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Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — Dragon Gate Invasion

March 28, 2007 | Posted by J.D. Dunn
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Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — Dragon Gate Invasion  

Ring of Honor — Dragon Gate Invasion
by J.D. Dunn

This is one of those concept shows. The idea here is that they’re bringing in some Dragon Gate stars to have great matches. I know, it’s a crazy concept, but it’s one that works well for ROH, whose fans are probably already familiar with CIMA and Takagi.

  • August 27, 2005
  • From Buffalo, N.Y..
  • Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.

  • Good Times, Great Memories:
    Colt Cabana brings back the fun since he’s on a winning streak. They are in “Chicago” but Colt promises his private jet will fly him to Buffalo for the show. His guest is Homicide. Talk turns immediately to Homicide’s tough childhood. Colt says he can sympathize because his mom made him do the dishes, even though they had a cleaning lady! He makes the mistake of calling Homicide his “nizzle.” Homicide doesn’t take the joke lightly, gets pissed and walks out. This segment may seem like harmless fun, but it actually kicked off a blood feud that would last several months.
  • Opening Match: Ricky Reyes vs. Puma.
    Puma is probably very pissed about getting kicked out of the Embassy. Reyes, on the other hand, became the first member of the Rottweilers to lose to Jay Lethal. Puma looks sharp early, hitting a few headscissors and unloading a series of kicks to Reyes who is in the tree-of-woe. Reyes tries to go rough, but Puma’s slick lucharesu offense is able to keep him one step ahead. Puma hits a Tombstone Piledriver for two, but Reyes comes back with a Fisherman’s Buster. They trade reverse rollups. Ricky kicks out and catches Puma in a Dragon Sleeper for the win at 7:44. **

  • An out-of-focus Nigel McGuinness questions his place in ROH and says tonight is a must-win for him if his career is to continue.
  • Four-Corner Survival: Chad Collyer vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kevin Steen vs. Davey Andrews.
    Andrews is the top student at the ROH Training School. Jacobs is just killing time until Whitmer gets back from Japan. I can’t say a whole lot about this match because, outside of Jimmy, no one really leaves an impression on me. Collyer plays the arrogant technical wrestler. Andrews is your fiery rookie out to prove something. Jimmy is just happy to be there. Andrews hits the Pepsi Twist (he was trained by CM Punk). He misses a dropkick, though, and Collyer finishes with the Texas Cloverleaf at 10:36. **

  • Homicide vs. El Generico.
    Homicide is at his pissed off, cackling best here, taking Generico to the floor early and whipping him into the barrier. The ref talks him out of using a wooden chair. Generico comes back with his lucharesu by way of Canada. He tries a few chops, but that just pisses off Homicide, who catches Generico with a German Suplex. Homicide toys with him like a cat with a mouse and starts trying to take his mask off. Homicide takes Generico up for the Ace Crusher, but Generico counters to the Sunset Bomb for two. The Cop Killa is countered to a Tornado DDT (which he is able to use because of the new three-tiered turnbuckles). Homicide hits the Ace Crusher for two and then gets really serious and hits the lariat for the win at 14:03. Homicide gave Generico a surprising amount of offense in there. It was still just a squash, but a pretty entertaining one.. **1/4

  • International Dream Match #1: Shingo Takagi vs. Curry Man.
    Curry Man is subbing for Christopher Daniels. Well, okay it is Christopher Daniels, but goddamn is he hot and spicy in that little hat. Takagi gets in a few armdrags and taunts Curry with pushups. Curry gives him one right back, and they do a little pushup duel. Takagi has this weird sort of power-style thing going despite his size. He dominates most of the match, which is a good idea wrestling-wise, but not from an entertainment standpoint. Curry Man comes back with a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Takagi blocks the uranage to a gutbuster. He hits an STO in to the Manriki. Curry Man makes the ropes and hits the uranage to set up the Spiciest Moonsault Ever. The Spice Drop (Burning Hammer) finishes at 12:14. After the match, Curry Man apologizes for his bad English but congratulates Takagi on a great match. This was okay. Nothing “dream matchy” about it, though. **3/4

  • ROH Pure Title: Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness.
    It’s “do or die” time for Nigel as he’s been questioning if he has what it takes. They start out very slowly and tentatively until Nigel turns away from the ref and hits a closed fist to Joe’s nose. That’s your basic story for the early part of the match. Nigel repeatedly uses a closed fist but disguises it so the ref can’t see it. Joe finally gets so mad that he blatantly uses a closed fist and gets a warning for it. They trade chops, a battle that Nigel loses. Nigel has to use a ropebreak, but he avoids the Facewash and jumps to the floor. Joe tries a tope, but Nigel blocks with a chair. The ref rules that as a ropebreak, so that’s two for Nigel. It pays off, though, because Joe is so dazed that Nigel is able to take him down in an armlock and make him use a ropebreak. Another armbar forces Joe to use a second ropebreak, and he loses his cool again and punches Nigel for his final break. Nigel charges him and counters the STO to an armdrag. Joe hits it on a second attempt, but Nigel works in the handstand to an armbar. Joe has to wrestle his way out of it and does so. Nigel tries the handstand again but gets booted in the face. Joe charges but crotches himself on the top rope, and Nigel is able to finish with the Tower of London (Rope-Assisted Stunner) to pick up the Pure Title at 14:47. ***

