Back story: Basically ROH took a fan voting for who the best in ROH is, and this show was designed for random matches to have the talent prove themselves to the fans and the bookers of ROH that they were for real. However, a roudy group of wrestlers that didn’t want to pay their dues and demand high spots on the card held the show hostage and threw out all the fan ballots. This group was made up of Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Jack Evans and Roderick Strong and they were Generation Next.
The Card:
Tag Team Scramble
Dunn & Marcos vs Christopher Street Connection vs Special K
Jack Evans, Roderick Strong, and Austin Aries vs Izzy, Dixies, and Angel Dust
Alex Shelley vs Hydro
Jimmy Rave vs John Walters
Nigel McGuinness vs Jimmy Jacobs
ROH World Tag Team Title No DQ match:
The Second City Saints (c) vs The Prophecy with Allison Danger
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs The Outcast Killaz
Alex Shelley, Jack Evans, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries vs John Walters, Jimmy Rave and the Briscoes
CM Punk-Ricky Steamboat Confrontation.
ROH World Title:
Samoa Joe vs Homicide
The Show:
We start off with a Phrophecy promo, Dan Maff tells us that if him and Whitmer don’t win the belts tonight he’s finished with the Phrophecy.
Onward to Good Times, Great Memories! Colt Cabana your host as always has special guest, Trent Acid. Colt has a very special question for Trent. The question: Who dropped a dukie in the Carnage Crew’s bag? Just as Colt is getting the answers, the Carnage Crew (being the idiots they are) bust into the show and threaten Trent. Our high flying druggie says he’ll bring the people who did it into the ring later tonight. The Carnage Crew backs off and we find Colt hiding under his desk, he thanks us for watching and goes back under his desk.
Tag Team Scramble:
Dunn & Marcos The Ring Crew Express vs Christopher Street Connection vs Special K
Oddly, CSC seems over. They begin making out, quickly (and thankfully) Austin Aries and Roderick Strong followed by Alex Shelley and Jack Evans come out and lay waste to the Connection. Shelley grabs a mic and tells us there will NOT be a scramble match and there will not be any voting either. He introduces us to each member of Generation Next. Shelley tosses out the votes. But in come the Ring Crew Express. They say they’re not going to take it, cue “We’re not gonna take it” by Twisted Sister and a battle insues. For the first several seconds they clean house, until Alex Shelley nails the Shellshock to begin the massacre.
Out comes Special K. The ref signals for the bell and apparently we have a 6 man tag match!
Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans vs Izzy, Angel Dust, and Dixie
Aries and Dixie(I wouldn’t know who is who on the Special K side without the announcers, hats off to them) start it off and trade blows with Dixie getting the upper hand with a great springboard tornado DDT. Dixie nails Aries with a leg lariat for a near fall and tags out to Angel Dust. AD is wearing a neck brace which makes you wonder why he’s wrestling to begin with, begins kicking away at Aries’ back. Aries fights back with AD nursing his neck. Aries rips off the brace and hits him with it before tossing it away.
Aries begins working the head/neck region of AD and tags to Jack Evans. Evans continues the Gen Next control but Angel Dust rolls Jack around (quite literately) several times before pinning him. Evans sends Dust into the ropes but gets drop kicked big time spinning him inside out. Izzy gets the tag and gets a great Dragon Gate type of hurricarana on Evans followed by a moon sault dropkick then sends both Izzy and Jack up in the air and on their stomach.
Big German suplex by Evans and the tag to Roderick Strong. Rod strikes away on Dizzy and gives him a couple of back breakers before tossing him back first into the turnbuckle. Izzy comes off the ropes and spins around Roderick, Rod tries to reverse and send Izzy the opposite way, but Izzy reverses Rod’s reversal and spins back into his original plan into a head scissors.
Roderick rolls outside the ring to catch a breather and Izzy springboards off the 2nd rope onto the 3rd and corkscrews off it onto Generation Next. Jack gets back in the ring but Izzy is waiting for him and the two fight off one another until Jack sets himself up to nail a reverse hurricarana. Angel Dust gets in the ring and delivers a unique death valley driver slam for a near fall. Aries hits the ring and nails a face buster type move followed up by a leg trip into the pendulum elbow drop, goes for the pin but Dixie breaks it up at two.
