Ring of Honor Report: Respect is Earned 2, 6/7/08

PPVs, Reviews, Top Story

ROH had an amazing Pay Per View taping. Come in for all the results including two amazing matches, several hot new angles, and the in-ring debut of Eddie Kingston!

Preshow Match 1: Mitch Franklin and Shane Hagadorn vs. The Osirian Portal of Amasis and Ophidian

This match features two wrestlers who graduated from the ROH Wrestling Academy facing off with two Chikara Wrestling Academy students. Mitch Franklin is running a gimmick similar to the one Petey Williams is in TNA, without the overt Scott Steiner influence. Hagadorn is still your all purpose, do anything, generiheel. The Osirian Portal, being from Chikara, are a lot more… quirky. Amasis is the Phunky Pharaoh, a dancing, high flying Egyptian Pharaoh. Ophidian is a fan favorite, he uses a snake gimmick, which he is excellent at.

They begin the match with a showcase for Ophidian and Amasis. Amasis in particular, with some gorgeous mat wrestling, use of his gimmick, and selling, looks like he belongs. Amasis looked more generic, but still was a better face than I expected from his Chikara work. The ROH students took a good beating early, then went to work on Ophidian. After the workover period, which got good heel heat, a hot tag was made to Amasis. He didn’t get much in before Hagadorn nailed a STO for the win.

Franklin and Hagadorn defeat the Osirian Portal (Pin, STO, **)
Perfectly acceptable, if short. Very good character work and some solid wrestling.

Preshow Match 2: Top of the Class Trophy Match: Ernie Osiris © vs. Rhett Titus

If I haven’t said it before, Rhett is easily the most charismatic of the ROH students with the best look. Osiris looks flabbier than usual and, unfortunately, looks far more imposing in street clothes than his wrestling gear. This was a fairly generic match that felt like a showcase for Rhett’s “Addicted to Love” gimmick. Naturally, Rhett won with the Razor’s Edge (Splash Mountain is sit-out).

Rhett Titus defeats Ernie Osiris (Pin, Razor’s Edge, *)
Perfectly acceptable and a great way to continue to distance Rhett from the pack.

After another few minutes Bobby Cruise came out and announced we’d start the PPV right away and, indeed, there was no sign of Prazak or Leonard all night. That’s a great call considering how bad they had come off on previous PPV’s.

Match 1: The Vulture Squad of Jigsaw and Ruckus vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico

This match was expected to be a showcase highlighting Steen and Generico, but worked out to have a much better dynamic than that. Generico, a luchador remember, was having a world of trouble with Jigsaw and, to a lesser extent, Ruckus, due to their speed matching his. Steen, however, was bulling and bullying his way through his opponents, so it made sense when Generico took a beating for an early heat segment. Ruckus tried to frustrate Steen by knocking him off the apron, but Steen, still with a heelish disposition, pulled Ruckus out, beat him down, and made the hot tag. Needless to say, this was unique and awesome.

Ruckus then took a heat segment where he impressed with good selling. Eventually, he managed to knock Steen off the apron again and some well timed and meaningful flips helped him avoid Generico to get the hot tag. He then fell, like he was dead, another nice touch. Jigsaw tagged in to clean house for a bit, before we got to the melee portion of the match. Steen and Generico here dominating, finishing quickly with a Swanton Bomb from Steen and a splash by Generico.

Steen and Generico defeated Jigsaw and Ruckus (Pin, Swanton and Splash combination, *** ½)
This was a lot of fun, with Steen and Ruckus’s dynamic carrying the match, while Generico slowly adjusted to his opponents speed as the match went on and got vindication by getting the pinfall. This was tag formula, but it was tag formula with a few twists that made it a big success.

Match 2: Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Davey came out and Claudio immediately out-powered him, controlling the early portion, despite Davey’s clear striking advantage. Davey, however, had a speed advantage as well and used that to counter a Claudio springboard, dumping him to the floor and then hitting a Homicide-esque cannonball. Back in the ring, Davey went to work on the arm, which Claudio sold quite well.

