ROH -The Last Stand 01.29.04

Review by Brad Garoon & Jacob Ziegler

Intro

BG says: Gary Michael Cappetta introduces Sugar Sean Price to Julius Smokes and the ROH viewership. GMC and Smokes ask Homicide to cut a promo on his match with Punk, but ‘Cide asks for time to himself. J-Train is confused and he and SSP go after Homicide.

In the Ring with Samoa Joe. Joe runs down Jim Cornette and the Briscoe Brothers and retells the story of the feud. He rips on Cornette for missing Battle Lines, saying he was afraid of Joe. In reality he was told by ROH management to go to Dayton when the show was actually in Wilmington. In November, Joe beat up Cornette behind closed doors, so he shows the home viewers what he did to Cornette on an ROH student. I love these Samoa Joe segments.

The Prophecy, minus Christopher Daniels, are bickering. Allison Danger tries to get them on the same page, telling them that in their four way #1 contender’s trophy match it doesn’t matter which one of them wins. The camera man THEN asks if they can start the interview, which pisses me off to no end. Maff cuts his promo, saying he is furious that Daniels is injured and will use his anger to be dominant in ROH. Camera man says cut and the Prophecy keeps bickering. This whole “we are different people on camera and off camera,” thing is really stupid, and has been a Prophecy staple since the beginning. I beg of you ROH, please stop doing this.

JZ says: Well Brad pretty much hit the nail on the head on all counts. I also love Samoa Joe’s Ring, especially this one, and I absolutely HATE the way the Prophecy cuts promos. What’s even dumber about it is that they “get into character” or whatever, but they are still the EXACT SAME. So what purpose does it ultimately serve, besides damaging the characters? Plus, “you know it” is a horrible catchphrase. Whitmer pleads his case to be the number one contender, and I have to say that between him and Maff, I’m going to side with Whitmer.

By the way, as of 01.29.04, the ROH Top 5 Rankings went like this:

1) Vacant
2) Matt Stryker
3) AJ Styles
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Jay Briscoe

MATCH #1: John Walters vs. Chad Collyer, 3 Rope Break Rule in Effect, winner gets a spot in the Pure Wrestling Title Tournament on 02.14.04

BG says: Lock up to start. Both men work the arm early on. Collyer uses some very cool chain wrestling to get Walters into a wristlock. Walters casually goes to the ropes, wasting his first rope break. Walters starts working Collyer’s wrist. The crowd is firmly behind Walters. Cool chain wrestling leads to a surfboard stretch by Walters. He puts more pressure on by grabbing Collyer’s head and locking in a dragon sleeper. Very, very cool. Collyer pokes Walters’ eyes to escape. They trade arm drags as the crowd chants for Walters. A hard European uppercut gives Collyer the advantage. Collyer gets 2 off a vertical suplex and slaps on a sleeper. Walters quickly escapes and misses a dropkick. Collyer capitalizes and puts Johnny boy into the Texas Cloverleaf. Walters uses his 2nd rope break to escape. Walters nails a pumphandle backbreaker to stop Collyer’s momentum. Walters goes for the pin off a whip to the turnbuckle and forgets what kind of match he’s in, as he pulls Collyer’s arm away from the ropes, which is bad strategy if you are trying to get your opponent to waste 3 rope breaks. Walters hits the chinlock and Collyer reverses out. Collyer hits a powerslam for 2. More chain wrestling, and this time its less cool as you can see Collyer feeding his arms to Walters to get moves executed. Walters hits an awesome looking jawbreaker which leads into a pin exchange. Collyer gets the cloverleaf on again, which Walters reverses into the sharpshooter. The commentators say its Collyer’s second, although I never saw his first. Hurricane DDT by Walters gets 2. Walters goes to the top and misses a crossbody. Collyer tries his luck on the top and gets a dropkick to the gut for his troubles. Walters goes to apply the sharpshooter again, and this time Collyer is already in the ropes, thus wasting his last rope break. Walters applies a Boston crab with the assist of the ropes to get Collyer to submit, putting Walters in the Pure Wrestling Title tournament at the 2nd Anniversary Show. This match hit a nice pace in the beginning, but it never really kicked into high gear. Add to that the pet peeves of mine that these boys violated during the match and your left with a solid, pretty looking match that was not quite as effective in getting the three rope break rule over as the previous shows opener.
Rating: **1/2

