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Race to the Top Tournament Night 2 – July 28, 2007

Taped from Edison, NJ

 

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Race to the Top Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Chris Hero vs. El Generico

 

Very fun opener here with Hero doing all of his wacky heel antics and Generico just playing the perfect babyface foil to it. I wonder what would’ve happened if they had teamed up with their greatest partners ever to collide in a tag match at this point. (I will continue to hammer down my bloodthirsty demand for this dream match until either it happens or one of them suffers a fate like Katsuyori Shibata and thus the ship has officially sailed.)

 

The finish was perfect with Sweet ‘n Sour Inc. thinking that they’d cheat to win, only for Hero to see his Hero’s Welcome backfire and fall victim to Generico’s backslide pin. Tremendous pop for what appeared to be a mild upset at the time; considering that Generico had yet to obtain a substantial singles victory, that actually makes sense.

 

Kevin Steen forcibly talks on Generico’s behalf afterwards and talks about the Briscoes feud. Steen also claims that Generico will hand him the tournament trophy. Amusing and tremendous.

 

Rating: ***

 

Race to the Top Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

A nice sample of their much deeper rivalry outside ROH. Quackenbush looked to have an answer for almost everything Castagnoli brought to the table, using his technique to offset the size difference. For all of his various counters though, Quackenbush ran out of evasions, eventually succumbing to an uppercut clean in the middle of the ring for the finish. It’d appear that booker Gabe Sapolsky plans on having Quackenbush around as a roster staple.

 

Rating: ***

 

Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness have a very good sports-entertainment segment in which they pick their partners for tonight’s $10K Challenge. Besides some of the zingers thrown at each other, there’s tremendous storyline continuity here, with each picking a Briscoe to be determined later, Danielson going for Matt Sydal after being lobbied by Larry Sweeney, McGuinness picking Delirious to offset Sydal and having tapped Danielson out at The Chicago Spectacular Night 2, Danielson picking Aries to have a fellow former ROH Champion on the team, and McGuinness picking Strong to offset Aries (although not explaining that well since he was too focused on throwing shade.)

 

Race to the Top Tournament Semifinal Match
El Generico vs. Davey Richards

 

Damn good semifinal to showcase Richards significantly well in defeat while also advancing Generico as the tournament’s Cinderella story. Richards dominated, specifically targeting Generico’s left arm. This strategy started to show a payoff when Richards finally got the Kimura Lock placed on Generico for a very good false finish, but it was not to be.

 

The big mistake by Richards came when he overconfidently went for the Shooting Star Press. Generico kneed him in the midsection, setting up for a Yakuza kick and Top Rope Brainbuster. Generico’s struggle to regain equilibrium before going for the actual pin was magnificent, truly selling this as an intelligent act of desperation after having been manhandled.

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

Race to the Top Tournament Semifinal Match
Jack Evans vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

A good but too short of an effort from Evans here to be anything special. This isn’t exactly Goldberg or Samoa Joe having an insane sprint against Brock Lesnar. This was nothing more than a simple of what could possibly be should the stars line up right. The smaller, more agile Evans against the taller, stronger Castagnoli was everything it promised, this just needed a bit more, but considering one of these guys was pulling triple-duty, it’s understandable this didn’t reach its full potential.

 

Sweet ‘n Sour Inc have another tremendous segment bullying Bobby Dempsey. He’s forced in a sauna suit to ride a stationary bike for up 3 hours in a sweat-inducing “box of doom.”

 

$10,000 Challenge Match
Bryan Danielson, Jay Briscoe, Matt Sydal, & Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness, Mark Briscoe, Delirious, & Roderick Strong

 

All sports-entertainment and honestly questionable booking, as this fell apart due to the Briscoes fucking off and Delirious & Strong apparently not over their issue which was supposed to have been resolved already in Tokyo. That left McGuinness against Danielson, Sydal, and a babyface Aries to overcome the odds. But then Danielson gets selfish on Sydal, so Aries gives Danielson karma and takes the victory after a 450 Splash. With a booker not burned out, this could’ve been something special while sticking to storyline continuity.

 

Rating: less than ***

 

SNS come check on Dempsey and discover his smaller brother, assuming that it’s Bobby. Then they find him chowing down on chocolate candy in the room, shutting the door on him again.

 

Race to the Top Tournament Final
El Generico vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

Confirmed as the main events for Death Before Dishonor V weekend are both hardcore matches, first in Boston will be Generico teaming with Steen against the Briscoes, then in Philly will be what appears to be a big mistake for such a position, that being the Resilience & Delirious against Sydal and the No Remorse Corps.

 

As for this main event, simply an incredible one. While they would go on to have their top encounter to date under the polish of WWE, this told the tremendous story of Castagnoli busting out one power move after another, but Generico continuing his Cinderella story. Castagnoli managed to avoid the Top Rope Brainbuster, which was smart to protect that finisher, but the peak came when he used the positioning to provide a fantastic near-fall after a Super Alpamari Waterslide.

 

With his arm and shoulder badly ravaged by Richards, Generico still gave his all here, busting out various counters, the peak being a Ricola Bombs into a Hurricanrana jackknife pin. But after sustaining so much damage already in the evening, once the Release Ricola Bomb was hit, Castagnoli’s fate going into the biggest match of his career against Morishima was sealed. What an incredible main event and atmosphere, elevating 2 names in the process that SHOULD be able to be close out more cards in the future. But with the way Sapolsky has been booking in the past year, let’s wait and see before getting too excited.

 

Rating: ****1/4

 

Not as strong as remembered, but a great show carried by Generico with him providing easily the 2 best matches of the night. Recommended.

 

Now we got a doozy of an annual double shot here, my friends.

 

Up next – Death Before Dishonor V Night 1
Matches will include:
Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness
Matt Sydal vs. Bryan Danielson
Takeshi Morishima vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

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Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 – August 10, 2007

Taped from Boston, MA

 

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ROH Video Wire – August 1, 2007

 

Important news/footage in the video:
Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 on August 11 in Philly – Mike Quackenbush vs. Bryan Danielson

 

The DVD begins with a pre-taped Briscoes promo from a doctor’s office. They claim tonight’s hardcore main event is right up their alley and they’ll have Kevin Steen & El Generico leaving in crutches.

 

The Resilience come save Jack Evans from a No Remorse Corps beat down, but he doesn’t show gratitude, instead vowing to get his own faction. Because that’s what everyone thought of Evans, as a leader instead of a follower.

 

Pure Wrestling Rules Match
Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness

 

After referee Todd Sinclair goes over the rules, Sweet & Sour, Inc. have their own commandments:

 

1. Thou shalt not interrupt Chris Hero’s magnificent athletic displays

2. Thou shalt not be British or else rope breaks are forfeited

3. Thou shalt keep their limey hands off Larry Sweeney

4. Thou shalt not use closed fists or clotheslines

 

Entertaining enough contest although the sports-entertainment silliness was at times just nonsense, such as the Project 161 voiceover interruption. That particular viral angle does not hold up AT ALL a decade later. Did nobody learn to stay away from all mystery voiceover angles after the Black Scorpion? As for the match, Hero was entertaining including getting a standing ovation for his antics at the beginning, SNS helping him cheat, and McGuinness trying to just rely on his wrestling to win here.

 

In hindsight, fuck the white-meat babyface shit the company was going for with McGuinness. I’d have ended this program right here with McGuinness choosing to show he’s far superior at playing dirty in this environment, making SNS eat shit and regretting their attempts to fuck with him. Instead Hero went over here in a flat finish, while Dempsey ate a rebound lariat in the post-match.

 

Rating: less than ***

 

Kevin Steen cuts a pre-taped promo from a wheelchair while El Generico laces his shoes. Steen wishes tonight’s main event against the Briscoes was for the Tag Titles, but understands the company wants no liability for what he and Generico will do to the champions. He ends the promo by saying they’ll be leaving in his wheelchair.