Claudio got several nice hope-spots, but Davey had too much speed and was able to attack the arm for counters each time. The Kimura, however, failed to finish Claudio off, though Davey showed some new, awesome ways to mat wrestle into his finisher. Claudio got one big counter into a giant swing and a dizzy Davey ate the elevated European Uppercut to take the loss.

Claudio Castagnoli defeats Davey Richards (Pin, Elevated Uppercut, ***)
The ending was out of nowhere, just as this seemed ready to change gears and prevented a higher rating. Nearly the entire rating here is for Davey, who seems to have fully figured out what he is doing in the wrestling ring. Every move plays to an advantage, whether speed or arm work, he brings incredible intensity, but in a brash, cocky manner that makes crowds enjoy hating him, and he sells like solid gold, so his opponents always come off looking great. The only worry is that he gets so good that the fans turn him face… luckily, ROH would have a plan for that.

Match 3: Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards, and Adam Pearce with Shane Hagadorn, Bobby Dempsey, Sara Del Rey, and Larry Sweeney vs. Delirious, Pelle Primeau, and Brent Albright with Daizee Haze

The crowd badly wanted Albright here, so the heels immediately begin by taking control of Pelle and Delirious and making sure Albright cannot get in the ring. This is brilliant strategy by the heels since he is the biggest and baddest man of their opposition and smart booking because most of these fans were surely at Albright’s hugely over face-turn at the Hammerstein and/or at his Philadelphia Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 match with Takeshi Morishima. The beating on the other faces went on forever…

Until Albright finally got in and absolutely destroyed the heels. He sold nothing and hit only high impact moves, finishing Eddie Edwards with the knees to oblivion until a ref stoppage.

Brent Albright, Pelle, and Delirious defeat Edwards, Pearce, and Hero (Ref Stoppage, Knees to Oblivion, ***)
This was all built around Albright and only worked because the crowd was so rabid for him. ROH has no monster faces who sell little and kick ass, so I can totally deal with Albright in that role. If he stays this over, however, he will have to move up the card, so 20 minutes or so with Hero will help ensure he is ready for that, otherwise it’s better to let the fans clamor for more of Albright while he improves by ripping the hell out of SnS, Inc.

Post match, Albright is beaten down by the heels and Sweeney grabs a microphone for a major power play. Adam Pearce opens his bag that Sweeney gave him and within is Pearce’s NWA Title. Sweeney calls it the premier title due to its history and we have a new awesome angle on our hands.

Match 4: Fight Without Honor: Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong

The crowd is fairly divided between these two at the start and nothing all match will really change that. The entire match is built upon brutality here and, in a move I love because it harkens back to the feuds beginnings, plays up their similarities as they play a brutal game of “anything you can do I can do better” using everything from tables to ladders to chairs. What was expected to be the sickest spot of the match came as Stevens hit a TKO on Strong from the apron onto a ladder perched between the apron and guardrail. That nearly eliminated Strong, but since he fell to the floor, he had time to recover. A bit more of a beating ensued until both men found themselves atop a gigantic ladder with two tables below them. Strong hit an absurdly scary superplex off the very top of that huge ladder through the tables and managed to, barely, get on top of Stevens for the big win.

Strong defeated Stevens (Pin, Superplex off the ladder, **** ¼)
This will be a bit slow for some because they take their time selling their injuries and while there surely are huge spots and sick brutality, there’s a lot of relaxed pacing and making the pain look like it matters involved as well. The story of the one-upsmanship for brutality was played off well, and with Roderick the heel and it taking an insane move to win, it makes sense for him to eke out a victory here. Stevens now must win the FIP Title in their Dog Collar match (Saturday, July 19 in FIP) to not come off looking badly from this feud, but, as of now, this makes sense.

Post match, Erick Stevens has is name chanted, as does Roderick. Then a “Thank you both” chant goes up as Stevens is helped to the back.