JZ says: This would be the second match to utilize the 3 rope break rule, and I was interested in seeing if Walters and Collyer, two wrestlers I like, could equal the Stryker/Shelley opener from the previous show. It didn’t, and I think it had something to do with this crowd not being as into it as the crowd in Wilmington was. Both men waste their first rope breaks on simple holds and get mad at themselves for doing it, and I really dig that, as this was both men’s first time with these rules and they wouldn’t be quite adjusted yet. The crowd slowly, sort of got into it, but the guys couldn’t really get a lot of momentum going. Still, it was a very solid match with a lot of good chain wrestling, reversals and counter-holds. The finish was very cool, as Walters put Collyer (who had used all three of his rope breaks) in a Boston Crab while he was tangled up in the ropes, almost like a tarantula, at 14:06. It’s nice to see the rules actually have a bearing on the end of the match. Really solid if unspectacular match.
Rating: ***

Christopher Daniels Pre-Taped Promo

BG says: Christopher Daniels, selling his injury from the previous show, cuts a promo from his home holding his baby girl. Daniels blames himself for the injury because he underestimated CM Punk and the Second City Saints, thinking they’d be as easy to defeat as Steve Corino’s Group. He calls Punk a petulant child who has tantrums in the same way his baby would. He promises to show Punk a side of him that his daughter will never see when he returns. We are still waiting on that return. This was probably the best Daniels promo I’ve ever seen, as it was all quiet intensity and none of his usual goofiness.

JZ says: I’m going to have to side with the Bird Man here, as I also really liked this promo. The cameraman didn’t ask Daniels if he was ready to “cut a promo,” Daniels didn’t do his silly laugh, and didn’t use the “you know it” catchphrase. This really made me want to see Daniels come back and have a 1-on-1 match with Punk, but sadly the issues with TNA have prevented it from happening so far. But recently the doors look to be back open for that, so let’s hope Daniels is on his way back.

MATCH #2: Six Man Mayhem – Caprice Coleman vs. Jack Evans vs. Slyk Wagner Brown vs. Hydro vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt, winner gets a spot in the Top 5 Rankings

BG says: This is the inaugural six man mayhem match, which has the same rules as a scramble match, but has six singles wrestlers instead of teams. I’ll try to do some play by play, but I have a feeling I won’t be able to keep up with it. Slyk, Sabin, Sonjay and Becky all get pre-match chants. Sabin and Sonjay start things off. Both these guys have been lost to ROH because of the TNA situation. Their exchange here is awesome and makes me hope that the rumors of the TNA controversy getting cleared up are true. Sabin nails a huge enziguiri on Sonjay. Both men role out and Hydro and Evans come in. Hydro lands a huge clothesline on Evans, causing him to spin in true Jack Evans fashion. Both men role out and Slyk and Caprice come in and I realize that any attempt at doing play by play is futile. Caprice brings the awesome great spinning leg lariat followed by an amazing ax kick onto SWB. I take a break from the tape to pray that Coleman will be brought in for every ROH show. I come back to see SWB reverse a Coleman crossbody into a backbreaker. Sigh. Sabin catches SWB by surprise with a springboard dropkick. This match proves to truly be made in the image of the scramble match, as everyone dives to the outside. The monotony of that spot is ignored because Sonjay hits a beautiful moonsault and Evans does a dive that probably defies physics in some way or another. Back in the ring Hydro gets a two count on Evans. Everyone puts everyone else into a submission and the ref gets frustrated (but not as frustrated as me) and calls for everyone to break. With that over, we get more cool stuff as Coleman, SWB and Hydro hit a triple suplex on Sabin, Sonjay and Evans. Hydro nails Sabin with a NASTY kick in the corner. Sonjay gets a muscle buster and the Hindu press on Evans, only to have it broken up. Really awkward moment as Slyk tries to get Sonjay up on the top rope while Caprice Coleman just stands in the middle of the ring looking on. Hydro finally pulls Coleman out of the ring and Slyk finally nails his move on Sonjay after falling off the top a couple times. Whoever was responsible for that mess should be beaten. But not if it’s Coleman, he has immunity because he rules. Sabin gets a dragon suplex followed by his finisher (is that the future shock?) for the pin. Great effort by everyone, and I’ll just go ahead and blame Slyk for the awkward moment in the match. So blame him for the star rating not being higher.
Rating: **3/4