Dixie plants Aries with a modified side effect and Roderick attacks Dixie before the pin can be made. Dixie goes for a hurricarana but Rod catches him and power bombs Dixie onto his knee. Izzy’s turn for a move now, and he springboards off the 2nd rope into a blockbuster on Roderick. Dixie sets up Aries in one turnbuckle as Izzy sets up Jack in the opposite, meanwhile Roderick is holding Angel Dust in the center of the ring. Aries punches Dixie down, 450 splash. Back breaker. 630 splash. Triple pin fall for the victory:
Winners: Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans.
Alex Shelley grabs the mic and tells Special K that they were who he thought they were and how they don’t have a single wrestler in their entire group, not one. Hydro enters the ring and goes nose to nose with Shelley and tells Alex to try him. Alex accepts the challenge and we have another impromptu match!
Hyrdo vs Alex Shelley
Hyrdro refuses Shelley’s handshake and the two knuckle lock. Shelley brings the hands down and gets a nelson locked in, Hydro flips him over for a wrist lock. Shelley runs around Hydro, yanking the arm. Selley and Hydro chain some more for several moments all the while a dueling chant breaks out. Shelley locks in a few impressive submissions, each one not getting Hyrdo to tap though. Hydro gets out and the two stare down and circle one another again.
The two lock up and again Shelley wins the exchange, this time getting Hydro down for a very unique submission that locked up Hrydo’s legs and had Shelley put his feet onto Hydro’s upper arms and roll him into the air. Hydro adjusts his weight and gets Shelley to pin himself but Alex realizes it by the count of 2 and releases. More chain wrestling between the two, give these guys an award. They have really impressive chain wrestling ability. Shelley knocks down Hydro, but Hydro kicks Shelley away and knocks Alex down for a two count. Hydro attempts many pins but can’t keep Shelley down long enough for the three count. Shelley chains out of Hydro’s attacks and slams the back of Hydro’s neck onto his knee. As Hydro recovers, Shelley runs, trips and does another knee neck breaker.
Shelley locks in a very interesting submission, a combination of a abdominal stretch with a choke hold. Snapmare followed by another submission. Alex is going all out here. Elija Experience in the corner, goes up top and drops a knee onto the neck of Hydro but only gets a two count. Shelley begins to get frustrated as he can’t keep Hydro down long enough for the three. Shelley goes for the Shellshock but Hydro gets out of it and rolls him up for a two. Shelley turns him over and goes for the border city stretch, Hydro rolls out, Alex tries the Shellshock again but Hydro gets out of it and brings him down in a front russin leg sweep, grabs Shelley’s neck and flips over and does a bridge, stretching Shelley’s neck backwards.
Alex gets out of it, Hydro attempts a type of power slam but Shelley rolls out, rolls back in and nails a perfect Shellshock, locks in the border city stretch and Hydro taps.
Winner: Alex Shelley by submission.
Post Match: Shelley gets the mic and tells Hydro his best wasn’t good enough. Alex tells Hydro he thinks he knows where he belongs, implying to join Generation Next. Hydro walks out and heads to the back.
Out come the Carnage Crew followed by Trent Acid and Danny Daniels. Already I can tell Trent is on every drug in the known universe. Uh, people from the Carnage Crew begin fighting with other people of the Carnage Crew. Apparently it was Masada and Danny Daniels who baked some brownies in the CC’s bags.
So it’s Masada, Trent Acid and Danny Daniels vs Loke, Justin Credible and DeVito.
Lots of garbage brawling and stuff, finally things get into the ring. Justin is fighting some guy and botches his Super Kick. He attempts a tombstone on Acid but Danny Daniels stops him and then Masada comes in, grabs Justin and holds him for Trent to super kick him. Confused? I know I am.
Acid stumbles around and makes a tag to Masada. He beats on Justin for awhile and tags in Danny, the two lift him up and Justin lands on both their knees. Tilt a whirl gut buster to Justin followed by a standing senton. Tag to Trent. Trent jiggles his junk to the delight of one overweight hick lady and delivers an elbow drop followed by a sleeper. Justin elbows his way out ducks a big boot, and Super Kicks Trent who sprung board off the second. Tag out to Loke and he cleans house. Spinning bulldog to Danny, Loke takes Trent, drives his neck to his knee then plants him. Goes after Masada but he ruins Loke.
