Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Live Review of “Respect is Earned II
So Ring of Honor presented their seventh Pay per View live from the birthplace of Ring of Honor. It was a pretty good show all told, but if you want to read more including spoilers for the Pay per View itself read on, my friend, read on…
Pre-Show Matches
Shane Hagadorn and Mitch Franklin defeated the Osirian Portal of Amasis the Funky Pharoah and Ophidian the, um yeah, he’s kind of a snake. The match was fun, and the crowd was way into the Portal. Hagadorn got the win for his team after a pretty sick STO. This was the best Hagadorn has looked in a while in the ring. The Osirian Portal got a “Please come back chant.†Gabe tends to listen to those.
“Addicted to Love†Rhett Titus squashed Ernie Osiris for the Top of the Class Trophy. Ernie should join the Osirian Portal. It just fits. On another note, it seems whenever they hype a Top of the Class Trophy match the trophy changes hands.
Respect is Earned II
Oddly enough the main show does not start with Dave Prazak or Lenny Leonard. I can honestly say that I do not mind. They didn’t even make an appearance on the show which was even more surprising. Still, I don’t mind.
Opening Match: Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. The Vulture Squad of Jigsaw and Ruckus
There was no Julius Smokes for this show which made me sad, since he played into the feud with Kingston and BLK Out that was set up for the non-PPV portion of the show. Still, this was a pretty fun match and the crowd was way into it. The crowd was not nearly as hot for this show as they were for Take No Prisoners, and in one particular instance it almost hampered my enjoyment of a match. But, I digress. Steen was absolutely dominant in this match and Ruckus and Jigsaw could do nothing to hurt him. Their only hope was to beat Generico, but even that proved too much as Steen and the Generic Luchador were able to hit several huge moves and eventually put away Jigsaw with a Senton/Top Rope Splash combo.
Winner: Kevin Steen and El Generico; ***
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Davey Richards
I will explain later why this match was in the wrong spot on the show, and the result was also wrong. I am usually a fan of Claudio, but tonight something was amiss. These two had surprisingly little chemistry. Claudio was able to get the victory with the Lift-Off European Uppercut.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli; **
Six Man Tag Team Match: Sweet and Sour Incorporated of Chris Hero, Adam Pearce, and Eddie Edwards w/ Larry Sweeney, Sarah Del Rey, and Bobby Dempsey vs. Delirious, Pelle Primeau, and Brent Albirght w/ Daizee Haze
This match was structured excellently. The faces rush the ring at the start to interrupt a Sweet and Sour love fest. The match was hot and the crowd was way into it. The heels controlled 90% of the match and this was really just an old school style six man match reminiscent in structure, but not quality of the Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs. I will say, of Pelle Primeau that if they suddenly panned tilt-a-whirl spots, the little man from Gnome, Alaska would be pretty well buggered. A downside of the match was that the heat segment on Delirious went a little but long, but luckily the fans were electric in wanting Brent Albright to get into the ring. When he finally did the National Guard Armory exploded. Alrbight was able to score the win with “Knees to Oblivion†on Eddie Edwards.
Winners: Brent Albright, Pelle Primeau, and Delirious, ***1/2
After the match Pearce waffled Albright with the mysterious briefcase. Inside he revealed the ten pounds of gold itself the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Sweeney proceeded to say that now Sweet and Sour Inc has a real champion, with a history of prestige and honor. The biggest thing to come out of this is that Pearce actually kind of looked like a big deal holding the NWA strap above his head. I find it a bit odd that ECW made their name by throwing down the NWA title, but now RoH is holding the NWA title over theirs. Also how did the NWA book a huge hall of fame show and not have their title on it. The NWA sucks.
Fight without Honor: Erick Stevens vs. FIP World Champion Roderick Strong
I really can’t think of an example where a Fight without Honor failed to deliver. This is darn close to being the best one yet. These two beat the mother loving heck out of each other. (Note: This column has been edited to fit your computer screen, run in the time allotted, and for content) Most of the match was just choptastic choptitude mixed with some occasional throwing each other into stuff. But it worked…in a great way. They also used a ladder, chairs, and tables to great effect without overkill. There was a fair amount of “down time†or as I like to refer to it “time spent not chopping,†but it worked in the context of how balls out they were going. The other major logical gap was that the ref began a ten count when both men were laid out under the confines of a “there must be a winner†match. Still it brought the fans further into the match, so I guess it gets a pass. Strong won after a nasty superplex off of the giant ladder through two tables. I was really surprised to see Roderick Strong win. Also of note, this is one of the few Fights without Honor to not end in a handshake, so that is good. I guess it is because they still have that pesky dog collar match coming up in FIP.
Winner: Roderick Strong; ****
After the match Larry Sweeney comes out and makes his final offer to Roderick Strong. Roderick responds with the line of the night, “42 bajillion dollars, thanks, but no thanks.†42 bajillion is not even a real number. Hilarious! I have an odd sense of humor. This brings out Davey Richards who tries to convince Roddy to get him some of that fat Sweet and Sour cash, but Roddy says no. Davey however, at an earlier time said “Oh dear God, yes!†to the money and turned on Roderick Strong. This raises several questions including: where does this leave Rocky Romero? Does this mean Roderick is a face? Does this mean that Larry Sweeney invented the number bajillion? I guess we will have to wait and see.