JZ says: To all things, even the six man mayhem match, a beginning. I really like half the guys in this match (Sabin – my favorite wrestler, Coleman, and Sonjay), like two at certain times (Evans and Hydro), and find one to be worthless (process of elimination people!). This match started off great with Sabin and Sonjay exchanging sweet moves and counter-moves, but as soon as they exited, the match never reclaimed the magic. Caprice Coleman and Slyk Wagner Brown have a few exchanges that shows how right my opinion on Brown is. And if that makes April Hunter mad, so be it. It also proves how right Brad is about Coleman ruling all. I would have enjoyed this match a lot more without the two most overdone spots in the history of all overdone spots. Everyone does their dive to the outside of the ring, which is saved by Sonjay doing a breathtaking Moonsault and Evans doing an absolutely unfathomable flip/dive. I mean, how do you even discover that you can do such things? The match did have the right finish, as Sabin hit a wicked dragon suplex on Hydro and followed it up with his finisher (same move he hit on Jimmy Jacobs last show, just not from the top rope) at 9:26 to get the win and a spot in the top five. Should have been better with the talent involved.
Rating: **

GOOD TIMES, GREAT MEMORIES LIVE!: Special guests Dunn & Marcos

BG says: We are LIVE for the first time in the ring. Colt Cabana comes out and does a standup routine that I’d love to see on tour. I may be the only one, but that’s all that matters to me. Of note, white people suck, babyfaces are confusing, and assholes wear sunglasses indoors. The crowd chants “You Suck.” Colt notes the poor craftsmanship of the ring which segues into his special guests, Dunn & Marcos, the Ring Crew Express. Kevin and Kirby take exception to Colt’s verbal beating and launch the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 2004 tour. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer hit the ring. Whitmer grabs Colt but gets distracted by Dunn and Marcos, allowing Colt to escape. The Crew get destroyed. The Prophecy leave, and Maff is not happy with Whitmer.

JZ says: Brad, you are not alone, as I find Colt’s routine to be hilarious. As far as I’m concerned, guests on “Good Times, Great Memories” should be optional. Oh, another thing I like about “Good Times, Great Memories” is that the font shown on screen is the “Andy” or “Mead Bold” font, which is the handwriting of a man from Chicago named Andy Mead, whom I happen to be acquainted with. Anyway, Dunn & Marcos come out and stand up to Colt, but end up taking a wicked beating from Maff & Whitmer, who were coming for Colt.

Right after this, Sean tries to get a word with Homicide, but he ain’t talkin’.

MATCH #3: No Disqualification Match – Special K vs. HC Loc & Justin Credible vs. The Backseat Boyz

BG says: Brawl on the outside to start. This is supposed to be a triple threat, no DQ, tag match, but Special K has four guys out there. Everyone beats on Special K. In the ring, Lit and Angeldust get destroyed. Still not sure who’s in this match for Special K. Loc beats on Izzy for a while. Credible and Acid go for the double superkick, but Credible is way late. The Backseats hit the Dream Sequence on Lit. Loc and Credible hit a spike tombstone onto Dixie. The Backseats land the T-Gimmick on Loc for the pin and the win. This was beyond annoying. I realize it was no DQ, but all 4 members of Special K were going for pins and getting pinned, and since the commentators didn’t mention any special stipulation about K being allowed to have more guys in there I’ll assume none existed. Skip over this.
Rating: DUD

JZ says: Once again, Brad is right on. This match was just beyond bad, with eight guys out there just doing moves to each other, and a bunch of girls are hanging around ringside not doing anything. And where is the insurance policy Abyss? Four Special K guys were participating in the match, and for the most part, Loc, Credible, Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere were working together, so why not make it an eight man tag? I realize that the Backseats double crossed the Carnage Crew at the end, but they could have done this and been on their team too. But who cares anyway, because the Carnage Crew and Special K wrestle each other on every show, and it’s always basically the same match. The Backseats get the win after 5:32 of “action.”
Rating: DUD

