ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2: February 25, 2005, Dayton, Ohio

ROH … Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 2 … February 25, 2005 … Dayton, Ohio

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Top 5

JZ says: No changes to the top 5 since last week, which was –

ROH World Champion: Austin Aries
ROH Pure Champion: John Walters
1) Samoa Joe
2) Homicide
3) CM Punk
4) Jay Lethal
5) Roderick Strong

Intro

BG says: The show kicks off with Homicide telling Bryan Danielson that he’s going to take out Danielson’s friend Puma, and he’s going to do it with a spectacular new submission hold. Allison Danger catches up with them, holding and talking to a picture of Christopher Daniels. She tells the photo that Homicide and Smokes are in the Prophecy. Homicide and Smokes get upset because she made promises and the Rottweilers lost the tag team titles and chase her away.

JZ says: Homicide requested this camera time to mispronounce words and use them in the wrong way. I love Homicide promos.

MATCH #1: The Air Devils vs. Dunn & Marcos

BG says: The Air Devils are Fast Eddie Vegas and Matt Sydal. Originally, Matt Sydal was set to start a tag team with Joey Matthews, but Matthews ended up signing with the WWE to become Joey Mercury and win the WWE tag titles in his first match with the company. Eddie came in as his replacement and the ROH message board fans got to decide on a name for the team. In their infinite wisdom they chose the Air Devils. Sigh. Eddie and Marcos start. Eddie hits a fireman’s carry. Marcos gets a roll up for 2. They trade pin fall attempts in slow motion for 2. Eddie cuts it off with a kick to the gut and hits an armdrag. They both tag out. Dunn grabs a hammerlock and a sunset flip for 2. Bower mentions that the fans like to criticize the booking of the company and then can’t come up with anything better than the Air Devils. Sydal hits a dropkick and a standing moonsault for 2. Eddie tags in and hits a powerslam for 2. Dunn hits the Gory bomb for 2. Marcos tags in and they kick him in the face a lot for 2. Marcos hits a neckbreaker for 2. The Air Devils severely mess up a double team move and even the commentators call it ugly. Sydal hits a legdrop for 2 and tags in Eddie. Eddie hits Marcos with the tombstone piledriver for 2. Dunn shoves Eddie over Marcos, who hits a falcon arrow. Dunn tags in and so does Sydal. Dunn cleans house on both of them. He hits a guillotine elbow drop on Sydal but Eddie takes them out of the ring when they are distracted with their air guitars. Sydal goes to the top and dives onto them on the floor. Back in the ring Marcos dodges the tombstone and hits a dropkick. He goes to the top but Sydal cuts him off with a springboard dropkick. Eddie hits him with the fall away slam for the win. The match got the crowd energized but it was really sloppy and not particularly interesting.
Rating: *1/4

Fast Eddie turns on Matt Sydal after the match. That reminds me of a match where Tully Blanchard turned on Manny Fernandez after they won some tag team title together. You can see that match on the Wrestling Gold set. The Embassy come out and Eddie joins the group. Nana runs down AJ Styles and tells Jimmy Rave to show Styles, through Sydal, why it’s called the Rave Clash. He obliges.

JZ says: Jimmy Bower says he’s hung over from all the partying that’s been going on during the Third Anniversary Celebration week. One day Sydal is going to be on more than just the Midwest shows. Then Bower gives fans on the message board a hard time about voting on the name “Air Devils.” Ha ha, take THAT ROH Board! Dunn & Marcos take advantage of Fast Eddie’s blindness. Bower says that Fast Eddie & Matt Sydal have “all the potential in the world.” That’s really kinda selfish; they should spread some of the potential around so that other people can have some too. Fast Eddie gets the pin at 8:42, for the debut victory of The Air Devils! That was sloppy but turned out okay in the end. Fast Eddie joins The Embassy after the match to give them their requisite mid-card guy. The Embassy is like the best stable ever. The crowd is already chanting for AJ Styles, who makes his return to ROH tonight!
Rating: *1/2

Promo Time!

BG says: Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer cut a weird whispery and heelish promo about how they’ll do anything to be the longest reigning and best ROH tag champs ever.

JZ says: I’m counting the shows until I don’t have to see Maff anymore and looking forward to that time.

