ROH – Weekend Of Thunder Night 2: November 6, 2004, Elizabeth, New Jersey

ROH – Weekend of Thunder Night 2 … November 6, 2004 … Elizabeth, New Jersey

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Intro

BG says: The show kicks off with an Embassy celebration. They did it well in Boston and thanks to Jimmy Rave they are going to do it and do it well again in New Jersey tonight. Prince Nana sends everyone to get stuff for him and Jimmy because, you know what, Nana rules.

JZ says: When Nana asks you for some elbow pads and something to eat, you get your ass out and find him some.

MATCH #1: Chad Collyer vs. Nigel McGuiness

BG says: They lock up to start. Nigel takes him down with a wishbone stretch but Collyer rolls out. He grabs a headlock but Nigel flips out. Nigel hits the chinlock and adds pressure with his knees but Collyer rolls back and gets a pair of 2 counts. Nigel puts on an armlock and keeps it on through Collyer’s attempts to reverse. Collyer breaks out and works Nigel’s arm. Nigel turns it over to a toehold but Collyer makes the ropes. Nigel gets sent to the floor when Collyer uses his momentum against him, so he gets the boo-boo on his hand kissed by a lady at ringside. Then he gets the boo-boo on his face kissed by said fan and crotches Collyer on the ropes. Collyer tries to have THAT boo-boo kissed by the fan, but Nigel defends her honor. Back in the ring Nigel gets a great armdrag and a shoulderblock for 2. He puts on an armbar but Collyer goes to the eyes to escape. He gets 2 off a kneedrop and hits a suplex for 2. They trade strikes and Collyer chokes him out in the ropes. Short arm clothesline gets 2 for Collyer. They trade European uppercuts until Nigel hits a DDT off of his handstand distraction thing, which I’m now calling HDT. He gets a backslide for 2 and some crazy rollup for 2. Another rollup gets 2 for Nigel. Collyer hits a German suplex for 2 and flows seamlessly to the Toilet Flush for 2. Nigel blocks a suplex and does the Artful Dodger, trading 2 counts with Collyer. Nigel schoolboys him for 2 and hits Separation Anxiety. He puts on TAS and the crowd tells Collyer to tap, but instead he puts on the cloverleaf. The crowd tells Nigel not to tap, so he holds on until the legit 15 minute time limit runs out. Hard call on this one, as the match was fun if you are a mat freak, but the crowd (as I find myself saying more and more with the East Coast crowds) didn’t care until the end. Now you might say that I shouldn’t put as much stock into crowd reaction, but I do so just adjust my rating accordingly with your tastes.
Rating: **3/4

JZ says: Pure wrestling at its finest! The sequence with the girl at ringside is very funny, and according to color man CM Punk, it “kills the rumors that Nigel is gay.” Jimmy Bower hadn’t heard that one, even though Punk claims Bower is the one who told him! Dissension in the commentary ranks! Even funnier line when Collyer goes out to try to get the girl to kiss his fun parts, and Punk remarks “$10 says she does it!” Punk is on fire tonight. Meanwhile, this match is going on in the ring and I’m really enjoying it. The typically fickle New Jersey crowd though isn’t really into it, despite the best efforts of both guys. Nigel is playing a pretty good babyface here though, and Collyer is just strange. I hear he spent the entire night at the gym once instead of hanging out with the boys. They go to a time-limit draw, and in a huge surprise, the crowd cares enough to ask for “5 more minutes.” Of course, they don’t get it, and the match ends in a draw at 15:00. Good enough for me.
Rating: ***1/4

Backstage

BG says: Generation Next, minus Alex Shelley, yak at us backstage. Austin Aries runs down the list of things that they’ve done to the Second City Saints, and says it continues tonight in the no disqualification match. Jack Evans implies that he’s going to get involved and Aries implies that they are taking some titles.

JZ says: Man, I wish Generation Next never had to cut a promo without Alex Shelley. It’s too bad he had to be where he had to be this weekend.