MATCH #4: Four Corner Survival For the #1 Contenders Trophy – BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff vs. Xavier vs. Matt Stryker

BG says: Lots of history in this one. Maff and Whitmer are in the Prophecy. At Final Battle 2003 Whitmer joined the Prophecy, Xavier left it and joined Prince Nana’s Embassy. That same night Matt Stryker defeated BJ Whitmer in the finals of the Field of Honor tournament. Maff and Whitmer don’t get along because Maff swore on his father’s grave that the Prophecy had nothing to do with the Lucy attack, when in fact Whitmer was the one who attacked Lucy at Christopher Daniels’ request and without Maff’s knowledge. Xavier and Stryker start things off. They trade wristlocks until Whitmer tags himself in. Knucklelock between Whitmer and Xavier. Xavier puts Whitmer’s hands on the mat and stomps on them. Nicely done. Xavier gets a hammerlock on BJ and they trade chops. BJ hits 2 suplexes and bridges for a two count. Maff tags Whitmer out and slaps the crap out of Xavier’s back. Xavier lands some brutal knees to Maff in the corner, and covers for 2. Stryker tags Maff out and capitalizes on Xavier’s time in the ring. Stryker puts a hammerlock and stretch muffler on Xavier, but Xavier gets out. Styker chops Whitmer into the match. Xavier tags out to Maff and we anticipate the implosion of the Prophecy. Maff and Whitmer charge one another but swerve and attack Stryker and Xavier on the apron. In true four-way tradition everyone hits their dives to the outside. Stryker gets the Strykerlock on Whitmer, so Maff puts Styker in an armlock to save. Stryker doesn’t let go so Xavier hits a 450 splash onto Stryker and Maff simultaneously. Awesome. Xavier hits Kiss Your X Goodbye on Whitmer, leading to everyone hitting their finishers on everyone else and Stryker dominating everyone for a moment until Maff knocks Stryker down and he and Whitmer simultaneously get the three count on him. This match told a few really cool stories, and while not the fastest four-way match you’ll see in ROH, it certainly held together better than most of them do. Xavier getting targeted by all 3 men and not being able to tag out in the early going was cool. Maff and Whitmer working together the entire match convinced you that nobody else had a chance of winning except for when Stryker would go crazy and beat on everyone. Very fun four-way.
Rating: ***1/4

JZ says: And here comes Brad and I’s first major disagreement. I will concur about the match doing a great job telling a lot of interlocking stories, and as I was thinking about all of it before the match, I was really excited. Perhaps I pumped myself up for it too much, because I ended up being very disappointed. Stryker and Xavier started with a nice sequence, and Maff and Whitmer did a good job working together as they would do at the behest of Daniels. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t click for me. I thought that with four guys as talented as this, they wouldn’t do the same tired spots that we saw earlier in the show in the six man mayhem, but then there they were all doing a dive to the outside of the ring. Then, to really annoy me, they do a three-way submission spot, and Xavier becomes my new hero by breaking it up not with a submission but a beautiful 450 splash. Maff and Whitmer got the double-pin Stryker at 14:09, which would later learn set up a 3-way with Joe at the Second Anniversary Show. I don’t mind the prospects of that match, but I do have a few problems. First, Maff already had a 1-count when Whitmer went down for the cover too. Wouldn’t this be considered breaking up the fall? And why wouldn’t Maff (the character) get all pissed all tell Whitmer to fuck off for going for the cover when he was going for it also? Very, very disappointing.
Rating: **

JIM CORNETTE PROMO

BG says: Jim Cornette and the Briscoes are backstage. Cornette cuts a great promo running down Joe and asking ROH management for some real competition for the Briscoes. Cornette is amazing.

JZ says: Seriously, Cornette does rock. Why has WWE never considered bringing him in as one of the General Managers? Cornette runs down The Prophecy, Samoa Joe, The Backseat Boyz, The Carnage Crew and even The Second City Saints, claming there is no competition for his charges The Briscoe Brothers. Having Cornette be their mouthpiece is a perfect arrangement, and as usual, Cornette does a great job putting over The Briscoes, the best team in North America.

