ROH – Glory By Honor III, September 11, 2004, Elizabeth, New Jersey

ROH – Glory By Honor III, September 11, 2004, Elizabeth, New Jersey

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Intro

BG says: Sugar Sean Price is backstage. He talks about the ROH debut of Mick Foley and introduces us to Dunn and Marcos. Lacey comes in to rip on them but Marcos rocks her like a hurricane. Some of Special K laughs, further dividing the group. Okay, Dixie is my favorite Special K member again.

JZ says: Sugar Sean’s got the Knicks jersey behind him. He continues to mispronounce Melee. Dig Dunn & Marcos opening two straight shows. Marcos calls Lacey a Ho, Becky and some others laugh, and then Dixie comes in and tells them to get serious. Wow, he’s got a shirt with buttons on. Cool.

MATCH #1: Jimmy Rave vs. Dixie

BG says: Dixie hits an armdrag to start. He takes Rave down with a headlock. Rave counters with one of his own. He hits a big clothesline and some chops in the corner. He hits a knee in the corner and a dropkick in Dixie’s naughty place for 2. He hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and a backbreaker/legsweep combo into a submission and crucifix rollup for 2. He hits a uranage suplex for 2 but Dixie comes back with a tornado DDT. He fights back with some chops and a leg lariat for 2. Rave hits that reverse fireman’s carry, which Punk calls a waterwheel suplex, for 2. We’ll go with waterwheel suplex from now on. Dixie rolls Rave up for 2 but Prince Nana gets on the mic. Dixie gets distracted and rolled up for 2. Rave hits the shining wizard and the Rave clash for 3. Eh, this was there. Another Jimmy Rave squash, and not as good as his match versus Angel Dust. The Embassy enters in the ring to congratulate Rave. Nana berates the crowd as only he can and flashes a “contract” for Foley’s membership to the Embassy. He introduces Foley but nobody comes out. Nana decides he’ll bring Foley out later.
Rating: *1/4

JZ says: The Jimmy Rave push continues! That makes me happy, because I always thought he was a pretty good worker, and now that he has an interesting character that makes him even better. He makes me laugh by faking a chop early in the match and poking Dixie in the eyes instead. Rave finishes with the usual Shining Wizard / Rave Clash combo at 5:39. It was pretty short. Punk telling Bauer that Rave’s Shining Wizard really is a running knee was a nice touch, as I’ve always wondered why that move is called a Shining Wizard. It’s really not. Prince Nana calls out Foley, who doesn’t come. Nana says he has butterflies.
Rating: *3/4

Taped Earlier Tonight

BG says: Gary Michael Capetta is with Samoa Joe in the back. Joe talks about his great matches at past Glory by Honors. John Walters selected Doug Williams as Samoa Joe’s opponent, and Joe was supposed to pick an opponent for Walters. Joe says that the only reason the Pure title exists is because nobody can take Joe’s title, and it’s just there to keep the boys satiated. Therefore he’s not picking an opponent for Walters. Joe avoids the topic of Homicide’s win over him at the previous show, and then pumps up an unprepared Jay Lethal for his match.

JZ says: You know, Joe actually did pick an opponent for John Walters, twice. The first choice was Jay Briscoe, but he wasn’t ready to come back yet. Then he picked Homicide, but he also went out with an injury. That was all over the News Wire, so I wonder why they just ignored Joe picking two prior opponents. Joe shits on the Pure Title again, which I’m not sure how much I like or not. I mean, when AJ Styles was the champ, and Joe had the hatred for the belt there was at least the feeling that it was going to lead somewhere. I don’t think they’re building up to Walters vs. Joe, call me crazy. So if Joe keeps shitting on the title and Walters, most of the fans are going to agree with him, which seems counterproductive. I could be wrong. Joe motivating Lethal again is cool, since the last time they were in the Rex Plex they had a promo in the same room. ROH is really good with little touches like that.

