying prick while Dragon being the guy that wants to wrestle. Hero spent too much time showboating instead of staying on Dragon, thus Dragon was fresh enough at the end to demolish Hero. This made for great crowd heat, as the fans were constantly engaged to see if Hero had done enough work on Dragon, thus making Dragon’s comebacks and most importantly the finish work really, really well.
***1/4.
– Adam Pearce in the ring. He gets on the mic and calls out Kevin Steen. He talks to Steen, saying how his masked friend El Generico cost him the world tag team titles. The rest of the Hangmen 3 come out with a beaten down El Generico. They invite Steen to turn on Generico, but he stays loyal to his masked friend and attacks the H3! They soon overpower him, so Delirious comes out and we have a 6 man on our hands!
Match 4: El Generico, Kevin Steen and Delirious vs the Hangmen 3 (Brent Albright, BJ Whitmer and Adam Pearce): The faces run wild to start, until the H3 isolate Delirious and work him down. Things get slow as Delirious teases coming back. He hits a rana on Whitmer, then makes the hot tag to Steen! He makes an awesome comeback, hitting some enziguiris and a spinning kick. Generico comes in and he and Steen hit some of their great looking double team stuff. It gets chaotic as Delirious hits Pearce with his leaping lariat. Whitmer kills Generico with a powerbomb into the buckles/yakuza kick combo. Everyone hits a move, until delirious breaks the pattern by going after Adam Pearce’s ear with his mouth. He’s so intent on it he forgets everyone else in the match, so Albright comes behind him and gives him his Half Nelson suplex for the 3 count.
Winners: The Hangmen 3.
Just above average 6 man. The story here was great, as it was tag formula with the babyfaces were hell bent on revenge on the H3, but they ended up caring more about revenge than winning the match, thus Delirious got caught off guard with the Half Nelson. All that worked, but at times the match felt a bit more like a storyline advancer than a match, got very slow in the heat stages and got pretty disorganised at the end. Good overall, but could have flowed alot better.
**3/4.
– Backstage with challenger for the ROH world title, Nigel McGuiness. He cuts a promo on his dream of being a pro wrestler, paying his dues and how he’s reached a level where finally, his dream, can come true (by winning the World title).
Match 5: Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries: Things are even to start. Both men are very aggressive toward each other. Aries runs wild for a bit until Roderick cuts him off with a gutbuster. The next 5 – 10 minutes consist purely Roderick destroying Aries’ back. This isn’t like, just normal Roderick back work, it’s like, literally, ‘break the man’s back’ back work. Aries comes back and hits some punches in the corner. They take things to the outside and brawl with Aries getting the upper hand with a running knee.
Back in Strong hit a very sick looking Half Nelson backbreaker for 2. They trade some nearfalls. Strong hits a BIG backbreaker on the top turnbuckle! Strong followed Aries out and set up a table. Back in Aries hit a brainbuster for 2! 450 gets 2! They do a series of RVD/Lynn rollups for some reason. Strong hit the BIG BOOT, Gutbuster then Tiger Driver, but it only got 2. Strong took him out to the apron, but Aries hit a kick to the head. Brainbuster through the setup table! Holy sh*t. Back in, 450 from Aries! 1…2..3.
Winner: Austin Aries.
Good match, but could, and should have been so much better. The story was good and everything built around it ¡V Strong destroyed Aries’ back, but Aries was so intent on getting revenge and proving he’s better than Strong he sucked up the pain in his back and pulled out the win. The problem here, was Aries’ ridiculous no-selling of his back. Apart from when Strong had just hit a backbreaker, Aries wasn’t selling it at all, which led to him drawing no sympathy from the crowd. Thus, when Aries made his big comebacks, the fans weren’t reacting as much as they would have if Aries sold the back. It also made Roderick’s big moves (ie the Tiger Driver) mean less and get less heat (ie pop for Aries kicking out of the Tiger Driver). Good story on paper, but Aries’ lack of selling ruined it.
They got over the grudge match label well, and kept it intense, but at times the match was too slow. This did have the build up of spots (where each spot gets bigger and bigger then climaxes), which I really love. Good match, but far from great.
***.
Match 6: ROH World Tag Team Title match: The Briscoes (c) vs The No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero): We start with both teams being equal and getting their own short control periods. The Briscoes run wild with some dives. The NRC ram Jay’s arm into the ring post, and start working it over. They kick it and such. Jay makes his comeback, and Mark does an awesome hot tag. We get some awesome 3 – 4 man sequences as the fans are going nuts. For the next 5 minutes, both teams exchange nearfalls. Rocky hits his Diablo Armbar on Jay, and for once it makes sense as his opponent’s arm has actually been worked over. Jay reaches the ropes to a huge pop. After some more nearfalls, Jay hits Davey with a super Gordbuster then the Briscoes connect with the Doomsday Device for the 3.
Winners, and still ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes.
Excellent match. Unlike the normal Briscoes match, this followed normal tag formula of faces run wild „³ heels isolate face „³ face makes the hot tag and other one comes back „³ finishing stretch. That, combined with the arm work paying off was a breath of fresh air considering this involved the Briscoes. And, because this involved the Briscoes the moves and action was non ¡V stop, so all in all, this match worked really well. If only every Briscoes match could be this good.
****.
Match 7: ROH World Title match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs Nigel McGuiness: Both men go for their finishers (Jawbreaker and Backdrop) to start. Morishima hits a Side Slam and after some time on the floor, starts working Nigel’s arm. Nigel makes a comeback after reversing the backdrop driver. Nigel hits some lariats for a nearfall.
Now, for the next 5 or so minutes, the match consists of both men going all out on each other, throwing strikes, lariats, suplexes and such like wildfire. Nigel gets an insanely close nearfall off of the Jawbreaker. They trade strikes like crazy, and Nigel hits a running lariat for 1! Mori fighting spirits up, but is soon caught with one final Jawbreaker for the 3! Nigel wins the world title.
Winner, and NEW ROH World Champion: Nigel McGuiness.
Good match, although it was more about Nigel winning than the match itself. The story here was really fun ¡V Nigel knew his lariats were the one thing that could pin Morishima, so what did he do? Lariat Morishima as much as he could and go for the Jawbreaker at all turns. While that’s pretty one-dimensional, it made perfect sense. I didn’t like how the early arm work from Mori wasn’t played off ¡V although working Nigel’s arm in principle makes sense at the end of the day it was rendered pointless. The finishing sequence, despite being a bit repetitive at times was really awesome, and Nigel winning the belt was nice to see. Not the best match, but great for what they were going for.
***.
Post match, the locker room comes out and celebrates with Nigel. Dragon gets in his face, but Aries stops him. Morishima does what an honourable champ does, and presents Nigel with the belt. The PPV closes with Nigel celebrating with the belt as the commentators tell us to see ROH again on PPV in March.
The Inside Pulse
Overall Thoughts: Good show, but a step down from the other PPVs.
The match quality here was pretty average, as apart from the Briscoes match, nothing even came close to 4*, the average match was just good and not much more. Lots of things were more based around the storylines, but the amount of promos and such in the first half was too much. The production was good though, we still have things to think about for later, and Nigel finally getting the belt was something to see.
This ended the hot streak of PPVs, but was still good.