THE PROPHECY PROMO

BG says: GMC is backstage with the bickering Prophecy and tells them that they both get a shot at ROH champion Samoa Joe at the Second Anniversary Show. If either of them pin Joe they win the title, but if they pin each other they win a singles match with Joe for the title at a later date. GMC sites the result of the 4-way match at Main Event Spectacles as precedent for this decision, but Corino never got his title shot at all and Punk didn’t get his until six months later.

JZ says: What, Allison Danger, Maff and Whitmer don’t stop to get into character? Yeah, well, good. This was an effective segment to set up for the World Title match at the next show, and Whitmer being only concerned with only winning the title while Danger and Maff are worried about more than that is a good dynamic for them to have. I really, really like BJ Whitmer.

MATCH #5: Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs

BG says: My favorite Jacobs v. Shelley match is from IWA Mid South’s show “Brothers in Blood.” That match was a **** affair in my opinion, and built off of all the previous matches the two had had in that company, so comparing it to this match wouldn’t be fair. Fans chant for both men before the match. Shelley gets Jacobs in a wristlock early on and mocks the Huss. Jacobs gets out and ditches the bandana, so you know he’s serious. Shelley gets a couple of weird-ass submission moves on Jacobs, with each being cooler than the last. A pinning combo leads to the Border City Stretch by Shelley, but Jacobs gets the ropes. Shelley and Jacobs trade kicks to the thighs, and the exchange goes in Jacobs’ favor due to Shelley underestimating his strength. Jacobs hits a huge Bruiser Brody kneedrop on Shelley for 2. Jacobs goes for a dive to the outside on Shelley, but gets caught in a HUGE gutbuster, breaking his wrist legit in the process. Shelley does his full nelson using the legs, and yanks on Jacobs’ hand in doing so. DAMN. Awesome top rope kneedrop gets 2 for Shelley. Shelley does a bunch of moves I don’t know the name of followed by a submission I don’t know the name of. Three point charge by Shelley is blocked by a back elbow by Jacobs. Shelley blocks a huricanrana by launching Jacobs into the turnbuckle. Jacobs gets a big neckbreaker off the top on Shelley, and both men are out. Jacobs goes all E. Honda on Shelley’s ass, and hits a Kid Krusher for 2. Spinning DDT gets 2 for Shelley. Shelley goes for a twisting senton and comes up with nothing. Well, it looked cool at least. Jacobs goes for the Contra Code and misses, but hits the boot of fear for 2. Jacobs goes up for the senton but comes down on knees allowing Shelley to hit Frankie Kazarian’s finisher and put on the Border City Stretch for the tap out. Just a crazy fun match that allowed both guys to show their stuff in a singles environment. Jimmy Jacobs is one tough husser for finishing the match with a broken wrist and showing no pain until the bell rang to end the match.
Rating: ***1/2

JZ says: I believe this would be #1,250,386 in the Jimmy Jacobs/Alex Shelley series of matches, all of which are good, to varying degrees. This one is very, very good, and was a really great display of their skills. It also builds on the great performances both men put on 19 days earlier in Wilmington. A note I would like to make is the presence of referee Brian Gorie, who I have worked with on shows before and is one of my personal heroes, and a referee I watch to try and become better myself. He does a really good job, and I think referees too often get overlooked, so if you see Brian Gorie, tell him what a good job he’s doing. And if you see Art Mendez, ask him who pours the perfect amount of ketchup. Okay, tangent, back to the match. Jacobs dismisses his headband, and you know what that means – watch out Mr. Shelley. Alex Shelley does a lot of cool submissions in this match, most of which I had never seen before, and quite honestly baffled me. This guy has been in the business less than three years, and he’s this damn good. Jimmy Jacobs is also very, very good, and I believe he is underrated. Would Alex Shelley be as good as he is if he was feuding with someone like Scotty Z instead of Jimmy Jacobs? Absolutely not, and I think that is a testament to the skills of Jimmy Jacobs. In this match, Jacobs not only proves that he is a great wrestler, but one tough bastard. When he did the dive to the outside of the ring, he broke his wrist and wound up wearing cast for a few weeks. But he lets Shelley continue to do all kinds of moves that put pressure on the wrist, and he takes it like a MAN. The commentators talk about how these two drove to the show together from Michigan, and then note that it will be a long ride home for the loser, which I think is the right balance of realism and kayfabe, and makes the match seem even more competitive than it already does. Shelley ends up going over with the Border City Stretch (which was set up by a great sequence) at 12:19. Match of the night I say.
Rating: ***3/4