MATCH #2: Matt Stryker vs. Jay Lethal

BG says: If Matt Stryker loses he is restricted to the Midwest shows, and if Lethal loses he’s out of ROH altogether. Stryker dominates to start, but runs into a Lethal dropkick. Stryker hits a kick to the gut for 2. He goes for the DVD early but gets suplexed for 2 for Lethal. Lethal hits a back suplex for 2. He misses a dropkick and gets rolled up for 2. Stryker hits a dropkick for 2. Lethal comes back with a clothesline for 2. There’s some cool stuff here with both guys being desperate to win so they constantly go for pins. Lethal hits a dropkick in the corner for 2. They trade chops and Stryker goes to the eyes. He works over the neck and hits the boot of fear. He puts on the ankle lock but Lethal reverses to a rollup for the win. That was a very abrupt finish and very short match. It actually was just getting going when it ended. Not much of a first big win for Lethal there. The Jersey crowd sings goodbye to Stryker after the match, so he runs them and the rest of the east coast fans down for not supporting him.
Rating: *1/2

JZ says: Poor Matt Stryker. He goes from winning the Field of Honor and getting a World Title shot at Samoa Joe to losing his plane ticket and no longer appearing on East Coast shows. That’s too bad, Stryker seems like a real nice guy. But that’s the business, as they say. I like that Brad pointed out that both guys were going for a lot of pins, which was the biggest note that I made about the match. Not that I had much time to make notes; Lethal rolled up Stryker at 4:23 for the win. It was just starting to get good too. Stryker’s heel promo afterwards is pretty good, but also kind of moot since he won’t be seeing this audience anymore.
Rating: **

MATCH #3: Six Man Mayhem – Ace Steel vs. Trent Acid vs. Izzy vs. Kahagas vs. Fast Eddie vs. Angel Dust

BG says: Kahagas gets this spot because he works for FIP, which ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky also books. Eddy and Dust start. Dust hits a swinging hurricanrana and knees Eddy out of the ring. He hits a double stop to Eddy on the outside. Kahagas and Steel come in and Kahagas hits some knee strikes. Steel hits a dropkick and Kahagas brings Izzy in and tosses him into Steel who slams him down. Acid and Eddy come in with dropkicks. Izzy tosses Acid into Dust and Special K breaks down. Izzy dives onto everyone outside. Acid and Eddy follow suit. Steel tosses Eddy into the guardrail as Special K fight it out inside. Dust hits a cool electric chair driver but Acid comes in and saves. Kahagas hits diamond dust on Acid but Steel comes in and hits an implant DDT for 2. Eddy comes in and hits a nasty side suplex. He creatively puts Dust on top leading to a complicated and nasty looking fall away slam/hurricanrana combo off the top. Izzy puts Ace on the top but gets spinal shocked off. Dust hits a nasty backbreaker on Eddy but Acid hits a crazy reverse brainbuster on him for the win. This was pretty sloppy, even by 6 man mayhem standards.
Rating: *1/2

JZ says: I think it’s time to retire the six man mayhem matches now, they’re just getting worse and sloppier. I know that it gets more guys on the card, but Trent Acid doesn’t really need to be booked anymore, and Kahagas and Fast Eddie aren’t regulars by any means, so the show could do without them. I’m not quite sure what to make of Kahagas; a match like this isn’t really a good showcase to see what a guy can do in a real match. That fall away slam/hurricanrana combo thing looked kind of cool once they pulled it off, but it took them so long that it was so obviously a spot that it kind of took away from any coolness it had. And you know what? Referees need to get into better position before they count. They need to be looking at the shoulders, not behind them. Just sayin’. Anyway, The King of the Multi-Purpose Match (© Mark Nulty) Trent Acid gets the pin at a mercifully short 7:16. Eh.
Rating: *