MATCH #2: Puma vs. Homicide

BG says: This is Puma’s main show debut, and I can’t think of someone making their debut against a tougher opponent than this. Maybe Samoa Joe’s debut against Low Ki. Puma hits a fireman’s carry and puts on a headlock. Homicide rolls out and then puts on a knucklelock. He takes Puma down and puts on a leglock but he rolls out. They trade armdrags and Puma hits a hurricanrana. He hits a snap suplex for 2. He hits a seated dropkick for 2. He puts on a leglock but Homicide goes to the wrist to escape. Homicide reverses a hurricanrana to a faceplant. He dumps Puma and Smokes takes his shots on the floor. Back in the ring Homicide puts on a double underhook submission and a crucifix pin for 2. He puts on the Rings of Saturn. He rakes the back and puts on an abdominal stretch. Puma hiptosses out and puts on an armbar. Homicide makes the ropes. Puma gets a sunset flip for 2. Homicide hits a neckbreaker for 2. Smokes chokes Puma in the corner. Puma takes the advantage by being quick and dodging and reversing everything Homicide does. He hits a bodyslam and goes to the top but Homicide cuts him off. He hits a double-arm superplex for 2. Puma dodges the Cop Killer but Homicide catches him with the Cow Killer for the win. After the match Homicide keeps beating on Puma. Danielson tries to make the save but security stops him. The story there was that if Homicide and Danielson touch they both lose their pay for the night. I happen to think Puma’s safety is more important than Homicide or Danielson’s money. All the security came from ringside too, so they could have stopped Homicide at any time. Ugh. The match wasn’t anything special either.
Rating: **1/2

JZ says: Puma’s said debut match happened at the Convention Card for Final Battle 2003 (12.27.03) in a loss to Josh Daniels. Yeah, I barely remember him either. Bower and Nutly plug the continuation of the Homicide versus Bryan Danielson feud tomorrow night. Homicide is such a great heel, one of the few pure heels in the entire company. They do some wrestling stuff for a while until Homicide gets the win with Danielson’s finisher at 9:59. Well that was 10 minutes of nothing. Homicide and Smokes kick the crap out of Puma while security does nothing.
Rating: **

Backstage

BG says: James Gibson, formerly Jamie Noble, tells Spanky backstage that their match tonight is going to be special because they won’t have any WWE writers or vets telling them what not to do in the ring. Spanky agrees that it’ll be a good time.

JZ says: Gibson and Spanky start the dueling blowjob festival before their big match tonight. I am looking forward to it though, to be honest.

MATCH #3: Nigel McGuinness vs. Colt Cabana

BG says: Cabana is sure in a good mood coming off his ROH title match loss. Most of this match is comedy, and I just can’t do it justice here so my play-by-play will be sparse. Needless to say Cabana knows how to bring the funny and does so here. For once a quiet crowd actually helps a match because we can hear what the wrestlers are saying. Comedy isn’t all that this has going for it as the action is quite good. This is a definite reason to buy this tape. What’s more is that everything in this match plays on itself as both guys adapt to all the holds and reversals that the other does in the match. It all weaves together amazingly. In the end Nigel starts working the arm in an attempt to get the win with TAS, but Cabana proves superior and takes the match with the Artful Dodger. Ebessan wishes he could have a match like this in Ring of Honor.
Rating: ***1/2

JZ says: This is the kind of match that I thought wouldn’t be as good on tape as it was live, but I was wrong. This match is simply awesome to watch. The pinfalls, reversals, holds, everything just worked so smoothly and seamlessly. This is referee Bruce Gray’s first match in ROH, and as a referee myself I can say I don’t envy him having a match this complex for his first outing. Cabana gets the pin at 12:07 with a unique roll up. What a fun and well-executed match.
Rating: ***1/2

MATCH #4: ROH Tag Team Title Match – Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer

BG says: DeliriHUSS are undefeated as a tag team going into this. Well, they’re 1-0 but that win came in this building so that has to count for something. Maff and Whitmer attack before the bell. The heel turn continues. Delirious gets dumped and Jacobs gets double shoulder blocked. They hit him with an H-Bomb type move. Delirious comes back in and eats a back elbow from Whitmer. He hits Whitmer with a hurricanrana but gets dumped and hit with a baseball slide. Maff chokes out Jacobs in the corner as Whitmer beats on Delirious on the floor. Maff press slams Jacobs and hits a senton. Whitmer tosses Delirious into the crowd. He tags in and throws Jacobs into the corner before tagging out. Maff powerbombs Jacobs into the turnbuckle. Whitmer tags in and hits a vertical suplex into a northern lights suplex for 2. Maff tags in and does the impossible by head butting Jacobs down. He hits a powerslam for 2. He tags in Whitmer who chokes with his boot and tags back out. Maff hits some running chops but misses the cannonball. Jacobs slips under Whitmer and makes the hot tag to Delirious. Delirious cleans house on Maff and Whitmer and hits a flying dropkick and a knee in the corner for 2. Maff hits him with a spinebuster to end that burst of energy. Maff and Whitmer go for the figure 4 / frog splash combo but Jacobs comes in with a senton on Maff to break the hold. He crotches Whitmer on the top rope. Whitmer goes for a super bomb but Jacobs reverses to a supercanrana. Delirious immediately hits Shadows over Hell and both men pile on Whitmer for a close 2. The crowd totally bought that. Maff comes in and spoils the fun. He hits a Blue Thunder driver on Delirious and Whitmer hits the wrist clutch exploder on Jacobs. Outside the ring Maff and Whitmer use Jacobs as a battering ram to dent the guardrail. Back in the ring Maff hits the Burning Hammer on Delirious for the win. As a match it wasn’t much, but it was quite a spectacle. As jobbed out as he was here, this was the match that ended up kicking Jimmy Jacobs’ career up a notch, as it got him his WWE job match against Eddie Guerrero and would be used as a catalyst to get him his first shot at gold in ROH.
Rating: **1/2

JZ says: What’s not to like about Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious as a tag team? This is Maff & Whitmer’s first defense of the tag team titles, just six days after winning them from Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero. Jacobs & Delirious receive a royal ass whipping, particularly Jacobs. The crowd SO wanted Jacobs & Delirious to take the belts after the supercanrana by Jacobs. Maff and Whitmer go into overkill mode and execute a ton of brutal moves to get the win at 9:28. It was a squash but it was energetic and the crowd was into it. Maff and Whitmer so don’t have game at this point.
Rating: **1/4

MATCH #5: Spanky vs. James Gibson

BG says: This match is obnoxiously called a screw sports entertainment match. That’s pretty weak considering Spanky voluntarily quit the WWE and Gibson got laid off under less than honorable circumstances. Speaking of Gibson, his music may not be all that exciting, but it fits the man so well. They lock up to start. They take it to the mat where Gibson dominates. Gibson hits a northern lights suplex for 1. They go back to the mat where Spanky gains the advantage with a hammerlock. Gibson goes to the corner to break and hits a back elbow. Spanky uses momentum to send Gibson out of the ring. He scales the turnbuckle and dives onto Gibson on the outside. He rolls Gibson back in and goes for another dive but he reverses to an armbar. Spanky makes the ropes. Gibson goes to work on the arm. He sends Spanky shoulder first into the turnbuckle and then hits one of the hardest chops I’ve ever seen. He hits a hammerlock suplex for 2. He dropkicks the arm while it’s wrapped around the ropes. He misses a blind charge and Spanky hits a bulldog. He hits a flying forearm and a dropkick. Gibson cuts him off by sending him to the floor. He follows him out and goes for a tiger driver on the floor but Spanky reverses and sends him into the crowd. Back in the ring Spanky hits a frog splash for 2. He hits a face buster for 2. He hits an enziguiri but Gibson fights off a leg lariat and hits a powerslam for 2. Spanky catches him with a supercanrana but Gibson gets a sunset flip for 2. Spanky reverses to a triangle choke which Gibson seamlessly reverses to a cloverleaf. Spanky makes the ropes. Spanky goes for Sliced Bread #2 but Gibson reverses to a neckbreaker and Spanky bails. Gibson rolls him back into the ring and gets 2. Spanky hits a superkick for 2. He goes for a clothesline but Gibson reverses to a double underhook DDT into the Trailer Hitch for the win. The selling came and went, but this match was full of all kinds of cool reversals a nonstop action.
Rating: ***3/4