 

Matt Sydal vs. Bryan Danielson

 

It’s revealed that neither Sydal nor Austin Aries have gotten their share of the $10K from the prior show, to which Danielson states that he placed it all in an interest-bearing account. Sweeney wants Sydal’s share and Danielson agrees to just put it on the line in this match.

 

Most of the first several minutes were utter domination by Danielson. He just put on a clinic, displaying just how overmatched Sydal was here. But Danielson was extremely cocky, rubbing in the financial share while dominating in a fashion that would make Steen proud. This extended cockiness allowed Sydal to make a comeback with strikes and eventually extend it with a dive to the outside.

 

Danielson still had a comfortable figurative lead though as Sydal controlled most of the rest of the match. While Sydal had tremendous cutoffs to answer Danielson’s, he never truly sustained anything close to Danielson’s early dominance. Sydal’s stock definitely rose by not giving in to the Cattle Mutilation or standard position elbows to the head, but he still couldn’t dominate, such as getting kneed in the gut on a Shooting Star Press attempt.

 

Once Danielson got a triangle choke locked on and delivered more elbows to Sydal’s head while in that submission, the ref ruled Danielson the winner, knowing this wouldn’t be going any farther. Danielson mocks Sydal & Sweeney in the post-match; the two of them bicker only to embrace right before reaching the curtain. Damn good match here and it’s a shame there was never a rematch.

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

ROH Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

One of the most anticipated revisits and this definitely lived up to it. Castagnoli had tremendous scouting on display early when he baited Morishima with a faux outside powerbomb attempt off the apron, drawing the champion to block it and try sitting on the challenger’s sternum, only to collapse on the canvas and be left open to an uppercut to the shoulder blades. This tease though would be paid off later when Castagnoli went for the Ricola Bomb; all of the champion’s weight went forward, allowing him a near-fall by crushing the challenger’s sternum. Then that Ricola Bomb tease would be paid off near the finish as Castagnoli learned his lesson and kept himself balanced to deliver one successfully for another quality near-fall.

 

The highlight had to be Castagnoli’s brief giant swing on Morishima; although brief, it was the most electrifying moment for the Beantown crowd, blown away by his strength on display. Another quality highlight would once again be in Castagnoli’s favor, as he scouted a shotgun missile dropkick, hit an Enziguri, and delivered a Superplex on the champion.

 

Where Castagnoli failed was that he didn’t have the champion scouted to the absolute maximum necessary. As he had momentum after various strikes, he ran the ropes only to eat Morishima’s trademark standing lariat; this also happened earlier in a similar moment when Castagnoli ate a side slam. Castagnoli needed to bring more than just uppercuts to this championship contest; perhaps if he worked on delivering lariats and elbow strikes to diversify the blows, he’d have pulled off the upset by completely destabilizing Morishima and winning the top title in all of underground wrestling.

 

Had the match had just one super-hot finishing stretch before the sole backdrop driver that finished it, this would’ve easily been a MOTYC rather than just a great match. But the finish paid off Castagnoli’s evasion of Morishima’s finisher throughout the match, and while this match was missing that hot stretch to solidify Castagnoli as a show closer, his stock certainly went up, especially with the wonderful reaction he got in the post-match.

 

Rating: ****1/4

 

Hardcore Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

 

No commentary for this match as Dave Prazak & Lenny Leonard are afraid of the chaos. Smart choice by them and for the booking as the violence spoke for itself. Of course, although the Chris Benoit brain research results were a few weeks away, all the open chair shots still come across badly. With that said, this was truly a frenzied main event, one that’s missing from the independents today, which is honestly both a positive and a negative.

 

Off the top of my head, highlight spots would include: a Fisherman’s neckbreaker on a chair; a sudden Ace Crusher from behind off a barricade to the padded floor; a double-team toss in the air onto chairs in the ring; and a Super Double Team Splash Mountain Neckbreaker. The bumps taken in this chaotic classic were just outrageous, a sign of the times in how driven all of these men were to be show-stealers and break through to bigger things in the business.

 

Another highlight that stood out, as it seemed to have been used as the finish to Steen’s Last Man Standing gem against Dean Ambrose at Royal Rumble 2016, was Jay shoving Steen off the ropes through a table to the outside, forcing him to take a front dive in the air. (That reminds me – we’re somehow gonna get a Jay Briscoe vs. Dean Ambrose match, or even better, an actual program between them, at some point, right?)

 

It was a shocking near-fall when Steen kicked out of Mark’s Cutthroat Driver after eating one on a chair, but it showed that there was no way Steen would allow himself and Generico to be denied earning another shot at the Tag Titles. It was brilliant for Steen to get the finishing touch on Jay, blocking the Butterfly Driver, kicking Jay right in the nuts, and delivering a Package Piledriver on a ladder. (Very safely executed it look like, which was a pleasant surprise, and the second time a ladder has been involved in this program, signifying this program will obviously end in a ladder match.)

 

Having earned another shot at the titles, Steen says he wants the shot on the next show in Hartford, this time in a cage match. Sounds all good on paper. As for this match, it’s everything said at the time and all these years later, with the lack of commentary enhancing the match and allowing the Boston crowd’s enthusiasm to be clearly heard for the DVD viewer. A classic match for all inspiring to learn from in both positive and negative ways.

 

Rating: ****1/2

 

Strongly recommended for the quality triple main event, including 2 back to back classics to close it out. But if anyone has the matches already on compilations, then pass. The Briscoes, Steen, and Generico are really carrying this company creatively, as Morishima is over but not quite as much as one would hope 6 months into his excursion, and all the faction arcs are looking uglier with each event.

 

But faction warfare has a gem for us to headline what should be an even better event for this historic double shot weekend. And 10 months in, can Brent Albright finally live up to his hype from OVW?

 

Up next – Death Before Dishonor V Night 2
Matches will include:
Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico
Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey
Mike Quackenbush vs. Bryan Danielson
Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright
The Resilience & Delirious vs. No Remorse Corps & Matt Sydal

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Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 – August 11, 2007

Taped from Philadelphia, PA

 

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The Briscoes want one of their singles gimmick match clashes against Kevin Steen & El Generico right now to kick off the show. Steen brags about beating the Briscoes so frequently, then says he made a promise to his mother about contacting her right now, so go get ‘em, Generico! Jay and Steen brawl to the back.

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match
Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico

 

Crazy opener here, but just short enough to not be an all-time classic one. Mark controlled early, including a Shooting Star Press to the outside, but Generico took him out with a suplex off the barricade to the floor. Likewise, Once Mark got control after a Springboard Moonsault Press, Generico cut him off with a backdrop suplex off the top rope to the floor. This allowed the match to be even, but Mark would sustain enough energy at the entrance ramp to hit an Exploder Suplex on the steel, however he was too fatigued and damaged to go for the immediate pin fall.

 

Steen would need to appear with a ladder to distract Mark, allowing Generico to pull off the victory via his trademark through-the-ropes Tornado DDT. The reaction to this matched any other time that the performer now known as Sami Zayn has executed it, with the bonus of it being the finisher thanks to the rules in this match. Post-match, Steen leaves with the upper hand on Jay in a brief brawl. Why isn’t this on a compilation yet?

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

The No Remorse Corps have an entertaining enough segment with Larry Sweeney & Matt Sydal to promote tonight’s main event against the Resilience & Delirious. BOOKER BURNOUT MOMENT: the failure of Sydal and Roderick Strong to point back to their time as Generation Next stablemates and winning the feud against the Embassy; of course, Austin Aries could’ve reminded everyone that those two didn’t do it alone.

 

Shimmer Title Match
Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey

 

Good effort although a bit sloppy and borderline business-exposing at times, lacking the crispness of their male contemporaries. Del Rey dominated early and looked to make this a squash after a hard roaring elbow, but missed a Senton on the floor. This allowed Lacey to dominate most of the match by targeting the champion’s back, but she’s no Roderick Strong as indicated by how much Del Rey mustered after a comeback and getting the victory.