MATCH #4: Austin Aries vs. CM Punk

BG says: Aries calls out Foley before the match begins. Like before, Foley does not respond. They show Punk’s entrance in full, which brings me to a suggestion. The audience has begun awesomely participating in Punk’s entrance, slapping the guardrails to his entrance music. I think the cameraman should record the audience participation before Punk comes out of the curtain instead of just the curtain, much like ECW showed the fans pumping their fists during Rob Van Dam’s entrance there. It’s better than just filming a curtain for 30 seconds. This is another chapter in the Second City Saints versus Generation Next feud. Punk takes Aries down and works his arm. Aries reverses but ends up back on the mat in an armbar. Aries reverses again but ends up in a headlock and Punk goes back to the arm. Aries tries kipping up three times but gets knocked down each time. Punk keeps the pressure on the arm and gets 2 and goes back to the headlock. Aries goes for a monkey flip but Punk stays on the arm. Punk nails a neat overhead toss and keeps the pressure on the arm while hitting some kicks. Aries finally gets the advantage with a brief headlock but misses a dropkick and gets hammerlock suplexed for 2. He nails a pair of dropkicks but misses a third. He knocks Punk to the floor and nails a dropkick through the ropes. He kicks Punk around outside but a senton hits knees back in the ring. Punk goes back to the arm and hits an arm wrench dropkick and Aries bails. Punk goes for some kind of ugly dive and hits the guardrail. Aries hits Punk and the rail pretty hard on the outside with a spinny flip. He hits the slingshot senton and elbow for 2 back in the ring. He hits a couple knees and the corner and chokes Punk out. A fisherman’s suplex gets 2 for Aries. Punk starts at the arm again but Aries knees at the ribs and hits an ugly DDT for 2. He hits a stunner for 2 and goes for a superplex but gets tossed off and missile dropkicked. Punk blocks a forearm and hits the mule kick and an enziguiri for 2. Aries blocks the shining wizard with the bad arm so Punk puts on the armbar. Aries makes the ropes and hits a rib breaker and Explosive Elbow #2 (that’s the one on the mat that he dances before) for 2. He hits a brainbuster for and goes for the 450 but Punk catches him. Punk goes for the Pepsi Plunge but Aries rolls through. Punk hits the shining wizard but can’t capitalize. He hits Welcome to Chicago and goes back to the armbar but Aries makes the ropes. They trade forearms until Punk whips Aries into the ref. He goes back to the armbar bug Roderick Strong and Jack Evans interfere. Steel comes in to save and the crowd turns on everything. All foreign parties brawl to the back but Shelley comes in and chokes out Punk. Steve Corino comes out and takes out Shelley, distracting Aries long enough for Punk to roll him up for the win. It should be noted that the hard camera moved away from the people actually IN THE MATCH just as the finish was happening. Man, this started awesome and just fell apart when the crowd didn’t respond. The overbooking at the end was just ridiculous and didn’t add anything to the match. It should have just happened after the match entirely. GMC hits the ring to interview Corino, but Homicide interrupts. Homicide talks about their barbwire match and says he hates Corino and calls things shoots. Ugh that’s lame. He asks for a handshake because Corino was right about ROH sucking all along but Punk won’t let it happen and they leave. What the hell? How do you bring in Steve Corino and then not put him on the mic.
Rating: ***

JZ says: The Contender’s ring looks like this, by the way –

– Austin Aries
– Nigel McGuiness
– Bryan Danielson
– Homicide
– Alex Shelley
– Jay Briscoe
– Ace Steel

Aries asks Foley to bring that “sack of doorknobs he calls an ass” out to the ring. I don’t get it. The match starts off pretty good, with Punk going after the arm and shoulder. Aries gets points for blocking Punk’s shining wizard with the hurt arm and then selling it. Has he been going to the Alex Shelley School of Awesome Selling or something? The match kind of starts fizzling out in the middle, and someone really needs to tell Punk to stop doing dives. Cabana, I’m looking at you. Then the overbooking kicks in, with a ref bump and then all of Gen Next running out, followed by Ace Steel and a returning Steve Corino! Punk rolls up Aries for the pin, which the hard camera misses, at 18:54. Very disappointing given the talent of both guys. You know, of all the wrestling I’ve watched, I think the number of Corino matches I’ve actually seen I can count on one hand. Weird, that is. GMC is out, and then Homicide comes out and decides to “shoot.” You know, that’s such a Russo thing to do. When you inform people that you’re “shooting,” it’s like saying “the rest of the show is fake.” We know that the show is worked, why call attention to it by bringing the word “shoot” into it? Homicide also brings up the “Internet geeks,” thus becoming like every other wrestler who hates the Internet. We know guys, we know. But, at least the crowd is giving Homicide great heel heat, which shows that they know what they’re doing and Homicide really is a good heel. They chant “shut the fuck up” and “Homo-cide.” I just didn’t care for this particular promo. And it is odd that Corino didn’t talk at all.
Rating: **3/4