JZ says: Spanky’s music is the best. The fans chant “Smackdown sucks,” as if Noble left there on his own power or something. I’m not sure why everyone thinks its cool to shit on the WWE, since the commentators are doing it too. Bower says that the fans aren’t there to over-analyze anything or be arm-chair quarterbacks. Excuse me while I laugh my ass off. Okay, now I’m back and Gibson is in control by working on the arm. Gibson gets the win at 13:37 with the front guillotine choke. That was shorter than I remember it but it was balls-to-the wall the entire time and both guys looked awesome. It’s nice to have them both in ROH.
Rating: ***3/4

Intermission

BG says: Dave Prazak and his insane hair interviews CM Punk backstage. Punk is in a good mood because he gets to finish off his beef with Alex Shelley tonight. He also warns the Embassy not to get in his business because he doesn’t think they can handle him.

JZ says: Punk in a good mood? I bet I’d be in a good mood if I got to slap Alex Shelley around a little bit too though.

MATCH #6: Four Corner Survival – Lacey vs. Tracy Brooks vs. Allison Danger vs. Daizee Haze

BG says: This women’s match comes on the heels of a surprisingly solid match between Haze and Brooks at Joe vs. Punk II back in October. Haze and Lacey start. Haze gets a roll up for 2. She puts on a headlock but Lacey powers out. Haze bails and Tracy comes in. She and Lacey roll around and Lacey tags Danger in. Brooks gets a roll up for 2. Danger hits a backbreaker for 2. Brooks hits a gut wrench suplex and tags in Haze. They do a Kaientai-style dropkick on Danger but Lacey trips Haze. She pulls her out of the ring and kicks Brooks off of Danger. Haze catches Lacey and sends her out of the ring. Haze dives onto Lacey and Brooks on the floor from the top rope. Back in the ring Haze goes for a stoner charge but eats boot. Lacey hits a superplex but gets simultaneously power-bombed by Danger who gets 2 on Haze. Brooks comes in and trades chops with Danger. Lacey makes the blind tag and hits a clothesline on Brooks. Lacey and Danger put a weird double submission on Brooks but Haze makes the save. Lacey dumps Brooks but gets rolled up by Haze for 2. They trade forearms as Brooks and Danger brawl to the back. Lacey hits a TKO on Haze for 2. Haze hits a nasty boot to the face for the win. This was sloppy as hell, but really no worse than any of the other four way matches they’ve sent out there to die after intermission. The thing is the crowd was way more into this than they usually are for other post-intermission matches.
Rating: *3/4

JZ says: Hey the fans historically don’t care about the post-intermission match, why not let the women go out there and show what they can do? You know the crowd will at least pop for the T&A, so it could be worse. Haze is sure to let everyone know that she smokes marijuana. Bower is pretty annoying here, simultaneously knocking the Diva Search while drooling over the women. Pick one and stick with it man. Lacey and Daizee are left alone in the ring, and I’ve seen these two work very well together in IWA-MS. The finish comes after a vicious looking boot at 6:19. Not too shabby.
Rating: **