MATCH #2: Carnage Crew vs. Davey Andrews & Anthony Franco

BG says: Franco and Loc start the match. Loc gets a snap mare and kicks hard to the back. DeVito tags in, dodges a clothesline and hits a dropkick before smacking Franco with crossface forearms. Allison Danger shows up at ringside as Andrews tags in. He gets hit with a Carnage-plex. Loc, who never tagged in, hits a second rope elbow and tags in DeVito. Andrews dodges the moonsault and tags in Franco. Franco hits a bulldog and a clothesline on Loc. The students do some double teaming for 2. Andrews gets dumped and Franco gets hit with a northern lights suplex into the turnbuckle. He dodges the Carnage-driver to get a rollup for 2 but Loc hits him with a side suplex. Then they hit the driver for the win. That was a fun squash. Danger offers her services, but the Carnage Crew isn’t biting. She doesn’t take the rejection well and teases that she will bring forth the most dangerous match in ROH history.
Rating: *

JZ says: Time for my favorite team, The Carnage Crew! They take out their anger on the students for a sufficiently short time of 4:08. I think the students should wrestle in “dark” matches before the show until they can get a little better.
Rating: 1/2*

Backstage

BG says: Bryan Danielson talks about his tag match with Low Ki versus Samoa Joe and Jushin Liger. Ki’s going to take out Joe so that Danielson can prove for sure that he is the best wrestler in the world.

JZ says: This match should be pretty good, yeah?

MATCH #3: Four Corner Survival – Izzy vs. Trent Acid vs. Jack Evans vs. Fast Eddie

BG says: If I remember right, this was being billed as the high flying four way plus Trent Acid. I think they were going for a theme similar to the night before, that being the jobber four way plus Homicide. Acid and Evans start. Acid dodges a bunch of Evans’ stuff and hits a weird springboard spinning inverted DDT. Why does Acid do so much complicated and stupid shit? Eddie comes in for Evans and hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for 2. Izzy tags Acid out and hits a springboard blockbuster for 2. He hits a back suplex and Evans comes in with a springboard kick. Everyone goes outside and Acid moonsaults onto them. Evans goes to dive on them but Eddie cuts him off. Evans tosses him onto everyone outside and hits his dive. Acid and Evans get back in the ring and Acid hits a Backseat Driver (inverted Razor’s Edge) for 2. Eddie and Izzy end up inside and Izzy hits a knee lift for 2. He goes up but gets caught by Eddie with a tombstone piledriver. Acid hits Yakuza kicks on everyone but Izzy catches him with a reverse hurricanrana for 2. All four guys brawl (in this match brawl means hit spots on each other). Eddie baits Evans to the top and hits his fall away moonsault on him onto everyone on the floor. Izzy and Acid fight on the top until Izzy hits sliced bread number 2 for the win to break the Special K losing streak. Well, tags were necessary but never used in this match, on the one hand. On the other hand all the spots hit. Back on that first hand however, there was nothing connecting all those crazy spots.
Rating: *1/2

JZ says: Punk and Mark Nulty are on commentary for this one, and Punk becomes even more of my hero my mocking the way Nulty calls everything “Greco Roman.” This is a fairly typical four-way, with a bunch of spots and not much else. It’s fun for what it is though, and it only runs 7:04.
Rating: **

