ROH – Showdown in Motown DVD Review

ROH – Showdown in Motown – Detroit, Michigan – 11.4.05

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Top 5

JZ says: I’ve been using the top 5 as voted on by the ROH message board. After each show (or double shot weekend), go to The ROH Message Board and vote for the top 5. In parentheses after a guy’s name is his position in the last Honor Roll, and how many consecutive weeks he has been listed.

ROH WORLD CHAMPION: Bryan Danielson (since 9.17.05)
ROH PURE CHAMPION: Nigel McGuinness (since 8.27.05)
1) Roderick Strong (1, 4)
2) Claudio Castagnoli (2, 2)
3) Jay Lethal (4, 2)
4) AJ Styles (NR, NA)
5) Christopher Daniels (3, 4)

Intro

BG says: Bryan Danielson knows that some people are wondering why he was being such a prick at the last show. He says it’s because he wrestles his own way, and if fans are being pricks he’ll be a prick right back. Chris Sabin walks up and claims he’s going to take the belt from Danielson. Got it, brah?

JZ says: World Champion Bryan Danielson justifies his actions last week in Connecticut by saying that he wrestles how he wants to wrestle, not how corporate America wants him to wrestle. Chris Sabin comes in and interrupts him and says that he signed an open contract and will be facing Danielson tonight for the title.

Commissioner Jim Cornette

BG says: Jim Cornette comes out to the ring and celebrates ROH’s debut in Detroit. Jake and I were at this show live so I’m dreading this segment. Cornette runs through the venues and wrestlers that made their mark on Detroit wrestling. He puts over Detroit fans and then goes to leave when Freebird plays and Adam Pearce comes out. Pearce tells Cornette that now that his career has nose-dived he should latch on to Pearce to go back to the top. He wants Cornette to give him high profile matches and title shots. Cornette isn’t handing anybody anything and Pearce will have to earn what he gets. This was clipped pretty heavily, but still felt long at around ten minutes.

JZ says: Cornette is here and starts talking about the history of Detroit wrestling and how happy he is to be in Detroit. He puts over The Sheik and thanks everyone for coming. This prompts the music “Freebird,” which brings out generic heel Adam Pearce. The segment is edited right off the bat, thank goodness. Brad and I were at this show live, and this promo was brutally long. They talk about earning it, winning matches, the usual song and dance. That was a HORRIBLE way to start the show, since no one knows who Pearce is and this didn’t really establish much of anything.

MATCH #1: BJ Whitmer vs. Delirious

BG says: Delirious flips out at the sound of the opening bell, as usual. He chases Whitmer and Lacey around the ring but walks into a beating back inside. Whitmer blocks a monkey flip but Delirious ducks and covers to avoid a clothesline. He hits a hurricanrana and Whitmer bails. Delirious tries to follow him out with another hurricanrana but Whitmer catches him and tosses him into the barricade. Back in the ring Whitmer gets 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2. He puts on a sleeper hold and hits a neckbreaker for 2. He sets Delirious on the tope rope but Delirious fights him off and hits a hurricanrana. He hits a leaping clothesline and a dropkick to the back. He hits the Panic Attack but Whitmer dodges Shadows over Hell. Delirious gets a drop toehold into a roll up for 2. Whitmer hits a spinebuster for 2. He hits a German suplex and a dragon suplex. Delirious comes back with a roll up for 2. Whitmer hits a brainbuster for 2. Delirious gets another roll up for 2. Whitmer kills him with a lariat and hits the wrist-clutch exploder for the win. This was pretty much just a squash for Whitmer. Rumor has it he wasn’t feeling well after this match ended.
Rating: **

JZ says: This Lacey character is still extremely irritating. Delirious is still extremely awesome and underused. Whitmer dominates to start as Leonard and Prazak run over tonight’s card for the ROH Detroit debut. Delirious gets a few moves in here and there but it’s mostly Whitmer running the show here. He eventually gets the win with the wrist-clutch exploder at 9:27. I was expecting more from Delirious, but this was pretty non-descript.
Rating: **

MATCH #2: Top of the Class Trophy Match – Davey Andrews vs. Shane Hagadorn vs. Derek Dempsey

BG says: This match is to crown the champion of the ROH students. I think it’s a good idea to give these guys something to fight for and it gives them a spot to get experience in front of the larger evening show crowds. Andrews kills Hagadorn with a Yakuza kick in the first move of the match. Hagadorn was knocked loopy by that. The rest of the match is just clips, as they show Hagadorn kicking Andrews hard in the head, Andrews hitting a clothesline on Hagadorn, Dempsey eliminating Hagadorn, and then some action between Dempsey and Andrews leading to Andrews getting the win with an abdominal stretch. Can’t rate it, but from what I remember the match was mostly just Andrews hitting everyone else really hard.