MATCH #7: Alex Shelley vs. CM Punk

BG says: Punk is looking all professional, wearing ring tights instead of basketball shorts and looking cut. He gets a double leg takedown off the handshake and tells Shelley that shaking hands won’t get the job done, and if he wants to prove he’s turned himself around then now is the time to do it. Punk grabs a headlock but Shelley reverses to a front facelock. Punk goes to the ropes to escape. Shelley misses an elbow drop but gets a really cool roll up for 2. Punk grabs a wristlock but Shelley reverses out to one of his own. Punk gets out with a fireman’s carry and goes back to work on the wrist. He asks the crowd if he should break it and then drops a leg on it. He stays on the wrist and then strikes Shelley down. He hits a seated dropkick for 2. He hits a vertical hammerlock suplex for 2. Shelley tries to fight back with the good arm but Punk simply kicks the bad one to stay in control. He hits a ropewalk legdrop on the arm and Shelley bails. Punk rolls him back in the ring and goes back to work on the arm. He goes for a rebound crossbody but Shelley counters with a knee to the gut. He hangs Punk up on the ropes and dropkicks him out of the ring. He follows him out and teases sending him into the guardrail before rolling him back into the ring. See he’s apologetic to the boys, but not the fans. I’m starting to dig this face turn a little more. Back in the ring he hits a double stomp to the back. He hits a gutbuster and a horizontal abdominal stretch. Punk punches out. Shelley hits a rib breaker. He blocks a hip toss and puts on an abdominal stretch. He sits down with it and pounds the ribs, hoping to beat him Bryan Danielson-style. Punk reverses to a crossface but Shelley makes the ropes. Shelley puts the abdominal stretch back on and elbows Punk in the ribs every time the fans say his name. Punk hits a clothesline and a back elbow and a flying forearm. He hits a jawbreaker and a leg lariat to the back of the head for 2. Shelley blocks the cross arm breaker and kicks at Punk’s ribs. He catches him coming off the top with a spear and hits a frog splash. He rolls Punk over and hits another frog splash, this time to the back. He tries to put on the Border City stretch but his bad arm keeps him from getting good pull. Punk turns it over and gets 2. Shelley goes back to the top but Punk cuts him off. Shelley tries an atomic drop off the top but Punk blocks and hits the Shining Wizard for 2. Shelley blocks the Pepsi Twist and hits a face buster. Punk catches him with a Samoan drop and puts on the Anaconda Vice but Shelley makes the ropes. Shelley blocks a Pepsi Plunge attempt and hits a double stomp to a bent over Punk from the top. He puts on the Border City stretch but Punk reverses to the Anaconda Vice for the win. The Embassy attack Punk after the match but Shelley fights them off. He repents for his sins and sucks up to Punk before asking for an apology. Punk forgives but says he doesn’t forget and he won’t be saving him from any beat downs. Anyway, the match had sound psychology that paid off, but it never kicked into that high gear.
Rating: ***1/4

JZ says: These are two of my in-ring favorites, by the way. Punk goes to work on the arm. Some fans are for Alex Shelley, some are for Punk. Originally this was going to be faction leader versus faction leader, but Shelley was ousted as leader of Generation Next in between this match being signed and actually happening. Interestingly enough, this was originally slated to happen on October 16, 2004, but Steve Corino canceling led to a reshuffling of the card and Punk ended up wrestling Joe in the greatest match in ROH history and Alex Shelley had a great “I Quit” match with Jimmy Jacobs. Punk’s opponent for tomorrow is undetermined, and Shelley will be facing Jack Evans. Punk works the arm, Shelley works the ribs, and both do so proficiently. Punk gets Shelley to tap to the Anaconda Vice at 22:00 exactly. That seems long but the action just flew by. The selling and psychology was top notch, and I just really enjoyed the hell out of the match. The Embassy attack Punk afterwards and Shelley saves him. Crowd chants for AJ Styles, then chants for Shelley.
Rating: ***1/2

MATCH #8: Samoa Joe & Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries & Jack Evans

BG says: Evans & Danielson start. Mark Nulty comments that Jack Evans’ style and dancing has been played out since 2001, which is pretty funny considering that he himself has never said anything remotely hip during his time as an ROH commentator. Danielson brings in reinforcements to serve Evans, because neither he nor Joe could handle it alone. They trade pinfall attempts and break. Danielson grabs a headlock and wrenches it in. He gets a pinfall and won’t let Evans bridge before doing some break dancing of his own. Danielson hits a dropkick sending Evans out of the ring. He comes back in the ring and asks for Joe. Joe comes in and tosses Evans in Aries’ direction. Aries tags in, gets forearmed then quickly tags out. Evans channels the Karate Kid so Joe goes Cobra Kai on him. He blocks all of his strikes and then takes him down and out with one slap. He hits the Big Joe Combo and tags Danielson in. He gets 2 and then puts on a really nasty chinlock. Aries makes the save. Danielson puts on the Border City stretch and then hits a double underhook suplex for 2. Joe comes in and kicks him one time for the people. It actually knocks Evans out of his shoes. Joe tags in and plows through a boot in the corner and hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Danielson tags in and stomps the hamstrings. Ugh, so gross. He puts on a Mexican surfboard and somehow shoves Evans head towards his crotch in that position. Joe comes and dropkicks Evans while he’s still in the hold. That’s so nasty. Danielson goes for a superplex but Aries runs in and hits him with a back suplex. He drags Evans over and tags himself in. He tosses Danielson around by his beard and spits at Joe. Evans phantom tags in and hits an elbow in the corner for 1 when Joe throws Evans’ own shoe at him. Danielson gets tossed to the floor where Generation Next double-teams him. Back in the ring Evans hits a dropkick for 2. He dumps him again and again he gets double-teamed on the floor. Back in the ring Evans gets 2. Aries tags in and hits the babyface dropkick in the corner for 2. He hits a gutbuster and an STO before hitting explosive elbow #2 for 2 when Joe throws the second shoe at him. Joe blames it on a fan. Aries steals the shoes back so that Joe can’t use them anymore. Evans throws Danielson to the floor again where he gets double-teamed, again. Danielson hits a spin kick back in the ring but Aries tags in and cuts off the hot tag. On the outside Aries hits a forearm off the apron. Joe finally comes through and hits the suicide dive onto Generation Next. He puts Aries in the corner for the ole kick but Aries catches him and Danielson with a 450 splash. Back in the ring he misses the 630 senton and Danielson hits a forearm. Joe gets the hot tag and takes out Aries. He hits the STO on him but gets chop blocked when he goes after Evans. Generation Next blow their big double-team move because Evans slips without his shoes. Aries slams Danielson onto Joe and then hits a frog splash on Joe for 2. Evans tags in and gets powerslammed for 2. Danielson catches Aries with the airplane spin, and it’s a long one. He hits a dizzy dropkick on the turnbuckle. Joe catches Evans with a Death Valley driver for 2. He misses the palm strike but hits a lariat. He puts on the Stretch Muffler for the win. The match got pretty messy at the end there, but was every bit as fun as the Cabana/McGuinness match and was pretty much wall-to-all action. When he did decide to play heel Aries did it very well.
Rating: ***3/4