MATCH #5: Chicano & Slash Venom with Allison Danger vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer

BG says: Allison Danger brought in the Puerto Rico guys to take out Maff and Whitmer because of their Prophecy defection. I was watching an old AWA program and decided it’d be fun to see Maff and Whitmer booked like the Milwaukee Crusher and Dick the Bruiser. Danger distracts Maff and Whitmer on the mic allowing Chicano and Venom to get the sneak attack. Maff and Venom brawl outside and Whitmer and Chicano follow suit. Venom hits a big chair shot on Maff and Chicano does the same to Whitmer. In the ring Venom hits a neckbreaker on Whitmer. He hits an inverted DDT and then a Sabu triple jump dive onto Maff outside. Chicano misses a senton to Whitmer inside. Whitmer then hits the wrist clutch exploder onto a chair for the win. Really short but fun brawl here, that could have stood to be 10 minutes long. Danger berates the Puerto Rico boys after the match so they abandon her. Maff and Whitmer get all up in her grill until Mick Foley comes to the ring. Danger thinks he’s there to save her, but it’s Foley so he makes fun of her until she leaves. The Embassy comes out to welcome Foley to their group, but he just laughs at them. They attack and beat him down. Generation Next come out and make it an 8-on-1 beat down until Maff and Whitmer come out and clear the ring. Foley says that Ring of Honor is awesome and to him ROH stands for Ring of Hardcore. He endorses Maff and Whitmer, getting them super over, so logic dictates that they take the tag titles later in the evening.
Rating: *3/4

JZ says: Maff comes out draped in the American flag in a nice gesture. All four guys brawl for a bit in this relaxed rules match. Venom & Chicano actually get most of the offense until Whitmer ends it with a Wrist Clutch Exploder onto a chair on Chicano for the win at 3:06. Really good for such a short match. Foley comes out to a huge pop, duh, and proceeds to make fun of Allison Danger and The Embassy, as only he can. He also makes some sexual jokes, and the thought of Mick Foley having sex is pretty gross. Collette Foley, on the other hand, well, never mind. Gen Next come out to join The Embassy in the Foley beat down, but Maff & Whitmer come in to even the odds at 8 on 3. Foley actually says “Holy Shit” in his promo, which I’m not sure I’ve heard him say before. Foley also mentions Jay Briscoe by name, proving that he knows his ROH, since Jay wasn’t even there, and the Chicago Street Fight. He also makes the infamous “Ring of Hardcore” quote.
Rating: 1/2*

INTERMISSION

BG says: GMC is backstage with John Walters and asks him how he feels about Samoa Joe’s statements. Walters is going to prove all the naysayers wrong and show he is worthy of holding the title.

SSP is with Walters’ opponent Nigel McGuiness. Nigel says he’s fulltime in ROH from now on and tonight he’s going to win the Pure title or steal the show trying.

JZ says: The two promos are from John Walters and Nigel McGuiness, which is a nice buildup to the Pure Title match. Nigel is now a full time part of the ROH roster.