JZ says: Jimmy Bower introduces the next match, and says to go to rohwrestling.com for more details on how to sign up for the ROH Wrestling School. Hagadorn has the most personality here, I think Dempsey is going to be the best of the three, and Davey Andrews is just a dick. Seriously, what right does he have to take the kind of liberties he takes with these other students? Who did he ever beat? This match is all clipped up. Dempsey pins Hagadorn to eliminate him. Andrews gets the win with an abdominal stretch after about two minutes of clips from the match. I can’t rate it, but I saw it live, and it was nothing special.

Generation Next

BG says: Generation Next, in full force, has a message for the Embassy. At Steel Cage Warfare they’re going to prove who the dominant faction really is. Jade and Strong act a little too cutesy for Aries, but Evans seems into it. Weird stuff.

JZ says: Leader Austin Aries sends a message to The Embassy, and says they will prove their dominance at Steel Cage Warfare. Matt Sydal is such a little ninny. Good worker and all, but I’m so not afraid of what he could do to me. Roderick and Jade are cavorting in the background, as Evans admires Jade’s qualities.

MATCH #3: ROH Pure Title Match – Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli

BG says: Claudio starts things off with a clothesline for 1. He gets a roll up for 2. He flushes the toilet for 1. He puts on a wristlock and rolls Nigel up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. He hits a basement dropkick and a European uppercut and Nigel bails. Nigel paces around while Claudio gets the crowd rallied behind him. Back in the ring Claudio puts on the Neutralizer and Nigel uses his first rope break. Nigel puts on a cross armbreaker and Claudio uses his first rope break. Nigel’s handstand is met with a European uppercut. Nigel puts on a hammerlock but Claudio fights out. He gets a roll up for 2. Nigel works the arm over with a wristlock takedown and a half strangle hold. Claudio fights out and hits the Match Killer. He hits the full ring European uppercut but Nigel comes back with a hammerlock DDT. He goes back to work on the arm and goes for the hand stand. Claudio slaps him and puts on the Neutralizer in the ropes. He breaks it up and then comes off the top with a European uppercut for 2. Nigel screws up the hand stand but reverses a European uppercut to the Tower of London for 2 when Claudio uses his second rope break. He monkey flips Claudio into the corner where Claudio helpfully sets himself up in the Tree of Woe. Nigel kicks him in the back but Claudio comes back with an inverted powerslam. Nigel goes to the eyes and throws the iron into Claudio’s hands. He plays dead and the referee disqualifies Claudio. The match was kind of a mess. The crowd was dead so the mat wrestling was dull, and they were never able to get into a good groove. The finish was pretty deflating as well.
Rating: **½

JZ says: This is actually Claudio’s second shot at the Pure Title, sine he challenged Doug Williams at a non-ROH show back in August of 2004, before he had even made his debut in ROH. Claudio dominates to start, befuddling the Pure Champion. Claudio uses the neutralizer early on. Nigel recovers and goes to work on the arm, while Claudio continues to work on the legs. Nigel hits the Tower of London, but Claudio uses his second rope break to escape. Nigel does the Eddie Guerrero finish, as he brings the iron into the ring but tosses it to Claudio, whom Sinclair sees holding the smoking gun, so to speak, and Claudio is disqualified at 10:13. I kept thinking these guys were going to kick it into a higher gear and they just haven’t yet.
Rating: **¾

Homicide, Outside

BG says: Homicide is mad that Cabana made fun of urban culture and calls him PN News. He’s going to cut Cabana’s tongue out and then not take responsibility for it. J-Train cracks me up with the line, “I don’t like you, and I hate you now.”

JZ says: Homicide outs that his real name is Nelson. Nelson? I can see why Cabana doesn’t think you’re legit. He promises to cut Cabana’s tongue out. He says he’s not responsible for what happens. I never understand it when people say they aren’t responsible when they do something dastardly. I think it sounds much more threatening to say “I’m going to cut your tongue out, and I will be personally responsible.” Maybe that’s just me. Julius Smokes says some stuff and growls, and I continue to hate him.