Justin suicide dives onto Someone. Carnage Plex by Devito and Loke to Danny Daniels, boot to Trent Acid and puts him up in an Outsiders Edge and throws him down with an added neck breaker by Loke. Masada hits DeVito with a chair as he was setting up Acid for the Carnage Driver. Danny nails Loke with a spinning back suplex. Masada goes to work on Devito’s leg in the corner and Trent is stalking Loke in the opposite corner. Big Yakuza kick to Loke by Trent and it’s over.
Winners: Trent Acid, Danny Daniels, and Masada.
Jimmy Rave vs John Walters
The two shake hands but as soon as that happens, out comes Generation Next again.
Shelley gets the mic and tells Rave and Walters that Gen Next wants their spots and just going to take them and that they don’t need to earn any spots. Aries attacks Rave, Evans and Roderick attack Walters. Huge piledriver to Walters by Roderick Strong as Rave gets jumped.
Winner: No Contest
Nigel McGuinness vs Jimmy Jacobs
Good thing the whole Age of the Fall thing worked out for Jacobs because this is pathetic. He’s basically a Bruiser Brody look alike minus the intimidation, oh and his leggings are purple! Way to go Jimmy, way to go. Nigel looks really young here too, has the spikes going but he doesn’t look as defined.
Jacobs tries to get the advantage on Nigel but his European chain wrestling gets the better of our young Brody. Nigel tries working on the arm but each wrench the crowd goes “Huss” and Nigel backs away, laughing and in anger. Jacobs has a whole unpredictable thing going for him but Nigel is there to stop him at every turn. The fans are making this match a bit better than it really is. Comments like “This is the best match ever” really add to all this hussing.
Nigel sent into the turnbuckle, leaps off but gets kicked in the gut and a clothesline for a near fall. Jacobs chops and Nigel uppercuts. Again. Jacobs chops away, runs up the turnbuckle and husses his way to a hand chop. Nigel rolls his arms up and brings Jacobs down. Nigel continues working on the hand/wrist/arm with submissions. Nigel sent into the corner, leaps off and over our Huss man and goes into a head stand in the opposite corner. Jacobs runs over, puts him on his shoulder but Nigel being the bigger man easily falls back and brings Jacobs on his shoulders while at the same time putting him on the turnbuckle and nails a perfect Tower of London for a very near fall.
Nigel rolls up Jacobs but gets another two, runs into the corner and head stands, catches Jacobs and tries to set him up again but Jimmy knees Nigel runs to the opposite corner for the contra code but Nigel tosses him off but is unable to avoid a big boot by Jacobs for a near fall. Jacobs goes up top misses the double stop, and misses Nigel in the corner, Nigel rolls him up for a two.
Jacobs nails a modified Unprettier for a near fall. Jacobs tries the Contra Code again but Nigel hits Jimmy’s arm and it sounds like it snapped in half, divorce court by Nigel followed by a very nice submission to the arm that gets Jimmy to tap.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness
We go backstage to Sugar Shawn Price who finds Homicide and Julius Smokes plotting tonight’s match. Apparently Homicide finds him as annoying as I do and shoves him against the wall and tells him to get out before he beats his ass. Smokes out Joe while the camera man runs away.
ROH Tag Title:
Second City Saints (c) vs The Prophecy
CM Punk starts the match and slaps BJ Whitmer across the face. BJ spits and slaps him Punk’s face in return. Colt gets the blind tag to Punk but doesn’t do any good as BJ takes him down as well. Cabana escapes to the wrong corner as BJ tags in Dan Maff. Maff takes it to Colt and Punk fists a flyin’. After awhile Maff gets a bit cocky which allows Punk to trip him up on his route to the ropes. Cabana tags in the Punker who double suplex him. Punk goes to the turnbuckle and attempts to leap over Maff but he blocks him and aided by a punch by Whitmer, throws him down. Big senton to the back of Punk. Tag to Whitmer and the two toss him to the opposite corner. Whitmer thrown to the buckle by Maff who nails a knee and Maff hits punk with a big hip. Followed by Whitmer with a dropkick to the downed Punk.
Maff sets himself up for the cannon ball but Colt has had enough and trips him down and drags him into the corner crotch first. Punk flat liners Whitmer into the corner and holds him up for Cabana to hit an Elija Experience followed by a great suplex that has Whitmer landing head first. Allison gets in the refs face before a pin can be made. Tag to Cabana who takes it to Whitmer. Cabana locks in a modified triangle choke type submission but Whitmer tries to turn it into a Boston crab however Punk is there to punch Whitmer off.