 

Rating: less than ***

 

Brent Albright is excited for tonight’s ROH Title match against Takeshi Morishima, doing a great job of reminding any lapsed viewer of his 2 finishers – the Half Nelson Suplex and the Crowbar submission.

 

Mike Quackenbush vs. Bryan Danielson

 

Quality match as expected with Danielson a complete star to the Philly crowd. This allowed him to milk the crowd more upon breaking a 5-count as they said his phrase for him and he amusingly told referee Todd Sinclair “I have… a perfectly legal hold.” Then once he reminded Sinclair moments later that he has a 5-count, the crowd popped yet again; this is on par with Danielson’s crowd psychology brilliance at The Epic Encounter II.

 

In addition to being as over here to this audience as modern-day Brock Lesnar, Danielson pulled out excellent submission work, including a modified Dragon Sleeper. Even when his right shoulder became a problem, it just seemed that with an ROH Title match just 2 weeks away, Danielson wasn’t gonna be denied a victory on this night, no matter how much Quackenbush targeted this injured body part.

 

Quackenbush was terrific too, but perhaps his tendency to methodically pace his submission work was what ultimately bit him, because Danielson managed to make a comeback by giving him a one-stop trip to Suplex City. Although Quackenbush would keep the match even with his fair share of flying (something Danielson didn’t bring to this match, not that he needed to in order to obtain the victory), he lacked the killer instinct of the former ROH Champion.

 

Killer instinct is the perfect summary of the difference in this matchup, right there on display at the end. Once Danielson got Quackenush locked in a Triangle Choke and started laying in those elbows to the head, Quackenbush had no answer at all to break it through technique, nor the fighting spirit of KENTA or AJ Styles to absorb the blows and utilize sheer willpower.

 

There’s another BOOKER BURNOUT OPPORTUNITY here: Danielson cut a boring promo earlier on the show about Quackenbush, when in fact his promo should’ve been included after this match, with him saying that he’d now keep a keen eye on the Morishima vs. Albright match. Perhaps this should’ve been done as a post-match promo at ringside, as it’d give Danielson more time to connect with the crowd as they worship him for his deity-like star power, while also promoting Manhattan Mayhem II to the Philly audience and convince them to make the relatively short trip to NYC.

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

Last Man Standing Match
Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen

 

Good storyline match with the two just exchanging bombs and fisticuffs. Memorable bombs in this one include Steen tossing Jay into a barricade via a Powerbomb, Jay blocking a Package Piledriver on the apron to instead deliver a Death Valley Driver on it, and even Jay hitting a perfectly-timed Double Underhook Piledriver to get a great pop. The finish was the most interesting though with Steen winning thanks to Generico actually interfering and giving Yakuza kicks before a Package Piledriver. So that makes Generico the Colt Cabana to Steen’s CM Punk, and it’s a shame that particular mirror image dream tag match never happened.

 

Announced is that in addition to their cage match on the next show in Hartford, the following night between the Briscoes and Steen & Generico will be 2/3 falls.

 

Rating: ***1/4

 

ROH Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright

 

In what may be a surprise, it’s another of the most anticipated matches to revisit a decade later on this journey. Also probably a surprise considering the one in the contender role is that this match has stood the test of time, and without having seen any of Albright’s acclaimed OVW work, it’s difficult to imagine any of it matching, let alone topping, this classic. This is perhaps the best match of Albright’s career, and 6 months into Morishima’s reign, served as the champion’s best singles match to date. That’s the other surprise – this actually topped the prior night’s defense against Claudio Castagnoli, now regarded as one of the finest performers on the planet.

 

What made this a special match is that despite what an overall chore Albright had been since his debut 9-10 months earlier, the crowd was totally into him and buying into a possible title change. How that can be explained is a mystery considering that Morishima vs. Danielson was the money match and just 2 weeks away, but the audience was totally behind him. It certainly helped that Morishima made him look like a million bucks, with the champion succumbing to numerous bombs that topped what even Shingo and Samoa Joe had done to him earlier in the year. Albright also wouldn’t take no for an answer on the Crowbar submission, eventually getting in locked on multiple times, hoping he could deliver enough pain for a tap out and at least marginalize the champion. That certainly came into play when Morishima went for his standard lariats on the outside, which Albright ducked and the champion’s left arm hit a ring post.

 

Morishima was plenty of fun when he gained control, but he couldn’t outshine Albright in this match, who was relentless as the crowd was behind him. Having been unable to hit it earlier, once Albright hit a Half Nelson Suplex, the champion had fighting spirit so another one was delivered instantly for an EXCELLENT near-fall. The crowd actually believed it was a 3-count, buying into this hook, line, and sinker. This topped another great counter earlier in the match when Morishima went for the hip attack, only to get caught midair and dumped with a German Suplex.

 

When Morishima’s first successful backdrop driver was hit, it was smart for it to be out of desperation to break the Crowbar to explain it being a near-fall; that it was desperate AND a near-fall elevated Albright’s stock. His stock was elevated when he used Morishima’s rope-running against him, hitting an overhead suplex, but once he got dumped on his shoulder on a German Suplex, this was over. Albright would kick out after that and a lariat, but had nothing left to prevent the backdrop driver.

 

Just a sensational match with all kinds of frenzied drama and teased title changes, elevating the stock of what had been a very humdrum run so far by Albright, and showing that Morishima had the killer instinct to weather yet another storm. The post-match reaction to Albright was well-deserved, and one has to wonder if this match is just his peak, or the beginning of him finally living up to the hype he had earned from his OVW run.

 

Rating: ****1/2

 

Hardcore Match
The Resilience & Delirious vs. No Remorse Corps & Matt Sydal

 

Although there are definitely quite a few vacuum highlights, this was incredibly disappointing a decade later, coming nowhere near the emotional epic that a match this highly regarded should’ve been. The big takeaway, and it is definitely a positive one, is that Erick Stevens came out of this match much like Albright just did about an hour earlier, getting a standing ovation after succumbing to Strong’s Boston Crab that followed up a Super Uranage onto a ladder.

 

Some of the other highlights to get out of the way include Matt Cross catapulting himself off the wall to hit a Somersault Senton off the top of stacked bleachers, as well as him hitting a Flagpole Splash off of a scaffold through a table. In addition, Stevens forced Davey Richards to eat a Power Slam off the apron through a table.

 

But that’s the big problem with this match. This is the same building that played home to the most important ROH vs. CZW non-singles battles. Those matches weren’t just collections of dangerous highlights, but had genuine emotion. There was never once in this matchup that the audience generally gave a shit about who won and lost. There wasn’t that factor to justify this going for over half a fucking hour, nor was it one-of-the-time War Games type rules like the works of art that concluded the ROH vs. CZW and Embassy vs. Generation Next feuds.

 

Cut about 10-15 minutes off of this with it being an actual storyline that mattered, and this would’ve held up as tremendously as the prior night’s hardcore classic between the Briscoes and Steen & Generico. Instead, it’s a good but highly frustrating, disappointing poor man’s version of the main events from Steel Cage Warfare and Death Before Dishonor IV.

 

Rating: ***1/2

 

Only the main event is on a compilation, and one of the 4 other gems, including the surprising MOTYC, makes this a must-have on its own. Throw in a hot opener and pretty good follow-up match later on the card to advance the hottest angle since Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer, plus a quality technical affair between two of the best technicians on the underground, and this needs to be in everyone’s collection.

 

We are inching closer to what many consider the Match of the Year, but before then… is the ongoing Feud of the Year favorite becoming oversaturated with too many gimmick matches? And is it wise to even bother having an ROH Title match booked the night before the money encounter?

