Welcome to ROH Weekly. There was a huge PPV taping last week, so Click Here for all the results and discussion. It’s June, so it’s time to take a look at the ROH DVDs thus far to see what the Match of the Year Contenders from ROH are. This week we’ll take a look at the Sixteen ROH **** matches from Proving Ground (1/11/08) to Tag Wars 2008 (4/18/08) with a full review for each match. Let’s get to the list.
16. Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico – Without Remorse, 1/26/08
Generico and Claudio had a huge, high impact encounter at Race to the Top Night 2. This appears to be an experience Generico doesn’t want to repeat as he immediately grabs and holds a headlock on Claudio to wear the bigger man down. This works to an extent, as Claudio’s attempted high impact moves fail to work early, but Generico’s offense won’t get through either.
Claudio, being worn down, knows it’s a matter of time before Generico’s speed defeats him since he came so close last time, so he begins to dismantle Generico’s leg. Generico sells this like crazy for the majority of the match as Claudio continues the assault.
Claudio eventually begins dominating enough to use power moves, leaving Generico in a worse predicament. Without his speed he is left to counterwrestling and quick bursts of adrenaline for his offense. Unbelievably, he nearly succeeds at this before being caught in a deadly submission, as the time limit expires.
Claudio Castagnoli and El Generico go to a draw (Time Limit Expires, ****)
The selling is awesome here, as is the reincorporation of stuff from earlier int he match and their first match. The Ricolla counters re-appearing at the end were truly awesome and the crowd ate Generico’s near win at the end when he busted out a Fighting spirit yakuza, but ended up countered to a horsecollar as time ran out. If you like good storytelling and selling, this match is for you.
15. The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black – Supercard of Honor 3, 3/29/08
This is a giant brawl through the crowd with great intensity. The Briscoes refuse to sell any amount of insanity they are hit with, but the Age of the Fall take their beating and sell it, looking like they are in trouble the whole way through.
Eventually, the Briscoes try a sick spot with Mark attempting a balcony dive through a table. The Age escapes that, leaving a lackey to take the spot, while Mark is practically eliminated due to the dive. This leaves Jay in a perilous position and he takes quite the beating until Mark returns.
When Mark is back, the Briscoes quickly capitalize with a Springboard Doomsday Device on Jacobs. He catches Mark in mid-air and counters to the End Time in an absolutely sick spot, winning the match.
Jacobs and Black defeat the Briscoes (Submission, End Time, ****)
The Briscoes looked greatly superior here, but their own recklessness was used against them as Mark was finally hurt enough from his dive to be susceptible to the Age of the Fall’s big moves. One End Time later and the heels continued to show that they had the Briscoes’ number. A huge brawl with a story, who’d have thought.
14. FIP World Title Match: Roderick Strong © vs. Erick Stevens vs. Necro Butcher – Sixth Anniversary Show, 2/23/08
Roderick and Stevens badly want to harm each other here and stiff the shit out of each other. Necro’s job here is to get in the middle and step up the mayhem. He does that beautifully. Necro is good at this kind of violence and is largely successful at keeping the rivals apart, making when they do connect with each other all the more brutal and special. This basically continues until Strong folds Necro in two with a Tiger Driver through a table, then another in the ring for the finigh.
Strong defeats Stevens and Necro (Pin, Gibson Driver, ****)
Oh, the humanity.
13. Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong – Supercard of Honor 3, 3/29/08
This one starts off with Sweeney trying to recruit the NRC into Sweet and Sour, Incorporated. Roderick refuses and Stevens comes out to kick off their FIP title match, attacking Strong viciously, chopping him up the ramp until Strong’s chest bleeds. They continue to battle, with Strong taking the worse part of it. Both men hit the referee and this becomes just a huge fight.
Strong can’t keep an advantage so he wraps Stevens head in a chair and smacks that into the ring post. We have a bloody Stevens now. This finally allows Strong to work over Stevens, but next time Strong tries to use the chair, Stevens is ready and Strong takes it. That evens things up and we go back to a back and forth battle over who will go through the chair… Strong’s face is TKO’d onto the chair. That works; Strong’s face bleeds now.