Punk legal now, lands a vertical suplex for a two count. Snapmare into a head scissors. Again BJ tries a submission in the Second City Saints corner and pays dearly for it. Cabana and BJ slug it out but a Russian leg sweep to Whitmer by Cabana who rolls him over, still locked in, for Punk to senton onto him for a near fall. Punk works on the back but Whitmer keeps fighting him, however Punk eventually gets the butterfly suplex back breaker. Cabana in now and he continues the assault on BJ. Tag to Punk. Reverse Boston Crab Camel Clutch combination by the Second City Saints.
Cabana works on Whitmer in the corner, tag to Punk, and Punk rushes in with a Yakuza kick in the corner. Tag to Colt, Colt whips Punk to Whitmer but Whitmer avoids sending Punk straight to the outside. Whitmer Tags Maff and Dan is unloading on Cabana. Punk leaps in but gets caught and belly to belly’d onto Colt. Exploder attempt by Whitmer is reversed to a victory roll by Punk only for a two. Cabana flips Punk overhead into a hurricarana. Whitmer catches Punk off the ropes and Maff clotheslines him into a German suplex.
Double suicide dive by The Prophecy onto Punk and Cabana on the outside. Cannon Ball by Maff to Punk in the guard rail. Whitmer throws Cabana into the crowd. The Prophecy destroys the Second City Saints in the open field. Not much to see, bad lighting with it being an outdoor show. Whitmer is beating on Punk. Cabana slams a chair on Whitmer and Maff slams a chair on Cabana. Cabana attempts to slam a chair on someone (not a wrestler) but Maff chucks a chair into Cabana’s face. Back in the ring Punk nails a shining wizard on BJ and getting a near fall out of it.
Punk leaps up top but Maff shoves him off onto the guard rail. Cabana gets caught but low blows Maff and gets small packaged but Maff kicks out. Cabana goes up but Whitmer catches him and gets a super plex. Maff leaps off the top with a headbutt while Punk leaps off the top with a leg drop. Maff and the Punker slug it out. Punk reverses the whip and gets an inverted atomic drop. Punk brings down the kneepad for the shining wizard but Maff clotheslines him. Cabana throws Maff out of the ring and Colt dropkicks him through the 1st rope.
Punk going up and brings Whitmer with him, tries the Pepsi Plunge, Whitmer tries a wrist clutch. Maff goes up. Colt goes up. Headbutt to Cabanna, punch to Maff who sends him off the turnbuckle and through a table. Pepsi Plunge to BJ and covers him for the pin fall.
Winners an still Tag Team Champions: CM Punk, Colt Cabana the Second City Saints
Backstage for intermission and our guy is with Special K and they all seem depressed (BECKY BAYLESS IN COMPANY! SCHWING!). They say they’ve been getting their butts handed to them for the past couple of shows now and don’t really know what to do to change it (maybe go to a wrestling school?).
Our other interviewer, who got molested by Homicide earlier, is back and goes into Dan Maff’s locker room. Allison Danger doesn’t let him in and slams the door. No wonder this guy isn’t around anymore. Back to the second half!
The Briscoes vs The Outcast Killaz
Due to technical difficulties there won’t be any commentary during the match, doesn’t bother me much. Due to my lack of knowledge of the Outcast Killaz and there being no commentary I’m going to have to label them myself. The tall Mexican looking one with earrings I’ll call Brian B. Blair and the other I’ll call Shieky Baby.
Brian Blair ticks off Jay Briscoe with constant shake offs of the knuckle lock so, as any normal person would do, he shoves him. Blair shoves back, then Jay, Blair slaps Jay and Jay slaps back (really stiff too). Blair whips Jay, blind tag by Mark, Jay ducks a clothesline and Mark springboard dropkicks Blair. Shieky Baby gets in, ducks a double clothesline but gets a double Rock Bottom. Both Briscoes begin chopping the crap out of Brian Blair in the corner and send him into the opposite side. Mark charges him with a splash followed by Jay with a forearm and a double dropkick to the face upon Blair falling to a sitting position.
Holy crap, close up of Prince Nana! He’s their manager? Instant recognition, well not really. But now I don’t hate the Outcast Killaz as much.
