Ring of Honor DVD Review – Glory By Honor VI: Night One, 11/2/07

Available at ROHWrestling.com

Featuring:

Nigel McGuinness
Chris Hero
Takeshi Morishima
KENTA
The Briscoe Brothers
Delirious
Austin Aries
Bryan Danielson
…and many more

DVD Release Date: 2008
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 180 minutes, not counting extras

The Event

Air Date: 11/02/2007
Venue: Philadelphia, PA

This is my second taste of the hot action that only Ring of Honor delivers. It’s not that I don’t order it enough, it is because of my time I have to actually sit down and enjoy ROH is limited between what I do here for the Pulse and beyond. My goal for this year is to watch, as a fan, some more ROH and this event looks good on paper. I mean, the Briscoe Brothers, KENTA (who I have never seen wrestle before), Austin Aries, and I can go on…they know how to make the event very enjoyable.

Believe me when I say this, though. I am a fan. When TNA can come up with their next gimmick infringement idea with Vince Russo having access to the books and WWE can come up with ideas to make me regret spending $40 on a card that looks like to be the best card they can come up with for a Pay-Per-View, ROH has an extensive video collection and they have just now hit Pay-Per-View. They are following in the footsteps of TNA, but without the bull. If and when ROH gets their own weekly show on television, everyone will be able to see for themselves what puts ROH over TNA and WWE. Don’t get me wrong, the WWE has become entertaining as well as predictable, but ROH is the true alternative to what is put on in the WWE and TNA.

One day, I hope to see ROH in action live because they know how to put on a great show.

Brent Albright & BJ Whittmer v. Kevin Steen & El Generico
Good opening contest between these two as Steen and Generico pick up the victory following a Swanton by Steen. The celebrations are interrupted as the Hangman’s Three decimate the winners. This is how you work angles, folks.

Claudio Castagnoli v. Hallowicked
Hallowicked looks like a cross between Shark Boy and Boogeyman, thought I’d share that with you. Nevermind, I take that back because he’s more talented than the two put together. The match was alright, but Larry Sweeney comes out and offers to pay Claudio for his contract. He mentions that he sold Sydal to Vince and he will do the same to Castagnoli as well.

Davey Richards v. Delirious
Nice technical match between the two. The momentum shift was interesting to see and the finishing sequence was awesome. The way Richards nailed the Tombstone Piledriver was something you don’t see from others utilizing the same move. The post match involvement with the disrespect played well for Richards.

Roderick Strong & Rocky Romero v. The Briscoe Brothers
The match is being contested for the ROH World Tag Team Titles. The NRC and the Briscoe’s know how to tell a story in the ring. It seemed that the match could had gone either way, but the Briscoe’s prevail.

The Age of the Fall v. The Vulture Squad
This one started immediately after Lacey from the Age of the Fall gives her men the advantage over the Briscoe Brothers, only to be interrupted by the Vulture Squad. This is Scramble Rules, meaning everyone is involved, which is an unique stipulation. The match was a spot fest, but it was very entertaining. The only complaint I have is Lacey screaming on the house microphone. Daisy comes and she rekindles her feud with Lacey, which I approve. The post match chaos around the ring had to be something for the live crowd in Philly

Mitch Franklin v. Ernie Osiris
The Top of the Class Trophy is on the line in this match. This was the shortest match thus far on the card, but still better than most matches that other promotions put on.

Austin Aries v. Brian Danielson
This is the third match of the Best of Three Series between the two men. The match is a back and forth contest between two accomplished wrestlers. Danielson is one of the best submission and technical based wrestlers and he shows it against Aries. The last few moments of the match teased a lot of finishing attempts, but Aries was able to win the match via the 450! Very good match between the two.

Nigel McGuinness v. Chris Hero
The match has been cancelled due to injury by Nigel McGuinness, or it seems. Larry Sweeney says that there was a clause in Hero’s contract that allows him to challenge for the title anytime he wants. McGuinness tries to deny the match, but Sweeney calls him a fluke and the match is on! It seemed as Hero had the major advantage with the injured arm of McGuinness, but McGuinness won’t go down without a fight. McGuinness retains via submission after a false finish. Good contest as it shows that Nigel is indeed a true champion.

KENTA & Mitsuharu Misawa v. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marafuji
This is the ROH Debut of Misawa. The opening minutes with KENTA and Marafuji is very quick as no advantage is gained. Morishima and Misawa get involved and the aura surrounding the two is awesome. The bout was a good back and forth action between the two teams. AWESOME match! This match is definitely worth the price of admission and the cost of the DVD alone! The ending may have been a time limit draw, but this was one of the best matches I’ve seen and I want to see this continue!

The Video

The event is in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and the quality of the video is average. You can see where the video focuses on the hard lights and notice their glare. Not a bad quality, but better than I expected.

The Audio

I watched ROH Driven on Pay-Per-View and it was easily noticed that the audio was very lacking from the commentary to the house mic. The audio here has improved a lot and I have very little complaints, except for the interviewer chick in the back and Lacey screaming on the microphone. Those did not sound that good. Good job by ROH for improving this!

Special Features

The ROH Video Wire special feature showcases the videos that aren’t seen anywhere else, except their website. This feature is from October 2007. One interesting thing is ringside action between the Briscoe Brothers and the Age of the Fall. After that, we get an multi-man brawl after Nigel McGuinness is announced the new ROH World Champion, but that is rectified as Takeshi bestows the World Title to Nigel and he shakes his hand.

We get a recap of the past Survival of the Fittest Champions along with clips of various ROH stars. We get a no commentary feed of the Age of the Fall’s Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black versus Mitch Franklin and Ernie Osiris. Seeing the Age of the Fall decimate their opponents on the outside was jaw dropping.

We get clips of Edison, NJ as the lighte darken to black. The Age of the Fall has Mark Briscoe wrapped up in barbwire in a very sick moment.

The Inside Pulse

Overall, ROH puts on more quality than WWE and TNA combined. You don’t need backstage segments to advance the story, you can do that in the ring. ROH continues to impress me with what they put out and they constantly get me to want more! I can never get that kind of satisfaction watching anything else, so when I watch ROH, I know that I am definitely getting my money’s worth. Everyone on the card busted their ass in front of a crowd of about 800-1000 and should any of these stars move on up to TNA and WWE (like CM Punk, Colt Cabana, & Matt Sydal)…you can bet that they will be future impact players. Great job ROH!