Strong is still in the ring when Larry Sweeney emerges. He invites Strong into Sweet and Sour, Inc. one last time, but Strong again refuses. Davey comes out and beats on Roderick, revealing that he’s already signed with SnS, Inc to great heel heat. Strong is now, at the very least, a tweener, and since his matches tend to work best in either that or a pure face role, I’m thrilled with the decision. This also takes care of the crowd’s growing love of Davey Richards in an awesome manner. Now set up for ROH to hate SnS, Inc are: Claudio Castagnoli, Erick Stevens (the Puder incident), Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, Delirious, and Pelle Primeau. Looks like we have a war brewing with the huge added bonus of Strong and Stevens eventually joining forces.

Post-intermission Delirious tried to ask Daizee Haze out again. Rhett Titus interrupted again, this time apologizing for his previous behavior. He asks to work out with Daizee and Delirious sometime and Daizee accepts. What a twist!

Match 6: ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Go Shiozaki

We started off here with Go getting face shine, beating on Nigel for a bit, before Nigel was able to turn the momentum by taking a risk. Nigel then worked over Go’s arm for most of the match. This went on interminably.

Eventually go made a comeback with a lot of nearfalls and counters that the crowd didn’t really buy. He countered the jawbreaker lariat a few times, but eventually was hit with it. A London Dungeon later and we were done.

Nigel McGuinness defeats Go Shiozaki (Submission, London Dungeon, ***)
This was absolutely a paint-by-numbers match. I reiterate- I love Nigel’s heel character and he’s fantastic at getting heat, but while in this persona he cannot carry guys up to his level.

Post-match Danielson challenges Nigel for the next PPV.

Match 7: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black © vs. Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson

After a few moments of brawling, Aries and Jacobs attack each other with a chair and the ref restarts the match (a side note from my girlfriend: Jacobs is retarded for wearing nipple rings against a guy who hates him). The crowd is cranky from the weak World Title match at the start of this one, but by the end were exploding with glee.

Danielson and Black simply don’t like each other, which leads to Black getting worked over early. Throughout the match, they’d stiff and mock one another whenever possible. Aries and Danielson take control of Black, who soon tags to Jacobs. Danielson ends up worked over through some minor chicanery and his selling and attempted comebacks, while Aries desperately tries to get his hands on Jacobs, but is frustrated in the corner, make up the story of the early part of the match. The hot tag lead to Aries finally getting Jacobs to a big pop. Aries is improving in showing hatred in his wrestling style, but still has a ways to go.

Aries, with his drive, controls the heels alone and nearly wins the match with the Last Chancery (formerly known as the Horns of Aries) before the numbers game catches up to him. Aries is hit with the combination into the End Time before Danielson saves! He is then alone vs. the heels, but now, having had a rest, holds his own. He manages the MMA elbows, but Jacobs still has Danielson’s number and counters into a Contra Code for a near fall. Tyler is in to attack Danielson, but he runs into the Triangle Choke. Jacobs tries to get past Aries to save, but his spear is countered to a Last Chancery as the crowd goes wild. Jacobs finally escapes and nails a senton to save Tyler. Aries immediately dumps Jacobs and hits the heat seeking missile to the floor. They brawl to the back and we’re onto the third portion of the match.

This part is all about Danielson and Black trying to one up each-other. Both men have ready counters for each other’s big moves and get multiple near falls with everything in their arsenals. Danielson, eventually desperate, gets the arm submission he finished Aries with at Take No Prisoners, but Tyler again has a counter, hits a Small Package Driver and finally, successfully nails the Phoenix Splash on Danielson for the three! Tyler Black has finally defeated Bryan Danielson!

Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black defeat Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries (Pin, Phoenix Splash, **** ½-**** ¾)
My Match of the Year so far is either this or Aries vs. Nigel from Supercard of Honor 3 and I won’t know which until this Pay Per View comes out. There were three distinct segments to this match. The first was all establishment- that Aries and Jacobs despise each other on a personal level and Aries wanted to get his hands on Jacobs badly, while Black and Danielson have a big young gun vs. veteran rivalry going on. The Aries and Jacobs war paid off into the second portion where Aries finally got his hands on Jacobs. They got over both the “whose the better team?” tag formula payoff and that Aries and Jacobs personal vendetta is bigger to them than the tag belts.

