Available at ROHWrestling.com
Featuring:
The Briscoe Bros.
Austin Aries
Matt Cross
Jack Evans
Nigel McGuinness
Claudio Castagnoli
Brent Albright
Bryan Danielson
Roderick Strong
Delirious
…and many more
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 180 Minutes
List Price: $20.00
The Event
On September 14, 2007, Ring Of Honor invaded Detroit and brought a little madness to the loyal fans that were simply looking for some good wrestling action. I’ve never been witness to anything ROH so I’ve been looking forward to this more then anything in a long time. The recaps have been read, information looked up on the promotion, and pictures checked out of the superstars, but nothing could truly prepare me for seeing it all happen before my very eyes. Motor City Madness brought out the best in those who fought under the loyal banner of ROH, but it didn’t necessarily show me much of anything I haven’t seen before.
~ Davey Richards Vs. Silas Young – This isn’t much for an opening match and doesn’t do much of anything to really get the crowd going for it. Young is just kind of there while Richards executed the bulk of the offense.
~ Chasyn Rance & Kenny King Vs. Mitch Franklin & Alex Payne – This was the debut for the YRR in ROH and boy where they ever introduced to ROH in a big way. This match is simply way too short to amount to much of anything, but it still is kind of fun.
~ Bryan Danielson Vs. Kenny King – Bryan Danielson interrupted the YRR giving a promo and wanted to test his depth perception so he issues a challenge out to King and Rance. And if I thought the YRR’s introduction was big for their tag match; it is nothing compared to the way Danielson welcomed Kenny King to ROH after he accepted the Dragon’s challenge. This is my first time seeing Danielson in action and after I’ve everything I’ve heard about him, it’s true for he is absolutely phenomenal.
~ Bryan Danielson Vs. Chasyn Rance – Rance decided to try his luck at the Dragon and promptly felt the, a-hem, boot of justice.
~ Four Corner Survival – This match was going on to determine who would face Takeshi Morishima later on in the ROH World Title Match. The competitors came to the ring to make the match Erick Stevens Vs. Kevin Steen Vs. Roderick Strong Vs. Delirious. For getting my first taste of ROH, I’m not sure if this is a common occurrence in matches involving more then two participants, but it shocked the hell out of me. The match never really got down to knocking two guys out for a while and then the two standing fought in the ring. A bit later, the two knocked out guys would get up and two more would get knocked out a while so two more could battle for a bit. This was one big battle between all four guys for almost the entire match. Never really seen that before.
The match itself is enjoyable even though there just seems to be so much going on at all times. A lot of wicked hits and kicks along with some cool looking finishers adding up to a bunch of near falls.
~ Chris Hero Vs. Jimmy Jacobs – Chris Hero’s little entourage is pretty amusing I must say. Bunch of random personalities thrown together, but they’re fun. Jacobs and Hero work very well together and deliver variations of moves that I’ve never even seen before. Some of the reversals and blocks just blew my mind. This is so far the most enjoyable match of the night for they truly dragged me into it big time.
~ Naomichi Marufuji Vs. El Generico – If ever my wrestling mind was to be exposed to foreign wrestlers putting on a good old school match with technical maneuvers out the wazoo, then this is it. For the second match in a row, I was mesmerized by the moves that were being performed before my eyes. Marufuji is just brutal and so technical that he amazed me with every sequence. El Generico is a fun wrestler that simply knows what he is doing out there. A lot of near falls make this an “edge of your seat” match that must be seen.
~ Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli Vs. Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer – A pretty straight by the book tag match here that really lowered my excitement for this DVD after two very hot matches. It is your basic good guy gets in trouble for a while, makes the hot tag finally, and then a lot of ruckus is going on so you’re not sure who is going to win until it happens unexpectedly. I remember Albright from his short stint in WWE when he was being apparently mentored by the late Chris Benoit. He still appears to have a lot of potential, but this match doesn’t show much from anyone involved.
~ No DQ Match: Jack Evans Vs. Rocky Romero – This is basically a street fight with anything goes and it includes some chairs and tables. After some brawling for a while, Romero takes over on control and then just seems to hold onto the momentum for the entire final two-thirds of the match. Throw in a bit of working a body part along with slowly setting up tables and such and it makes the second lackluster match in a row.
~ ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) Vs. Four Corner Survival Winner: Erick Stevens – Ok, as you know this is my introduction to ROH so I’m not sure who the fans really love or not at this point in time. But it was evident after the Four Corners match earlier that Erick Stevens is not someone on their “must see” list. He didn’t get the best reaction (good or bad) from the crowd after the victory earlier and it continues into the start of the match here. I’ll admit that he didn’t seem like much to me, but both myself and the fans were proven wrong in this match.
Morishima is just awesome and Stevens proved his all here in battling for the World Title. There is a sequence of near falls in the middle of the match that had me screaming at the television because they just got closer and closer each time.
~ ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) Vs. Austin Aries & Matt Cross – This would be my second time seeing the Briscoes in action and it is blatantly obvious how brutal any match their involved in actually is. A lot of offense from Matt Cross and Aries (a favorite of mine for some time now) keeps the result of the match in a guessing mode the whole time. Some really good wrestling ability here from all four men made for a good match, but nothing that is main event caliber.
Special Features
The Video Wire – Basically a twelve minute long shill for ROH and all their DVDs and online videos. A few clips and bits of matches are shown as well.
The Inside Pulse
I’ve heard so much about ROH and was happy to finally see action from this promotion that I think my mind built up the expectations a little too much. Motor City Madness delivered only two great matches and only one or two others that would be recommended to even check out. Most of the card was just incredibly blah while Hero/Jacobs and then Marufuji/Generico lit it up. At first it seemed as if the event was getting better as the night went on, but it peaked with four matches left and then the World Title match which was really good…wasn’t even the final match of the evening. As more and more ROH events are being released on DVD, don’t bother including this one in your collection. The special features are nothing, and the event doesn’t even recommend a full viewing. Considering I still watch WWE and even put up with TNA when I’m really bored, I’m willing to give ROH a few more chances but this was not a good way to start.
| The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Ring Of Honor: Motor City Madness 09/14/07 | |
| CATEGORY | RATING(OUT OF 10) |
| THE EVENT | 6 |
| THE VIDEO | 7 |
| THE AUDIO | 7 |
| THE EXTRAS | 1 |
| REPLAY VALUE | 4 |
| OVERALL | 4.5(NOT AN AVERAGE) |
