Ring of Honor makes a return to Boston which has recently become quite the hot bed for Ring of Honor action. It has also been home to some of the more unique show names. Will Bedlam in Beantown live up to the lofty standards of Fight at the Roxbury, Honor Reclaims Boston, or Death Before Dishonor V night one? Read on and find out.
The show starts out with an interview with the Vulture Squad. It is mostly pops and buzzes on my end. I am not really sure what they were talking about. What I could gather was that Jack Evans is back after getting screws put in his face, Jigsaw can’t speak English, Mercedes Martinez can’t speak period, Ruckus’ English skills are only slightly better than Jigsaw’s and Julius Smokes called Jack Evans Frankenberry. Needless to say this was the best promo ever.
Four Corner Survival Match for a shot at Nigel McGuinness later in the show: Erick Stevens vs. El Generico vs. Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero
It is interesting to note that Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero both come out together which should provide for an interesting dynamic for the match. Not surprisingly, Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens go right after each other stemming from Stevens getting shorn by The No Remorse Corps. These two are always money in the ring. Still the heat is not as high as it should be given that Stevens just got his trademark Mohawk shaved. Romero is really the star of this show bringing the entertainment with his cocky antics. Strong and Romero’s alliance lasts about as long as it takes for one of them to try to win. Their dissension allows Erick Stevens to get a rollup on Roderick Strong to earn a berth in the title match later on, and a modicum of revenge on the NRC. This match was good, but could have been so much more.
Winner: Erick Stevens via pinfall; **1/2
Backstage Erick Stevens is so happy about his win that he slaps the wall.
Mike Bennett vs. Jason Blade
This match is really just kind of there. The purpose was to try and showcase Mike Bennett, and put Jason Blade over. Mike Bennett was unimpressive, and quite frankly, so was Jason Blade. Blade gets the win with a release belly to back suplex (no not a German). Weak.
Winner: Jason Blade; *
Kota Ibushi speaks Japanese, then Davey acts all cocky towards him.
Eddie Edwards vs. Jigsaw with Mercedes “The Booty Vulture†Martinez
It is no secret that I am a pretty big Eddie Edwards fan, and Jigsaw can be really awesome when he wants to be, so I am looking forward to this match. There is a definite styles clash in this match as Jigsaw is more of a Lucha athlete and Edwards offense consists more of strikes and big moves. It works a little, but not amazingly. During a double knockout spot Super Agent Larry Sweeney makes his way to the ring. This distracts Jigsaw allowing Edwards to hit a 2K1 Bomb (cross legged brainbuster) for the win. Sweeney then announces Eddie Edwards as the newest member of Sweet and Sour Incorporated…yay! The match itself was nothing special
Winner: Eddie Edwards via pinfall; **1/2
The Vulture Squad of Ruckus and Jack Evans with Julius Smokes vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
Mark Briscoe and Jack Evans have a dance off to start, and Mark busts out the Kid’n’Play ankle jump…awesome. The match is pretty basic babyface tag formula, but not in a bad way. Then we get dives…It is a Jack Evans match afterall. The match is pretty disjointed, and after trading off big moves, Jack Evans and Ruckus defeat the Briscoes after a 630 splash.
Winners: Jack Evans and Ruckus via pinfall; **1/2
Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey 324: Electric Boogaloo
Sara wearing her Intergender Tag Team Belt is about the only thing that excites about this match up. Luckily, Larry Sweeney comes out and informs Sara Del Rey that she is not booked to wrestle this match. Thank God, I really did not want to see that match again.
Result: No Contest; *****(because that match didn’t happen)
Larry then direct his attention to recruiting the No Remorse Corps. Good God! Daizee has a mic. She wants a match. Larry says she can have a match against Larry Sweeney, Brent Albright and Chris Hero. He calls it a little three on one action. This brings out Delirious to save Daizee, but he gets beaten down. Claudio and Pelle then rush the ring to even the odds giving us…
Six Man Elimination Match: Delirious, Claudio Castagnoli, and Pelle Primeau vs. Chris Hero Brent Albright and Larry Sweeney
This is of course Larry Sweeney’s second Ring of Honor match, but Chris Hero and Pelle Primeau who are in the midst of a miniature feud start it off. Like most six man matches they run through the pairings, but Sweeney stays out of the ring for literally the entire match until Pelle has been murdalized by Brent Albright. Sweeney gets the credit for the elimination sending Primeau back to the lockerroom.