MATCH #4: Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Rave

BG says: Nana and the Outkast Killaz come out first and run down the crowd before purifying the ringside area. Rave goes behind to start. Lethal gets a rollup for 2 and they do some really cool stuff on the mat. Lethal hits a leg lariat and Rave bails. Lethal hits a suicide dive and throws Rave back in the ring. He hits a snap suplex for 2. Rave hits a capture suplex for 2 and digs at Lethal’s face. He hits an STO backbreaker twists Lethal’s head as the crowd chants for AJ Styles. He goes for the Rave Clash but Lethal escapes and hits a powerbomb for 2. Rave hits a pumphandle Angle slam for 2. He hits a spear in the corner followed by a northern lights suplex and a neckbreaker for 2. He hits a side Russian legsweep into the royal octopus submission and rolls into the crossface. Lethal powers out and hits a big chop. Rave responds in kind and they trade. Lethal nails a back bodydrop and a dropkick in the corner. He hits a gut wrench suplex for 2 and a lariat for 2. He puts on a reverse Cobra Clutch but Rave comes back with a Rave Clash attempt. Lethal climbs the ropes to escape and hits a second rope DDT for 2. Nana gets on the microphone and the apron, distracting the referee, allowing Rave to hit the low blow to escape the dragon suplex and hit the Rave Clash for the win. Now THAT’S how you use Nana to say that he cheats to help Rave win. This was a great match that made both guys look really good. The crowd chants for AJ styles again after the match. Lethal interrupts Nana’s celebration speech and slaps him down, as well as the rest of the Embassy. Great, great stuff.
Rating: ***1/2

JZ says: I love the entire Embassy gimmick, it is probably one of the best stables/gimmicks ROH has ever done. It makes Rave look like a million bucks, gives The Outcast Killaz something to do, and showcases Prince Nana as an awesome promo man. The crowd seems more interested in AJ Styles than Jimmy Rave, but that doesn’t stop these guys from having a good match. They were pretty limited on time (only 8:40 altogether), but they packed good action in there and made me wish they could have had more time and hopefully someday a higher place on the card.
Rating: ***

MATCH #5: No DQ Match – Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. CM Punk & Ace Steel

BG says: The Generation Next/Second City Saints feud sputters along here in another match with nothing on the line. Even with the Colt Cabana injury, I’m not buying the hate between these two teams. Punk and Steel come through the crowd and jump Generation Next before the bell. Strong hits a suicide dive on Steel but Punk hits a Michinoku driver on Aries in the ring for 2. Punk goes out to fight with Strong and Aries hits a suicide dive onto him. Aries spears Steel into the guardrail and Strong gives Punk a backbreaker through a chair. Strong tosses Steel into the ring and Aries hits a springboard twisting splash on Steel for 2. They hit a double suplex on him but Punk pulls Strong out of the ring. He hits a guillotine legdrop on Aries. The Saints hit a double spinebuster on Strong and break his balls. Evans comes out with a ladder but Punk dropkicks it into him and hits a dive on him. Steel hits a dropkick in the corner on Aries. He brings the ladder into the ring and slams Strong onto it. Aries hits a side Russian legsweep on Steel onto the ladder. Punk comes in and powerbombs Aries onto the ladder. Evans tries the springboard kick on Punk, but misses. The Saints work Evans over in the corner, which is smart because he’s in the match and all. Wait. Strong comes in and dumps Steel. He and Evans hit a Doomsday Device crossbody on Punk and Aries hits a frog splash on him for two. Steel gets whipped into the ladder propped in the corner and Aries hits him with a dropkick. Strong follows suit and gets 2. He tosses the ladder onto Steel while Aries chokes Punk out. Evans comes in and dives onto Steel getting 2 for Strong. Steel hits a fisherman’s buster on Strong but Aries puts Punk’s leg in the ladder and bashes it up with a chair. Strong gives Punk a shinbreaker on the chair for 2. Punk gets worked over with the ladder but Steel takes everyone out with a chair. Strong hits a back suplex on Steel and Aries tosses Punk into a chair in the corner. He dropkicks him in the face for 2. Steel gives Aries a northern lights suplex on the ladder in the corner. He does this ridiculous legdrop off the second rope with the chair that looks horrible. Strong is the first guy to look interested in the match as he unloads on Punk. Steel puts Aries on a table on the outside and starts climbing the ladder. Strong catches him with an Electric Chair drop and holds him for Evans to dropkick him. Punk gets put on the table and Evans climbs the ladder and hits a horrible 450 legdrop on him, not breaking the table. Aries goes for a Cactus elbow on Punk to make up for it but misses himself. Good lord. Back in the ring Strong hits a Canadian backbreaker on Punk and a brainbuster on Steel. They go for another Doomsday Device crossbody but Punk catches Evans with a powerslam on the ladder. The Saints hit a spike piledriver on Strong on the ladder. Aries hits the fireman’s carry slam on Steel on the ladder but misses the 450 and hits only ladder. Ladder, ladder, ladder. Steel hits Strong with a chair and powerbombs Evans through the table on the floor. Back in the ring Strong gets a backbreaker for 2. Steel tosses Aries into the guardrail and comes back in the ring to hit a DDT on Strong on a chair. Punk trips while hitting Strong with the Pepsi Plunge on a ladder. It looked horrible but gets the win anyway. I’ll give them credit for the bumps taken in this match, but it was too long, a lot of it was sloppy and most of the work was really lethargic.
Rating: **1/4

