From The Shelf- ROH 2nd Anniversary Show

ROH 2nd Anniversary Show
2-14-04
Braintree, MA

Your hosts are Chris Lovey and Rey Murrow.

Samoa Joe welcomes everyone to the second anniversary of ROH. He talks about his championship win and how he defended the championship all over the world. Samoa Joe complains about the company celebrating a Pure Wrestling Champion instead of the world champion but he understands because no one can take the championship from him.

Allison Danger says the Prophecy was sent a mission from Christopher Daniels to win the ROH Championship and bring it to him. Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer have dissention but Maff says they will complete their mission and The Prophecy returns to glory. Maff wants to get his hands on Low Ki from the incident in August and Whitmer makes fun of Maff for getting KO’ed by Ki. Danger tells them to stay focused.

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Match-CM Punk vs. John Walters
CM Punk comes out dressed as Christopher Daniels and even has his entrance music to piss the fans off. Punk says he broke Christopher Daniels and says a new era begins tonight, an era of Straight Edge. Punk declares he is coming for all the belts. Both men battle for control and Walters goes to the ropes to end the mat battle. Walters grabs the standing surfboard but Punk goes to the ropes to break. They battle on the mat again and we reach a standstill. Slingshot arm drag by Walters and he goes to the arm of Punk. Hip toss by Walters and they trade arm drags, forcing Punk to eventually bail. Back in, Punk dumps Walters to the floor and he hits a suicide dive. Punk pokes the eye of Walters and back in, Punk hits a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster for 2. Rear abdominal stretch by Punk and he hits Welcome to Chicago. Curb Stomps by Punk and he knocks Walters down for 2. Snap mare and Punk goes to the head scissors. Walters goes to the ropes to break and Punk puts Walters on top. Punk follows up and goes for the Frankensteiner but Walters rolls through for 2. Roll-up reversal sequence gets some near falls and Walters hits a lariat for 2. STO by Punk and he grabs the STF. Walters makes the ropes to break and Punk hits a leg uppercut. Codebreaker by Walters and he hits the Lungblower for 2. Michinoku Driver by Punk gets 2. Punk puts Walters on top and follows up but Walters fights him off. Crossbody off the top by Walters and he hits the Hurricane DDT at Punk gets his foot on the ropes!!! O’Connor roll with a bridge by Walters gets 2 as Punk turns that into a cradle for 3!!!
Winner- CM Punk *** ( Solid opening match that didn’t go overboard since Punk seems to be in for a long night. He gave Walters enough hope spots down the stretch that it made the match worthwhile. )

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Match- Chris Sabin vs. Doug Williams
Williams takes Sabin down and hits a knee drop to the back of Sabin. Snap mare and Williams grabs a chinlock. Bridging roll-up by Williams gets 2. Bridging chinlock by Williams and Sabin gets a small package for 2. Williams works the neck of Sabin and hits another knee drop to the back of the neck. Slam by Williams and he hits a slingshot knee drop for 2. Uppercuts by Williams and he catches Sabin in the Crossface but Sabin goes to the ropes to break. Knee lift by Williams gets 2. Corner knee strike by Williams and he hits a suplex. Williams goes up and hits a knee drop off the top to the back of Sabin for 2. Williams goes up but Sabin stops him and follows up. Williams fights him off but he misses a back senton off the top. Springboard dropkick by Sabin gets 2. Hurricanrana by Sabin and he hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Chaos Theory blocked and Sabin hits a springboard Tornado DDT for 2. Cradle Shock by Sabin gets 2!!! Chaos Theory by Williams gets 3.
Winner- Doug Williams ** ( Wow, this was a shocking one sided ass kicking by Williams. He dominated Sabin and Sabin basically got one minute of offense in. They sure made Williams look strong for Punk but I was shocked someone with name value like Sabin got destroyed like that. )

Backstage, Doug Williams says Pure Wrestling is what he is about and two more matches means nothing to him.

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Match-Josh Daniels vs. Matt Stryker
They grapple for control early and Daniels targets the leg of Stryker. They trade chops and then battle for control on the mat. Leg lariat by Stryker and he stomps away. Snap mare by Stryker and he hits a basement crossbody for 2. Chinlock by Stryker and he converts it into the surfboard. Daniels fights out and hits a back suplex. Snap suplex by Daniels gets 2 and he goes to the head scissors. Stryker escAPES into the STF but Daniels goes to the ropes to break. They trade forearms and chops and Daniels hits a lariat for 2. Suplex by Stryker but Daniels comes back with a German suplex for 2. Slam by Daniels and he goes up. Styker runs up and hits a butterfly superplex for 2. Forearms by Stryker but Daniels catches him with a Northern Lights suplex for 2. Stryker rolls Daniels into the Stryker Lock and Daniels gives.
Winner- Matt Stryker **1/4 ( This was OK but there is nothing special about Daniels so it came across as your basic lower midcard match rather than an important tournament contest. )

Backstage, Matt Stryker puts over Josh Daniels and talks about the prestige of the ROH Championship. He promises to add prestige to the ROH Pure Championship when he wins it.