  • Chad Collyer says he might as well retire because no one can beat him. Homicide busts in looking for Colt Cabana because he’s sick of being disrespected.
  • We see a brief clip of The RCE beating some ROH trainees. Christopher Daniels finally arrives to the arena and apologizes for being late. He offers to have the match with Takagi until he finds out Takagi wrestled Curry Man. Turns out they’re never in the same place at the same time. ROH trainee Shane Hagadorn takes exception to butting in on his time. Daniels tries to smooth things over, but when that doesn’t work, he gives Hagadorn the Angel’s Wings.
  • Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave & Spanky (w/Alex Shelley & Jade Chung).
    Spanky gets in on the Embassy fun by having Jade act as his sled dog. Then they all dance, including Jade, which is hilarious to me for some reason. Even funnier is that Shelley shoves her down and joins in on the dance. Spanky is the third “hired gun” for the Embassy after Abyss and Puma. Rave and Spanky take turns trying to avoid actually wrestling GenNext. Once they actually do, Strong tenderizes each of their chests with his chops. Shelley makes Jade fan their chests to cool them off. Aries tags in, and they destroy Spanky with a clothesline/corner dropkick series. The Embassy just can’t get anything going until Roderick goes for a Half-Nelson Backbreaker on Spanky and Rave jumps him from behind. Strong plays face-in-peril for a bit but is never actually in peril, if you get my meaning. Aries tags back in and cleans house. He hits a tope that takes out both men. Back in, Aries counters Sliced Bread #2, and Roderick kicks Spanky in the head. Rave comes in and goes for the Rave Clash. Strong breaks that up. Spanky crotches Aries on the 450-splash attempt, though, allowing Rave to hit the Rave Clash. Roderick breaks it up, so Shelley ties him up with Jade’s leash and hits Aries in the head with the wooden chair. That allows Rave to pick up the victory at 18:46. More fun stuff. Aries and Strong have incredible chemistry. ***1/2

  • International Dream Match #2: AJ Styles vs. CIMA.
    Now *this* is your dream match. They do a long feeling out portion. They’re timing is a little off as CIMA trips over AJ but still recovers in time to take a dropkick. AJ goes for the Styles Clash on the floor, but CIMA blocks. AJ posts himself, so CIMA hits a suicida, wiping AJ out. CIMA kills some time with a headscissors, but AJ comes back with a Tornado Backbreaker. AJ stops to call a fan “faggot” before cinching in a Mutalock. CIMA dropkicks his knee out from under him, but AJ hits a spinning kick and calls CIMA a faggot. You know, I gotta wonder about a guy who’s so preoccupied with that word. Well, unless it refers to a bundle of sticks used for kindling. CIMA Michinoku Drivers AJ on his head for two. He blocks the Quebrada DDT by holding the ropes. AJ hits the Argentine Rack Bomb, but CIMA catches him going up and gives him a Venus (Shoryuken). AJ falls into the reverse tree-of-woe, so CIMA goes to the other side of the ring and hits a Van Terminator-style dropkick. He follows it up with the Iconoclasm, but AJ gets the knees up on the frogsplash. AJ rolls out of the Air Raid Crash attempt, but CIMA rolls him up for the win at 16:59. Interestingly, the fans came in cheering for AJ but, by the end of the match, they were rooting for CIMA. ***1/2

  • A melancholy Samoa Joe ponders whether he’s losing a step. Is there some sort of virus being passed around? First it was Colt wondering if he had what it took. Then, he beat Nigel and passed it on to him. Now, Nigel has beaten Joe.
  • ROH World Title: James Gibson vs. Colt Cabana.
    They start out with what I’d call a “cautiously genial” attitude. Funny, yet disgusting, moment as Gibson puts Colt in a hammerlock, causing Colt’s gum to fall out of his mouth, so Colt just scoops it up off the mat and goes back to chewing it. Lots of mat wrestling follows. Colt stays one step ahead with his European antics. Gibson is quite frustrated and lets it show. He bails to cool off, but that’s probably not a good idea since the wiseguy fans are taunting him about going back to “Velocity.” Cabana tosses him to the floor and chops him. A fan calls for another one, so Colt lets him have it. Back in, Cabana twists Jamie’s neck, causing James to squeal like a pig. Once Gibson gets back in, though, he manages to take over with a knee to the head and a headscissors. Colt drops his gum on the mat and puts it back in his mouth again. Jamie works Cabana’s neck. Turnabout is fair play, as Gorilla Monsoon used to say. A neckvise works Cabana’s neck further, but Colt fires back with a Bionic Elbow. Jamie hits a tope. Back in, Colt works in the Helicopter Slam, but it only gets two. Gibson finally goes from Redneck Jesus to Redneck Genghis Khan with a dropkick to the knee and the PRIMAL SCREAM KNEE! Colt blocks a charge and hits his Tornado Snap Suplex into a Guillotine Choke. Gibson makes the ropes, though. Things meander a bit until Jamie blocks a charge and locks in the Inverted Texas Cloverleaf. Colt makes the ropes. They go up top where Gibson hits a swinging neckbreaker off the top. Gibby goes for the Tiger Driver, but Colt counters to a corner powerbomb for two. Colt picks him up for the Colt .45, but Gibson counters to the Guillotine Choke. Colt powers him to the corner, but Gibson DDTs him right back into the choke at 28:20. This just never clicked for me. Part of the problem is the clash in styles between serious and comedy. The other problem is, even though they were working body parts, it just didn’t seem to have a clear storyline all the way through. I can’t say that the work was necessarily bad, but by the time they hit the nearfall stretch, I was long past caring who won. Disappointing for an ROH Title match. Okay by normal standards, though. **3/4

  • Outside the arena, Homicide jumps Colt Cabana from behind and leaves him laying.

  • The 411: It delivered what it promised with a pair dream matches. Nigel got his Pure Title win here and would arguably be the title's best champion until it folded in 2006. It's worth a pick up if you want to see CIMA stateside or if you're a fan of the GenNext/Embassy feud. Otherwise, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

    Thumbs precariously up.

     
    Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]  legend

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