MATCH #4: Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Sal Rinauro & Chad Collyer

BG says: This was supposed to be Strong and Evans going for the tag titles but Tony Mamaluke can’t go a month without getting a concussion. Good thing they put a tag belt on him, right? Collyer is the only heel in this match. No explanation is given as to why he’s Sal’s partner. Strong and Collyer start. They lock up and Collyer grabs a hammerlock. Strong comes back with a wristlock but Collyer reverses to his own. Strong hits a leg lariat and puts on an armbar. Evans tags in and puts on a wristlock. Collyer reverses to his own and goes to the eyes. Sal tags in and admonishes Collyer while putting on a headlock. He gets a roll up for 2. Evans comes back with a dropkick and tags to Strong. Sal hits a dropkick and a hurricanrana into the turnbuckle. Strong bails, catches Sal diving out of the ring and tosses him into the barricade. Back in the ring Strong gets 2. Evans tags in and Strong suplexes him onto Sal for 2. Evans hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a running forearm but Sal comes back with a back flip kick for 2. Collyer tags in and gets hit with a spinning kick. Strong comes in and tosses Evans into Collyer in the corner for 2. Strong tags in and hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Evans tags in and goes for a handspring elbow but Collyer reverses to a German suplex for 2. He hits a gut wrench gutbuster for 2. That was gutsy. Sal tags in and hits an elbow drop for 2. He hangs Evans on the top rope and then hits a suplex off the second. Collyer tags in and hits a double stomp. He hits another and then chops him down for 2. Sal tags in and gets 2. He hits a leg lariat for 2. He hits an elbow drop to the back but Evans comes back with a senton and a standing corkscrew splash. Strong tags in and cleans house. He hits a back bodydrop on Sal and a dropkick on Collyer. Sal hits a jawbreaker but Strong catches him with the gutbuster for 2. Collyer hits him with a side suplex but Evans comes at him with a neckbreaker. Sal hits Evans with a springboard kick. He hits a hurricanrana on Strong for 2. Strong hangs Sal up on the second rope in the corner and then launches Evans into a double stomp on him for 2 when Collyer saves. Collyer kills Evans with a clothesline. He hits one on Sal by mistake and then walks into the Sick Kick. Evans tags in and Generation Next hits Skipping a Generation for the win. The match was bookended with great action, but Rinauro and Collyer’s control segment in the middle was pretty plodding.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: Rinauro’s Tag Team Championship partner, Tony Mamaluke, had to cancel off this show due to a concussion I believe (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). Man, I can just feel the reinvigoration of the tag team scene looking at Sal Rinauro. The crowd is solidly behind Jack Evans. There’s some tension between Sal and Collyer, since Collyer takes some shortcuts and Sal thinks he’s better than that. Strong comes in the ring, hot off his awesome match with Bryan Danielson last week in Connecticut. They’ll face off again tomorrow in Chicago. Referee A.T. Huck pretty much lets Strong and Evans do whatever they want without tagging or anything. Strong has gotten to the point where it looks like he’s coming down a level to be in the ring with guys like Collyer and Rinauro. Nothing against those guys, but Roderick has just gotten so red-hot as of late. Collyer accidentally levels Rinauro with a clothesline, and this allows Gen Next to execute Skipping a Generation to score the win at 14:01. That was a solid tag team match, but felt pretty pointless without the tag team titles being on the line. I would have had Collyer actually defend the titles in Mamaluke’s stead, since they did that once before with Homicide substituting for Amazing Red when he and AJ Styles were the champions. Oh well.
Rating: ***

Homicide & Colt Cabana Collide

BG says: Homicide and Cabana come out first and start brawling before the other two can even make their entrances. When the brawl gets into the ring Christopher Daniels’ music hits. Cabana hiptosses Homicide into the crowd and jumps off the barricade onto him. They throw chairs at each other and Cabana tosses Homicide back-first onto a chair. There are two people shown wearing yellow hats on screen as this happens. I’m the better looking one in back, not the spazzy one right next to the action. J-Train smashes something over Cabana’s head as Homicide sets up a table. Homicide hits a tornado DDT on the floor and then drags Cabana up the bleachers. They fight it out and Cabana superplexes Homicide off the bleachers through the table on the floor. Crazy bump, but it took way too long to set it all up.