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Match- Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles
Both men target the arm and Rave goes for the Crossface but Styles escapes. Rave bails to avoid the dropkick, knowing that it was coming. Reverse DDT backbreaker by Styles and he hits a back breaker. Kick to the back by Styles and he goes for a suplex but Rave counters into a roll-up for 1. STO backbreaker into the side Russian leg sweep by Rave. Cross arm breaker by Rave and converts it into the crucifix for 2. Crossface by Rave but Styles goes into the ropes to break. Dropkick misses but Styles comes back with a nip up hurricanrana. Powerslam by Styles gets 2. Pump handle gutbuster by Styles and he hits a swinging neck breaker for 2. Super kick by Rave and he goes up. He goes for a hurricanrana but Styles blocks and goes for the Styles Clash. Rave rolls through and hits the Shining Wizard for 2. Hammerlock suplex by Styles gets 2. Jawbreaker by Rave and Styles drop toe holds him in the ropes. Springboard Reverse DDT attempt by Styles but he messes his knee up. Rave dropkicks the knee and he hits a Dragon screw leg sweep. Rear Ankle Lock by Rave but Styles goes to the ropes to break. Discus lariat by Styles gets 3.
Winner- AJ Styles **1/2 ( I liked the teacher vs. student dynamic but the finish the weird with Styles blowing out his knee and just finishing with a strong discus lariat instead of working something with the injury. )

Backstage, Rave apologizes for attacking AJ’s knee but AJ tells him not to be sorry.

Scott Clark and Jerk Jackson vs. Ring Crew Express (Dunn and Marcos)
Before the match, The Outkast Killers come out and mock the fans for being here looking at dudes on Valentine’s Day. They mock Dunn and Marcos and Clark and Jackson decide to just leave. Dunn and Marcos declare they’re not going to take the disrespect anymore and the Killers attack. The Ring Crew Express fight back as the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” plays. Well, that was something.

Jim Cornette says he is going to take the Briscoes to the top and guarantees victory over the Backseat Boyz tonight. He says that the Jay Briscoe/Samoa Joe cage match in March now has escape rules so he manipulates the match in their favor.

Country Whippin Match- Special K (Izzy, Dixie, and Hydro) vs. Carnage Crew (HC Loc, Tony DeVito, and Justin Credible)
All the members of Special K attack the Carnage Crew prior to the match. Back in, the Carnage Crew start whipping the crap out of Special K and they bail. Credible whips Izzy and he dumps Izzy to the floor. They brawl on the floor and Loc suplexes Hydro on the floor. Loc CREAMS Izzy with a chair and people are starting to bleed. Back in, Loc hits a swinging neck breaker on Angeldust on a chair. Izzy and Dixie hit a hip toss into a gordbuster on Loc for 2 as DeVito saves. DeVito chokes Hydro and Dixie with a whip and he hits a double stunner for 2. DeVito dumps Dixie to the floor and Credible superkicks Izzy as he comes off the second rope. Loc hits a Saito suplex on Izzy and DeVito hits a Northern lights suplex into the corner on Hydro. Press slam driver by Loc to Dixie and he dumped back to the floor. That’s Incredible on Izzy and he is dumped to the floor. They go for a spiked piledriver on Izzy but Angeldust comes out with DeVito’s daughter. DeVito and Credible chase him to the back and the rest of Special K attacks Loc. Leg drop off the top by Cloudy and Izzy goes up. Phoenix Splash is overshot by Izzy and he catches Loc in the face with his knee. Spiked piledriver off the apron through the table on Loc!!!! Back in, Izzy covers for 3.
Winners- Special K ** ( This had potential as an awesome brawl with all the blood and the personal story of DeVito’s daughter joining Special K. However, all 100 members of Special K interfering the entire match drove me nuts and the whips, which the whole point of the stipulation, were barely used and weren’t important in the context of the story. )

Backstage, Special K mocks the Carnage Crew and says Angeldust is taking care of another DeVito.

Julius Smokes comes out and plays to the crowd. He says in the future, the gates of hell will open.

