Pro-wrestling and cinema do not have the strongest of relationships. The two finest examples are “No Holds Barred†which was, of course, Hulk Hogan’s first starring role in a motion picture. Then there was “Ready to Rumble†which is only awesome for the fact that it features Martin Landau stretching Perry Saturn and Sid Vicious. Well a new movie is coming down the pike helmed by luminary director Darren Aronofsky of “Pi,†“Requiem for a Dream†and “The Fountain†fame. This movie is called “The Wrestlerâ€, and it filmed some of its scenes at a pair of RoH shows in Dover, NJ. These shows came to be called “Double Feature.†Here is the review.
The show opens with Rebecca Bayless informing the fans at home the filming of “The Wrestlerâ€. I must say that the set looks great with the lighted entrance way and the angled ramp to the ring. This is a neat little venue and it could be a cool place to run regularly in New Jersey. But let’s get into the two nights worth of matches…
Pelle Primeau vs. FIP Champion Roderick Strong
This match is basically an extended squash. Unfortunately, I have a feeling Pelle will forever be in this role. His hope spots keep getting better and better, but the fact that he is by far the smallest guy on a roster filled with smaller than average wrestlers does not bode well. Not surprisingly Roddy turns Pelle’s chest into hamburger meat with chops. Roderick gets the win with a modified cloverleaf submission hold after absolutely no leg work at all. To the best of my knowledge he hasn’t used this move before or since. The match was what it was.
Winner: Roderick Strong via pinfall; *1/2
Non-Title Four Corner Survival Match: Roh World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Erick Stevens
Nigel gets in the ring and gets on the mic to taunt the crowd. This is right after his heel turn at the “6th Anniversary Show.†He talks about being the best wrestler from the best country in the world.
The match starts with Claudio vs. Nigel which would prove to be a big angle through the year. They cycle through the pairings and unfortunately it basically becomes a heels vs. faces tag team match. One nice thing for the casual fan is that heel and face barriers have become more concrete, but one of RoH’s signature matches (the four corner survival) has suffered as more and more of them are becoming modified tag matches. I will say that Nigel is at his cocky (cockney?) best in this match. The match breaks down and sprints towards the finish with Claudio getting the best of a strike sequence by reversing the Jawbreaker Lariat into the Ricola Bomb. The finish was impressive, the match was pretty paint by numbers.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall; ***
Necro Butcher with Lacey vs. Delirious
This show still features the screaming intro for Age of the Fall that doesn’t lead into “The Haunting†by Walls of Jericho. I really liked that as the Age of the Fall’s entrance. The song they use now is awesome, but I liked the uniqueness of the grating screams. This match is for a spot in the Four Corner Survival match to determine a world title shot at the forthcoming Pay per View. The match is a complete technical masterpiece with both men exchanging holds and counter holds with crispness not seen since Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania XVII. Or, it was a clubbering brawl. I can’t remember. This is actually probably the straightest match I have ever seen Necro work. In fact, it may be the only Necro Butcher match to not involve a chair shot. Lacey did try to give Necro a chair, but Daizee Haze interfered along with a kid who punched Lacey repeatedly in the butt… Of course I’m not kidding. Delirious capitalizes on the distraction and gets a rollup for the win. It gets some bonus for being a non-hardcore Necro Butcher match.
Winner: Delirious via pinfall; **
Austin Aries and “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson vs. The Vulture Squad of Ruckus and Jigsaw
This is the first Ring of Honor show featuring unmasked goony looking Jigsaw. I really think he should have kept the mask or at least cut a mouth hole. He loses a lot of his mystique sans mask. Dragon gets on the mic and says, “We are doing a special taping for this match, so whenever I do something, please cheer.†He says you can do the same for Austin Aries and Ruckus, but tell Jigsaw to put his mask back on. Dragon instructs Aries and Ruckus to go to the ropes to receive cheers. He asks the fans to chant “Put your mask back on†when Jigsaw gets on the ropes. Jigsaw does not oblige and we are underway.
After the humorous opening, making fun of the movie filming, we settle into a pretty standard tag team match. There really is no surprise who controls most of the match. Surprising, however, is Eddie Kingston’s appearance in the crowd taunting Ruckus about his allegiances. The wrestlers try to ignore the “Last of a Dying Breed” as director Darren Aronofsky scoots past him. Aries and Dragon run the show, but Ruckus and Jigsaw do set a nice little dive trap for Aries and Dragon on the outside. It doesn’t give them the advantage it should, and Aries gets the tapout victory with the Last Chancery. The match suffered since it was more about Eddie Kingston on the outside. The camera cutting to Kingston hurt the flow for the dvd viewer, but told a story that I feel has not yet fully resolved itself. The match itself was pretty rudimentary.