JZ says: This is supposed to be a four-way match, but Homicide and Cabana can’t wait for the other participants and the brawl is on right away. Christopher Daniels’s music hits, but Cabana and Homicide can’t be bothered to notice. They’re holding off on Samoa Joe’s entrance though. Daniels and Allison Danger are just watching from in the ring. The fight goes all throughout the arena, with Homicide mostly in control, with some help from J-Train. A table gets set up outside the ring, and Cabana gives Homicide a suplex off the bleachers through the table. That was neat, but I sat through ten minutes of brawling through a dark arena for it?

MATCH #5: Four Corner Survival – Samoa Joe vs. Adam Pearce vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Jacobs

BG says: Back in the ring Christopher Daniels waits. Jim Cornette comes out and promises the fans will get a four corner survival match tonight. First of the three opponents is Michigan’s own Jimmy Jacobs. He comes out to his original Transformers music with his furry boots on, HUSSing his way to the ring. So much for that heel turn. Adam Pearce then runs out and demands Cornette put him in the match. Cornette obliges, and then brings out Samoa Joe.

Nothing of note happens for a while until Daniels slips off the ropes going for a springboard move. If memory serves there were a few of those on this show. I think at least one has already been removed by editing, perhaps in the student match. Daniels and Pearce spend the majority of the match beating on Jacobs, and I mean really laying into him. Jacobs hiptosses Daniels to the floor but then eats shit when Daniels dodges a suicide dive. Daniels picks up the win when he knocks Pearce away from hitting a piledriver on Joe and then hits Joe himself with the Angel’s Wings. Jacobs was never in the ring with Joe. I don’t even know what to say about these four ways anymore, but at least this one made it seem like Daniels had a chance of winning in a singles match against Joe.
Rating: **¾

JZ says: Jim Cornette is out after the brawl and says the fans will get a four corner survival because that’s what they paid for. He says that he has two guys in the back suited up even though they weren’t on the lineup. This brings out the babyface version of Jimmy Jacobs. I guess he can turn the Huss on and off. You know, Jacobs is a former two-time ROH Tag Team Champion and has been working shows since June of 2003, so it really makes him look like a joke to say that he came to a show in his hometown and suited up even though he didn’t have a match. I’m not sure if I’m overreacting to that statement or not, but I did notice it. Cornette holds the top rope down for him. Adam Pearce comes out and begs to be put in the match. Cornette says it wasn’t going to be him, so I wonder who else he had in mind. The Commissioner agrees, and now out comes the fourth man, Samoa Joe. Well that was a roundabout way to get this four-way started. Jacobs and Pearce start off. Daniels comes in to battle Jacobs, and I wonder how Jacobs would do if he got a one-on-one shot at Daniels. Back in 2003, guys like John Walters and Jimmy Rave got matches with Daniels, so why not Jacobs, why not now? Jacobs tags in Samoa Joe, and this is the battle that people really want to see. Daniels and Pearce reluctantly work together and isolate Jacobs until a shoving match ensues. Joe eventually gets the hot tag and kills Pearce. Eventually Daniels gets the Angel’s Wings on Joe to pin him cleanly at 17:06. That had some good stuff but felt much longer than it actually was. This match was all about Joe and Daniels and didn’t do any favors for Pearce or especially Jacobs.
Rating: ***¼

Intermission

BG says: Dave Prazak is backstage with Claudio Castagnoli. Homicide and Cabana are getting medical attention. Claudio wants a rematch because he got screwed. Prazak agrees.

JZ says: Prazak is with Claudio Castagnoli, who was disqualified in his match earlier tonight. He and Prazak agree that he was screwed tonight, and then he challenges Nigel to a rematch. Prazak says he’ll try to get an answer from Nigel.

MATCH #6: Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger

BG says: This match occurred to showcase the talent for Dave Prazak’s SHIMMER promotion, which would debut two days later outside of Chicago. Like her brother Steve Corino, Allison Danger has awesome, if really long, entrance music. Danger grabs a hammerlock but Haze comes back with an armdrag. She hits a clothesline but Danger comes back with an armdrag. She slingshots Haze to the mat and puts on a half crab. She hits a vertical suplex and a capture suplex for 2. Haze comes off the second rope with a clothesline. She hits a dropkick from the top and Danger bails. Haze comes off the top rope onto Danger with a crossbody. Back in the ring Danger knocks Haze down with a forearm. Haze hits the Daizee Cutter out of nowhere for the win. This was what you’d expect.
Rating: *¾