This led to intermission, I want to put a rant in here, but I am going to hold off and include it a little later in this write-up. That’s called a teaser ladies and germs.
After intermission we get Delirious once again trying to ask out Daizee Haze. Before she gets to answer we get treated to a second appearance of “Addicted to Love†Rhett Titus. He is dapperly dressed in a shirt and tie, but he has a rhinestone star belt buckle reminding all of us that he is indeed still a colossal douche. He plays a completely different angle this time and doesn’t try to be all cocky or over the top. He says that was all an act and he really wants to come correct. He suggests that the three of them do something together. And before any of you readers get the image of a Devil’s Threeway or any sort of fingercuffing, he means that the three of them should all train together. The Haze and Delirious both seem agreeable to it, so they make their egress. Rhett leaves the ring and flashes the hard camera this knowing look. The crowd, via chanting, informs Delirious that his chances with Daizee have once again been rebuked by Mr. Titus. Rhett Titus gets it and is on his way to being the most successful RoH student.
Ring of Honor World Title Match: Nigel McGuinnes © vs. Go Shiozaki
This match was hurt by its placement on the card. Nigel and Go went very strike heavy in a match that followed an even strike heavier match. Nothing against Nigel or Go, but these two could not hope to top the heat or hatred of the Fight without Honor. The match was very “paint-by-numbers†and the crowd was already starting to fatigue by this point. The crowd did not really care about Go’s near-falls. To Nigel’s credit, through the course of the match he did play up an angle between him and “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson by referring to himself as the “Best Wrestler in the World†and informing the referee that he “had until 5†much like Dragon does. This was not enough to save the match, though. To most people it was just such a foregone conclusion that Nigel was retaining. He, of course, did retain with the London Dungeon.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness; ***
After the match “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson came out and challenged Nigel to a future title match on PPV. Nigel did not give him a satisfactory answer.
OK, time to rant a little bit. Ring of Honor has yet to find a way to effectively pace a Pay per View taping for the live crowd. Take no Prisoners was pretty well done, but the other Pay per Views that I have attended, the first Respect is Earned, Undeniable, and Rising Above, were, for the most part, fun shows, but lacked something as a live fan in attendance. This show was somewhat guilty of that. If I could have assigned the order of the show here is what I would have done:
Steen and Generico would still have opened the show, but they would have been followed by the Sweet and Sour six man match. Pearce holding up the NWA title could have brought out Nigel who wanted to move up the RoH title match to prove that it is more important and relevant to today’s fans. This would have accomplished two things. It would have generated interest for a potential Nigel vs. Pearce match, a task many would deem impossible, and Nigel vs. Go would not have come out as flat since it would not have followed the stiff-fest that was Stevens vs. Strong.
I would have put Stevens and Strong on after the world title match implying that occasionally blood feuds can trump the world title. The strikes would have looked that much stiffer in comparison, too. Then you have the Richards turn after the match and send the live crowd into intermission to stew about these two huge new developments. I would keep intermission to like ten minutes…tops so the fans have enough time to relax, but not truly come down from the highs generated by the first half of the show. You bring the fans back slowly with the excellent Delirious/Haze/Titus angle. Then you hit them with Claudio vs. Davey who now has Sweet and Sour Inc in tow.
Claudio vs. Davey now has a ton more heat on it. This match also accomplishes a few things. It is in stark contrast to the Fight without Honor so the fans are not disinterested. It is a slow build into the second half of the show, and it continues the Claudio vs. Sweet and Sour storyline. I would change the result and put Davey over in the match too. Davey’s turn lost some of his luster and did not make Larry Sweeney look like the shrewdest of business men. Why should he be spending money on someone who just got beaten by a perpetual thorn in the side of Sweet and Sour? With the new structure, Davey looks like a new threat and Sweeney looks like a genius for finding someone that can steal a win over Claudio, a task no one in Sweet and Sour has satisfactorily been able to do. Also you don’t have Dragon coming out and talking, like he did after the McGuinness match, and then going into the back right before his introduction. That just seems odd.
OK, that should about end the rant.
