ROH Survival of the Fittest 10-19-2007

This wasn't a bad show, but compared to the previous three Surivival of the Fittest shows, this was disappointing. The qualifying matches were full of debuting wrestlers such as Karl Anderson, TJ Perkins (debut outside of wrestling as Puma), Human Tornado, and Tony Kozina which, to me didn't make much sense being that it was a tournament designed to elevate full-time talent. None of the above really were impressive although none were outright awful either. The best qualifying match was ironically a match that disqualified both from advancing and that was a 20 minute draw between ROH Champion Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson.

Due to the Tornado/Kozina/Hagadorn match being a qualifier due to the aforementioned draw, the only non-Survival of the Fittest match was a street fight between the Briscoes and the Age of the Fall. Mark was suffering from a dislocated ankle from a motorcycle accident and that may have been the reason this was disappointing. Especially compared to the recent brawls between the Briscoes and Steen/Generico.

Chris Hero took the Survival of the Fittest this year by pinning all five competitors within the match. Hero would sit on the stage and then sneak in for pins or to hit a quick finisher and pin and then slide out again. After the first two eliminations I saw what as going on which made the best part of the match (end with Claudio) not as exciting as it normally would have been. Not one of ROH's best efforts.

ROH Chaos at the Cow Palace 10-21-2007

This was a solid show and a step up from Survival of the Fittest. Both Roderick Strong v. Claudio for the FIP title and the Richards/Romero v. Perkins/Kozina matches were enjoyable in the under card.

As far as the top of the card, the Age of the Fall beat the No Remorse Corps right after the latter won their tag match. I like the Age of the Fall gimmick and their debut, but honestly the matches haven't been great so far. Nigel retained the title against Jay Briscoe in a solid match, but stealing the show was the Bryan Danielson v. Austin Aries match. These two guys have such great chemistry in the ring and this was a second of a Best of three series to determine the No. One Contender.

WWE Cyber Sunday 10-28-2007

This was a good PPV. The lower matches (Kane v. MVP, Mr. Kennedy v. Jeff Hardy, and Michaels v. Orton) weren't "bad" just not that interesting or well worked in my opinion. I liked the CM Punk v. Miz match although I wouldn't say it was anything special. I should say I was surprised to be more accurate. There was a great use of the divas where they just briefly showed off their costumes in between matches and then showed the results of the fan votes at the end. I know some are good wrestlers, but I don't complain when they are used sparingly like this either.

The top matches I felt were the Rey v. Finlay opener, HHH v. Umaga's street fight and the title match with Batista v. Undertaker. I think Taker and Batista also have great chemistry together as I've enjoyed all their matches together. HHH v. Umaga started slow, but turned out really well in the end.

As a whole, October 2007 produced a handful of matches worthy of a second look going forward and maybe a contender or two for my "Best of" lists to come for the decade.

Next Post: November 2007