The carnage continues as they stiff each other. Neither man can get an advantage, but they both continue to wreck each other as the blood loss and punishment take their toll. Eventually Strong falls near a chair and Stevens eats an unprotected shot. The NRC emerge and Stevens has his hair cut as he is knocked out.
Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong never had a bell ring (Ref abuse, ****)
This is how you show guys hating each other. No match, just a brutal beating both ways, with the brutality showing each man going slower and slower as the match goes on. Strong won the battle through pure luck, falling next to a chair and waffling Stevens with it. This issue is far from settled.
12. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries – Take No Prisoners, 3/16/08
These two went at it on the mat early. Surprisingly a lot of their standard offense worked early on, as they had set up for their bigger moves more, which would later be countered. This meant that Danielson was able to hurt Aries arm badly, where Aries would normally have fought that off, while Danielson’s neck is hurt by Aries. This works out well as neither man stopped selling for a moment and the heat grew as their exchanges intensified. Aries was unable to finish with the Horns of Aries and a second rope brainbuster, while the Cattle Muttilation and Triangle Choke weren’t enough for Dragon. Dragon was early on, better on the mat, and that paid off with a seated fujiwara armbar. Aries had nowhere to go and was forced to tap.
Bryan Danielson defeats Austin Aries (Submission, Seated Fujiwara armbar, **** ¼)
Not as good as match 1 or 3 of their series last year, but really, this was very high class stuff. They had a ton of amazing series here, including stuff never shown by the two before against each other. Add in that this is among the best selling from both men ever and you have a must see match.
11. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Roderick Strong – Without Remorse, 1/26/08
Both men are about even at everything, from the mat to striking and a good deal of time is spent setting that up. Eventually a pattern emerges that Strong is slightly more powerful and Nigel slightly better on the mat. The mat work carries the advantage here, as Roderick’s selling makes it clear that Nigel’s advantage is larger.
Nigel works over Strong’s arm for the Dungeon, while Strong goes after the back. They mix this up with strike wars, where both men want to prove their strikes are superior. With Strong basically one armed, Nigel’s rebound lariat answers just that question.
Nigel McGuinness defeats Roderick Strong (Pin, Jawbreaker lariat, **** ¼)
This wasn’t complex at all, but was still very good. Nigel and Roderick took their time building each other’s strategy before pride of champions (Nigel has the ROH title and Strong the FIP) took over and both men decided to try for the knockout. This strategy change worked for Nigel has he had debilitated a major point of Strong’s attack while Strong had no strike finish like Nigel did. The selling subtly made the eventual winner even clearer as Nigel simply outthought and outclassed Strong on this night.
10. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Genki Horiguchi vs. CIMA, Dragon Kid, and Ryo Saito – Supercard of Honor 3, 3/29/08
We start off with three one on one segments, Saito matching up with Genki, Yoshino and Dragon Kid, and CIMA with Doi, all going at high speed. Flashy.
Next, they go into random workover periods with some pretty combination moves the crowd enjoys.
Finally, we just go spot crazy, which the crowd eats up, though many spots are repeats or alterations of the first Dragon Gate 6-man, it’s still awesome. Doi finished Dragon Kid eventually.
Muscle Outlaws defeat Typhoon (Pin, Doi over Dragon Kid, **** ¼)
Yep, its fast and spotty. If you like that, see this.
9. Austin Aries vs. Go Shizaki – Sixth Anniversary Show, 2/23/08
Go has a huge early power and striking advantage. Aries is left trying to fend for himself with mat work and speed and it simply doesn’t work. His bouncing and attempting to take it to Go who is neither slow nor weak on the mat is very good. Strikes and power for Aries don’t work at all, unless backed by speed or done as a counter to a big move of Go’s.