 

Up next – Caged Rage
Matches will include:
The Resilience vs. The Prehistoric Wolves & Jason Blade
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

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Caged Rage – August 24, 2007

Taped from Hartford, CT

 

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ROH Video Wire – August 17, 2007

 

Important news/footage in the video:
Tank Toland & Larry Sweeney have a pre-taped segment from the same athletic facility used to bully Bobby Dempsey on the A Fight at the Roxbury DVD release, and this time they’re waiting for him to return to the scene of the crime.
Dempsey arrives with unhealthy potato chips and a bottle of Pepsi, which Toland spits in his face. Dempsey is then forced to drag a wheelchair-ridden Toland via weight machine cables, which he fails miserably at. This is just tremendous and since this edition of the Video Wire got erroneously yanked off YouTube, is hopefully included on the Ring of Hero compilation.
In another SNS segment, Sweeney confirms that after 8 months of separation, the Kings of Wrestling finally collide as Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli is official for Manhattan Mayhem II. Zero buzz whatsoever for this supposedly marquee match even with Castagnoli just having a couple hot nights of performances. As ineffective as faction warfare is, booker Gabe Sapolsky got the Austin Aries & Roderick Strong split right in how quickly their singles match finally happened (just 6 weeks afterwards); had it waited as long as this, there’d have been significantly diminished buzz for it too.
Caged Rage on August 24 in Hartford – Takeshi Morishima has a three-way ROH Title defense against Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli. Why bother with this the night before Bryan Danielson finally cashes in his rematch clause in a marquee Manhattan Center dream match? Speaking of, a reminder of that is shown right after Morishima’s Death Before Dishonor V highlights.

 

Jimmy Jacobs is victorious over Rhett Titus in his return from knee surgery.

 

THE BIG PAYOFF OF THE HANGMEN THREE FORMATION AS THEY BULLY THE LIZARD MAN, MOTHERFUCKERS~!

 

The Resilience’s Future Up For Grabs
The Resilience vs. The Prehistoric Wolves & Jason Blade

 

If Austin Aries loses the match, then the Resilience is done. Matt Cross or Erick Stevens get replaced in the Resilience going forward by whoever should possibly defeat them in this match. SOMEONE PLEASE BEAT ARIES PLEASE PLEASE MOTHERFUCKING PRETTY PLEASE.

 

Pelle Primeau is originally on the thrown-together trios team but is taken out by the No Remorse Corps’ Davey Richards, thus causing Richards to team up for the first time ever in ROH with Eddie Edwards.

 

Pretty fun trios match here with the Resilience willing to play dirty when Richards was on the ring, both to offset his bullshit and prove their worth to stick together. Not a completely crisp match as Cross and Blade were out of sync on a Tilt-a-Whirl Head Scissors at the beginning, but plenty of quality action to really enjoy this.

 

While the tag team now known as The Wolves visually looked like a natural pair more than a year before becoming an official tandem, it was Blade & Edwards as the usual partners at this time, and they played just generic babyfaces in this match. Edwards particularly looks to have some potential, but it was Stevens that came out of this looking like a star again, similar to Roman Reigns many years later.

Polish the early portion and make tag legalities a bit crisper too since there was no heat segment, and actually have a stipulation that the crowd cares about, then this would’ve been a near-classic. At least the stipulation worked with the story told in the match, making this result meaningful.

 

A post-match promo airs from the back for the Resilience, who feel stronger than ever. Aries stands out as being significantly improved, which obviously has to be credited to his brief time in TNA before this.

 

Rating: ***1/2

 

Bryan Danielson has an extended squash over PAC. A shame a rematch could never happen. Danielson’s post-match promo talking about Morishima for tomorrow really brings into question for Albright and Castagnoli to have an ROH Title match tonight.

 

ROH Title – Elimination Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

Very fun match with never a dull moment. The first fall was all about highlight Albright, which was smart to do since he’d be the first elimination. He just tossed Morishima around, something Castagnoli couldn’t do, even causing the champ to take an extended rest on the outside. Morishima’s lack of scouting came back to bite him against Albright, who countered a hip attack with a German Suplex.

 

With the champ resting, Albright also countered a flying uppercut attempt by Castagnoli by locking on the Crowbar submission. Somehow Castagnoli was able to roll forward as it was locked in, hitting a surprising cradle pin. But the damage was done, while Morishima had plenty of time to recover. Castagnoli had an answer when Morishima countered a German Suplex by just deadweight sitting on the remaining challenger, paying off that Castagnoli had a regular one scouted earlier.

 

From that point on, Morishima just had his way with Castagnoli. There were double stomps aplenty, reminding me that we sadly never got Low Ki vs. Morishima. Castagnoli was valiant with his kick outs, even blocking a backdrop driver, but once one was hit, that was the ballgame. As if this result wasn’t obvious to make it official:

 

MORISHIMA VS. DANIELSON. ROH TITLE. MANHATTAN MAYHEM II. OH FUCK YES~!

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

Tag Titles – Cage Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

 

While a good cage match, this environment actually hindered these teams from doing what they do best – beat the shit out of each without any limitations. Sure, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer were great at brawling all over the place, but they also had the kind of hatred to wanna be caged inside eventually. So it’s to no surprise that the extended segment outside the ring before getting into the ring would be the highlight, with numerous highspots including Steen going for a Quebrada off the cage fence to the Briscoes in the front rows.

 

This had juice for the champions, but the match lacked the emotional juice seen throughout the East Coast for this Feud of the Year favorite. Steen falling through a table on the outside lacked the gravitas of his table bump 2 weeks earlier, even though it made sense to leave Generico as the weak link to fall prey to the Doomsday Device and Double Underhook Piledriver. But this ended flat, and it was a good call for Steen to get the heat back afterwards by pummeling the Briscoes with chairs, including a pumphandle shoulderbreaker on one.

 

Ultimately, a cage match should’ve never been in this feud. With a fresh mind as lead booker, there was the obvious singles match not done yet (and still hasn’t been a decade later) between Jay and Generico, while Mark and Steen could’ve had a killer rematch. There are other possibilities too had certain creative directions not taken elsewhere – perhaps kicking off a program on this card with a dream match main event of Kings of Wrestling vs. Steen & Generico?

 

Suffice to say, no juice for tomorrow’s 2/3 falls match coming out of this, but it’ll have heat anyway since the Briscoes are on a clean sweep throughout 2007 in that environment and the challengers are just too excellent to be too watered down by a dwindling booker.

 

Rating: ***1/2

 

Skip this show as 2 of the matches are on compilations, and just wait for the trios match to be on one or get added to the YouTube channel.

 

It’s that time. It’s the 2007 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Match of the Year. But is it actually the Match of the Year? Does it even belong in the same conversation as the Briscoes vs. Motor City Machine Guns and Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer feud-ending cage match? Elsewhere, will common sense come into play, and will a supposed money match overcome its incredibly flawed journey to deliver something special?

 

Up next – Manhattan Mayhem II
Matches will include:
Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Matt Cross & Erick Stevens
Jack Evans vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong
Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

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I was at DBD V N1. We left during intermission as my (then) girlfriend had a panic attack over a gang shooting that happened a few blocks away. In Roxbury. No shit, eh?

 

I still never forgave her for making me miss out on the ME as that feud is what kept me a wrestling fan.

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Manhattan Mayhem II – August 2007

Taped from New York, NY

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The less said about the opening promo from the Hangmen Three, the better. WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THIS WAS THE RIGHT KICKOFF SEGMENT FOR SUCH A HOT DVD RELEASE?

 

Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Matt Cross & Erick Stevens

 

Action-packed opener with plenty of dazzling moves. That’s not the big takeaway though. That would go to the finish, as Cross failed to appear on time to cut off Quackenbush from breaking a pin, causing Quackenbush to just stand with his thumb up his ass. No matter how much the company wants them to be, Cross & Stevens are simply not Jack Evans & Roderick Strong. Period.