The final segment was a thing of beauty. I haven’t seen the Manassas match, but I have seen the Breakthrough match between Danielson and Black. They played off Tyler’s cockiness and growing desperation to beat Danielson and prove himself perfectly with several alterations on moves and counters from that show. Tyler’s near falls after a huge beating play off not only the last PPV’s match with McGuinness, but, from what I understand, the Manassas match with Danielson, where he survived epic beatings to barely come up short. This time, however, Tyler got the big counter and hit his Phoenix Splash (put over as a world beater) for the win. Epic.

After this, Nigel says Danielson can’t have a title shot because he couldn’t beat Tyler, who Nigel did defeat. Nigel says Danielson can have his title shot when he defeats who Nigel has.

With this, the PPV ends.

Match 8: Eddie Kingson with Sabian and Robbie Mireno vs. Jigsaw with Ruckus

This is a Kingston showcase brawl, with him heeling it up, allowing his group (the BLK Out) to rough up Jigsaw while Ruckus tries to reason with them. The crowd absolutely was into Kingston huge here and his unique brawling and heel work actually started to get Jigsaw over. Even eternal Kingston doubter Andy Mac was forced to admit that the man has a star presence. Jigsaw makes a comeback, hit several superkicks and nails a top rope double stomp for the surprise win to some polite applause.

Jigsaw defeats Eddie Kingson (Pin, Double Stomp, ***)
I understand why Jigsaw won, even if I disagree. Jigsaw, for losing his mask and leaving Chikara, is almost owed by ROH to try and get him over any way they can. Kingston is such a great promo and awesome presence that he will be able to recover, but this still feels like jobbing a future main-eventer to a future mid-carder, which feels short-sighted.

Match 9: Falls Count Anywhere: Jay Briscoe vs. Necro Butcher

These two had their usual intense, dangerous, selling-free brawl. If that style appeals to you, you must see this as these two are excellent at it. The scissors spots were brutal, as was the powerbomb onto the concrete, and so many other spots.

Three problems, however, plagued this match; two we can address now. First, Jay put Necro back in the ring instead of pinning him on the floor, costing himself the match. Second, Necro got out of a Jay Driller by putting his feet on the ropes. Its falls count anywhere, not falls count anywhere but the ropes.

The Age of the Fall tried to run in, but Mark Briscoe emerged to take out that threat, while Jay found the one steel chair in the building and hit Necro with it. Necro fighting spirited out of it, beating the piss out of Jay and getting an entire piece of the guardrail to beat Jay with. After a bit, a Tiger Driver on that finished Jay, even though it was at an angle and his shoulders were up (the third problem with the match). Still, this was a very good, crazy brawl.

Necro defeats Jay Briscoe (Pin, Tiger Driver on guardrail, *** ½)
Without those flaws, this is surely ****, so if this is your kind of match and my (admittedly nitpicky) problems don’t bother you, be sure to seek this one out.

This is an A+ PPV and show. We have the return of Kingston and his start as a wrestler in ROH, giving the undercard a major feud worth caring about. We have the SnS feud getting far more serious far more quickly with two new elements. First, Adam Pearce as NWA Champion is now recognized in ROH. This takes a lower card lackey and immediately makes him a player. Already signed is Pearce vs. Nigel, Title vs. Title, so we either get a Unification or hinky finish (with two heels, it’d be unsurprising). After that, Albright has a new title to chase since he’s a NWA regular. Second for SnS, we have new member Davey Richards and new enemy Roderick Strong. This changes the dynamic for much of ROH as Roderick, no longer a pure heel, has a new feud to pick up immediately since the Stevens feud has concluded. We get a brand new three way feud between Tyler, Nigel, and Danielson as two of the very best will help to elevate a future star. The Age of the Fall continue to wreak havoc, now having the tag team titles, the Briscoe feud, and the Aries feud, not to mention Steen and Generico surely knocking at their door. Nearly everyone has something big and interesting to do and ROH has just taken a huge step up on a show that also featured two absolutely great matches. This may be ROH’s most well-rounded Pay Per View effort to date.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.