wrestling / Video Reviews
Review of Honor: Breakout
Image Credit: ROH
Loading...ROH Breakout
January 25th, 2008 | Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, Ohio
Still in the infancy of the Nigel McGuinness ROH World Title run, he defends it on this show against Chris Hero in a Steel Cage match. However, the main reason this show is called Breakout is most likely due to the semi-main event as up and coming future star Tyler Black goes one on one with Bryan Danielson.
The first thing we see is Nigel McGuinness in the Steel Cage before the show begins. He cuts a promo on ending things with Hero tonight. It cuts to Sweet n’ Sour Inc. while Hero is working out. They’re mean to Bobby Dempsey, though Sara Del Rey is mostly nice to him. Hero complains about being robbed and righting the wrongs tonight.
The Briscoes def. Jigsaw and Matt Cross in 12:13
It is strange to see Jigsaw and Cross teaming up since one was part of the Vulture Squad and one was with the Resilience. Apparently their normal partners couldn’t compete. Things get off to a quick start as Mark works with both opponents. Jay changes the pace slightly but still moves quickly and snaps off a rana. The Briscoes get to show why they’re one of the best tag teams of the past fifteen years. They completely launch Jigsaw on a huge double hip toss. Jigsaw takes the Briscoes out with a double DDT. Cross gets the hot tag and flies all over the place. The future Son of Havoc just never clicked for me until he put on the mask. Cross ends up getting caught in an exploder after Jigsaw was thrown into the guardrail. Mark takes him out again as Jay hits Cross with the Jay Driller to win. Standard off night for the Briscoes. This was quick paced and the Briscoes make for an opener with a hot crowd. It was nothing more though. **½
After the match, Jay says that they will be watching the Age of the Fall’s match later. MAN UP!
Tyler Black and Lacey cut a promo outdoors and it is so dark that you can’t see either of them. That’s a shame since I love seeing Lacey.
Claudio Castagnoli def. Adam Pearce w/ Shane Hagadorn in 9:13
Douchey Hagadorn is wearing the ripped up mask that the Hangmen Three took from Delirious. He is also brought to the ring by a dog collar. Claudio is still motivated at this point, unlike his heel run down the line. They do some uninspired work early that features a few comedy moments from Pearce. He was surprisingly good in that aspect. Pearce slows the pace. Claudio rallies with European uppercuts and catches him for the big swing. It doesn’t get near the pop it currently does in the WWE. Pearce tries to use the dog collar but Claudio stops him with an uppercut and wins via Ricola Bomb. Like the opener, this was fine. It wasn’t the best work from either guy, but not bad at all. **½
More from Larry Sweeney and Sweet n’ Sour Inc. in the back, which accomplishes nothing.
FIP Heavyweight Championship: Erick Stevens (c) def. Austin Aries and Davey Richards in 14:07
Stevens is fresh off of winning the title at Final Battle a month earlier. Aries and Stevens were members of the Resilience together and both don’t like Richards, so he takes a beating in the early goings. Everyone hits each other hard throughout. Richards and Aries end up working together to take out the champion, choking him in the other. Davey stops to mock Aries on a pendulum elbow and it backfires. Stevens takes both guys over with a double German suplex that impresses. Aries takes him out with the heat seeking missile and Davey follows with a somersault through the second rope. Inside, Stevens hits a double TKO, continuing to show his power. Things pick up in the final few minutes, with a lot of close calls, including one where Aries locks in the Last Chancery. Stevens breaks it up and stops a back and forth with the other guys before winning with the Doctor Bomb on Davey. This was solid, hard hitting and didn’t really a dull moment. Good work from all three guys. ***¼
No Disqualifications: BJ Whitmer and Brent Albright w/ Shane Hagadorn def. Delirious and El Generico in 19:03
This continues the Hangman Three/Delirious rivalry, while throwing in El Generico, who also had issues with the Hangmen. Whitmer and Albright come out first and hide, attacking the faces during their entrance. I appreciate red and black Delirious since it looks cool and he actually wrestles more intensely at times. They brawl in and around the ring for the most part. Hagadorn gets involved a ton, so Pelle Primeau shows up to neutralize him. He ends up getting destroyed by Whitmer and Albright on a lungblower/wheel barrow suplex combo. The masked men deliver stereo dives to the outside to a pop. They fight through the crowd and bring weapons like a trash can into play. Things go back to the ring where Generico plays the resilient face that he’s so good at doing. The masked men rally and bash BJ’s head with chairs. Albright stops them and brings in a table. Generico puts him through it with a splash off the top and then they start beating up Whitmer. Pearce shows up and pulls the referee out after Delirious hits Shadows over Hell. He begins to attack Delirious with the chain before leaving with him. The referee stops the match as Albright drives knees into him over and over. I enjoyed this but felt it went too long. Cut this down to about fifteen minutes and it would have worked better. It was still violent and mostly fun. ***
More nonsense from Sweet n’ Sour.