 

Rating: less than ***

 

Jack Evans says he has a mouthpiece now, which is obviously Julius Smokes he’s left off-camera to make his appearance a huge reveal later. Smokes doing bird noises, as well as this entire premise, gets legitimate LOLZ from me. Who thought this was gonna draw money? If Smokes had to be brought back, perhaps even at the risk of seeming as a poor man’s Rottweilers, it should’ve been for the No Remorse Corps. Since that faction didn’t have strong talkers, he can be their violent, overbearing hype man, turning back heel, having patched things up with Rocky Romero (recall the events at Dedicated) and feeling like he got tossed aside by the company in the company’s PPV era. It’s so simple: “ROH told the greatest manager of all-time that Homicide’s gone, so there’s no place for me! BULLSHIT! NO REMORSE MOTHAFUCKAS!” In essence, Romero plays the same role of a few years earlier (this time without the deadweight of Ricky Reyes), while Strong would be Homicide, and Davey Richards would be Low Ki.

 

Glory By Honor VI weekend on November 2 and November 3 in Philly and back here in NYC will be KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, Takeshi Morishima, and motherfucking Mitsuharu Misawa.

 

On one hand, it’s Misawa in the States. On the other hand, he’s looked totally cooked and broken down, similar to Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX and 31. But can Misawa do what Undertaker would do afterward against Brock Lesnar, and have a classic or two to cap off his legacy in his twilight?

 

Jack Evans vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong

 

Smokes gets quite the pop once he’s revealed. Total goodwill pop stemming from Final Battle 2006 and Respect is Earned. His promo is grating, revealing the faction name will be the Vulture Squad. Zero buys.

 

After a decent 10 minutes or so of action, this fell into the sports-entertainment trap, and no matter how well the Manhattan Center audience responded, came straight out of the playbook of the dying days of WCW. This had a ref bump, generic NRC beatdown, Ruckus introduced as the Vulture Squad’s “chocolate member” (a shame this angle didn’t come 5-10 years later for much superior African-American high-flyers such as Rich Swann, Shane Strickland, Lio Rush, and Cedric Alexander), the Resilience getting involved, a steel chair being used, and instead of the match just being thrown out, Aries won while Evans walked away with Ruckus, seemingly not giving a shit about the result. This was all over the place and a far cry from the chaos that closed out Midnight Express Reunion. Why is anyone supposed to be invested in any of this like they were with the Embassy vs. Generation Next and ROH vs. CZW? Terrible angle to ruin what could’ve been a show-stealing match, with no lasting value whatsoever, serving as nothing more than short-term junk candy. GIVE ME SOME ACTUAL NOURISHMENT, DAMMIT.

 

Rating: less than ***

 

Jimmy Jacobs says he has a new purpose and it’ll soon be revealed. Project 161 couldn’t be more obvious for him at least.

 

Aries cuts another quality heated promo. Too bad it’s for an angle that lacks any cohesion.

 

Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

Good match but nothing special – the best description for these two as opponents would be to call them the underground Edge vs. Christian; they’re just simply far more special teaming together.

 

The dueling chants couldn’t cause this match to elevate its drama, with this feeling like a forgettable weekly TV main event instead of a marquee match on a card bestowing itself as the sequel to one of the most shaft-hardening start-to-finish shows in wrestling history. Hopefully the fact that there was never a series of dramatic counters and near-falls means that this is the end of the program as Castagnoli eluded to in his post-match promo, having finished Hero off with just one Ricola Bomb. Better yet, FUCKING PAIR THEM BACK UP AND LET THEM BE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS AND LARRY SWEENEY CAN BE THEIR JIM CORNETTE.

 

Rating: ***1/4

 

ROH Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson

 

 

Danielson’s strategy in this one, right from the get-go, wasn’t just refreshing, but also effective, and perhaps there was a long-term story for nobody else to do this beforehand so that’d be so special and impactful on this night, and in this match: relentlessly target the champ’s left leg.

 

The challenger’s early dominance was really brilliant here, throwing Morishima off and keeping him off balance, even driving him into a corner to get some forearm shots in. Never before had Morishima been challenged in this manner, and it proved Danielson’s brilliance. Nice touch also in Danielson displaying athletic swagger just like he did against Samoa Joe at Midnight Express Reunion.

 

After that cornering, Morishima finally picked up on Danielson’s strategy, blocking a kick and just driving the champion into a corner to deliver plenty of receipts. Unfortunately, Danielson suffered a left eye injury at this point, which would turn out to be a retina injury that as of April 2009 in Houston, had not fully healed and very likely never will. While the match quality was in no way downgraded due to the injury, it’s quite obvious that the match should’ve been stopped immediately, customer satisfaction and DVD business be damned.

 

Here was Danielson just 364 days after suffering his right shoulder injury against Colt Cabana, and this time putting on an equally admirable performance. Had this event not already been titled beforehand, this likely would’ve become officially known as Gut Check II. Even as Morishima dominated him on the outside, Danielson found the necessary aggression to cut him off, driving the champion into the front row, AND WITH HIS LEFT RETINA FRESHLY INJURED, taking a springboard dive into the audience, just like he had foolishly done 364 days earlier with a freshly injured right shoulder.

 

Danielson’s injury explains his failure to have scouted Morishima’s perfectly timed standing lariat while running the ropes, and the crowd reaction to that lariat was awesome. But Danielson still managed to avoid more of the champion’s trademark blows, kicking Morishima’s left leg again when he attempted a hip attack. He went for some great submission work, which slowed the champion when he’d make a comeback. This allowed Danielson to block Morishima’s Shotgun Missile Dropkick attempt; even as he got thrown off, he sidestepped the second attempt as the champ had delayed it due to his left leg pain.

 

The follow-up Stepover Toehold from Danielson was also awesome, allowing him to just moments later counter a cut off a strike exchange with a sudden Half Crab. In what had to be improvised storytelling, Morishima broke out of it by just kicking Danielson’s left side of the face. But once again, Morishima was slow to move around, allowing the challenge to block a backdrop driver attempt and go for an EXCELLENT near-fall via the Small Package! What a sensational reaction for that false finish.

 

These two also channeled something that’d seem likelier in a Joe vs. AJ Styles match, as Danielson ducked a lariat and hit a gorgeous German Suplex with a bridge pin for a near-fall! Had Danielson ever gotten to face Brock Lesnar, I wonder if this spot would’ve been approved as an homage and storytelling strategy. Danielson wasted no time going for the elbows to the head, but Morishima resiliently got up.

 

However, Morishima couldn’t actually make a comeback, collapsing on his left leg to a sensational reaction. This right here is my pick for the highlight of the match. Why is that? Because it was brilliantly safe way to tell a simple story that displayed Morishima’s vulnerability, Danielson’s technical excellence, and got over just tremendously, once against showing Danielson being one of the most psychologically cream-of-the-crop performers in the history of the business.

 

Danielson then followed that up with stomps to the face, but made the mistake of not just doing them until referee Paul Turner would throw the match out in his favor. Perhaps the eye injury explains that as well as some fatigue as this was more than 15 minutes into this work of art. Instead, Danielson went for the Cattle Mutilation, and once Morishima reached the ropes there dueling chants again.

 

Danielson made an even bigger mistake going for a Super Backdrop Suplex, which was countered with a crossbody by Morishima. Danielson didn’t have enough left, his fighting spirit immediately cut off by the champion and getting beat to the punch with a monstrous lariat, followed by the backdrop driver for the finish. And what an incredibly crazy idea: Morishima has to hit his finisher just once to get the victory.

 

In the post-match, Danielson disagrees with crowd telling him that he’s the best in the world, saying the ROH Champion is the best in the world, and gets thanked for his outstanding effort.

 

The one blemish: Morishima doing nothing when they were on the outside as Danielson set his leg up on a barricade. There should’ve been some kind of struggle and that’d have made this a perfect match, one to truly measure up to the Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer feud-ending cage match and the Briscoes vs. Motor City Machine Guns for the company’s match of the year. It’s a shame those 2 matches weren’t pimped as hard as this one was to Dave Meltzer.

 

With that said, this was an otherwise phenomenal match with layered storytelling, living up to everyone’s hype that had been building ever since Morishima had dethroned Homicide 6 months earlier. Once again, Danielson gets credited with the best match of a colleague’s career, while further cementing his own legacy in more ways than one. While not my pick, this was a VERY worthy choice by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers as the 2007 Match of the Year, and one has to wonder a decade later if ROH will ever come close to contending for that award ever again.