Sweeney starts becoming more of a factor in the match, but tags out at any sign of life from his opponents. Delirious is able to get an advantage for his team, but is distracted by Larry Sweeney’s pursuit of Daizee Haze allowing Brent Albright to hit the half nelson suplex and the knees to oblivion to eliminate the man from the Edge of Sanity.
Claudio is all by himself. Sweeney once again picks his spots, and when he tags out always tags his good friend Chris Hero, much to the chagrin of Brent Albright. Claudio gets a Ricola Bomb out of nowhere to eliminate Chris Hero. Sweeney refuses to go in the ring against Claudio, so Brent is forced to face the stalwart Swiss powerhouse. Claudio takes every opportunity to get at the Sweet and Sour One, but Sweeney slithers his way to the back to avoid any conflict. The match basically becomes a one on one affair between Castagnoli and Albright. They run through their typical moves, but as a fan I am not captivated. Claudio is able to eliminate Albright and he is announced as the winner, but Sweeney was not eliminated officially. This match was really boring.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall; **
Nigel is in the back and he talks about Erick Stevens later in the show, and his match tomorrow against Kevin Steen who has the Necro Butcher in the main event.
Kota Ibushi vs. Davey Richards with Rocky Romero
Lance Storm raved about this match saying that it is worth going out of your way to see. Is he right? Well, we shall see. In the early going Davey does a great job of looking like the pissed off veteran teaching a lesson to the uppity newcomer. Richards controls pretty much the entire match with Ibushi occasionally scoring with a big kick or a rana. The dynamic works, very well. Eventually Kota is able to get the chance he needs to run through his amazing flips and kicks and the Boston crowd eats it up. Kota’s spots are a bit contrived if you see him wrestle several matches in a row, but the first time out of the gate his stuff is just awesome. This kid has an incredibly bright future. Davey is great in his role here too proving that he is usually one step ahead of the DDT star. Davey ends up getting the win after a tombstone into the Kimura lock. This match is pretty awesome.
Winner: Davey Richards via submission; ****
Ring of Honor World Title Match: Erick Stevens vs. Nigel McGuinness©
Before the match can start Roderick Strong jumps Erick Stevens on his way to the ring already putting him at a severe disadvantage. Nigel makes his way to the ring as if nothing happened…awesome. The refs try to escort Stevens to the back, but Nigel says that he understands if Erick wants a night off and will face Ernie Osiris instead. Erick says that despite his injury he will wrestle. This was probably Nigel’s first truly great heel promo in front of live fans as champion and it went over great.
Not surprisingly, Nigel spends most of the match focusing on Stevens injured arm, and Stevens is great at building sympathy, even more so with his “injury.†Still, most of the match is Nigel working the arm and Stevens making comebacks. To Mr. Choo Choo’s credit his selling is excellent as he lets the lack of his arm affect the application and execution of his signature stuff. Nigel is able to capitalize on this and forces the submission with the Longon Dungeon. Not the best from either man, but it was good story telling.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness via submission; ***1/2
Delirious yells crazy stuff about Brent Albright and Sweet and Sour Inc. Daizee then thanks him for her help and Delirious looks smitten.
Boston Massacre Match: Kevin Steen vs. The Necro Butcher
Necro Butcher makes his entrance, and when Steen’s music hits he enters through the crowd and clobber Necro with a chair to start the match. This is not a highly technical affair, but it is an awesome brawl. This match is really just two guys clubbering one another, but is still a lot of fun to watch. It stands out as something very different from the rest of the show as well. It is a fun brawl, but really nothing more. It drags a little bit around the middle, but the big spots make up for the down time. When the thumbtacks come out, the match kicks into high gear. Then they bring out the barbed wire board and both men take huge bumps into the metallic brambles. Steen is able to get the win after a powerbomb onto the barbed wire which he turns over into a sharpshooter for the tapout victory.
Winner: Kevin Steen via submission; ***3/4
After the match we stay with the ring as Necro gets some appreciative chants from the fans. We go backstage for one final interview with Kevin Steen hyping his match at Injustice (review coming soon).
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: The beginning of this show is pretty difficult to fight through, but the last three matches more than make up for it. I liked the structure to the DVD though, as the frequent backstage interviews really broke up the action and put heat on the show for the fan who does not remember the issues going into it. Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi is easily the selling point of this DVD, but the world title match and the Boston Massacre match are good depending on your tastes. This is not a DVD to run over to RoHwrestling.com and buy right now, but with the various sales it is a worthwhile addition to the collection.
I’ll see you next time…