MATCH #6: CM Punk vs. Homicide

BG says: Play by play is going to be relaxed for this because I want enjoy it, and if this match is anything like their match from Round Robin Challenge 2, I’m not going to be able to keep up. Punk stalls to start. Cabana and Smokes jaw with each other. Pause for a second to mention that Cabana and Smokes would make a great comedy duo, rivaling such legends as Pinky and the Brain, Ren and Stimpy and maybe just maybe, Meatwad and Master Shake. The first minute of the match is non-stop action made even better by the fact that nothing they did looked contrived or heavily scripted. Punk bails to take his first time out, reminding the ref he has two left, ignoring the fact that there are no time outs in wrestling! Homicide works over Punk’s arm in brutal fashion. Punk bails to take his 2nd time out, allowing Coach Cabana consoles him on the outside and yell at the ref. Back in for a few more minutes of action, but Punk decides to take his third and final time out after Homicide dominates him. Well, that’s it for Punk, because when he gets back in the ring Homicide throws his bandana at him. Punk uses it as a snotrag. Okay. The match goes full-tilt again until both men miss dropkicks and retreat to their corners. Coach Cabana helps out Punk while J-Trainer fixes Homicide up. This match is great. Both men try to out-heel one another, but their heeldom is just too equal! Punk enziguiris Homicide out of the ring, and hits a weak suicide dive. Back in the ring Coach Cabana distracts Homicide long enough for Punk to hit the boot scrapes. Well that just pisses Homicide off who comes back with a huge knee to Punk’s face in the corner, causing J-Trainer to go insane outside. Punk reverses the copkilla to a sleeper which Homicide reverses to a sleeper which Punk reverses to a sleeper to finally put Homicide down for a minute. Homicide tries to jawjack his way out of this nasty predicament, but Punk holds on. Homicide then finds success, reversing the sleeping into an absolutely nasty backdrop driver. Homicide sends Punk outside and hits the tope con hilo without killing himself or ruining the match! The match goes into overdrive as both guys trade clotheslines and yakuza kicks. Homicide gets the upperhand with a piledriver for 2. He goes for the STF, but Punk gets out. Copkilla is reversed to a cradled back suplex for 2. Homicide lands a HUGE lariat for 2. Punk goes for the Ace Crusher but Homicide powers out for one of his own. One copkilla later and its all over. This was just non-stop action that played to all of Homicide’s strengths and did not allow any of his weaknesses to be shown. This is the match that marked the beginning of Homicide’s heel turn and the last CM Punk match before he was truly entrenched in the ROH main event. Post match the Prophecy attack Cabana, ramming his shoulder into the post outside. Cabana would miss the February show because of this.
Rating: ***3/4

JZ says: Major disagreement number two. I am as big a mark for CM Punk as anybody, and Homicide can have really good matches with great performers, which Punk certainly is. This match had a lot of elements of greatness, but they didn’t connect for me the way they did for Brad. I still certainly liked the match though, especially once it got going. Punk stalls A LOT at the beginning, and J-Train, Colt Cabana and Traci Brooks all spend a good amount of time standing on the ring apron. As funny as J-Train and Cabana are, I really wanted to see Punk and Homicide start going at it, and I was getting restless. Punk raises my ire by doing the face wash, but Homicide picks me back up by doing a nice looking Tope Con Hilo and not killing himself, Punk, or a fan. The final sequence finally got really, really good, as both men were just pounding the hell out of each other with kicks, and trying to one up each other by duplicating each other’s moves. Homicide gets the win with the Cop Killa at 20:00, which ranks up with the Jay Driller (probably higher actually) as one of the sickest moves I’ve seen. I really wanted Punk to go over, but with Homicide getting programmed with Joe, and Punk having the matches with Styles then winning the tag team titles, the right man won. I would have gladly gone higher if the first ten minutes were as good as the second ten minutes, but they weren’t. Oh, and post-match The Prophecy get to Colt Cabana and injure his shoulder, and look like they’re going to go after Punk, but Homicide stands in their way for whatever reason.
Rating: ***