Winners: Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson via submission; **1/2
Go Shiozaki vs. Brent Albright
Brent Albright using “I Don’t’ Wanna Stop†by Ozzie Osbourne now as a babyface works great, but as a heel it does not fit. The fans chant “John Belushi†at Albright and he makes the huge mistake of acknowledging it with the erroneously claim that he looks nothing like the late comedian. The winner of this match also gets a spot in the Four Corner Survival match for a slot in the main event of the “Take No Prisoners†Pay per View. The match is basically a power battle, which happens to be one of Albright’s strengths. They do a brawl that would be praised if it were on a WWE show. In Ring of Honor it is just a decent match. They pick up the pace as they build towards the finishing sequence with Shiozaki GOing (see what I did there) full force. Go gets the win with his stellar moonsault. My favorite part about this match is that it lacked a lot of the “fighting spirit†craziness that mars a lot of Go’s matches.
Winner: Go Shiozaki via pinfall; ***
Larry Sweeney comes out after the match looking resplendent in a white tuxedo. He tries to recruit Brent Albright into Sweet and Sour Inc. Albright is not interested. This brings out Sara Del Rey who also tells Sweeney that she wants nothing to do with him.
“Mr. Wrestling†Kevin Steen vs. RoH Tag Team Champion Davey Richards
I am a huge fan of Kevin Steen’s, and Davey Richards is ever improving. This should be good. The match is a pretty heated brawl, which makes sense since Tag Champ Davey Richards has been ducking, for lack of a better word, the challenge of Steen and Generico. Steen is probably one of the best in the RoH locker room at working the crowd during the match, but it proves his downfall as it gives Davey time to recover. These two play a game of one-upsmanship based on both their wrestling acumen and their ability to “out-dick†each other. This match is an example of two guys doing a lot of the little things to get a match over with a crowd that is no doubt burned out. Steen ends up getting with win with the Package Piledriver completing a pretty great little match.
Winner: Kevin Steen via pinfall; ***1/2
The Age of the Fall of Joey Matthews and Tyler Black vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
Joey Matthews gets on the mic and informs the fans that they won’t see a wild Tables, Ladders, and Chairs brawl, but a slow paced “Southern Style†tag team match. This brings out the Briscoes who receive a less than complimentary ring introduction from Joey Matthews. I have to say I like that there is a little more in ring mic work. I think that is something RoH needs to build into their live shows as they make the slow march towards television (which should be at least a few years off).
Apparently, Jay Briscoe didn’t get Joey Matthews’ memo and goes for a brawl instead of an old school Southern style match. You can see the veteran leadership of Joey Matthews. He keeps the pace a little slower, and it actually does pretty much turn into an old school style tag match with the ring being cut off and quick exchanges and simple double teams between Black and Matthews to keep Jay Briscoe on the mat and Mark Briscoe on the apron. Mark Briscoe does finally get in the ring and the match devolves into the typical (although entertaining) Briscoe Brothers spot fest. Lacey causes a distraction allowing Joey Matthews to it a double armed DDT onto a chair for the win. The match, like most of the card, was simple, but fun, entertaining, but unremarkable.
Winners: The Age of the Fall via pinfall; ***1/2
After the match the Age of the Fall tries a beat down on the Briscoes, but Delirious and Daizee Haze make the save. That ends night one…on to night two.
Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli
The winner of this one gets a shot at getting a shot at the RoH world title on PPV. Claudio comes to the ring wearing a Randy “The Ram†Robinson shirt from “The Wrestlerâ€â€¦hilarious. They have a pretty technical match and they do a good job selling the danger of Claudio’s European uppercuts. Davey focuses his attack on neutralizing CC’s arm. In a shocking finish Claudio gets the win after a giant swing and a European Uppercut in the corner. This, like a lot of the DVD, is just kind of there.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall; **1/2
Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn vs. The Vulture Squad of Ruckus and Jigsaw
In a lot of ways this match is old school style against new school style with Pearce obviously repping the old school. Pearce basically busts out every old school dirty trick in the book. But it is not enough as Ruckus and Jigsaw are able to get the win with the double stomp Jig’n’tonic on Hagadorn. It was fun, short, and entertaining.