MATCH #6: Alex Shelley vs. Bryan Danielson

BG says: Danielson debuts his Jedi Master robe in ROH here. It’s all about ring jackets. They lockup to start and Shelley slaps Danielson on the break. They go to a knuckle lock and Danielson takes control. Danielson does some strange reversal stuff and returns the slap. Shelley puts on a hammerlock. Danielson gets a half crab with his foot on Shelley’s head. They fight it out on the mat. Shelley hits the double knee in the corner and a seated dropkick to the back of the head. He stretches the arm and gets a rollup into the Border City stretch but Danielson makes the ropes. Shelley clips the leg and Danielson bails. On the outside he hits a neckbreaker. Back inside Shelley stays on the neck and head with the Skull Fuck for 2. Danielson fights back but gets sunset flipped for 2. Shelley goes to the eyes but Danielson fights back with European uppercuts. He keeps Shelley in the corner and puts on a Steiner recliner and a rollup for 2. Danielson puts on a surfboard dragon clutch but releases to work the arm. He hits a double underhook suplex for 2. He puts on a modified Rings of Saturn, prepping for Cattle Mutilation. He puts on Cattle Mutilation but Shelley quickly makes the ropes. Danielson puts Shelley on top and hits a super back suplex but Shelley reverses to a crossbody for 2, which Danielson rolls over for 2. Danielson misses a roaring elbow and gets hit with a superkick. Shelley hits a dragon screw and a big kick to the head. Shelley’s arm is too weak to hit the suplex and Danielson goes for Cattle Mutilation. Shelley reverses to a backpack stunner for 2. Danielson recovers with the airplane spin and Rikishi sits on him for two. He hits the diving head butt for 2. Shelley hits the Shellshock for 2. He puts on the Border City stretch and then hits a pair of neckbreakers. He goes for his piledriver but can’t hit it because of the bad arm and Danielson hits a flying uppercut to come back. Shelley reverses the Cattle Mutilation to the Border City stretch but Danielson hits a NASTY side suplex into the submission for the win. This was solid stuff here with some great selling by Alex Shelley. Danielson inquires about his title shot and challenges Jushin Liger after the match.
Rating: ***1/2

JZ says: Shelley is selling before the match starts, since apparently he whacked his arm against something while interfering in the last match. Shelley sells just about as good as anyone working right now. Ring jackets are what it’s all about Brad, absolutely, and Danielson’s got a doozy. This is another patented ROH “Dream Match,” just because it’s never happened before. But, honestly, I was hoping to see these two guys work, so in this case the title is applicable. Danielson goes after the arm, and Shelley goes after the neck, to set up their respective finishers. In an awesome spot, Danielson sets Shelley up for the surfboard, and Shelley does Hail Marys. Gosh, he rules. Danielson loves to do his neck bridges, and he does them even though Shelley has been working on the neck for most of the match. It’s negligible here though. Danielson ends up winning with Arms Across America at 19:19 for the win. Again a little disappointing given the talent of both guys. It was a really good match, but just seemed to be missing some intangibles to put it really over the top. I’d sure like to see a rematch though, no doubt.
Rating: ***1/2

MATCH #7: Pure Title Match – Nigel McGuiness vs. John Walters

BG says: So Walters got to pick Doug Williams as Joe’s challenger and Joe was supposed to pick an opponent for Walters but didn’t because he didn’t think the Pure title was important enough. This of course was after he picked both Jay Briscoe and Homicide to be challengers, but Mark Briscoe got injured so Jay bailed and then Homicide got hurt as well. I think Joe didn’t pick a third person because ROH couldn’t afford to lose any more guys. They work the mat to start. They do some fancy reversals off of a wristlock, some of which are very, very cool. Nigel gets British to get some 2 counts early on. Nigel puts on a cravat and holds on through a roll through and a bodyslam but Walters forearms out. Walters hits a double underhook suplex for 2. Nigel tries to roll out of a wristlock but Walters rolls with him. Awesome. Nigel uses the ropes for leverage to flip out of the wristlock but Referee Sinclair docks his first rope break for it. Nigel hits a head butt to the gut and a big kick for 2. Walters catches Nigel with an electric chair drop for 2. He hits a piggyback stunner and puts on a surfboard but has to break due to nose chicanery. He hits the chinlock but Nigel comes back with a pin attempt. Walters puts on the leg scissors and Nigel uses his second rope break. Walters puts on a seated Cobra Clutch but Nigel decides not to use his last rope break. Walters puts Nigel down in the hold for a pair of 2 counts but Nigel escapes and puts on a crossface forcing Walters to use his first rope break. Nigel hits the divorce court, which is a name I hate so I’m calling it separation anxiety, and then puts on his arm submission and Walters uses his second rope break. Nigel does the Artful Dodger to hit a European uppercut and a superkick for 2. Walters catches Nigel on the top with a dropkick and hurricanranas Nigel off the top. He hits a huge clothesline for 2. He goes up but Nigel catches him and brings him down. Nigel goes up but Walters catches him and hits a superplex for 2 but misses a splash off the top. Nigel baits him into the top rope neckbreaker with his turnbuckle headstand and gets 2. Why do people still fall for that? Walters bails as Nigel goes to the top so Nigel just dives onto him on the floor. He’s in it to win it you know. Back inside Walters hits three cross armed lung blowers and keeps the cross arm choke on until Nigel submits. This was a solid Pure Title match that and was the first one to not really play too much off of the Pure Title rules. The three lung blowers at the end seemed more like Walters getting frustrated with Nigel more than it seemed like him actually worrying that Nigel could beat him.
Rating: ***1/4