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Semi-Final- CM Punk vs. Doug Williams
Punk blocks a body scissors attempt and they exchange strikes. Punk pulls Williams to the floor and he goes for a suicide dive but Williams catches him with an uppercut on the way out!!! Back in, Wiliams rolls Punk up for 2 and he rolls Punk for more near falls. Punk bails and back in, they go to the test of strength. Punk ends that with a hurricanrana and he counters the Chaos Theory into the side headlock. Williams frees himself and rakes the eyes of Punk. STF by Williams but Punk makes the ropes to break. Williams chases Punk and back in, Punk stomps away. Slam by Punk and he hits an elbow drop. He chokes Williams with his knee and he chokes Williams in the ropes. Sitting neck breaker by Punk gets 2. Suplex by Punk and Williams comes back with an Avalanche. Knees to the head by Williams but Punk comes back with a release German suplex. Punk works Williams over in the corner and he facewashes Williams in the corner. Olay kick by Punk and Williams comes back with the Chaos Theory. Slam by Williams and he goes up. Top rope knee drop misses and Punk dropkicks the leg. Punk attacks the leg and hits a Dragon screw leg sweep for 2. Punk puts Williams in the tree of woe and he CHOPSTHE KNEE!!!! Yakuza kick to the knee by Punk and Punk charges but Williams catches him with the Chaos Theory for 3??? BUT WAIT!!! Williams’ shoulder was down and Punk’s was up, so Punk wins!!!
Winner- CM Punk *** ( Man, that finish sucked but the match was good. Unlike the Sabin match, Williams didn’t face a guy trying to wrestle his match. Punk was more aggressive and relentless, and he took advantage of Williams’ major mistake to win.)

Steve Corino discusses the things that has happened to him in the two years of ROH’s existence. Corino says he doesn’t care about anything except watching his hero CM Punk, who he claims keeps ROH in business.

ROH Pure Championship Tournament Semi-Finals- Matt Stryker vs. AJ Styles
Stryker takes Styles down and connects with a standing double stomp on Styles. Uppercut by Stryker and Styles hits an enzuigiri to the shoulder. Dropkick by Styles and he hits a suplex for 2.
They trade forearms and Styles hits an Orton Backbreaker. Corner dropkick by Styles and he slams Stryker. Knee drop by Styles gets 2. Stryker works over Styles in the corner and Styles clotheslines Stryker for 2 as Stryker grabs the ropes to break. Snap mare and Styles grabs the chinlock. Stryker fights out and he hits a leg lariat to Styles for 2. Surfboard by Stryker but Styles escapes and goes to the Muta Lock. Stryker fights out and he starts throwing kicks at the injured leg of Styles. Stryker slams Styles’ leg off the apron and he goes for the post Figure-4 but Styles blocks. Styles tackles Stryker against the barricades and back in, Stryker hits a knee breaker. Dragon screw leg sweep by Stryker gets 2 and he goes back to work on the leg of Styles. Styles fights back with chops and Stryker comes back with uppercuts. Stryker goes back to the leg and again Styles is able to escape. Stryker backdrops Styles to the floor and he tosses Styles into the barricade. Styles fights back and throws kicks to the chest of Stryker rakes the eyes of Styles. Snap mare and Stryker throws a kick to the back of Styles. Spin kick by Styles and he hits a Brainbuster. Lariats by Styles and he rolls Stryker up for 2. Stryker pokes the eye and he goes for a knee breaker but Styles rolls through for 2. German suplex by Styles and he rolls through into a sit-out gordbuster for 2. They trade strikes and Styles backslides Stryker for 2. Backbreaker by Stryker and he hits a big boot. Stryker Lock on Styles but Styles makes the ropes to break. Springboard Reverse DDT misses and Stryker cradles Styles for 2!!! Stryker puts Styles on top and follows up. Styles fights him off and Styles hits a springboard 450 splash for 3!!!
Winner- AJ Styles ***1/2 ( Finally we get a really good match on the show. This was a competitive, fun match where Stryker showed some heel tendencies in the way he went after Styles’ injury but Styles stayed resilient and somehow pulled off the win. The Styles/Punk final should be sweet.)

CM Punk says the uncrowned king of ROH finally gets his crown. He says after tonight, he will show why he is better than everyone out. He dedicates his wins to Cabana and Steel.

HC Loc is pissed off about the lack of trust they have in DeVito’s daughter and it cost them tonight. Loc says the Carnage Crew is going looking for Special K. It’s not about winning or respect, it’s about killing Special K. He asks Gary Michael Capetta if he knows anything about Special K’s location he’ll tell him.