Winners: Ruckus and Jigsaw via pinfall; **
After the match Larry Sweeney and Bobby Dempsey come out to talk to Pearce and Hagadorn. He gives Pearce his business card. Pearce doesn’t throw it away…hmmmm
Brent Albright and BJ Whitmer representing the Hangmen 3 vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
The match is basically a brawl mixed with a little comedy, which is not a bad thing. They stay away from standard tag formula for a while, which is a nice difference. They also stay away from a crazy Briscoe spotfest which is even better. The steady pace of the match falters and the end is just a crazy brawl which sees the Briscoes come out on top. Not the best work from anyone involved.
Winners: Jay and Mark Briscoe via pinfall; **
Austin Aries and “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness and Go Shiozaki
Aries and Dragon’s theme blend is “Final Countdown†into “Personal Jesus†as opposed to the night one which was the other way around. Nigel gets on the mic to start and informs Aries and Dragon that they have no chance in beating him. Aries takes umbrage and goes the long way around about calling Nigel a little Nancy-boy.
After some stalling from the champ, we are underway. The basic story is that Aries and Dragon are by far the better team, but through Nigel’s dirty tricks and Go’s sense of something to prove they are able to stay in the match. Danielson takes a little of the heat before Aries comes in to clean house only to be beaten down by his and then bailed out by Dragon. After a crazy finishing sequence, Aries and Dragon get the win after Aries gets Dragon to tap out to the Last Chancery while Nigel tapped to the Cattle Mutilation. This definitely one of the best matches on the DVD, but that shouldn’t be too surprising.
Winners: Austin Aries and “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson via submission; ***3/4
Kevin Steen vs. Joey Matthews
Steen gets ambushed by Joey Matthews, wearing an Age of the Fall shirt with tape spelling “I can’t work,†on his way to the ring. I really enjoyed their match from the Sixth Anniversary show, and this has a little more heat behind it as a result. Joey Matthews keeps calling for the “Five Star Chinlock†and Steen does a great job blocking it. They go out and have a WWE style match with a couple of RoH twists thrown in. I have really been enjoying Joey’s work in RoH as he provides something different than what fans are used to seeing. Steen gets the win with the Package Piledriver. This was not as good as their first one, but still a fun match.
Winner: Kevin Steen via pinfall; ***
After the match Tyler Black and Lacey com out and attack Steen. Tyler gets on the mic and lays his claim on winning the world championship. He calls out Erick Stevens to get their match for a spot in the Pay per View Four Corner Survival underway.
Erick Stevens vs. Tyler Black
Prazak and Leonard put over these two as two of the best young wrestlers in the world, and the show they put on makes that point very tough to disagree with. Tyler has great presence in the ring, and once he can carry that over to the microphone as well he will truly be one of the top wrestlers in RoH. Stevens uses his power to dominate most of the match, but Tyler Black is able to steal the win with a flash roll-up. The match was good, but the out of nowhere finish hurt it slightly.
Winner: Tyler Black via pinfall; ***
Non-Title Four Corner Survival Match: Eddie Edwards vs. FIP Champion Roderick Strong vs. The Necro Butcher vs. Delirious
Necro Butcher goes after Delirious on the outside to start while player one and player two, er I mean Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards carry the action in the ring. Somehow all four men start brawling on the outside and we get the Reader’s Digest version of Daizee Haze vs. Lacey in the ring. In the spot of the DVD, Necro Butcher sends Roderick Strong sliding down the ramp on a chair into Delirious and Eddy Edwards. They throw the rule book out the window in this one, and it works for the best because the result is a fun, wild, and crazy brawl. Necro gets the win with a Tiger Driver on Delirious. What this match lacked in form, it made up for in wackiness.
Winner: Necro Butcher via pinfall; ***
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: This show plays a lot like the old WWF Pay Per View hype shows (Survivor Series Showdown et al). It was a lot of fun, but nothing was blow away. It builds to the Pay per View with the mini tournament leading to the Four Corner Survival coming up on Respect is Earned. Basically, the stuff you expect to be good is. There is nothing really bad, and the matches are short. Also getting 14 RoH match for the price of what usually amounts to seven matches is a pretty sweet deal. Definitely a good idea to pick this up along with “Take No Prisoners†as half of your buy 3 get 1 free sale. You can find out about sales and all of your information about Ring of Honor at RoHwrestling.com.
I’ll see you next time…