JZ says: Danger certainly has an elaborate entrance for some unknown reason. I mean, people like her and stuff, but this entrance is longer than the match. Prazak plugs SHIMMER, which I imagine is the point of this match at all. They do some wrestling and Daizee gets the win at 3:24 with the Daizee Cutter. This was fine for the time it got.
Rating: **

MATCH #7: Grudge Match – Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries

BG says: Shelley cut a pretty funny promo turning on his hometown fans before the match that was cut from the DVD. They lock up and Shelley spits at Aries. He grabs a headlock and bails when Aries escapes. Back in the ring Shelley goes back to the headlock and blows snot on Aries. Aries responds with a Manhattan drop and some snot of his own. Aries hits the springboard elbow and takes Shelley to the mat with a headlock. Shelley puts on a legvice and hits a mini piledriver. Aries responds with a basement dropkick. He dumps Shelley onto Prince Nana and Jimmy Rave on the floor and then nails all of them with a suicide dive. He tosses Shelley into the barricade and then rolls him back into the ring. He hits a slingshot senton and an elbow drop for 2. Shelley begs off and then hits a drop toehold into the turnbuckle. He climbs the ropes and hits a double stomp to the arm. Aries hits an STO but misses the power drive elbow. Shelley puts on a cross armbreaker and then goes to a hammerlock. He punts Aries in the ribs and slams his arm against the mat. He hits a hammerlock northern lights suplex for 2. He hits an armbreaker and puts on an armbar. He hits a double knee strike to the arm and then rams it into the turnbuckle. Aries comes back with a DDT and a series of kicks. Shelley throws him to the apron but Aries comes back with a slingshot splash for 2. Shelley hits an enziguiri and a running forearm. He hits a clothesline for 2. He hits the Air Raid Crash for 2. Aries gets a roll up for 2. Shelley puts on the Border City Stretch but Aries reverses to the fishhook. He can’t hit the brainbuster and Shelley goes back to the arm. Aries hits a legsweep into the turnbuckle and the corner dropkick. He hits an inverted Finley roll and climbs the ropes. Nana shoves him off and puts on a full nelson. Nana goes to attack but Jade Chung low blows him. Aries knocks Shelley into Nana and gets a roll up for the win. Aries’ selling was really good but the match overall was disappointing compared to their match at Manhattan Mayhem. That actually surprises me quite a bit because I like Shelley more as a heel and Aries more as a babyface. The finish looked terrible as well.
Rating: ***¼

After the match the Embassy beats on Aries, including an Abyss attack. AJ Styles and Matt Sydal make the save, setting up our next match.

JZ says: Shelley is a hometown boy, much like Jimmy Jacobs. This is a rematch from Manhattan Mayhem, except this time Aries is not defending the World Title. They helpfully show clips from said match. The rules will be relaxed in this one. Shelley stalls a lot to start. Shelley spends a lot of time working on the arm and Aries plays the face-in-peril. Shelley is such a great heel I’m glad that his face run earlier in 2005 didn’t last long. Shelley gets the Border City Stretch, which Aries reverses into a fishhook. Nana keeps interfering, which is okay under “relaxed rules” I guess. Nana and Jade get into the ring and in the miscommunication Aries rolls Shelley up for three at 14:38. The match wasn’t nearly as good as their previous one, and the finish was pretty lame. Rave jumps right into the ring and we have a 3-on-1 beat down on Aries that’s about to get worse as Abyss comes out. Finally Matt Sydal and AJ Styles make the save, segueing into our next match.
Rating: ***

MATCH #8: AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Jimmy Rave & Abyss