ROH Tag Team Championships- The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) © vs. Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere)
Kashmere and Jay start. Jay throws a back elbow in the corner on Kashmere and works the headlock. Kashmere escapes and Acid tags in. They trade chops and Jay pokes the eye to end that. Tag to Mark and he hits a springboard dropkick forcing Acid to bail. Jay tags in and hits a knee to the gut inot a basement dropkick by Mark to Kashmere for 2. Chinlock by Jay but Kashmere fights out. Corner forearm by Jay and he snapmares Kashmere into a stomp to the back. Tag to Mark and Acid catches him with a missile dropkick. Jay goes after the Backseat Boyz and Kashmere catches him with a Spear. Hart Attack by Backseat Boyz and they hit the Dream Sequence for 2 as Mark saves. Springboard DDT by Acid to Mark and Acid goes up but Jay takes him off. Backbreaker/springboard double stomp combo onto Acid gets 2. Jay goes for the Jay Driller but Kashmere saves. Mark springboards but gets caught. Jay prevents the T-Gimmick and Jay power bombs Kashmere. Big boot to Acid by Jay and Acid returns the favor. Mark goes up and HITS A TORNADO DDT OFF THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE!!!!! Spiked Jaydriller onto Kashmere gets 3.
Winners and Still ROH Tag Team Champions- The Briscoes **1/4 ( Surprisingly just a collection of moves, as they didn’t get much time so packed in a ton in a short period. A shame because with time to build this could have been really good. )

Spanky recaps his first time in ROH and says maybe you can go home again.

Jimmy Rave informs Gary Michael Capetta that AJ Styles will be fine to compete in the main event.

ROH World Championship-Samoa Joe © vs. Low Ki vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff w/Allison Danger
Ki and Joe start but Maff blind tags in immediately. They try to overpower each other before resorting to trading forearms. They trade big boots and Joe collapses in a weird moment. Snap mare by Joe and he throws chops to the back of Maff. Kick to the chest by Joe and Maff tags Whitmer in. Ki also tags in and he grabs a cross arm breaker in the ropes. Ki goes for the hold in the ring but Whitmer goes into the ropes to block. Whitmer goes to work on the arm and Ki throws a kick to the shoulder to end that. Whitmer throws a knee to the midsection and he works Ki over in the corner. Ki fights back with chops and he knocks Whitmer down with an uppercut. Corner knee strike by Whitmer and he hits a suplex into the Northern Lights suplex for 2. Chops by Ki and he snap mares Whitmer into an elbow drop. Butterfly suplex by Ki gets 2. Tag to Joe and he throws some knees to the head of Whitmer. Snapmare and Joe grabs the rear abdominal stretch. Maff breaks it up and Joe hits a back suplex on Whitmer. Half crab by Joe and he converts it into the Boston Crab but again Maff breaks it up. Tag to Ki and he throws another uppercut for 2. Dropkick by Ki and he grabs a Dragon Sleeper in the ropes. Maff breaks and Joe dumps him to the floor. Elbow Suicida by Joe and Whitmer suplexes Ki to the floor!!! Joe charges at Ki but he blocks and throws a shoulder chop at Joe. Ki charges but Whitmer blocks with a back elbow. Joe catches Ki with the Olay! Kick into the barricades. Joe piles bodies up against the barricade and Joe’s hand is gushing blood!!!! They tape his hand up to stop the bleeding. Back in, Joe hits some forearms to Whitmer but Whitmer comes back with a Flatliner. Exploder suplex by Whitmer and Maff tags in. Snap mare and Maff hits a back senton for 2. Maff works the injured hand of Joe and he rakes the face of Joe. Tag to Whitmer and he bites the hand of Joe in the corner. Maff gets some cheap shots in and he tags in to work over the hand of Joe some more. Enzuigiri by Joe and Whitmer catches him with an elbow drop to prevent the tag. DDT by Maff and Whitmer tags in. He works Joe over and tags Maff. Double suplex on Joe and Maff bites the hand of Joe. Head butt to the groin by Maff and Whitmer tags in. Knees to the midsection by Whitmer and he hits a Release German suplex for 2 as Ki saves. Whitmer charges but Joe catches him with an Urinage and Ki tags in. Enzuigiri to Joe and he chops away on Maff. Flying elbow to Whitmer and he hits the Capo Kick to Maff. Springboard front kick to Maff by Ki in a call back to their famous KO match. Octopus on Whitmer and Ki converts it into a Tiger suplex. Shoulder chops by Ki and Whitmer catches him with a knee to the midsection. Exploder suplex by Whitmer gets 2. Maff tags in and he spears Ki. Half nelson suplex by Maff gets 2 as Joe saves. Cannonball in the corner misses and Joe SLAPS Ki to tag himself in!!! Saito suplex by Maff gets 2. Joe counters a half nelson suplex attempt and hits a kick to the back. Powerbomb by Joe gets 2 and he catches him in the STF. Ki breaks with a STIFF kick to the head!!! Big boot to Whitmer and Joe and Ki trade slaps. Kicks to the chest by Ki and he throws rapid kicks to the head. Joe throws knees to the head and then fires away with slaps. Capo kick by Ki and Joe comes back with an enzuigiri. All four men brawl in the ring and Joe throws knees at Whitmer while Ki grabs the Dragon Sleeper on Maff. Rear Naked Choke by Joe to Whitmer and they release the hold to go back to fighting each other!!! Snap mare and Ki throws a kick to the back of Joe. Joe returns the favor and Maff spears Ki out of the ring. Exploder suplex by Joe to Whitmer and he goes back to the Rear Naked Choke. Whitmer gives!!!
Winner and Still ROH World Champion- Samoa Joe ***3/4 ( This was a tale of two matches in which the first ¾ of the match were a tag match between Ki and Joe against the Prophecy and the final corner was the awesome, crazy finishing stretch where they beat the crap out of each other. The Joe/Ki exchanges were wild and they probably should have just had a single match here instead. )

