“I often think it odd that it [history] should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention.†– Catherine Morland
The Opening Chapter
This is the third and final installment of my Ring of Honor compilation series. Bloodstained Honor is a series of matches highlighting Ring of Honor’s most brutal and violent matches and rivalries. It should be some great, violent, bloody fun.
Steel Cage Match
Samoa Joe (c) v. Jay Briscoe
“At Our Best†– Elizabeth, NJ – 3/13/04
Starts out in a wild brawl, with Joe taking advantage early. I must say it is hard to see into the cage from the outside because of the tight chain link. It’s back and forth in the early going, with Jay trying to leave via the door early on. Mark Briscoe is on the outside cheering on his brother. Joe kicks the door into Mark’s face to neutralize him and then padlocks the door shut. Jay is cut open soon after and is bleeding like crazy. Joe continues the assault as Briscoe is just a bloody mess. Jay eventually takes control, but Joe turns the tide of the match back in his favor with a massive superplex, as the crowd chants “holy shit.†Joe tries to climb up and over the top, but Jay manages to catch up with him at the top and drops them both with an Ace-crusher. Both men are slow going after that move. The fatigue set in as both men fell off the top turnbuckle while trading chops. Joe followed up with an Ole kick on Jay that was so hard it broke a hole in the bottom of the card, which Jay wisely tried to crawl out in order to escape. It meanders along again until Jay hits a ridiculous-looking Jay Driller on Joe. Mark tries to climb the cage as both men lie in the ring, but AJ Styles runs out and drops Mark with a Styles Clash to even the odds. Then as Jay makes one more effort to scale the cage, Joe catches him with a Muscle Buster for the victory.
I just couldn’t really get into this match. Briscoe got some great color and they put on a good match, but I just couldn’t really get into it. The save by AJ Styles during the match was a nice surprise though. Jay did bleed like a stuck pig, which helped the drama of the match.
Chicago Street Fight
The Second City Saints (CM Punk and Ace Steel) v. The Prophecy (Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer)
“Death Before Dishonor II, Night 2†– Chicago Ridge, IL – 7/24/04
This is apparently the big blow off the long-standing Saints-Prophecy feud. The crowd calls Maff & Whitmer “pussies†as they try to enter the ring. It starts with a nice stall job as the heels won’t get in the ring. Soon The Prophecy pull Punk and Steel to the outside the match finally begins with a brawl all around the ring. The heels then take over in the ring as they double-team Steel. Punk soon enters the ring and they take control, double-teaming both Whitmer and Maff. Punk catches Whitmer with a nice Exploder as Whitmer came off the top looking for an axe handle. Soon it ends up into a four-man brawl on the outside again as both Punk and Steel are busted open. Back in the ring, the Prophecy take control by using their belts as weapons. Maff has some nice colorful language for Punk as he’s choking him out. Naturally it ends up with all four on the outside as they continue with more guardrail shots, punches and kicks. Punk and Steel are able to take BJ out and bring Maff back into the ring, where they hit him with a Van Daminator and a chair shot while sandwiched in between a ladder. BJ makes his way back in, but only gets a series of facewashes from Punk for his trouble. They press a table against Whitmer, who is still in the corner, put a chair in his face and then use a ladder to ram the chair into his skull. It seemed like a lot of work for the end result. By this point all four are busted open. Punk now brings in a barbed wire wrapped 2 x 4 as “Hooooo†chants can be heard through the crowd. The heels take over on Punk with the 2 x 4 as the crowd chants “you sick f*ck.†Maff then brings in a barbed wire board, which is the type of thing you will only see in a pro wrestling match, as it’s not practical in any other environment. The board becomes the psychology of the next few minutes, until both Punk and Steel get thrown into board. They soon recover and send Maff also in the wire board. Now all four stand off with folding chairs, and all four ended up taking sick, unprotected, un-needed headshots. BJ and Maff end up on the outside and call for more chairs. Sure enough, a cavalcade of chairs just come flying into the ring as the ref rightfully cowers in fear. Soon all four men start brawling on top of the chairs. Punk takes a vicious half nelson plex onto the chairs from Maff, who then responds by dropping Maff with a German suplex. Punk and BJ brawl inside the ring while Steel and Maff fight on the outside with a ladder. Then in the ridiculous spot of the night, Punk comes off the top and splashes Maff, who is laid out on a ladder that is stretched across the entranceway guardrails. After that Steel hits the ring and ends it, by Tombstoning Whitmer from the second rope through a table. Great finish.
This felt like it they were trying to hard out there for something epic, but I just didn’t feel it personally. I realize it is a street fight, but there was a severe lack of psychology present here, something that I didn’t expect from a CM Punk match. Plus I felt the barbed wire board felt a little gratuitous for a match like this. There were some sick spots that made it entertaining however.