Daizee Haze def. Lacey w/ Allison Wonderland and Jimmy Jacobs in 5:28
I really, really love Lacey, but that Age of the Fall theme was horrible. Jacobs cuts a promo before the match about what the Age of the Fall will do tonight. He also extends an invite to Austin Aries to join them. Daizee interrupts, leading to a brawl between the competitors. They fight outside for a bit, where Daizee takes a guardrail bump to the ribs. Allison gets in some cheap shots while Lacey works the Haze over. Lacey worked the back for the majority and was in control. Daizee ends up using a jackknife rollup to steal it. Decent at best, though I’ve seen better from both women. The crowd didn’t seem to care much. **¼
Tyler Black shows up and they all surround Daizee. The Briscoes rush out for the save until Joey Matthews makes his debut and lays out Jay with a chair. Matthews is the newest member of the Age of the Fall, though he’s still dressed as if he was part of a darker MNM. Matthews tries to cut a serious promo but tells the fans to kiss his “beautiful white butt” and I lose all interest in the promo.
No Remorse Corps (Rocky Romero and Roderick Strong) def. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Joey Matthews) w/ Lacey and Tyler Black in 17:44
His promo drags on until the No Remorse Corps come out for their match. Both groups are heels, so the crowd isn’t sure who to cheer for. That hurts the match since tag formula doesn’t get to work as well as it should. Both teams mostly trade stuff with neither unit gaining a clear advantage. Jacobs finally makes things somewhat exciting with a somersault plancha onto a seated Strong outside. Strong ends up taking the heat, which is surprising since he is more over than Rocky and would get a better pop as the hot tag guy. His offense actually works really well for that situation. Rocky’s tag is expectedly lukewarm at best. Strong ends up getting tagged but the crowd still doesn’t really care. Joey hits his finish on Rocky, but Roddy enters and starts kicking his ass. Strong makes Jacobs tag to the Strong hold in uneventful fashion. I don’t get the booking. You bring in Joey, only for the team to lose and for one of the tag champs to take the fall. Rocky and Davey ended up winning the titles, while Roddy did his own thing. The match went too long and didn’t seem to matter. **
Bryan Danielson def. Tyler Black in 23:22
Black cuts a short promo beforehand. His promo work has come way far. Black is confident and disrespectful, piefacing and slapping Danielson in the early goings. Danielson responds by slapping him about ten times in the corner. The veteran started to stretch Black and teach him a lesson. Danielson was always a good dick in ROH, so he dishes back the trash talk very well. When the match moves outside, Black takes over a bit with a suplex. Black works him over inside, showing an ability to keep things grounded, while sprinkling in high impact stuff. More disrespect from Black, who just slaps Danielson around. This fires Bryan up as he lays into Black with uppercuts. Danielson hits the running elbow and it’s comeback time. Black stops it with a suplex from the apron to the floor and follows with the fosbury flop. Back inside, they go into a series of near falls and both go down on an old school double clothesline. Danielson applies the Cattle Mutilation but Black gets to his feet. Danielson gets two on a super back suplex and goes to the MMA elbows. It leads to Cattle Mutilation but Black escapes and nails some big kicks. Paroxysm connects for two and Black hits the Phoenix Splash. He covers but Danielson kicks out right into an inside cradle to win. Exactly what it needed to be. They told the story of Black being the cocky youngster and Danielson being the legitimate veteran. Black came out looking great, while Danielson taught him a lesson. He made a mistake on the pin and Danielson capitalized. ****¼
A pissed Tyler Black takes out his frustrations by attacking Danielson with the ring bell and hitting God’s Last Gift until the Briscoes make the save.
In the back, Adam Pearce cuts a promo on Delirious while wearing the ripped up Delirious mask.
ROH World Championship Steel Cage Match: Nigel McGuinness (c) def. Chris Hero w/ Sweet n’ Sour Inc. in 25:33
Hero won the Survival of the Fittest at the end of 2007 and thought he won the World Title in November but Nigel had his foot on the bottom rope, so the tap out didn’t count. Once Nigel enters the cage, they go right at it. This has escape rules so we get teases of both guys leaving through the door or over the top. Hero hilariously tries to hit the ropes and bangs his head on the cage. They did the classic heel stuff where Larry Sweeney stops Nigel from leaving. I love the reactions of the group outside. Sweeney’s desperation, Sara not fully agreeing with their tactics and Tank Toland blaming Dempsey for everything. Nigel delivers stiff shots throughout, while Hero uses his athleticism. Hero is so different here compared to 2016. Wisely, Hero goes after the leg to prevent Nigel from climbing out. Hero applies a half crab, while sitting on a chair on Nigel’s back in a spot that looks really cool. Nigel gets pissed and starts throwing Hero into the steel, busting him wide open. Nigel gets his bit chair spot, hitting the Tower of London onto it. He nearly escapes but Sweeney slams the door on his face. That causes the referee to kick all of Sweet n’ Sour out. Nigel superplexes Hero just as he’s about to get out. Sweet n’ Sour try to run in through the crowd and Bobby sneaks in. He accidentally slams the door shut on Hero’s head instead of Nigel’s. With Toland blocking the door, Nigel goes over as Hero crawls out. Nigel wins the race because Hero moved very slowly and retains. A very good steel cage match. There was a lot of ringside shenanigans that gave it an old school feel. I wasn’t a fan of the clichéd finish though as it has been done to death or Bobby being what ultimately did Hero in. ***¾
Hero beats up Bobby and rips the ROH sign down in the entrance out of frustration.