MATCH #7: ROH Tag Team Title Match – The Briscoe Brothers (with Jim Cornette) vs. Samoa Joe & Jerry Lynn

BG says: This is the last match in the tag team portion of this feud, hence the name of the show, as Samoa Joe has already failed twice to get the tag team titles off of the Briscoe Brothers with such partners as AJ Styles and the American Dragon Brian Danielson. On the other side of the feud, Jay Briscoe won a title shot against Joe in late 2003. He took his shot at Tradition Continues, and after a valiant effort fell to Joe. Mark Briscoe pinned Joe in the tag title match at the Conclusion, so he got his shot at Final Battle 2003 and he failed as well. Joe and Danielson lost at the last show Battle Lines are Drawn, but Danielson took the pinfall so Joe did not have to defend his title. This is Joe’s last shot, and his partner is Jerry Lynn, making his ROH return after a nearly 2 year absence. Joe gets the streamer treatment, as well he should. Cornette does the ring introductions for the Briscoes, and asks Joe and Jerry for a fair, clean fight. He then whispers insults about Joe into Mark’s ear. Joe and Jay start things off. Joe dominates Jay, but the crowd chants for Lynn so Joe tags out to him. Mark Briscoe also tags in. Jerry hits a monkey flip into an armdrag into an armlock. Now here’s where it gets good. Cornette yells at the ref that Jerry is breaking the rules, so Jerry yells back to Cornette, “This is wrestling, and the WWF fired me for it!” Cornette, who runs the WWE’s developmental system, shakes his head as if to say he’s got me there. But this is James E. Cornette, and he must rebut! “Hey Lynn, this is how you win a match, and if you’d done that you’da kept your job!” Well, that’s all well and good Corny but you were pointing at the Briscoes when you said that and they’re getting dominated. Joe comes in and beats the crap out of Mark as Cornette asks for a time out, but since he’s not CM Punk he doesn’t get one. Some nice teamwork between Joe and Jerry, as they continue to kick the snot out of the Briscoes. This is the difference between this match and the match from Battle Lines, Joe and Jerry have chemistry, and it actually feels like they might win the match. Mark tags out to Jay, who immediately gets caught in a front facelock. Lynn gets 2 off of a dropkick. Mark tags in and Lynn reverses a powerslam into an inverted DDT for 2. Joe comes in and knocks Jay off the apron, then hits him with a flying forearm. Awesome. Joe then goes for the ole ole kick on Jay, but gets caught mid move by a crossbody off the top from Mark. WHOA. Cornette walks into the ring and flips out. Lynn goes after Cornette but gets attacked by Mark from behind. Kneedrop gets 2 for Mark. He puts Lynn in the sleeper. Lynn escapes but Mark’s got the hair. Jay tags in and gets an assisted legdrop on Lynn and Joe breaks up the pin. Jay puts the sleeper back on Lynn. Crowd chants for Joe, then Jerry. Lynn powers out and goes to the outside so he can jump on the apron and do the legdrop he does in every single match. He goes for a splash but Jay gets his knees up. Cornette distracts the ref so the Briscoes can doubleteam Lynn. A Mark Briscoe springboard kneedrop gets 2 on Lynn. Mark goes back to the sleeper, and turns it into a surfboard. Lynn escapes and roles Mark up for 2… and then gets stungunned by Mark. Mark goes up and gets caught by Lynn, but knocks him back down. He goes for the shooting star press but misses. Just when it feels like Joe has been out of the match so long it hurts, he and Jay both tag in. Joe kills everything that moves. Joe gets the STF on Jay and Lynn hits a huge spear on Mark. Jay makes the ropes. Big lariat gets 2 for Joe. Lynn huricanranas Mark to the floor. Cornette comes in to bash Joe with the racket, but Joe blocks and elbows Cornette in the face. Jay nails Joe with the racket and goes for the pin. Joe kicks out at 2 but the ref counts 3 anyway and awards the match to the Briscoes. Oops, someone made a boo-boo. The Briscoes and Cornette (with special guest Jim Cornette’s bloody nose) run away. Our heroes yell at the ref, who gets an Island Driver from Joe and a cradle piledriver from Lynn. Much, much better than last month’s tag match, which probably suffered because this match was announced before that match ever happened, thus giving away the ending. This match would have been better had the ending not sucked, but in true ROH form, they made the most of it.
Rating: ***3/4