Dog Collar Match
CM Punk v. Jimmy Rave
“Manhattan Mayhem†– New York, NY – May 7, 2005
This is part of the Rave-Punk feud that saw Rave take out Punk’s girlfriend Tracy Brooks and try and scrape off the “Straight Edge†tattoo off of Punk’s stomach. This is only the second dog collar match in ROH history; the other one being the Punk-Raven match I reviewed last time.
Punk starts the match hot, taking Rave to school as Prince Nana’s Embassy is surrounding the ring. Once it goes to the outside Rave takes control and bloodies Punk after he gets his head rammed into a chair and the ring post. Back in the ring, Rave takes control and grinds the chain across Punk’s eyes and face. Hey if you are going to steal from a dog collar match, may as well take from the best; of course I’m talking about the classic Valentine-Piper match from Starrcade ’84. The announcers say that next week these two will meet in a cage, which I find odd to have a dog collar match and a cage match used in the same rivalry. Punk is bleeding like crazy in the ring as his face and hair are completely red. I guess the psychology here is that Rave wants to end Punk tonight so he doesn’t have to face Punk the next week in the cage, which will be held in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. Punk takes control with a series of powerbombs but the match slows down as they play up Punk’s fatigue from the blood loss. Some Embassy goons break up Punk’s Anaconda Vice and Pepsi Twist attempts. Punk lays out the Embassy like the bunch of jobbers they are. Both Nana himself and Jade Chung also interfere, which proves more effective as this allows Rave to take over with a series of unprotected chair shots. After about four or five shots, Rave gets the win, which leads up to what I’m assuming is their cage blowoff the next weekend.
I’ve never been a fan of Rave, but this was decent for what it was. Once the announcers said there would be a cage match next week it was obvious that this wasn’t the blowoff and Rave would pick up the win. This is the second match in a row that Punk took a lot of unprotected chair shots as he wore the crimson mask.
Steel Cage Warfare
Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans & Matt Sydal) v. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss & Prince Nana)
“Steel Cage Warfare†– New York, NY – 12/3/05
So this is a combination of WarGames and Survivor Series, as each man enters in five man intervals, but it’s not one-fall submission, but rather elimination style. And eliminations can take place any time during the match.
Austin Aries and Jimmy Rave start the match, and end up brawling around the ring as opposed to in the ring. Way to sell the cage aspect there. Surprisingly the heels have won the advantage and Alex Shelley hits the ring. Shelley getting kicked out as the leader of Generation Next nearly a year earlier was the catalyst that started his faction warfare. Naturally it just becomes a two-on-one pounding as Aries is just destroyed by The Embassy. Matt Sydal comes out as the second man for GN and takes control over Shelley and Rave with his flashy offense. Sydal and Aries work in a contrived double bow and arrow spot on both Shelley and Rave, who were wrapped together. Not surprisingly Abyss is the third man for The Embassy, and the bad guys take control with great ease. It’s pretty much all Embassy at this point, and no one has been eliminated so far. Roderick Strong comes out to even the odds for the good guys. Abyss is proving to the be the equalizer as The Embassy remains in control. Abyss hit Sydal with the Black Hole Slam, and then Rave followed it up with the Pedigree to eliminate Sydal. Strong and Rave are on the outside while Abyss and Shelley double team Aries in the ring. Prince Nana is now out to give The Embassy a four-on-two advantage. Aries especially takes the brunt of the beating. Jade Chung makes an appearance, apparently making her return after being injured by The Embassy. Now finally Jack Evans runs out, climbs the cage and does a double moonsault onto Abyss and Nana on the floor. Absolutely ridiculous.
Everyone is out on the floor brawling, as I can’t believe Evans didn’t kill himself with that move. Evans goes back up to the top as he and Strong hit Ode to the Bulldogs onto Abyss to eliminate the big man. It’s now three-on-three. Evans continues to just astound me his with crazy moves, until Shelley pins him with a second rope Kryptonite Crunch. It settles into a nice tag match with Shelley and Rave against Strong and Aries as Nana stays away from the action. Nana tries to run in, but naturally his tactics backfire. Soon Strong makes Rave tap out the Stronghold and gets revenge for Rave’s treatment of Jade Chung. At the same time Aries drops Shelley with a brainbuster on a chair and gets the pin. With Nana left all alone it doesn’t take long for Strong and Aries to put him away with a 450 splash and end the faction rivalry.
I had heard a lot about this match in the past so I was looking forward to seeing and it paid off pretty well. Abyss looked like a monster, Sydal looked great and Jack Evans about gave me a heart attack with some of his crazy-ass moves. The psychology at the end was great as Strong and Aries came from behind to vanquish their rivals and get their final comeuppance over Prince Nana.