I would keep the main event of the Pay per View as it was though…
Ring of Honor World Tag Team Title Match: The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black © vs. Austin Aries and “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson
The match started with a heated brawl. It eventually led to Aries and Jacobs in the ring exchanging chairshots. Referee Paul Turner called for the bell, and the crowd was not happy. He agreed, however, to restart the match, and the crowd liked that, but not nearly as much as they should have. I think the fans wanted it changed to a no-DQ match since Philadelphia fans tend to prefer matches contested outside of the conventional rules of wrestling. All these things could have contributed to the weird reception that this stellar contest got. This was the aforementioned match that was almost ruined by the crowd. One, you had a couple of jerks who don’t like Danielson and gave him the business. That actually didn’t bother me because it actually got more people to be vocal on the side of the American Dragon. Two, The crowd, for this match, whether through burnout or expectation or whatever it may have been, sat on their hands for the bulk of this one. Three out of the four men in this match have proven their overness in Philly, with Jacobs maybe being the exception. Still the crowd was not into this match. The action in the match, however, was awesome. These guys all know how to tell a story in the ring. The main story, based on the beginning, was, would Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries be able to contain themselves? And oddly enough it was the slightly more stoic Jacobs who went after Aries illegally more than the other way around. Their conflict eventually led them to brawling to the back leaving American Dragon and Tyler Black to decide the match by themselves. They did not disappoint either. The entire time I thought that Jacobs and Aries would make their way back out, but they didn’t. Tyler was able to get the victory after two small package drivers and a Phoenix Splash. I was expecting a title change too, and was surprised by the result. This match was just awesome on all accounts. I did not love the fact that it was a tag team title match that turned into a singles match, but everything was so awesome that it did not matter.
Winners: The Age of the Fall; ****1/2
After the match Nigel McGuinness came out and informed Dragon that he has not proven he deserves a world title shot since he just lost to Tyler Black who Nigel, “made short work of†at the last Pay per View. He said that Dragon would have to beat everyone Nigel has beaten in order to earn a title shot.
That ends the Pay per View portion of the show, and I will be curious to see how it all plays out, but it could end up being one of the better Pay per Views yet. It tops Takes no Prisoners, Respect is Earned, Rising Above and certainly Undeniable. It will almost certainly be behind Man Up but slightly ahead of Driven. All in all the show is certainly worth your hard earned dollar whenever it debuts.
Non-PPV Matches
Eddie Kingston w/ Robbie Moreno and Sabian vs. Jigsaw w/ Ruckus
I am not the biggest Eddie Kingston fan. That may be reserved for Pulse Glazer. But I will say this of the King of Diamonds. He has a presence that makes his matches, or at least this match, feel like a big deal. He does a good job as a bully in the ring, but his work still doesn’t do it for me in a big way. Jigsaw is a guy I was really high on until they unmasked him. He has not been interesting since he has proven that he is a goony looking kid. The mask made him stand out a bit, especially in RoH where he was one of three masked wrestlers, and each of those masked wrestlers had a completely different persona. Still he is a pretty solid hand in the ring. The match was pretty good too. BLK Out kept trying to interfere on behalf of Kingston, and Ruckus halfheartedly tried to break it up. Ruckus was torn between his stable mates outside of RoH and his tag team partner in RoH. In a development surprising absolutely everyone Jigsaw got the win. He didn’t just steal the win with a roll-up or cheating or anything. He hit Kingston with three huge kicks to the head and a double stomp. While it is almost unheard of for someone to win their RoH “debut,†this move shocked a lot of people. Maybe this was a one off for Kingston, but I doubt it since he showed up in Hartford the night before. The strange part is that Jigsaw took the fall in his earlier match and his double stomp in said match only netted a two count. Either way, the match was still pretty gosh darn good.
Winner: Jigsaw; ***
After the match BLK Out did their best to beat down Jigsaw and Ruckus kinda sorta tried to stop them. He did eventually pull Jigsaw to safety.
Philly Street Fight or Fall Count Anywhere Match: Jay Briscoe vs. The Necro Butcher
I am not entirely sure which it is. Bobby Cruise called it Falls Count Anywhere, but Jay Briscoe called it a Philly Street Fight. Bobby Cruise is much smarter than Jay, so I would think that it was Falls Count Anywhere, but the match was structured more like a Philly Street Fight. Either way, I figured that these two had pretty much shown me all they could do in a violent brawl against each other, and for the most part I was right, but I’ll be damned if this wasn’t a ton of fun. These two just beat the hell out of each other. I will also give RoH and the athletes involved for putting on two wild hate-filled brawls in one show and having them stand in pretty stark contrast to one another. Sure, both matches had their share of chair shots and blood, but this match was more about weapons and the guard rail, while Strong and Stevens built their match around strikes and the ladder. Both matches were a ton of fun. This match also had some run-ins from Jacobs and Black who were stopped by Mark Briscoe. Man, that dude is dumb. Necro took every possible move from Jay and was bleeding buckets before a series of chair shots “woke him up†and he was able to get the win with a tiger driver onto the guardrail in the ring. I guess since Jay’s shoulders were not pinned against the ring canvas, this was Falls Count Anywhere. The match was just a really fun brawl. I wish they would have played “Won’t Back Down†by Tom Petty after Necro’s win, but they played the Age of the Fall music instead. Oh well, still a great match.
Winner: The Necro Butcher; ****
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: This show on the whole was a lot of fun. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Jay vs. Necro in particular, as usually the requisite Philadelphia-brawl-through-the-crowd-match does not do it for me. This one did. It could even come across better on DVD although I doubt it. The tag title match was amazing, and the Fight without Honor was pretty damn awesome too. The world title match lacked, and Claudio vs. Davey was disappointing. The six man tag was surprisingly great and shows that good structure and storytelling can often be as good or better then big spots and big moves. It was a fun show and should turn into a really good PPV and a really good DVD.
I’ll see you next time…