Aries uses his quickness to get an advantage and hits Go in a number of unconventional, but brutal ways. This works for a bit until Go gets cranky and just decides to beat on Aries. He uses his power and striking to set up speed and Aries is in trouble. Go focuses on wearing Aries down and is quite successful at that.
Go goes for a suplex on the apron, but Aries, in sheer desperation, turns it to a belly-to-back on the apron. Heat seeking missile and Aries is stalking Go. His speed keeps control for a short while, but Go, again, decides to drop Aries on his head then strike him to oblivion. Aries counters with multiple dropkicks as he tries to take out Aries. Aries goes for a superplex, but Go is too strong and Aries is in trouble.
Go tries a moonsault but isn’t fast enough! Last Chancery! Aries tries to go up, but strikes stop that. Go hits the Orange Crush for a near fall. He has too much power for Aries, but Aries begins countering Go and hits the Last Chancery again. Again, Go escapes. Go goes for a suplex, Aries knees him in the head, Go nearly goes down, gets up, still holding Aries, grabs the leg, and hits a fisherman’s buster. That is one of the coolest spots!
Go begins to strike Aries out, but a crucifix bomb counters. Kick to the head, brainbuster, and 450, the combination puts Go down!
Aries defeats Shiozaki (Pin, 450, **** ¼)
Go had power and striking on Aries, but Aries, the wily veteran, knew how to use his speed and mat advantage to counter Go. Go had the physical advantage, but it wasn’t enough against one of the best wrestlers around. The finishing sequence here was great.
8. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – Breakout, 1/25/08
The early portion of the match is Tyler showing up Danielson at all of his major skills, be it mat wrestling, athleticism, or striking, and ending each sequence with a mush to the face, pissing off the “Best Wrestler in the World†while showing how great he can be. Tyler eventually loses one exchange and Danielson destroys him with slaps, gaining revenge, but Tyler ducks the ring and takes his time, attempting to dictate the pace.
Back in and Danielson begins to focus on counter wrestling. Tyler can’t handle this and Danielson, being fought all the way, grabs the surfboard. Danielson feels better and gets his revenge, taunting Black as he beats on him. Black escapes a hold and tries to pie face Dragon, again, but it’s a bad idea without control and Danielson smashes him back. His anger, however, causes him to run the ropes for momentum when he shouldn’t and Tyler follows, dumping Dragon to the floor.
Tyler has an advantage and presses it on the floor, then in the ring, mixing brawling with his athleticism. After a beating, Tyler goes back to slapping Danielson and, now, that’s a mistake as Danielson gets mad and strikes Tyler into oblivion then dive onto him on the floor. Pissing off Dragon? Bad idea.
Danielson again gets overaggressive and eats a suplex to the floor, then takes a big dive. It turns out that Tyler can capitalize on Danielson’s mistakes, but that works both ways. Unfortunately for Dragon, Tyler is way better than he seemed prepared for, however, Tyler makes enough mistakes to leave openings for Danielson. Tyler with control, again slaps and works over Danielson.
Taking too long on a corner charge, Danielson regains control and immediately curbstomps Tyler. Danielson fights for the chickenwing, but Tyler still fights all holds and manages to escape. They go with reversals for quick pins, with Tyler barely ahead still, and then lariat each other into a double count.
They rise with a strike war, and an angry Danielson is too much for Tyler. Tyler still has a speed advantage and uses it for a near fall. Dragon nails Cattle Mutilation… barely, but with little sustained setup, Tyler actually regains his feet. He can’t regain control though and takes a belly to back superplex. Danielson, knowing his striking has been strong all match, goes with the elbows, but that doesn’t work, so since the back is now more hurt, he goes for Cattle Mutilation again. Tyler refuses to give up, flips out of a Tiger Suplex and hits a Pelle. He uses his speed to set up kicks and goes to work on Danielson’s head. A reverse DDT leads to a sick, sick Phoenix Splash, but Danielson grabs a small package out of that and Mr. Small Package strikes again!