The Rottweilers attack Joe and Danielson on the ramp, so I guess Homicide and Danielson don’t get paid tonight. Joe and his attacker brawl to the back as Homicide and Danielson fight through the crowd. The segment ends without a resolution.

JZ says: The match begins with a dance-off, which the crowd (and myself) finds highly amusing. Samoa Joe gets his rematch tomorrow night for the ROH World Title against Austin Aries. Aries is a little tentative about getting in the ring with Joe, as he should be. Evans loses his shoes so Joe takes it upon himself to abuse Jack with his own shoes. Evans is really taking a shitkicking in this match and he keeps coming back for more. The vibe in this match is cool, as Evans is trying to stand in Joe and Danielson’s way from getting to the Champ, who is doing his best to avoid Joe, who he must face tomorrow night. Evans slips off Aries’ back and almost breaks his neck because he doesn’t have his shoes to get traction with. Joe just destroys Evans for the win at 23:12. It was a little long for what they did, but it was a ton of fun and everyone played their parts perfectly. The Rottweilers attack Joe and Danielson on their way back to further the Danielson/Homicide issue.
Rating: ***3/4

MATCH #9: Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles

BG says: After months of exile because of bad TNA/ROH relations, the rightful owner of the Styles Clash returns to ROH to take on his evil protйgй. I have to admit that it’s nice to have a clear cut heel/babyface distinction in the main event. AJ dumps Rave on his head right off the bat. No dueling chants here, as the crowd wants to see AJ hurt Rave. They take it to the mat where AJ goes for pin falls and Rave goes after the wrist. AJ gets a wristlock of his own but Rave punches him while in the hold. AJ wrenches him around and sends him to the floor. Back in the ring AJ calls Rave naughty things. He turns his back on him and gets his face rubbed into the mat. Rave bails when AJ starts to get the advantage back. AJ hits him with a sick baseball slide. He goes for a plancha but Rave catches him with a gutbuster. Rave whips AJ into the guardrail but he leaps over it. Rave tries to dive onto him but AJ catches him and suplexes him onto a bunch of chairs. They brawl through the crowd. AJ goes for a press slam on the bleachers but ends up getting pulled face first onto them. Back at ringside AJ nails Rave with a clothesline. Back in the ring AJ hits a back suplex. He hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a kneedrop for 2. Nana gets on the microphone and declares Rave the inventor of the Rave Clash. AJ goes after Nana. Rave blocks a German suplex with the ropes and hits a back suplex. Awesome. He grounds and pounds and hits a kick to the back. He puts on a full nelson but AJ reverses to a backbreaker and a clothesline. He goes to the top but Rave yanks him off. AJ hits the kip up hurricanrana. Rave hits a side Russian legsweep for 2. He hits a neckbreaker for 2. He calls for the Rave Clash but AJ blocks it. Rave puts on a seated abdominal stretch as Prince Nana rules it on the outside. Rave turns him over for 2. They fight to the apron where AJ hits a brainbuster. That shouldn’t be possible, but there it was. Back in the ring AJ hits the springboard forearm. He hits the German suplex/face buster combo for 2. Rave blocks a roaring forearm and hits a backbreaker and Ghanarea for 2. AJ hits the roaring clothesline for 2. Rave catches him with the crossface but AJ makes the ropes. AJ comes back and starts pummeling Rave. Rave hits a back elbow but gets caught with a crazy kick. Rave reverses the Styles clash to a roll up for 2. They trade pin fall attempts and Rave hits the running knee for 2. Rave calls for the Rave clash but AJ comes back with an Asai moonsault. He picks him up in a torture rack and hits a sidewalk slam for 2. Nana gets up on the apron. AJ goes after him and turns around to get a face full of aerosol spray. Rave rolls him up for the win. What an awesome brawl. I don’t think that could have been laid out any better than it was, but I’m going to predict that the eventual rematch will rule even harder. Jimmy Rave took a huge step forward with this.
Rating: ***3/4