 

Rating: ****3/4

 

Larry Sweeney rants about Claudio Castagnoli, saying this program isn’t done. Why wasn’t Gabe Sapolsky fired at this point?

 

Tag Titles – 2/3 Falls Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

 

While this definitely shouldn’t have been the closing match over Morishima vs. Danielson, especially with the Briscoes again getting a clean sweep instead of having the historic pop of here of that streak being broken, this was an excellent main event for sure. Perhaps the reason for this closing the show was the post-match angle of Steen faking respect and then using a ladder once the Briscoes were down after being kicked in the nuts. Get that last moment to be all about building up the company’s first-ever ladder match coming up on the next PPV.

 

Like the night before, this started as a really good outside brawl, but this time the in-ring portions were great, complete with respect to tag legalities. The first fall didn’t have huge drama, but the second one sure did and there were some memorable highlights, the big one being that as Generico basked in the glory on the apron after hitting Jay with a through-the-ropes Tornado DDT, Mark seized the opportunity to surprise him with a sudden jump over the ropes to hit a Head-Scissors off the apron to the floor!

 

Steen was his usually tremendous heel self, although this lacked the major hot tag (along with the mentioned booking flaw) to have made this the classic it deserved to be. It was a huge deal when Steen kicked out of the Springboard Doomsday Device, showing the company definitely saw him as a top singles star at some point. It was no surprise that when Generico was out due to a Beal to the outside that Steen tried going at it alone, but he got his comeuppance. That it took both of the individual Briscoes’ consecutive finishers to end this also said a lot, perhaps a compromise for not breaking the clean sweep streak gimmick. Definitely looking forward to the obvious feud-ending ladder match, although in light of the absolute Hell that took place 2 months before this, there are some obvious reservations to what these four men will do in that environment.

 

Rating: ****

 

In no way was this show deserving of its sequel name, as it was quite dreadful until the double main event. But the double main event was fucking excellent, including what was voted as the Match of the Year. For show completionists, this is recommended. For just quality match collectors, watch the Observer MOTY for free on YouTube and buy the Since Day One compilation for the 2/3 falls match.

 

And good Lord, why wasn’t Sapolsky fired by now? Hangmen Three? Not moving on from the Sweet & Sour vs. Castagnoli program? Vulture Squad formation? Go-nowhere sports-entertainment trash that would make Vince Russo proud to ruin a dream three-way?

 

Up next – Motor City Madness 2007
Matches will include:
El Generico vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Takeshi Morishima vs. Erick Stevens

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Motor City Madness 2007 – September 14, 2007

Taped from Detroit, MI

 

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ROH Video Wire – August 31, 2007

 

 

Important news/footage in the above video:

Bryan Danielson’s left eye could not look straight due to his injury against Takeshi Morishima so he got emergency surgery shortly after Manhattan Mayhem II. So foolish for nobody to call the match off immediately.
Why exactly is there no mention in the Video Wire that the Man Up PPV will be headlined by Morishima vs. Danielson II and the historic, first-ever, feud-ending ladder match between the Briscoes and Kevin Steen & El Generico?

 

Another ho-hum show overall, so C&P treatment again when appropriate, this time from JD Dunn. Very disappointing considering this is ROH’s Motown follow-up to WrestleMania 23 weekend.

 

The Briscoes make fun of Project 161 for “writin’ poetry on the internet.” Jay works in the word “daggone.”

 

 

As a result of winning a four-way against Delirious, Kevin Steen, and Roderick Strong early on the card, Erick Stevens faces Takeshi Morishima tonight for the ROH Title. Can he step up and have powerhouse matches against the monster heel on par with Shingo, Brent Albright, Samoa Joe, and Claudio Castagnoli?

 

 

[Jimmy] Jacobs tells Rebecca Bayless that it’s not about tonight but about what happens next. Lacey tells us to wait and see. Hmm…

 

 

Dream Match
El Generico vs. Naomichi Marufuji

 

Very good match at the end to elevate Generico’s stock. Had the main portions of the match developed a bit more of a story to have Marufuji soften Generico’s neck and shoulders, this would’ve turned out to be tremendous. That’s because Generico’s resilience after the first Shiranui would’ve been more dramatic, although it’s difficult to find fault based on the monster reaction he got with his foot reaching the bottom rope, but not quite as epic as Bryan Danielson doing similar against KENTA 363 days prior to this.

 

Generico very obviously came out the star in this match, only being briefly sabotaged from the Yakuza Kick, absorbing Marufuji’s cutoffs and then hitting it anyway. The drama was definitely noticeable when he hit a standard Brainbuster for a near-fall; that they never teased the Top Rope Brainbuster at least is another flaw in this match though. But Marufuji having to take his game a step further with a Super Shiranui to obtain the victory spoke volumes, as well as his insistence to get the crowd behind the Generic Luchador in the post-match as they exchanged respect.

 

This match makes the “What if?” that never came to be even more glaring: KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico.

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

ROH Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Erick Stevens

 

Like the other match reviewed, this was designed solely to use a puro star to elevate an ROH rookie and it worked even better despite this match not being quite as good but pretty close. Stevens winning the fans over here was quite impressive considering that the fans apparently weren’t happy of missing out on Morishima vs. Steen or Morishima vs. Strong II.

 

The story here was a bit simpler: Stevens absorbs the larger Morishima’s powerful blows, but keeps managing to make comebacks and avoid the backdrop driver. Once the gut wrench powerbomb was finally hit, the crowd exploded in a true career highlight for Stevens. But it obviously wasn’t enough as Morishima picked up on the repertoire of Stevens, dead-weighting and sitting on Stevens when he went for a second German Suplex.

 

Morishima surprisingly gave respect to Stevens, but perhaps that’s a red herring for what’s to come. Stevens has some potential by this point, but the lack of charisma is concerning. My suggestion: find a direction that will pair him up with Albright to form a powerhouse team, with the two eventually making a complete heel turn against Steen & Generico for a Tag Titles program sometime in 2008.

 

Rating: ***1/2

 

Get this DVD cheap for the 2 reviewed matches as they’re worth seeing. Now it’s the big one. It’s the end of the Feud of the Year Front Runner. It’s the first-ever ladder match in company history. And it’s the rematch of the classic that turned out to win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Match of the Year. Plus.. the payoff to the Project 161 viral direction. And the farewell of Matt Sydal as well, capping off his underground run against his greatest career rival Delirious, plus 2 major debuts!

 

It’s time to simply Man Up!

 

Up next – Man Up
Matches will include:
The entire PPV broadcast
Lacey & Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong & Daizee Haze
Delirious vs. Matt Sydal

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Man Up – September 15, 2007

Taped from Chicago, IL

 

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Man Up (PPV) – Aired November 30, 2007

 

The broadcast wastes no time as Naomichi Marufuji is in the ring already for the opener.

 

ROH Title Shot Match
Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Claudio Castagnoli

 

McGuinness says he’s keeping a close eye on tonight’s rematch between Takeshi Morishima and Bryan Danielson. Way to telegraph the booking here.

 

The commentators are interrupted by a masked man with a raspy voice screaming “Age of the Fall!” Before the opener starts, an intro package features highlights from the Driven 2007 PPV.

 

Claudio Castagnoli’s pre-match promo isn’t interesting at all, continuing the program against Sweet ‘N Sour Inc. that should’ve been aborted before it even began. At least Larry Sweeney is entertaining on the microphone and he’s over.

 

This match would’ve been best served as a free-for-all, and perhaps even as a final chapter in the Hero vs. Castagnoli program since a good chunk of the match focused on it. (In hindsight since it was pushed on PPV but not quite clicking, end the program with Castagnoli beating Hero and Sweeney in separate matches at the next PPV taping.) When the two of them went to the outside, referee Todd Sinclair forgot about tag legalities despite Lenny Leonard specifically stating on commentary that tags were necessary, but he covered for the bad officiating by pointing out Sinclair chose to go with relaxed rules.