BG says: Sydal and Rave start. Rave stalls and tells the crowd to be quiet. They work the mat and trade slaps. Styles tags in and Rave begs off. Rave tags out to Abyss who overpowers Styles. Styles hits a hurricanrana and a dropkick. Abyss tosses him into the air and then does the same to Sydal. Styles and Sydal knock Abyss to the floor with enziguiris and then toss Rave onto him. Sydal dives onto Rave and Styles hits a no-hands plancha onto Abyss. Back in the ring Sydal gets the tag. Styles hits a kneedrop and Sydal hits a legdrop for 2. Sydal hits a hurricanrana and a clothesline. Abyss trips him up and tosses him into the barricade. Back in the ring Rave gets 2. Rave hits a backbreaker for 2. He puts on a surfboard stretch and tags to Abyss. Abyss slaps the crap out of Sydal in the corner. Sydal goes for a crossbody but it does no damage. Rave tags in and chokes Sydal on the ropes. He hits a neckbreaker for 2. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Abyss. Abyss hits the choo-choo splash in the corner for 2. Rave comes in illegally but gets caught with a backslide for 2. Styles gets the tag and cleans house. Sydal tags back in and tosses Styles into Abyss. Styles hits a torture rack powerbomb on Rave but Abyss hits him with a torture rack backbreaker. Rave hits Sydal with a spear for 2. Sydal blocks Ghanarea and hits a bodyslam. He hits a standing moonsault for 2. Abyss comes in and hits the Black Hold slam on Sydal. Styles hits Abyss with the Styles Clash and climbs the ropes. He hits the Spiral Tap but Rave breaks up the pin with a running knee. Sydal places Rave on the top rope and hits a belly-to-belly suplex for the win. A bit slow at points, but when it picked up it was one hell of a fun spotty tag match.
Rating: ***

JZ says: The fans throw toilet paper at Rave, just to irritate him. I think AJ gets hit with one, so he throws it back at the fan and yells at him. What a good Christian. Abyss looks huge in an ROH ring. He looks even huger when he takes Styles then Sydal and heaves them both up into the air eight or nine feet. This one seems to be under relaxed rules as well, since tags seem to have become a suggestion in the early going. Sydal and Styles have some good teamwork, but I think this is the first time they’ve teamed up. I think the same is true for Rave and Abyss. The Embassy isolates Sydal and goes to work on the back. Sydal does a sunset backslide, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before. He makes the hot tag to AJ, and he’s a house-a-fire. Everything breaks down and Sydal hits Rave with the moonsault belly-to-belly off the top rope to get the win at 14:17. That was a good, high energy tag team match.
Rating: ***½

Nigel They Call Ya

BG says: Dave Prazak asks Nigel McGuinness about a possible rematch with Claudio Castagnoli. Nigel says he doesn’t deserve it because he used an iron on him. Castagonads is a phenomenal nickname.

JZ says: Prazak issues the challenge to Nigel McGuinness on behalf of Claudio Castagnoli. He says that Claudio does not deserve a rematch, he’ll have to earn it.

MATCH #9: ROH World Title Match – Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Sabin

BG says: Sabin signed one of Danielson’s open contracts to get this title shot. They never say which promotion he got it from, but I’m going to go ahead and say TNA. The crowd chants “you’re both awesome,” one of the gayest things I’ve ever heard, making me embarrassed to call Detroit my hometown. They lock up and Sabin grabs a headlock. Danielson breaks free and they knuckle up. Danielson grabs a headlock but Sabin reverses to a legvice. Danielson reverses to a toehold but Sabin gets to the ropes. Danielson puts on a legvice but Sabin escapes and puts on a headlock. Danielson goes to the corner and shoves Sabin around with his head. He slaps Sabin but Sabin comes back with a wristlock. Danielson gets out with a dropkick so Sabin slaps him. Danielson’s chest is still messed up from his match against Strong from the week prior. He takes Sabin to the mat and puts on a chinlock. Sabin fights out and hits a hurricanrana. Danielson bails so Sabin follows him out and hits a hurricanrana on the floor. He tosses Danielson into the barricade. Of the eight full matches shown on this DVD, 5 of them have seen someone get tossed into the barricade. Back in the ring Sabin sets Danielson up in the Tree of Woe and hits a dropkick. Danielson sits up when Sabin goes for it again so Sabin hits a stunner for 2. He hits a dropkick to the back of the head for 2. Danielson comes back and steps over Sabin’s head. He hits a backbreaker and calls himself the Messiah of the Backbreaker. Uh oh. He hits two more backbreakers and says that Roderick Strong has nothing on him. He hits two more backbreakers and puts on a bow and arrow lock. He hits another backbreaker and puts on an abdominal stretch. He uses the ropes for leverage and then gets a roll up for 2. He chops Sabin in the corner and hits another backbreaker for 2. He puts on a Canadian backbreaker but Sabin reverses to a backdrop. Sabin hits an enziguiri and both men go down. Sabin hits a neckbreaker and a kick to the back of the head. He hits another kick and a running powerbomb for 2. Danielson comes back with the Cow Killer and rolls Sabin up for 2. He puts on the Mexican surfboard and turns it into a chinlock but Sabin goes to the eyes to escape. Danielson hits another backbreaker and turns on the crowd. He climbs the ropes but misses the diving headbutt. Sabin catches him with a tornado DDT for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Danielson bites his hands to escape. Sabin blocks the crossface chicken wing but Danielson hits a German suplex. Danielson puts on the chicken wing but Sabin gets to the ropes. Sabin blocks the Regal-plex but Danielson comes back with a roaring forearm. Sabin hits a back heel kick and a dropkick. Danielson comes back with a clothesline. Sabin hits a double hammerlock piledriver for 2. What a sick move. Danielson blocks the Cradle Shock but Sabin comes back and sets him on the top turnbuckle. Danielson fights away and hits a back superplex for 2. He puts on the Stronghold and Sabin taps out. Really good match that saw Danielson simultaneously take apart Sabin’s back and taunt Roderick Strong the whole way through. Come to think of it, Danielson’s new character is brilliant, as he sends out open contracts for ROH title shots and then gets disgusted at the thought of an outsider holding the belt, therefore forcing him to go all out in the ring. For his part Sabin did a bang up job.
Rating: ***¾