JZ says: There’s not much I can say about this match that wasn’t covered in Brad’s play-by-play. The reasons I really liked the match are all in there, because it was simply a really good WRESTLING match, which is what the Pure Title is all about. Despite what some people say, both Walters and McGuiness are over with this crowd. Walters gets the submission win at 16:11, which was longer than I expected, and it was a happy surprise. This may be my shortest match review ever, but all I can say is that I really appreciated the wrestling.
Rating: ***3/4

Hype

BG says: Jim Cornette talks about wanting to come back to get revenge on the Briscoes for firing him, but since they’re suspended he’ll just reform the Midnight Express instead. That’s Dennis Condrey, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane. Well, that’s cool.

JZ says: I’m pretty sure Cornette can sell just about anything. Here’s a question for anyone who knows – what ever happened to Randy Rose?

MATCH #8: ROH World Title Match – Doug Williams vs. Samoa Joe

BG says: As I said before, the Pure champion got to pick the ROH champion’s challenger for this match, and since Joe was so mean to Doug during his Pure title run Walters picked him. This whole picking thing was a way to continue the tradition of the previous year where Raven picked Terry Funk and CM Punk’s opponent at Glory by Honor II and Punk picked Corino to wrestle Raven. Williams was actually the first person to challenge Joe for the title and lost to the choke. They strike it out to start. Joe hits a couple of shoulder blocks and Williams bails. Williams teases a test of strength but grabs a leg scissor body vice until Joe elbows and slaps out of it. Williams grabs the ankle and then stretches Joe’s thighs until Joe strikes out. Williams gets all British and grabs the ankle again but Joe makes the ropes. They do a test of strength, which Williams gets the best of as Punk uses funny logic on commentary to make his bid for the title. Joe shoulder blocks Williams in the corner and then catches him with the sickest STO ever for 2. He hits the Big Joe Combo for 2. Joe washes Williams’ face as Punk makes fun of his British teeth. He puts on a headlock. Williams fights out only to get swept and bails. Joe follows him out and enziguiris him into an ole kick, except it whiffs like you wouldn’t believe. Back in the ring Joe gets 2. He gets his kick on and strikes out of a takedown attempt. He hits the Honda slaps for a lazy 2. He hits an enziguiri to Williams while he’s on the apron, knocking him to the floor. Williams blocks the suicide dive with a series of knee strikes and a crossbody off the top for 2. Williams nails the knee in the corner and nine European uppercuts but gets caught with a powerslam. Joe tries the Joejigatame but Williams blocks and makes the ropes. Joe hits the powerbomb but Williams knows the STF is coming and counters it. He hits the knee and then scores with the Bomb Scare for 2. He calls for the Chaos Theory bur Joe blocks it. Williams puts on a sleeper but Joe’s hand only falls twice and he makes the ropes. Williams goes for an abdominal stretch but Joe counters with a torture rack. Williams fights out but gets clotheslined down hard for 2. He goes for the tornado DDT but Joe reverses to the muscle buster for 2 and a lariat for 3. Well, that was pretty much the exact same finish as Homicide v. BJ Whitmer from Main Event Spectacles. It didn’t bother me then but I really didn’t like it here. Joe seemed blown up pretty early in this, and I think this was one where the lack of crowd interest early on hurt it. The stuff with Joe fighting out of all of Williams’ submissions and Williams reversing all of Joe’s strikes could have been really cool, but forces in the universe seemed to be against them here. It was still better than their first match. Williams shakes Joe’s hand and calls it a year as far as ROH is concerned.
Rating: ***1/4