 

From a business perspective, the biggest missed opportunity was the failure to mention the classic, historically important on many levels GHC Heavyweight Title encounter that had taken place just 364 days earlier between McGuinness and Marufuji. What they showed here was a nice sample of what had taken place at the prior year’s epic September event, and yet potentially new audiences watching this PPV would have no idea about Glory By Honor V Night 2; this is a very fair criticism since Danielson and KENTA’s match from that same card was talked about in the PPV main event of Respect is Earned.

 

To nobody’s surprise, McGuinness picked up the victory after cleaning house, though it was mildly surprising for Castagnoli to do the job instead of Hero, as this would’ve served as a decent finish to the lukewarm Hero vs. McGuinness program. The finish was definitely perfect, McGuinness using the momentum from eating Castagnoli’s springboard twisting uppercut to deliver a decisive rebound lariat. So the next PPV is either Morishima vs. McGuinness III or Danielson vs. McGuinness VI, and it’s nice for McGuinness to no longer being on the creative treadmill that he’s been on for months either without direction or just a lukewarm one (his program against Hero.)

 

Rating: ***

 

In a career highlight promo that defines much of his life and has much greater meaning a decade later, an eyepatch-sporting Danielson points out that the injuries are really starting to take an emotional toll on his family, but his father said that this is his dream so to keep pursuing it. Since he’s not the ROH Champion, he acknowledges that he’s not the best wrestler in the world anymore, but against Morishima tonight he will show he has the most heart of anyone in the sport. Terrific promo here that matches up with Danielson’s far more celebrated ones in WWE.

 

The Resilience and No Remorse Corps meet for a Best of 3 singles matches series. The NRC won the coin flip so the Resilience must pick their representative first.

 

Matt Cross vs. Rocky Romero

 

Good showcase for Cross here as he displayed his gymnastics background and got plenty of counters on the more experienced Romero, but once Romero got one kick to the head, that was the ballgame.

 

Roderick Strong pretends to be next to goad Austin Aries into being next, but Davey Richards is the opponent in a swerve.

 

Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries

 

Extremely superior to their first ROH encounter exactly one year prior to this, and much more heated and interesting than the rematch that was supposed to be a landmark Richards victory at Dethroned. This did far more to put Richards over as he shined more in this match than the already established Aries. He had the former ROH Champion scouted very well, evading almost every major trademark move of his until Aries had the opportunity to hit a suicide dive.

 

Richards would still control most of the match, specifically blocking a kick to the head to not be prone to the brainbuster and 450 Splash combo of Aries. But Aries ensured not to fall prey to the Butterfly Driver, finally turning it into a backslide and using the little opportunity possible to pull out his finishing sequence for the victory.

 

Rating: ***3/4

 

Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong

 

An excellent showcase for Stevens to complete the obvious point of this series: the established stars of the original Reborn era go over, but the newer talents in each match are showcased. After dominating early here, Stevens find himself still shining by selling mostly underneath the rest of the way, busting out numerous spectacular power moves against the established powerhouse Strong, giving the NRC leader a taste of his own medicine that only the likes of Shingo, Joe, and Morishima could’ve done before.

 

That it was such a struggle for the cocky Strong to pull out the victory here was monumental in Stevens earning Chicago’s support, just like he’d done the night before in Detroit against Morishima. A Super Tiger Driver would be blocked by Stevens, being turned into a Super Power Slam for an excellent near fall that would’ve been a very satisfying upset finish; there’s an argument that perhaps Stevens, for all of his glaring flaws, should’ve just gone over here, especially with a thrown-in stipulation that this would be the end of the program. Doing so also would’ve creatively established that Aries proved he could successfully form and lead another faction, rather than just take over one like he had done over Alex Shelley at Final Battle 2004.

 

But Stevens still came out of this with his stock raised, being beaten to a pulp to fall prey to a Super Release Splash Mountain Powerbomb, followed by a standard Tiger Driver. Perhaps the best test to see if Stevens can sustain the momentum of this breakout weekend would be to just feud against Strong without anyone else involved, as it’d also keep Strong busy once Aries has a conclusive match against his former stablemate too.

 

Rating: ****

 

The formation of the Hangmen Three at the expense of Delirious is shown from Caged Rage. I have a theory now: perhaps booker Gabe Sapolsky knowingly, intentionally formed this totally useless, humdrum faction as a means to make other weak stables such as the Resilience and Vulture Squad shine in comparison. As burned out as he was, he couldn’t have possibly been blind to just how much of a black eye this was serving for the ROH brand to a potential new audience on PPV. In fact, with this direction being featured on PPV, it’s astonishing in hindsight that this or something from TNA failed to win the Worst Feud of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards instead of it being crowned upon the perversely entertaining Kane vs. Big Daddy V. This whole saga had zero enjoyment value from any kind of perspective.

 

ROH Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson

 

Although Danielson had just gotten a title shot 3 weeks earlier, he had earned that thanks to his cream-of-the-crop reign; this was earned by defeating McGuinness on the Driven 2007 PPV.

 

Danielson dominated this match surprisingly, compensating for his injury with a focused, furious quest for vengeance over his eye injury. Morishima seemed unprepared for Danielson’s onslaught, eating various strikes and submissions, including elbows to the head, Triangle Chokes, Super Backdrop Suplex, Tiger Suplex, and Cattle Mutilation.

 

Chicago was in awe at Danielson’s dominance here over the monstrous champion, each big move and submission hold gaining more drama as the match went along. Even when Morishima blocked a schoolboy pin attempt to finally sit his fat ass down on Danielson, it wasn’t enough to stop the challenger’s relentless pursuit. Morishima would have to his size and dig down deep into his obviously inferior cardio while locked in a second triangle choke, lifting Danielson up for a one-armed powerbomb.

 

Danielson would come back for more, but once Morishima was able to block a forearm charge, that was enough to hit a lariat and backdrop driver. However, Morishima had poor ring positioning, allowing Danielson to be close enough to get his foot on the bottom rope in another piece of excellent drama. To nobody’s surprise, Morishima became frustrated and broke his vow, removing Danielson’s eyepatch and gaining the victory by targeting the injury and striking Danielson’s head repeatedly, causing the referee to call the match in favor of the champion much to Chicago’s disapproval.

 

Another excellent match on this PPV and worthy follow-up to the acclaimed first match just 3 weeks earlier. This is perhaps the greatest example of what an encounter against Brock Lesnar would’ve been like for Danielson; surprise the monster with absolute fury to destabilize him, get relentless with a number of strikes and submissions, and hope that it’s enough to gain the upset. It’s definitely obvious not just from a booking perspective, but from a kayfabe perspective, that Morishima’s days as champion are numbered after having his most grueling defenses against Danielson, Castagnoli, and Brent Albright in recent weeks. He had to break a competitive vow and is showing very clear signs of fatigue, including poor cardio against much smaller, more driver opponents, and poor ring positioning as well. The writing is on the wall for McGuinness to finally get the job done. And of course, the Morishima vs. Danielson saga is far from finished.

 

Rating: ****1/4

 

Tag Titles – Ladder Match
Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

 

Getting the obvious out of the way: the opening crowd brawling had an absolutely ludicrous amount of unprotected chair shots, ESPECIALLY with Chris Nowinski shortly before this revealing that Chris Benoit had severe brain damage that had aged twice as fast as it should’ve been at the time of his death. It’s actually MORE realistic in a fight for someone to put their arms and hands up anyway to protect their heads and faces, so these guys along with those who paved this kind of shit for them such as Mick Foley, were always sadly mistaken.

 

The dangerous bumps on the ladders, including a Package Piledriver and Butterfly Piledriver, didn’t appear to be dangerous for the head and neck, but mainly just for those taking the back bumps on the ladders. The same can be said for the unforgettable Beal that the champs forced Generico to take, a true highlight in this all-time classic that had Chicago going insane.