ROH Pure Championship Finals- CM Punk w/Traci Brooks vs. AJ Styles
Because this is the first official Pure Championship match, the three rope break rule is in effect. Styles works the arm to start but Punk uses the ropes to break. Punk is down a rope break. Sunset flip by Styles gets 2 and he goes for the Styles Clash but Punk blocks. Punk goes for the leg and Styles goes into the ropes to prevent that. Styles uses his first rope break. They lock up and their battle goes all the way to the floor. They head back into the ring before the 20 count and Styles goes after Traci on the floor. Slingshot pescado by Punk and Styles comes back with a dropkick on the floor. Punk goes to send Styles into the barricade but Styles leaps over so Punk follows him with a dive into the crowd!!! Back in, Styles goes for the nip up hurricanrana but Punk counters into a Boston Crab. Styles goes to the ropes to break. Styles uses his second rope break. Wheelbarrow roll-up by Styles gets 2 and Styles grabs a head scissors in the ropes on Punk. Punk is called for a rope break on an illegal hold, so he uses his second rope break. Styles looks to dive into the ring but Punk blocks sending Styles crashing to the mat. Brainbuster by Punk gets 2. Punk counters a suplex into the STO and he grabs a half crab on Styles. Styles goes to the ropes to break and Styles is out of rope breaks. Curb Stomp by Punk and Styles catches him in a rear Muta Lock. Punk goes to the ropes to break and he is out of rope breaks. Forearms by Styles and he charges in the corner but eats boot. Punk puts Styles on top and follows up. Styles blocks a superplex and hits a super Gordbuster!!! They trade forearms and Punk throws some head butts. Discus lariat by Styles and Punk rolls to the floor. Back in, Punk blocks the Tornado DDT and hits the Shining Wizard for 2. Forearms in the corner by Punk and he charges but eats elbow. Punk blocks a German suplex attempt and he hits a piledriver on Styles. Texas Cloverleaf by Punk but Styles uses the ropes to power out!!! Dropkick to the knee by Punk and he goes for the Shining Wizard but Styles counters into the Styles Clash for 2!!! DDT by Punk gets 2. Punk goes for a super Pepsi Plunge but Styles blocks and they trade forearms on top. Pele by Styles and HE HITS A SUPER STYLES CLASH FOR 3!!! The ROH roster comes out to congratulate Styles after the match but Samoa Joe reminds him he is the world champion.
Winner and NEW ROH Pure Champion- AJ Styles ***1/2 ( Good main event but I still consider this a disappointment. It seemed both men and the ref were confused by the pure rules early so the impact of introducing the rope break stuff fell flat. They eventual started clicking and the final stretch which included clever uses of the loss of rope breaks elevated this to something pretty good. But considering this was introducing a new title and both these guys rule, this should have been better. )

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This was another case of ROH packing way too much into one show, a common theme of some of their 2003 and 2004 shows. They wanted to throw every story or every angle into one show instead of building on certain things and getting the wrestling itself over. To celebrate the ROH brand making it to their second year in existence, they should've put all their focus on the Pure Championship tournament and made it something special. Instead, it became an after thought behind all the angles and story lines that were placed throughout the show. The wrestling on this show was solid but it they cut out a good chuck of the mid card stuff and showcased the Pure Championship tournament matches more, this would've been a much better show and a better representation of the ROH brand as a whole.