Brian Blair tries to look good with some strikes including a jumping knee but Mark doesn’t show much selling, ducks a clothesline and nails a very nice suplex. Shieky Baby tries to get tagged in but Mark drags Blair into his corner. Mark runs off the ropes for a double stomp, runs off the ropes and a double stomp, runes off the ropes again and hits a knee drop to the head for a near fall. Mark tries the cutthroat driver but Blair wiggles out and hits some kind of spinning face plant. Shieky Baby tags himself in and toss Mark into the ropes, and hits a double hip toss. Shieky tries to get Mark in various moves but Mark fights out each one.
Mark goes to the apron and stiffs Shieky. The Delaware native goes up top and attempts a double ax handle but gets caught and back breakered. Mark is sent for the ride but ducks a punch and nails a northern lights suplex and rolls through to land a fishermen buster. Great combo. Jay gets the tag and cleans house. Great Michinoku Driver to Shieky Baby but Brian Blair breaks it up. Blair traps Mark in a choke while Shieky tries to get a running boot on him but Jay comes running and gets a boot of his own to Shieky.
Mark breaks out and positions Blair up for the Cutthroat driver while Jay gets him up for the Jay Driller and get the double pin fall.
Winners: The Briscoes
Post Match: Generation Next comes out again. Shelley tells the Briscoes they have two choices, to give them their spots or have them taken. Jay asks “Who the F**k are you?” and tells Gen Next that him and Mark never back down from a fight. Shelley tells him that he should have passed math class because this is four on two. John Walters and Jimmy Rave come out to even the numbers. Walters says they all came to wrestle and prove themselves tonight so now’s the time to do it.
Generation Next vs The Briscoes, John Walters and Jimmy Rave
Rave and Roderick start it. Both are pretty even with some chain wrestling, mostly arm work. Tag to Mark Briscoe. The chain continues with Mark topping Roderick. Rod escapes a head scissors to a side headlock and locks in a great arm scissors. Rod tags in Shelley who also continues the chain. Mark tags in Walters who locks in a great submission on Shelley. Alex shows off his genius chain skills.
Tag to Jack Evans, the chain wrestling is going to immediately stop now. Tag to Rave. Some surprising moves by Evans. Tag to Jay Briscoe. Evans has been grounded the entire match, much to the dismay of Generation Next. Mark tags in. All members of the impromptu team work on Evans’ arm and spine mostly. Jack escapes, realizes he can’t chain wrestle and tags in Austin Aries.
Aries takes down Mark with a fantastic roll take down. The two stand off and go to a knuckle lock, but Aries somehow locks in a sitting stunner type submission. Mark manages to take down Aries for a near fall, Aries turns Mark over for a near fall. Walters tags in. Walters gets some near falls on Aries, who slips out but Walters manages to keep Aries grounded and delivers a VERY stiff kick. Tag to Jay.
Jay in control with a headlock but Aries fights out and kicks Jay in the side of the face. Tag to Roderick. Who lands some insane chops. Jay gets fired up and goes to town on Roderick. Rod fights back though and manages to chop Jay down into a headlock. Dropkick by Roddy but Walters breaks up the count. Tag to Shelley. Fantastic submission that butterflies the arms and back of Jay. Tag to Aries. Jay fights back though and tags Walters. Aries tries to leap out of the head scissors but gets piledriven three times for it. But Aries leaps out and dropkicks Walters. Big dropkick to Aries.
Aries goes up top and tries to leap over Walters but John catches him and slams him down. Big cross faces and a chop. Aries flips over for a pin but Walters tries a sharpshooter but tags in Rave, Aries runs to his corner and tags in Alex Shelley.
(Brief note here. It would be Alex Shelley later on teaming with Jimmy Rave to bring down Generation Next in a few years from here. You can read on some of that in the Steel Cage Warfare review. Back to the action)
Rave keeps his own on Alex with shope good chops and a roll up and avoids a drop kick but misses a shinning wizard. Tag to Roderick. Rave taking to him. Jay tags in and chops away on Rod but Roddy suplexes Jay down for a two. Rod really hits off the ropes fast and gets a big knockdown by Jay’s elbow. Mark tags in but Roderick takes it to Mark. Tags in to Evans. Jack tries his speed but Mark kills him with a clothesline. A HUGH chop in the corner followed by another. Tag in to Walters. Briscoes walk in the ring and lay on the mat with knees up. Walters throws Evans onto the knees for a very nice spot.