 

From a purely entertainment perspective, the only dynamic missing from this brawl, and it’s an arguable nitpick, is that Jay and Steen never took a moment to viscerally talk shit to each other. Perhaps that would be unrealistic with the amount of brutality endured in this appropriately marketed “Ladder War,” but it was noticeable when factoring how much of a factor Steen’s mouth had played in all the months leading up to this piece of history, not just in promos, but during the actual in-ring battles.

 

Steen deserves major kudos for saving the conclusion of the match, climbing back up since so much time had passed while Jay struggled to remove the belts. Steen had nothing left, but it was only logical that his character would’ve used the last pitiful amount of energy possible to prevent the inevitable, which was that he had started a fight, and now he and his best friend were gonna lose it. This ending could’ve been a very glaring black eye, much like Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon at SummerSlam 1995.

 

Other chaotic highlights in this match include Mark hitting a Shooting Star Press on the ladder and landing spectacularly in a way that hurt himself, Jay being shoved back-first onto a previously breaking ladder to break it even more (this particular piece of furniture actually looked like it was designed to give in and protect these men, which is a good thing if that’s the case,) and Jay calling for the maintenance ladder to bring in the ring in the last few minutes of the match, causing another Windy City eruption. The Doomsday Device that saw Mark jump underneath the maintenance ladder must also be mentioned, an amazing “special effect” as Generico would call such highspots years later when he appeared on Talk is Jericho.

 

This definitely lived up to the hype of being the company’s first-ever official ladder match, completely blowing away the closing thing to one 5 years earlier between Paul London and Michael Shane at Unscripted, which also drew “Match of the Year” chants from the live crowd. But this never let up, belonging in the conversation with the HBK vs. Razor series as well as the Rock vs. Triple H and the trilogy involving the Dudleyz, Hardyz, and Edge & Christian several years earlier. This was a car crash from start to finish that blew the roof off the Frontier Fieldhouse, and set a bar so high that the company would not host a ladder match that could come close to it for another 9 years.

 

Undoubtedly, this is the feud of the year, and I’m sad to see it end. I’ve zero faith that the obvious McGuinness era on the horizon will creatively carry this creatively decaying company like this program did. But maybe Steen pie-facing Generico is a sign that they’re gonna actually break up and feud? While it may seem a bit too soon, one cannot argue that it’s reliable enough to carry the company and make up for Sapolsky’s creative collapse. It also ensured that both have something substantial coming out of this direction.

 

The same cannot be said for the Briscoes in the post-match though. Project 161 finally gets revealed when a bunch of masked unknowns appear in the front rows donned in black, providing a distraction for the debuting Tyler Black to arrive along with Lacey & Jimmy Jacobs, who are then joined moments later by the returning Necro Butcher! (In hindsight, what a missed opportunity in 2006 for Jacobs & Necro not to have some kind of loose alliance when they simultaneously feuded with BJ Whitmer.)

 

Necro sticks out like a sore thumb visually, but the PPV quickly ends. The rest of the segment is in the bonus features, and it’s incredibly cringe-worthy. Jay is hung upside down and lifted while his head is bleeding, and Jacobs cuts an overall ineffective promo as the blood falls on him. Jacobs says that Lacey’s love failed to save him and rid his misery, and that nothing ever will. He shits on the fans for supporting the obnoxious drunkard Briscoes (I’m sure the PWG Six would agree with that sentiment after what happened the day of Giant Size Annual #4) and wants the power in the company, so the newfound Age of the Fall will be coming for the Briscoes.

 

Based on his verbiage, Jacobs did a good job explaining why he recruited Necro, as both are outcasts in their own way. As for Black, he described as a lost potential superstar. That could make sense when considering that Black is in his early 20s, but the fact that Jacobs gloats about all his obvious strengths doesn’t really fit the outcast shtick that Jacobs is going for.

 

Some mark in the front row gets under Jay’s skin afterward, but the Briscoes leave with the belts, proud of vanquishing their 2007 archenemies and ready for the new Age of the Fall challenge.

 

Rating: ****3/4 (for everything prior to the Age of the Fall segment)

 

BONUS MATCHES

 

Amazing Kong’s ROH Debut
Lacey & Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong & Daizee Haze

 

Impressive debut for Kong here and the Chicago crowd’s enthusiasm certainly helped. As expected, Haze played the FIP, getting double-teamed until finally getting the hot tag on Kong, who played a role similar to Samoa Joe but with far more outward facial expressions. It was a surprise that since Del Rey would soon be defending the Shimmer title against Kong, that Haze got the victorious pin on Lacey. Nobody cared about the Lacey vs. Haze program, so this ample opportunity to throw a bone towards Dave Prazak’s promotion and build up one of his matches.

 

Rating: ***

 

How remarkable, BJ Whitmer got a haircut and dyed his hair blonde to look like Ken Anderson. That’ll save the Hangmen Three saga.

 

Tyler Black’s ROH Debut Match
Jack Evans vs. Tyler Black

 

Very simple match. Black sneaks from behind to dominate at first, Evans makes a comeback. Necro & Jacobs appear to attack Evans and the match is called off, then Irish Airborne makes the saves. Zero interest in this impromptu trios match, but Black looks just fine in this federation. Good for AOTF winning their first match together too.

 

Matt Sydal’s ROH Farewell
Delirious vs. Matt Sydal

 

These two are getting in-ring introductions to signify the importance of this rivalry ending. It’s truly the end of an era for the 2 that debuted against each other at Reborn Stage 1. Sydal gets incredibly treatment from Chicago despite going out as an SNS heel. To sell the sentimental value of this, Delirious opts not to go crazy at first, instead wanting a handshake for this final chapter. But Sydal takes a cheap shot. Perfect.

 

This was a fitting end to the rivalry but couldn’t touch their 2/3 falls match earlier in the year. With that said, this was everything expected, all the crisp moves and counters of these 2 archrivals, and Larry Sweeney going postal when he thought Todd Sinclair counted too slow. He was probably still mad from eating a Senton by Delirious too.

 

Delirious won which made sense, but Sydal took a head drop late in the match via a Cobra Clutch Suplex, and that must have led to his concussion as reported by the Wrestling Observer the following day. The crowd gave him a great ovation as he left, but with the news the following day, it’s understandable that he couldn’t provide a farewell speech. One can only imagine the whirlwind it had been for him, as he had come a long way in the past year, just had a show-stealing match in PWG against Alex Shelley, and had even been in the American Bank Center to get the news about the Benoit family tragedy along with the WWE roster on what was supposed to be a tryout for him.

 

Rating: ***1/4

 

Easiest recommendation possible thanks to 3 tremendous matches, including a historic all-time feud-ending ladder match and another classic performance from Danielson, plus Sydal’s farewell to bring his rivalry with Delirious to a close. This really marks the finale of Sapolsky having any positive creativity to offer the company, going from the Feud of the Year to one of the most disappointing starts to a faction and program I’ve ever seen immediately afterwards. Not exactly the post-match from Cage of Death.

Of course, this would turn out to not be the end for Sydal in ROH, so assuming 2017 is still the end for him a decade from now, that’s when his ROH career can truly be chronicled. But his initial 3-year run is something to be proud of and worthy of its own compilation. So many quality tag matches with different partners, so many great trios and 8-man tags, so many entertaining promos both good and bad, so many quality singles encounters against AJ Styles, Claudio Castagnoli, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels, and Jimmy Rave, just to name a few, plus the rivalry against Delirious that bookended this run for him.

 

As mentioned earlier, an era is on the horizon that should’ve already started several months back in Liverpool. We’ll see how it holds up, plus there’s a lazy excuse for a creative shakeup too! But the good news – one of the greatest rivalries in underground wrestling history returns!

 

Up next – Honor Nation
Matches will include:
Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson
Vulture Squad vs. No Remorse Corps
Takeshi Morishima vs. Kevin Steen

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