Bryan Danielson defeats Tyler Black (Pin, Small Package, **** ¼)
That was some awesome, awesome cocky heel work. Tyler took it too Danielson, showing he could hang in every way, but allowing his cockiness (what caused him to take the match to begin with) to get the better of him and give Danielson too many openings. Ultimately, though his talent was on par, Danielson’s skill proved a touch superior, showing it still pays to be the vet.
7. FIP World Title Match: Erick Stevens © vs. Austin Aries – Proving Ground, 1/11/08
This is for Stevens’ FIP Title. This is Stevens revenge for Aries breaking up the Resilience.
They begin with some technical wrestling, won by Aries handily. Aries shows the first of his veteran wiles, convincing Stevens to run to the ropes, then cold clocking him and taking the match back to the mat. Stevens is strong enough to overcome this and shoots Aries to the ropes, hitting the shoulder tackle and establishing a power advantage. Aries hits the floor to frustrate Stevens, taking his time out there.
Aries comes back in with a shoving match as he keeps trying to get in Stevens head. This leads to a Stevens chop and he goes for two more big strikes, but Aries moves, building momentum, and takes Stevens down with a shoulder block. Aries is thinking far ahead of Stevens in this match. Stevens tries to score one big move, but Aries has counters and ideas planned.
Aries again has control on the mat and Stevens, again, powers out. Aries now has a plan for that and gets control on Stevens. Stevens uses his power to again stop Aries control. They repeat it again and finally Aries heat period sticks.
That doesn’t last long and Aries runs into a powerslam and Stevens gets a short period of control, which he does with high impact moves. They begin countering each other at much greater frequency, neither man able to get anything going, with Aries counters matching Stevens power.
Aries eventually uses the top rope and goes after Stevens neck, setting up the Brainbuster and Horns of Aries. Aries slingshots onto Stevens neck that’s hanging out of the ring. Back in and Aries runs into a back drop. Stevens then grabs a bearhug. Everything Stevens does hurts the back. He then goes with a huge overhead belly-to-belly.
Stevens is in control with a sequence of big power moves. Aries gets desperate and rolls through a German suplex attempt, dumping Stevens to the floor. Aries follows with his heat seeking missile. Aries gets Stevens in and throws a ton of back elbows, but stops to taunt and so gets dropped to the floor. Stevens power is such than at any opportunity he asserts himself with it.
Stevens dives from the apron to tackle Aries. Stevens tries the Choo Choo on the floor, but is elevated into the crowd, where Aries dives on him from the top rope. Both men struggle to get back to the ring and are counted out. Stevens refuses to take a victory that way and restarts the match.
Aries attacks and immediately tries to finish. Stevens fights him off, but Aries is in full counter mode and a lariat becomes the crucifix bomb. Aries manages to hit the brainbuster, but the 450 hits knees as Stevens steps up his game! He hits a German, but Aries see’s the Choo Choo coming and nails another counter with the lariat. Aries tries the Horns, but Stevens with a huge counter now into a TKO!
They battle over the Doctor Bomb, trading elbows, but Aries takes out the legs and nails the kick, brainbuster… no… Stevens gets Aries up, but Aries knees him in the air to escape and it’s the Horns of Aries. Stevens fights out straight into the clubbing lariat! Stevens tries a Doctor Bomb again, but this time Aries hits a hurricanrana. Aries hits a roaring elbow, but Stevens turns with a lariat. Doctor Bomb hits and Aries is done!
Erick Stevens defeats Austin Aries (Pin, Doctor Bomb, **** ½)
And Stevens proves himself both kayfabe and non-kayfabe with a fantastic match. They did a ton of Aries veteran vs. Stevens rookie stuff, with Aries thinking so far ahead of Stevens that had an answer for literally everything Stevens tried. Of course, Stevens is the Resilience, so despite his beating, and due to his awesome power, he can withstand Aries stuff just enough to finish him off. Worth getting the DVD for this. Better than the early Stevens vs. Strong matches or Stevens vs. Danielson. Stevens is the Resilience.
6. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuiness © vs. Tyler Black – Take No Prisoners, 3/16/08
Immediately prior to the match Nigel sends Tyler into the guard rail, shoulder first, and spends the entire first portion of the match beating Tyler’s arm into mush. Tyler’s selling is great. Eventually Nigel takes him on the floor to beat on Tyler some more, but Tyler finally manages offense that leaves Nigel in the crowd.
Tyler goes for a huge dive, but Nigel was waiting with a chair and teed off. Nigel gets Tyler back in and Tyler barely escapes. The match is looking like an extended squash.
From here the match picked up in a huge way as Nigel tried everything he could from the Tower of London to the London Dungeon to the entire array of lariats (in order as a nice f-u to fans) to put Tyler down, but simply could not. As Nigel got more frustrated, Tyler began to step up his offense, even hitting the vaunted Small Package Driver for a near fall, but unfortunately whiffing on the Phoenix Splash. There were an absolute ton of near falls in this match, and while that won’t always work, it was absolutely perfect for the underdog. After a Jawbreaker Lariat escape, though, Tyler had nothing left and no way out of the London Dungeon.
Nigel McGuinness defeats Tyler Black (Submission, London Dungeon, **** ½)
A strong early MOTYC, this one was all about Tyler arriving. He’s as tough as anyone and has the athleticism and skill to beat anyone. We were a Phoenix Splash from a new champion, and no one kicks out of the Jawbreaker lariat, yet Tyler did. Huge showing that made Tyler into, at worst, an upper carder and at best a star.
5. Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi – Dragon Gate Challenge 2, 3/28/08
We start off with the ROH guys matching the Dragon Gate guys at their specialty. Generico can hang with Yoshino’s speed, at least for a moment, while Steen matches up with Doi well. Generico soon gets overwhelmed and Steen saves him. Doi ends up worked over quickly, but Doi knocks Steen off the apron and without Steen, Generico is overwhelmed and beaten down for awhile.
Steen gets in and turns everything Doi and Yoshino did to Generico back on them, even mixing speed with Yoshino successfully and matching power with Doi. Eventually, as Steen’s near overwhelmed, Generico gets in and he and Yoshino trade the advantage, with the worn down Generico slowly coming out worse. Steen revives in time to save Generico, but be taken out by Speed Muscle in combination, who go to work on both of the ROH duo.
After a while of a beating, Steen’s power asserts itself and he hits powerbombs. Steen’s speed almost gets him in trouble, but Generico recovered and manages to allow Steen to hit the impact offense, but they can’t put Yoshino away. Generico tries the brainbusta on the turnbuckle, but is destroyed instead for a near fall. Steen dumps out and dives on Doi, leaving Generico to hit a half-nelson suplex on Yoshino, but that and a brainbuster won’t put him away!
Yoshino fights back, but in comes Steen to stop the comeback. Package Piledriver and Brainbuster means the match is over.
Steen and Generico defeat Doi and Yoshino (Pin, Package Buster, **** ½)
Generico had a lot of trouble dealing with the Dragon Gate wrestlers, but Steen, despite a rough patch here or there, basically had his way. This was your basic tag formula into an overkill match you’d expect from a Dragon Gate team match and is the third best Dragon Gate tag ever in ROH, to be made fourth the very next night.
4. Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Shingo and BxB Hulk – Supercard of Honor 3, 3/29/08
BxB gets hugely over on his entrance with a lot of dancing. Steen and Generico come in, then Steen dances and BxB got served.
Generico continues his trouble from the night before with Dragon Gate wrestlers early as BxB has a speed and mat wrestling advantage. Steen fares far better and while he doesn’t own like he did against Speed Muscle, he still shows the ability to keep up with both opponents.
Generico gets back in and is instantly smashed by Shingo, then Shingo and BxB in combination. Generico retreats and Steen gets in. and takes out BxB so Generico can work him over a bit. The work over goes fairly smoothly on BxB as he’s worn down enough for even Generico’s offense to work.