Walters spikes Evans with a power bomb and in comes Jay. Dropkick keeps Evans down. Tag to Rave. Amazing team work by the impromptu team, almost NONE by Generation Next. Tag to Mark. Mongolian chop and a northern lights suplex. Jay tags in Sidewalk slam top rope leg drop combo for a near fall, as almost all of Gen Next breaks up the count. Jay goes off the ropes, leaps over Jack but Evans lays down and puts the boot up for a low blow followed by a pelle. Jack crawls to his corner and tags in the fat 14 year old, Roderick Strong.
Rod is sent into the ropes, Jay tries a big boot but Roddy catches him and Alex dropkicks Jay’s unhooked leg and Rod lifts him for a back breaker. Rod drags him to his corner and goes to work on Jay with a leg lock. Shelley gets in and locks in one of his own. Walters and Mark try to push the ropes closer to Jay but Shelley drags him back over. Knee drop by Aries. And the leg work continues. Generation Next finally starting to show some dominance. Aries hits his shinbreaker/back suplex combo for a near fall. Shelley spits on all of the opposite team.
Rods in the ring now and continues the leg work and a tag to Alex. Shelley locks in a modified sharpshooter rope break, and a tag to Roderick. Two count on Jay. Big chop and a whip to Jay but Jay falls before he reaches the opposite side, proving his leg is almost useless. Jay whips Rod and gets a clothesline and big boot. Tag to Rave.
Rave cleans house and in comes Alex. Again Rave goes for the Shinning Wizard but Shelley runs out. Rave connects with a super kick to Austin and traps Roderick to tag in Walters. Big knee lift followed by a clothesline by Walters. Alex crotches himself in the corner followed by a Backstabber by Walters. Roderick has him up for the gut buster but Walters blocks it and brings Roddy down face first and chops Alex into Roderick and ties their legs up and locks in a double sleeper hold like move.
Jack Evans comes running in the ring, kick to one of the team mates and hits an almost double moonsault off the top rope onto both Briscoes on the outside. German suplex to Roderick in the ring by Walters but Roderick switches afterwards and hits one of his own but Walters switches and gets another German. Roderick plants the double knee gut buster. Tag to Aries.
Great suplex assisted by the ropes to Walters. Running knee to the head of Walters. Walters tries to run to his corner but Shelley catches him by the hair and drags him down onto his knee. Tag to Roderick, He locks in a very nice package submission move. Shelley gets in behind the refs back and hits a nice cutthroat neck breaker that he rolls into an Indian death lock. Aries tags in and flies off the top onto Walters. Knee to the gut followed by a DDT. Roderick makes his way in behind the refs back.
Stiff kick to the spine of Walters followed by a great belly to back and Rod begins neck working with snapmares and an Indian death lock. Roddy rolls out and lands a vertical suplex. Tag to Jack. Evans hits an actual submission move but Walters clotheslines Evans whoi flips all over the place and makes a tag to Mark. Mark leaps off with a missle dropkick and cleans house on Austin Aries and Roderick. Tag to Jay who nail the sprinboard doomsday device on Aries. They go for the count but Aries gets the shoulder up with a late assistance by Alex Shelley. Shelley clears out the ring and locks in Matt Striker’s finishing submission hold.
Rave forces Shelley out of it and cross faces him a few times and locks in the cross face. Rave pulls back viciously but Shelley manages to make it to the ropes. Enzugeri by Shelley and tries a tornado DDT but Rave rolls through and connects with a Shinning Wizard. Roderick Strong runs right in but Rave hits a back breaker and goes for a Russian leg sweep but Roddy holds the ropes sending Rave down. Jimmy pops back up and spins Jimmy over head into a back breaker of his own. Walters and Aries pound each other in the far corner. Northern lights suplex by Walters, Evans goes up top and attempts to break it and does with a shooting star press. Meanwhile Mark is up top the opposite corner and hits HIS shooting star onto Roderick who had Rave in a bridged German suplex. Mark goes for the pin but the ref doesn’t realize it for a few seconds and gets a late two count.