Ghetto Street Fight
Colt Cabana v. Homicide
“Fourth Anniversary Show†– Edison, NJ – 2/25/06
This stems from when Cabana disrespected Homicide on an episode of “Good Times, Great Memories.†The rivalry built into a blood feud including Homicide pouring Drano down Cabana’s throat, choking with a metal coat hanger and Cabana dropping the comedy act in order to stay on par with Homicide.
The match starts with a wild brawl, as the announcers say that the only way to win is by making your opponent say “I Quit.†It is just a pure hated-filled, high-energy brawl in and around the around the ring. Cabana gets busted open as Homicide digs his fingers in and tries to widen the cut. Homicide has literally just beat the sh!t out of Cabana in this match, including pulling out a razor as well. Cabana mounts a brief offense, but gets a finger in the eye to stop his momentum. Homicide lays on the abuse for a few more minutes before Cabana finally makes another brief comeback. Soon Homicide is back in control, using a coat hanger like he had in the past. Referee Todd Sinclair calls for the bell and awards the match to Homicide as Cabana would not give up, and Homicide would not let go of the coat hanger.
Cabana is back up and says he did got up and challenges Homicide to get back in the ring, which he does. Cabana takes control during the restart and works on Homicide’s injured shoulder. The Rottweillers hit the ring to help Homicide out, and it becomes a three-on-one attack. Sinclair again stops the match and awards it to Homicide after the three-on-one attack doesn’t subside. Of course Cabana calls out Homicide again, claiming he didn’t quit this time either. So it begins again with Cabana taking control again until he gets some liquid (more Drano?) poured in his face, and Homicide drops him with a piledriver through a table on the outside of the ring. Sinclair stops the match for a third time, and this time it’s actually the finish, as Cabana is unconscious.
I had heard a lot about this rivalry in the past as well. The triple ending was nice to put over Cabana as a tough SOB, but yet let Homicide get revenge and victory in a rivalry that was essentially started by Colt’s heelish tendencies.
Six-Man Tag Team War
Team ROH (Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer) v. Team CZW (Chris Hero, Super Dragon & Necro Butcher)
“The 100th Show†– Philadelphia, PA – 4/22/06
Not surprisingly, this starts as a wild, chaotic brawl. The match is held in Philly, and so even though this on a Ring of Honor promoted card, CZW fans are in attendance as well. In fact both promotions have a ref for this match, as Todd Sinclair represents Ring of Honor while Bryce Remsburg (the CHIKARA guy?) represents CZW. The action is pretty hard to follow as it is basically just six guys brawling all over the arena while beating each other bloody. I don’t think anyone has even been in the ring at this point. Even the announcers have gone silent. I know I’ve come pretty late to the Necro Butcher, but I must say he does just look like someone’s homeless uncle. And with Pearce in street clothes here I can finally see where the Repo Man and Darsow chants came from. As you can see I haven’t done play-by-play here as it just mainly just been mindless brawling throughout the entire match. Pearce has got a wicked gash across the side of his head that looks pretty gruesome. I do like how everyone here has shown up for a fight in their wrestling gear, but Pearce. He looks like he’s here for a Bunkhouse Stampede.
It finally picks up when Super Dragon drops Pearce through a table with a Burning Hammer. Then someone from CZW hits the ring (Zandig? I don’t know. It would be nice if commentary was there to tell me.) and helped out his team. As I expected the CZW ref turns heel and they lay out Sinclair. Then Claudio Castagnoli comes out and turns on Ring of Honor, and joins his old teammate Hero. They hit a double team move on Sinclair and got the victory.
This reminded a lot of the eight man brawl I watched on Greatest Rivalries, but it was a lot of the same mindless brawling. The double referees and double fans bit was nice, but it was essentially just a messy chaotic brawl. I really wish there was commentary here to explain who that was that came in to help the CZW guys, and to put over the travesty of Castagnoli jumping ship to CZW. At the end of the match, Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak in the control room said that was a piece of footage that any new ROH fan should see, but I don’t feel like they portrayed that in high regard like it should have been.
Windy City Death Match
Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs
“Fifth Year Festival-Chicago†– Chicago, IL – 2/24/07
This rivalry started like so many other good ones-over a woman. Jacobs was in love with Lacey, but she ended up hooking up with Cabana. So Jacobs got jealous, even though Lacey still led him on. Then Cabana quit dealing with Lacey and offered his friendship up to Jacobs, but Jacobs refused and ended staying by Lacey’s side as her little follower. It’s the old jock versus loser best friend thing, I guess. Apparently this is the rivalry’s blowoff.