This lasts for a bit until BxB’s speed begins giving Generico fits. Steen comes in, cockily trying to use his speed to counter BxB’s, but that’s a mistake as Hulk causes him to harm Generico before tagging the fresh and dangerous Shingo, who outpowers both men. Steen’s failure to use his speed on Shingo causes him to get dumped on his head.
Shingo continues to destroy Steen and Generico until the numbers finally get to him, but BxB returns soon enough that the advantage isn’t lost more than momentarily. Generico takes an incredible beating, but Steen quickly saves and all four men end up down.
Generico and Hulk are up and Generico has an advantage. He controls long enough for Steen to hit the swanton for a near fall. BxB ends up in trouble, but Steen goes for the moonsault and his lack of speed has him miss, then takes a Bloodfall from Shingo. Steen is thrown out and Generico is in trouble from both opponents, trying to hold on for Steen to save, which he does, but is quickly eliminated by BxB’s speed.
Shingo is alone with a near dead Generico and assaults him with high impact move after high impact move. Generico tries a fighting spirit spot, but it turns into the Last Falconry from Shingo and Steen cannot run in to save!
Shingo and BxB Hulk defeat Steen and Generico (Pin, Last Falconry, **** ½)
Steen and Generico were a bit cocky after the previous night’s win, with Steen thinking he could out speed BxB and outpower Shingo. He could do neither, which left poor Generico, who really was trying to play off Steen, without a base to support himself. Meanwhile the Dragon Gate wrestlers of New Hazard saw an opportunity in eliminating Steen and did so to great effect. This match featured next to no near falls or false finishes and despite some big moves went nowhere near overkill. The team that dominated and had the better strategy won in a fast-paced, high impact match that featured good selling and great storytelling.
3. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuiness © vs. Bryan Danielson – Sixth Anniversary Show, 2/29/08
Huge heat for Dragon and against Nigel. Danielson controls entirely on the mat early, eventually hitting a back drop suplex on Nigel. Nigel grabs his head in pain, then hits the ref to earn the DQ to huge heel heat.
As Nigel tried to leave, Aries and others appeared, demanding he defend the belt properly or go through them. ROH President (and owner) Cary Silkin declared the match restarted.
At the restart Nigel immediately took advantage of Danielson’s anger, working over the arm heavily. Danielson stayed alive with big moves, including the dive to the crowd, but couldn’t keep Nigel down. He might have had the win a few times, but honored his word and didn’t elbow Nigel out of the Cattle Mutilation or during the Triangle Choke. This allowed Nigel to control as he began attacking Dragon’s head. He used headbutts to control Danielson, weakening him for his own MMA elbows. The last one knocked Dragon out. Nigel locked in the London Dungeon arm submission for the win to huge heel heat.
Nigel McGuinness defeats Bryan Danielson (Ref Stoppage, London Dungeon, **** ½)
Danielson should have sold the arm work more, but beyond that, this was essentially a perfect match. I dislike this for Danielson’s character as much as I love the match though. He stomped Morishima’s balls to mush, attacked a hurt Nigel, and has refused to have anything to do with any corporation, including ROH (see CZW War), yet now he’s all about ROH and his word. I’m going to need an explanation to buy that and feel it is a significant step backwards for Danielson as a character. Even so, the match is must see.
2. The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black vs. The Murder City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin – Tag Wars 2008, 4/18/08
This was huge and awesome. The whole early portion is spent establishing that the MCMG are ridiculously skilled as a team and that Shelley, a longtime rival of Jacobs, is completely in his head. This lead to a lot of control for the Machine Guns, who looked great doing it.
Eventually, through all their double teams, one was bound to falter and that lead to the heat segment on Shelley where Jacobs began to step up. The attacks on Shelley were at first not flashy and reeked of desperation, trying to slow the man who looked like a superstar.
The eventual hot tag here went to a melee series where both teams hit numerous moves. Jacobs was taken out numerous times, leaving Black taking and surviving a huge beating as has been established he is able (from his singles push and against the Briscoes) while making comebacks that allow he and Jacobs to manage their team moves against the Machine Guns, though they are still at a disadvantage. Interspersed in this are one on one situations between Shelley and Jacobs where Shelley constantly, barely gets the better of his rival.