Jack slaps Mark and Jack nails one of the hardest, most fearsome looking back suplexes I’ve ever seen (Morishima eat your heart out). Mark stumbles around but manages to get Jack in a Cutthroat Driver position and plants him but is too hurt to pin him. Jay tries for the Jay Driller to Roddy, can’t nail it from the leg work earlier but knees Roddy a few times and lifts him up again and nails it. Aries launches off the top rope and hits the 450 splash onto Jay and makes the pin after a few seconds of recovery. One, two, Walters breaks it up.
Walters gets sent into the corner, he brings himself up to the second rope and puts the boot up and gets Aries in a piledriver position and launches off. Botch. Either Aries or Walters were thinking of different moves or Aries was refusing to take a piledriver from the 2nd or something but the move ends up looking like a Styles Clash withouth the leg/arm hooking on the bottom. Walters goes for the pin but Jack breaks it up.
Jack walks over to the ropes and springboard 450 splashes Rave, Roderick and a Briscoe or two on the outside. Walters takes a breather, leaning his head on the top rope, Shelley comes over and gives him a stunner on the apron. Alex goes up top and lands a double stomp to the back of the head, though apparently not really reaching his target all that well. Shelley locks in the Border City Streach, Rave tries to break it but Aries leaps on top of him and locks him in the Rings of Saturn. The Briscoes are on the floor, Walters tries to escape but Shelley reinforces the move on him and Walters taps.
Winners: Generation Next
The crowd gives a standing ovation and an “ROH!” chant and a “Match of the Year” chant. Really great match that solidifies Generation Next’s dominance. And both teams shake each other’s hands.
CM Punk comes out to his classic AFI theme. A fan gets right into Punk’s face big time, Punk tells him to “Be a man” about 20 times but the fan just keeps insulting him. Great stuff that the ROH of now doesn’t have. However this one chick that insists on screaming “Aaaow!” for every damn entrance needs to be molested with cattle prods and hung on a noose of barbed wire.
Ricky The Dragon Steamboat comes out for their confrontation. Back story here is that Ricky did a flying body cross on Punk at an earlier show and Punk wants to talk to him on why he thinks he can call himself a legend. Steamer is over big time. The verbal debate begins!
Punk says that everyone wants to be remembered for something and to be idolized. He lists Dragon’s accomplishments. Including his matches with Steve Austin (some idiots chant “what?” after every damn sentence).
Dragon says that he was fortunate to make his mark several times and not just that one spot and that Punk is not going to take control of something he’s put over 20 years into building. He’s here to fight Punk tonight.
Punk asks for the microphone again and says that he does respect Dragon and he doesn’t want to fight Ricky. The fans don’t buy it, so Punk puts out his hand. Dragon looks doubtful but puts his out and gets sucker punched by Punk. But Dragon fights back with chops but the youngin proves to be a bit to strong for him and takes it to him big time, taunting him all the while. But Dragon gets him up in the big choke and slams him down! He points up top and climbs up but Cabana come out from nowhere throws him off onto the top rope. Cabana holds him down while Punk climbs the top rope with the ring bell and drives it into his stomach.
Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer run out along with refs a bit to late and aid Dragon as the Second City Saints make their way back to the locker room.
ROH World Title Match:
Samoa Joe (c) vs Homicide
Homicide comes out throwing everything around, dunno what thats about. Joe comes out to his “Champ is here” mix. Homicide throws a chair at Joe but he doesn’t show any intimidation. Insane amount of streamers for Joe after his introduction, far to many to clear out so Joe and Homicide battle it out in a rainbow.
Joe clotheslines Homicide and Julius Smokes out of the ring. Joe suicide dives onto Homicide on the outside. Joe pounds on Smokes in the corner and goes for the Ole Ole kick in the corner but Homicide breaks it and gets Smokes to accidentally clothesline his own man, Ole Ole kick to Smokes. Joe drags Smokes into the corner for Ole Ole again but Homicide attacks. Joe throws Homicide into the ring and sends him into the corner. Homicide leaps off the top for a knee but misses, rushes back at Joe but gets powerslammed.
Joe hits his slap, kick, knee drop combo and face washes Homicide in the corner. Joe sets Homicide up top for a superplex but Homicide bites Joe and falls on top of him to the mat. Nice neakbreaker to Joe followed by another. Table set up, leaning against the railing. Homicide hits Joe with a chair and is about to suplex him over the ropes and onto the table but Joe reverses and suplexes him back into the ring. Joe brings down Homicide after a slug off with a slap. Great backbreaker to ‘Cide and locks in a sort of Dragon Sleeper.