JZ says: This would be the second ROH match (and I don’t think they wrestled anywhere else) between these two. I give the first one ***, in cast anyone cares. Williams almost breaks his neck when he takes the corner STO. Punk says “tell him when he does cartwheels he’s supposed to get his hands up.” The commentary gets even better as the match goes on, as Bauer makes note of the mysterious noise by informing us of some “crazy hippie concert going on in a different part of the building. Punk thinks it’s a revival. They go outside, and Bauer says “it’s Ole, Ole time,” to which Punk quietly responds, “clobberin’ time is so much cooler.” I would have to agree, since Punk actually connects with his clobber. You know, I know that the Ole Kick is over, but when it’s missing by this much on a regular basis, it may be time to retire the move. It’s the only thing I don’t like about Joe. Joe gets the win with a lariat after a muscle buster at 17:52. You know, some guys can use the lariat to finish a match like Homicide or even JBL, but for some reason I just don’t dig it when Joe does it. He’s huge and throws a big clothesline, but for some reason I just don’t buy it. Joe didn’t seem to care as much in this match, and looked to be treating Williams like a jobber at times, and that hurt the match. Just slightly better than their first one though.
Rating: ***1/4

MATCH #9: Ultimate Endurance – Carnage Crew vs. Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer vs. ROH Tag Team Champions Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes

BG says: This is elimination rules. First fall is a tap out match, second fall is a scramble match, and the third fall is a straight up ROH tag title match. Maff and Loc start it out. Maff hits a snap mare into a big kick to the back and one to the face. Loc hits a swinging neckbreaker and swears a lot. He kicks Maff’s back three times but gets booted in the face. Maff puts on his standing submission but Strong comes in and smacks his back. Strong goes to the eyes and hits some chops. Maff chops the crap out of Strong until he tags out to DeVito. Maff tags Whitmer in and he and DeVito slug it out. DeVito hits the cross arm strikes and beats Whitmer up in the Pitbulls’ corner. Reyes tags DeVito out and kicks at a prone Whitmer. He hits a clothesline and puts on a triangle armbar until Maff saves. Strong and Evans come in and double-team Whitmer as only they can do. Romero tags Evans out and puts the boots to Whitmer. He puts on a hammerlock with the leg scissors until Maff saves. Romero tags out to Loc who beats on Whitmer as Maff fights with Generation Next on the apron. Whitmer catches Loc with an exploder and tags out to Maff. DeVito comes in and Maff takes everyone out. Evans comes in but Maff just throws Evans onto everyone outside but Loc pulls him out and tosses him into a guardrail. He puts headlock submission on Whitmer so Maff hits him with two chair shots to break. DeVito comes in and gets clotheslined as Generation Next and the Pitbulls brawl on the floor. Maff hits a cannonball on DeVito and Whitmer pulls him into the turnbuckle. Maff and Whitmer con-chair-toe DeVito’s knees and then put on a double-team Boston crab to get him to tap while Romero blocks Loc from saving. The scramble match starts with Strong and Whitmer fighting it out until Strong hits a big backbreaker. Maff comes in and hits the half nelson suplex. The Pitbulls come in and double-team Maff. Evans comes in and dropkicks both Pitbulls. Everyone is on the floor so Evans attempts a 450 onto them but hits nothing but floor. Damn. Back inside Maff hits the Burning Hammer on him for the pin. The Pitbulls jump Maff and Whitmer to start the tag title match. The rested champions take control with kicks and chokes. They knock them out of the ring where Romero whips Maff into the guardrail and Reye gets 2 on Whitmer in the ring. They hit a double team inverted DDT on Whitmer for 2. Reyes hits the rolling Germans on Whitmer for 2 as Romero beats on Maff outside. The Pitbulls hit a guillotine kneedrop but Maff saves. Romero his a suplex on Whitmer and we miss Maff hitting Julius Smokes with a backdrop on the floor. He comes in and hits a suicide dive on Reyes. Whitmer gets a heated 2 count on Romero in the ring. Whitmer hits the exploder for 2. The crowd is just dying for a title change. They slap each other until Whitmer just destroys Romero with strikes but gets too enthusiastic and catches a kick to the side of the head and a knee strike finishes it for the Pitbulls. Alison Danger begs the Pitbulls to finish Maff and Whitmer off, which they attempt to do with the help of he Embassy and Generation Next until Foley makes the save with a fire extinguisher. Maff, Whitmer and Foley clear the ring and soak in the cheers.