Cabana is in control in the early going and takes Jimmy out. Lacey runs interference to buy Jimmy some time. It pays off and Jacobs takes control. When Lacey tries to interfere, Daizee Haze runs out to even the odds, and ends up chasing Lacey backstage. It gets sick when Cabana pulls out a scissors and grinds them into Jacobs’ forehead. The announcers further give the back-story of these two to clearly paint the picture of why Jacobs is the heel in this situation. Jacobs takes control with a broken flagpole as Cabana is now busted open as well. Jacobs wears Cabana’s Chicago flag as an insult and then digs his railroad spike in Cabana’s forehead in a disgusting sight. Cabana blocks Contra Code and responds with a scissors shot to the forehead. He follows that out with a sick chair shot to Jacobs’ head. Then as Cabana goes Colt 45, “Gun for Hire†Brent Alright runs out and drops Cabana with a half nelson suplex. BJ Whitmer then comes out even the sides for Cabana. It turns into a four-man brawl. Cabana busts out an Asai moonsault on Jacobs and Albright, which is a very odd move for a match like this. It ends up back in the ring where Cabana nails Jacobs in the head with a tack hammer in another sick spot. The match slows down considerably as both men are rightfully exhausted from the punishment they’ve endured and the blood they’ve lost. Lacey comes back out to ringside and helps Jacobs gain control. Jacobs then climbs a 12-foot ladder in the ring and sentons himself through Cabana, who was on a table on the outside. Somehow Cabana kicks out of that, as I sure that might be the finish. Cabana takes control after Jacobs misses a spear through a table. He takes out Lacey and Jacobs with Lacey’s high heel, and then drops them both with a pair of Colt 45s and picks up the win.
This one I really liked. Jacobs can really put together a great crazy brawl, and these busted out some disgusting head jobs with various objects. I have loved watching Jimmy Jacobs became the new age Raven, following his footsteps from pretty boy cruiserweight, to love lost reject into charismatic cult leader.
Boston Street Fight
El Generico & Kevin Steen v. Jay & Mark Brisco
Death Before Dishonor V, Night One – Boston, MA – 8/10/07
This is one of the many wild brawls these two teams put on last year that put Steen and Generico on the map. That being said, this is the first time I’ve seen Steenerico in a full match, so I’m excited in that regard.
Naturally it starts as a wild brawl on the outside, much like something out of 1996 ECW. And of course the announcers bail about thirty seconds in to the match. It is just a wild brawl, right out in the middle of the fans and all four have destroyed countless tables and chairs. It has just one head dropping move and chair shot after another. They completely clear Section D out of seats and people, and still no one has even stepped into the ring. They then move around ringside and make it their mission to tear down all the guardrails. Finally Steen and one of the Briscoes make into in the ring. (I can’t tell them apart yet and without commentary it is kind of hard.) All four finally end up inside the ring, just exhausted. Soon all four up, holding chairs. They then take turns to brain each other, and all four men are back on the mat as the crowd chants “this is awesome.†In center ring Jay and Gernerico look to trade finishers, until Mark runs in and they basically just pancake Generico through the chairs. Steen responds with a Package Driver through a chair onto one of the brothers. It picks up into a high-energy game of can-you-top-this that just crazier with each move. Finally Steen picks up the win with a Package Driver onto a ladder. Just a ridiculous, absolute crazy brawl.
Sorry for the lack of play-by-play on this one, but it was just fun to sit back and watch these four guys destroy each other. It was easily my favorite match on this set, but the total lack of commentary was a bit annoying again.
The Perspective
This was my least favorite of the three videos I watched, which I think can be expected when watching eight of the same style matches in a row. Surprisingly the final two matches were my favorites, as I expected to be burnt out by that point in the tape, but thankfully the two final matches perked me up. For now this ends my little series on Ring of Honor, but I am glad I invested the time, energy and money to educate myself more on Ring of Honor. There were some outstanding matches spread out over those three discs that I will definitely watch again and show to fellow ROH newbies whenever I get the chance.
For this week the vault is closed…
Linked to the Pulse
Bones reviews Ring of Honor’s show from this past Saturday night.
Scott Keith continues his rants through the glorious WWE 24/7 archives. This time it’s the little know NWA Supertowns on the SuperStation.
Glazer likes my This Week in ‘E column so much he decided to do a weekly WWE himself.
This Day in History
I figured if we are talking history around here we should pay homage to what has happened on this very day in the years gone by. It will either make you long for the old days or be happy for what we have now.
1987 – Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose defeated Bill Dundee & Jerry Lawler for the AWA Tag Team title
2001 – Booker T & Test defeated Chris Jericho & The Rock for the WWF Tag Team title
2001 – Christian defeated Bradshaw for the WWF European Heavyweight title
2001 – Shelton Benjamin & Brock Lesnar defeated Rico Constantino & The Prototype for the Ohio Valley Southern Heavyweight Tag Title
1972 – Shane Eden was
1972 – Adam Copeland (Edge) was born