Smokes shouts his usual awesome banter. Enzuguri to Joe, Homicide runs against the ropes and goes FLYING through the 2nd rope into the table. Simply amazing, the man was going an easy 30 mph and flew harder into a table than Tanaka/Awesome at ECW One Night Stand. Joe picks up Cide and slams him through the remnants of the table and spears him into the railing.
Homicide walks around the ring, holding onto his back. Joe spears him into the railing again. Smokes tries to hit Joe with a chair but it doesn’t happen. Cide tosses the chair into the face of Joe. Homicide has found a (what Gabe calls it) Ghetto fork! He stabs Joe in the face and begins grinding it into it. Joe is busted open and Cide begins stabbing and ripping again. He shoves the fork back into his boot and stomps away at Joe and whips the chair into Joe’s face. Homicide covers Joe for a pinfall but only gets too.
Smokes choking out Joe on the apron as Cide yaks away with the ref. Spinning DDT to Joe off the 2nd rope. Homicide begins to get a little cocky, and begins chopping and taunting. Cide goes off the 2nd rope but Joe catches him and slams him down and begins the kicking assult followed by a powerbomb for a two into a crab submission. Cide kicks Joe out of it Joe catches Cide in the corner and nails a running Death valley Driver. Joe going up top with Homicide. Joe is going for the Muscle Buster on the top rope! Cide reverses but Joe gets him, no he doesn’t, and they land to the mat. Big lariet but Joe kicks out! Alabama slam to Cide.
Homicide nails the back drop driver and hits the piledriver, but Samoa Joe kicks out. Joe slaps Cide around picks him up but Cide gets out, hangsmen neckbreaker. Homicide locks in the STF but he turns it into a Cripple Crossface. Cide reaches for the fork in his boot and starts ramming it into Joe’s forehead (Gabe screams like a woman during this). The ref has had enough and takes it away. Homicide tells the ref off. Joe slaps Cide around and hits the Island Driver but only gets a two count.
Joe lifts him but Homicide gets out, lariat to the back of the head. Goes for the Cop Killer, Joe powers out and hits him with a lariet but only gets a two. Joe lifts him again for a brain buster and manages to get a three count.
Uh yeah. Bad build up to the ending.
Winner and still champion: Samoa Joe
We go backstage to BJ Whitmer, Allison Danger and Dan Maff.
Maff tells BJ he wasn’t all there and he’s giving the Prophecy one very last chance.
Back to the ring: Homicide tells the crowd that was giving him a chant that they can pretty much “fu**k off”. And goes absolutely nuts. To which Gabe hilarious starts yelling “EVACUATE! EVACUATE!!”
End of Show
Comments/Notes/etc
Positives:
+ Every match Generation Next had (which was a lot) was fantastic. These four men really were the future (and now current being) of wrestling
+ The rest of the card holds up well except for the Trent Acid match but thats to be expected.
+ Joe/Homicide was very brutal however had NO build up to the ending of the match. It was like a Sunday Night Heat finish.
Negatives:
– The ending of Joe/Homicide
– Trent Acid, Masada, and Danny Daniels vs Loke, Justin Credible and DeVito. The match wasn’t entertaining at all, just a bunch of guys in street clothes punching each other for awhile and attempting wrestling moves.
– Sometimes the show came off kind of hokey due to Gabe and the other ring announcer trying to put over stuff a bit to much. Smart wrestling fans are watching the DVD already, we don’t need RAW commentary.
Summary: The overall show is fantastic. The Gen Next 6 man tag is fantastic, Shelley/Hydro is great, McGuinness/Jacobs is entertaining, and the Gen Next 8 man tag is one of the best matches I’ve seen from early ROH. Though the Trent Acid match and Outcats Killaz/Briscoes matches aren’t really to praise-able and the ending to Joe/Homicide comes close to ruining a fast paced crazy match. Also the ending to the show left me feeling a bit disappointed however very eager to see what the next show has in store. At the end of the day the show is like one big storyline focusing on the Generation Next group. The world title match almost seems thrown on as a bonus, and it works extremely well.
Overall: 8 out of 10. A good amount of amazing matches that got a bit tampered down with two lackluster matches. Otherwise, this is a must get for people who want to see how ROH shaped into how it is now.
You can get this show, and many others at www.rohwrestling.com