The match itself didn’t really follow its own rules and was really just an extended scramble match with a lot of heat. The post-match antics were great and would have been even greater had Maff and Whitmer been the tag champions. I mean COME ON. Maff did the whole 9/11 tribute before the show, he and Whitmer squash the IWA-PR guys, the fend off 8 guys from attacking Foley and get his endorsement, they get 2 straight falls in Ultimate Endurance and were the big underdogs to the rested (and might I say lame duck) champions, and still lost. There’s no way that an environment place this team in a better position than it was in at Glory by Honor 3, making me feel it was just a big missed opportunity.
Rating: ***

JZ says: Another main event for the Carnage Crew, their fourth. Do you think this was the new best night of Loc’s life? This would be the second Ultimate Endurance match, following the Dayton version back at World Title Classic. The first fall is a tap out match, which Maff & Whitmer win with a double Boston crap on DeVito at 10:15. Just before that Maff threw a chair at Loc, which he no-sold, so Maff KILLED him with a chair to the head. That’s how you do it. Maff chopped the crap out of Roderick, prompting Punk to wonder if Maff was friends with Dixie. Funny stuff. In a cool spot at the beginning of the second fall, a Tag Team Scramble, Maff biels Jack Evans out of the ring on top of everyone. Anyway, Maff scores the pin on Evans at 12:46 with the Burning Hammer, to give Maff & Whitmer their fifth straight fall in Ultimate Endurance matches. The crowd is just rabid for them, and rightfully so. The rested champs take over on the worn out challengers, and get the win at 19:23 to end the match and retain the titles. I gotta agree with Brad on the booking, this would have been the PERFECT time to give Maff & Whitmer the belts, and they really aren’t as over anymore as they were here. Now they’re feuding with The Carnage Crew in a feud that doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere except having some hardcore matches. Definitely a missed opportunity. I liked it a little better than the first Ultimate Endurance match. Afterwards we get a repeat of what happened just before intermission, as Gen Next and The Embassy come out to beat on Maff & Whitmer, and Foley makes the save. Yeah, that would have been much cooler had Maff & Whitmer raised the belts afterward.
Rating: ***1/4

Post-Show

BG says: Backstage Lacey bosses around Special K but Dixie, Angel Dust and Becky Bayless aren’t having it. The rest of them go to get revenge on Dunn and Marcos.

Generation Next are beaten and severely bruised. Shelley vows to send Corino back to Zero-One and Aries says more of the same.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the Special K heel team says lame things and beats on Dunn and Marcos as they’re taking apart the ring.

JZ says: The Special K feud is progressing nicely, and I think they made the right choices for heels and babyfaces. Why go after Dunn & Marcos, they’re kickass.

Cool Gen Next promo where they all show off their battle wounds from this evening’s matches. Alex Shelley cuts an awesome promo, and then Aries is significantly less awesome. He’s not bad, but he’s gonna have to get better if they’re putting the belt on him.

Special K beats up Dunn & Marcos when they’re not looking. That’s foul dude.

MVP

BG says: Dan Maff for totally getting the crowd behind him and completely believing in him and Whitmer by the end of the night. It was a big letdown that they didn’t get the belts on this night, as it would have given them a great jumping off point.

JZ says: While I agree with Brad’s points about Maff, I’m gonna have to do something I haven’t done before and give it to the same guy two shows in a row. John Walters proved that he could get the crowd into his match and he ended up being one-half of the Match Of The Night.
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E-mail Brad at [email protected]
E-mail Jacob at [email protected]

See you soon with our review of “Midnight Express Reunion!”

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The 411: BG says: The hippy concert seemed to be distracting a lot of the crowd, and took heat away from the matches. Still five of the nine matches were ***+ and most of the matches below that were just really short. A quality show up and down that to me fell flat under the debacle that is the tag title situation. JZ says: I gave four of the matches over ***, and when those matches are the last four that sends the show out on a pretty strong note. It was a little anti-climactic to have the Pitbulls win again, but having Foley there is definitely worth something.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]