The Embassy attack AJ after the match. The numbers keep him down until CM Punk makes the save. AJ gets to send the fans home happy by hitting the Styles Clash on Fast Eddie as Punk brawls with Rave on the outside.

JZ says: Some random footstool is accompanying Jimmy Rave to the ring tonight. The pop for the returning Styles is large and rightfully so. AJ’s last match in ROH was against CM Punk from At Our Best (03.13.04). This match is being billed as “one night only,” so we’ll just see about that. AJ goes right after Rave and Rave chickenshits around and avoids him. Man Jimmy Rave is a great heel. AJ DRILLS Rave in the face with a dropkick on the floor. They do some brawling in the crowd but it’s not the lame “walk each other around” type of outside-the-ring brawling. The brainbuster on the ring apron is just SICK. Rave gets the upset pin at 22:06. This was an awesome match with the right guy going over. Rave just plays his part so perfectly, and the crowd boos him for it. I love it! The brawl continues after the match, and CM Punk comes out and goes right after Jimmy Rave, while Fast Eddie falls victim to the Styles Clash.
Rating: ****

Aftermath

BG says: The cameraman runs out to the parking lot where Danielson and Homicide continue their brawl from earlier. They brawl onto some cars in creative spots. It’s okay, I was there and I remember the owners of those cars encouraging them to do it. Danielson backdrops Homicide on the pavement as the “feed” cuts out.

Cabana hosts a dressed down edition of Good Times Great Memories in Dayt… er, Chicago. Nigel McGuinness is the special guest. They’re both glowing, and gloating, about their performance in their match. A rematch will be forthcoming, but in the meantime they unofficially decide to team up. Cabana pimps his live GTGM with special guest Bobby Heenan on the final night of the Third Anniversary Celebration.

JZ says: I remember Brad and I were standing around somewhere nearby during this fight, because Brad at one point wasn’t paying attention and he almost got run over by the two fighting grapplers.

Cabana and McGuinness make nice-nice talking about the match they had. Cabana plugs tomorrow night’s Live “Good Times, Great Memories.”

MVP

BG says: Jack Evans. That tag match just wouldn’t have been the same without his comedy and Stretch Armstrong-like abilities.

JZ says: AJ Styles, for living up to the hype of his return match.
________________________________________________________________________________________

E-mail Brad at [email protected]
E-mail Jacob at [email protected]

See you soon with our review of Third Anniversary Celebration Pt. 3!

Visit rohwrestling.com for news on ROH shows, ROH merchandise, and the ROH forum!

The 411: BG says: You really can't go wrong with this tape. Once again there are no mind-blowing matches, but where else to you get five matches over ***, three of which are dangerously close to the **** territory, a brutal tag team title match AND a new wrestler being elevated into the main event. Go out of your way for this one. JZ says: Brad pretty much summed it up. This show is pretty great from top to bottom, the right people went over, and a heel won the main event. Since this is the second of the three-part anniversary show, the movie rule of sequels teaches us that the second installment has a dark ending, which this show pretty much did.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]