JZ says: Wow, Mark Briscoe stopped Joe from doing the Ole Kick and lived to tell the tale, thus becoming my favorite wrestler on this particular show. This match was really good, as I have to admit that Jerry Lynn is also on my list of favorite wrestlers, I really like Joe, and the Briscoes are such a great tag team, and they are younger than I am (and I’m only 21!). This match had a much better flow than the previous version that saw Bryan Danielson tagging with Joe, and the placement at the end of the card made it feel very important. The exchange between Lynn and Cornette is priceless, and Cornette proves just how valuable he can be to a match. My only complaint with Jerry Lynn is that he needs to stop doing that legrop on the apron during every match, it seems way too contrived and would be better served if used sparingly. I was really digging this match a lot until the end, which unfortunately sucked on a few levels. Jay hits Joe with an extremely wussy-looking tennis racket shot, and Joe barely looks fazed, kicks out at two, but the referee counts three to end the match after 16:01. It looked like that wasn’t exactly the way it was supposed to go down, and it hurt the match for me. The same as the match with Danielson in place of Lynn, but I knocked a little bit off for the finish. But this match is better than the Danielson match, and would lead to one of the bloodiest matches anyone has ever seen. Joe and Lynn beat up the referee post match, thus violating the Code of Honor. Tsk tsk, that’s not setting a very good example now is it Champ?
Rating: ***1/2

POST SHOW

BG says: Joe is pissed backstage, saying the referee isn’t honorable and complains that he got screwed, which he did. He says he’s had enough of rackets and managers and interference and says since Jay gets a title shot because of that pinfall, he wants it in a steel cage. Joe then shifts gears to his match at the 2nd Anniversary Show, saying he’s already beat every member of the Prophecy one-on-one, including Christopher Daniels, so a triple threat against Maff and Whitmer doesn’t phase him. Maff & Whitmer then attack. Danger shouts how she did that for Daniels (huh?). Maff & Whitmer agree that the title is coming back to the Prophecy, but disagree over whose waist it will cover.

Sugar Sean Price finally catches up with Homicide and Smokes and asks them what the deal is. Homicide says he’s leaving for a while and doesn’t know when he’ll be back, but when he comes back there will be hell to pay because ROH is his heart and strength. SSP is confused and so am I. SSP signs off for ROH.

JZ says: Joe cuts a really good promo about how he got screwed, and is able to both challenge Jay to a steel cage match and talk about the triple threat at the Anniversary Show. Great vocal work by Joe, who then gets attacked by the Prophecy, who take ANOTHER opportunity to say “and you know it.” This sets up Joe’s next two title defenses perfectly, and shows what a great all around champion Joe is.

The Homicide promo on the other hand, makes absolutely no sense. I have no idea why he was leaving ROH, or why it was his “heart and strength.” Hopefully that will be explained when he gets back, but I get the feeling it won’t be.

MVP

BG says: CM Punk.

JZ says: Jimmy Jacobs.
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E-mail Brad at [email protected]
E-mail Jacob at [email protected]

See you soon with our review of The Second Anniversary Show!

You can pick this and all ROH shows up at ROHwrestling.com.

The 411: BG says: MUCH BETTER. While the previous show The Battle Lines Are Drawn started out hot and got worse as the show went on, this show started off solid and got nasty good from the 4 way on. There's only one stinker on the show, and it’s really short and I'd actually completely forgotten about it 2 matches later. Some people called this a weak show, but for my money this is the January ROH show to pick up. JZ says: I’ll agree with Brad and say this is the superior show. Only the Special K match outright sucked, and even the matches I didn’t particularly like (6 man mayhem, 4 corner survival), had people in it that I really liked and/or told an excellent story. None of the matches feel that long, and the show moves along at a nice pace.

Final Score:  7.7   [ Good ]