The tag action is awesome, fast, and furious for the entire match, but when the Guns found themselves alone with Jacobs, Sabin, deciding that Tyler is the bigger threat, chooses to leave Shelley alone with Jacobs, diving at Tyler. He missed and in the meantime, Jacobs finally got the better of Shelley with the End Time! Tyler held back Sabin and Shelley tapped!
Jacobs and Black defeat Shelley and Sabin (Submission, Shelley taps to Jacobs’s End Time, **** ½)
Awesome story, sick moves, and logical overkill make this a must see winner. Shelley and Jacobs drama unfolding around the Guns awesome double teams and Tyler’s rising to the occasion are a sight to behold. This is a MOTYC shortlister.
1. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Austin Aries – Supercard of Honor 3, 3/29/08
Nigel attempts his usual casual mat work against Aries, but Aries is too good on the mat and ends up countering and getting mat work of his own. This works until Nigel, off of a cheap shot on a rope break, gains control and tries to wear Aries down. Nigel was a face in their last encounter, which is why Aries wasn’t ready for that. Aries recovers quickly, however, and chases Nigel to the floor while going for the Last Chancery.
Nigel gets back in at his own pace and the heat is rising as Nigel, frustrated, tries to get in Aries head. Aries is ready for this and counters easily, actually locking in the Last Chancery monetarily, beginning to work over Nigel’s head and neck, playing speed off of his successful mat work. Nigel is in trouble.
Aries eventually gets cocky and goes too slowly, so Nigel is able to counter quickly and it becomes a strike battle. Aries wins that, but Nigel is prepared enough to attack the arm and Aries ends up in trouble. Nigel targets his arm like a shark to blood.
Nigel tries a lariat, but Aries is prepared and, again, uses his speed to counter. His arm is nearly useless and he hurts himself when trying to use it, but with his speed and wariness of the lariats, he’s still a force. Weakened as he is, he’s seizing moments though, while Nigel controls the majority.
Aries is simply in total control whenever Nigel tries a signature spot, as the Tower of London and charging European are both countered, but Aries, with a hurt arm, can’t hold on to the Last Chancery and Nigel’s second attempts manage to regain control… until the next lariat try when Aries regains his offensive composure enough to take it to Nigel, yet again.
Aries this time really takes it at Nigel, using multiple dropkicks to try and knock Nigel out. The worn down Aries can’t hit the brainbuster, but manages another dropkick… before running finally into a desperation lariat and both men are down for the 10 count.
They rise to a strike war, and Aries refuses to stop attacking with his hurt hand, earning himself a brainbuster, but the 450 whiffs, while the London Dungeon doesn’t. Aries sacrificed himself to get a shot at the 450, but all he did was make the Dungeon more effective. They reverse back and forth, but Aries has counter after counter for the Dungeon and Jawbreaker! Aries hits the brainbuster and 450, but Nigel gets the ropes!
Nigel hits the floor and Aries tries to dive that was so effective at Rising Above. Nigel moves and Aries smashes his own head into the guardrail. Nigel quickly picks Aries apart and hits the Jawbreaker Lariat for the win.
Nigel McGuinness defeats Austin Aries (Pin, Jawbreaker Lariat, **** ½)
There was a ton going on here. Aries established he could out-counter and use his speed to cause Nigel fits, but Nigel absorbed that early punishment just for a chance at working over Aries arm. When he got that chance he was vicious and hurt Aries often. Aries, as is usually the case, had Nigel wonderfully scouted and thus Nigel’s big moves were countered to Aries offense until Aries was more worn down. Aries was doing well offensively, but he had to use his hurt left arm (a bit too much actually), which only made it easier for Nigel to regain control. It paid off and Aries did what he needed to for the win, but Nigel was in the ropes. Nigel, a thinking man, knew when he hit the floor the deadly heat seeking missile was coming, and he was ready. That knocked Aries loopy and after that it was academic.