JZ says: This is Sabin’s first ROH match since the Second Year Anniversary Show against Doug Williams. I don’t know why they won’t say which promotion Sabin is taking the title defense on behalf of. Sabin slaps Danielson in the face to show that he’s not intimidated, though Danielson thinks he should be. The commentators keep talking about the Roderick Strong feud, which makes it sound as though Sabin has no chance of winning, which robs the match of some of the potential drama. The crowd is still pretty into it though. Danielson goes to work on the back, trying to send a message to Roderick Strong. The way the commentators call him “Roddy” now is pretty irritating. Danielson uses the ropes for leverage during the abdominal stretch, more heelish behavior. A few minutes later, Danielson locks on Cattle Mutilation and does the rollup out of that for two. A surfboard follows. He then goes for the Chicken Wing, but Sabin has that move well scouted. Danielson hits a German Suplex and is able to lock on the Chicken Wing, but Sabin reaches the ropes. Regal-plex attempt is blocked, and Sabin tries for a missile dropkick but he slips off the ropes. That was the third time a guy slipped tonight, so I blame outside forces. Sabin hits a nasty piledriver but it only gets two. Danielson gets a huge back suplex from the top rope and locks on the Strong Hold and Sabin taps out at 24:23. Danielson has now made four successful title defenses. That was a really good match with great action, and it only suffers from the result being too predictable. They shake hands to follow the Code of Honor.
Rating: ***¾

Post Show

BG says: Roderick Strong pulls himself away from Jade to tell Dave Prazak that he’ll show everyone his reaction to Danielson’s taunting tomorrow night in the ring.

JZ says: Prazak is backstage with Roderick Strong and Jade Chung, who look very cozy. Prazak tries to get a word about the Bryan Danielson situation, and Strong says he’ll get an answer tomorrow night.

Now we get the ROH Wrestling School promo, starring Austin Aries. Go to rohwrestling.com or call 215-781-2500. The same goes if you’re looking for any wrestling merchandise, particularly the Straight Shootin’ Series.

MVP

BG says: Bryan Danielson, for the reasons I stated in my review of the match.

JZ says: Chris Sabin, for coming back into ROH (for one night only as of this writing) and hanging with the Champ, and making the best of an unenviable situation.

You can pick up this show, as well as all other ROH shows at ROH Wrestling Dot Com.

Coming soon will be our review of Vendetta!

Have any thoughts, comments, or concerns? Like how we’re doing our reviews? Let us know!

E-mail Brad at [email protected]
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The 411: BG says: The show started off a little slow with Pearce plodding around and the prelim stuff, but it picks up nicely. Much like the early Ohio shows, there were a lot of good matches but nothing blow away. The story lines progressed without any big twists, but Danielson did a lot to cement himself in his new character. JZ says: This is pretty typical for a new venue show. There’s nothing amazing on there, but it’s fairly solid top-to-bottom (once the Pearce stuff is over). The good thing is that there are some good feuds going on, namely Gen Next versus The Embassy, Roderick Strong versus Bryan Danielson, Colt Cabana versus Homicide, and Samoa Joe versus Christopher Daniels, so at least everything on this show is building towards something bigger.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]