Punk gets on the microphone after the match and sends Crazy Ace to the back. He says that the match in Chicago against Joe would have been the best of his career had he won. He thinks he deserves a third chance to win the title because he’s the only person that Samoa Joe hasn’t beaten. He challenges Joe to a title match with no time limit. He starts a sit-in until Joe responds to his challenge. Mick Foley comes out and he and Punk make unfunny jokes about WWE and TNA. I’ll say right now, nothing makes a company look worse than whining about other, bigger companies. He puts over the match from Chicago (*****) and says he wants to bring Joe and Punk to the WWE. But before that, he’s going to do what he can to make Samoa Joe accept Punk’s challenge by calling Joe out right now! Joe is a no-show, so Foley rips on HHH (kinda funny), and Steamboat (less funny) and takes us to intermission with Punk still in the ring.

JZ says: I’m going to say something about a match involving CM Punk that I haven’t said in a while – it sucks. It’s long, it’s boring, and it’s nothing but spots that sometimes hit and sometimes don’t hit. Jack Evans brings a ladder out and for some reason joins the match, and Punk and Steel treat him as such. It’s a no-disqualification match and all, but this is ridiculous. Everyone is lethargic and seemingly apathetic towards what they are doing. The match runs a ridiculously long 19:57, and Punk and Steel get the meaningless win (well, it was really probably so that Punk could get his heat back from losing to Aries the night before). Real bad. The post-match stuff is pretty bad too, as Foley and Punk just try to make jokes, and I’m honestly surprised that I’m not entertained by this because these are two of my favorite promo men ever. You know what else? Foley bitches and cries about Flair not putting him over in his book, but all he ever does is shit on Heidenreich and Gene Snitsky. I’m not saying Heidenreich and Snitsky are good workers on anything, but it’s the same principle. And what if Foley comes back to work with these guys, how are they going to feel about that? Bad form, Mick, bad form. Punk says he isn’t leaving until Joe comes out.
Rating: *3/4

INTERMISSION

BG says: GMC is backstage with Nigel McGuiness. Chad Collyer comes up and spits his great shtick. He thinks he and Nigel should form a tag team to challenge the Havana Pitbulls for the tag titles. Nigel accepts! BEER & GIRLS!

Sugar Sean Price sneaks into the Embassy’s locker room but Nana has no time for him now. By the end of the night Ghana and Nana will have a statement.

JZ says: Collyer and Nigel should make a good tag team, they are both really good technical wrestlers and I like them. Plus, Beer & Girls is a winning combination.

Punk is still in the ring during intermission.

Anyone ever notice that Ghana and Nana rhyme? That’s cool, man.

MATCH #6: Dixie & Angel Dust vs. Dunn & Marcos

BG says: Punk is still in the ring as Bobby Cruise tries to bring us back from intermission. The RCE and Special K get ready to start the match with Punk in the ring. He starts reading Foley’s new book until Joe’s music hits. Punk mixes up which one of them is the force and which one is the object, but Joe accepts the challenge anyway and forearms Punk to boot. He also takes a minute to jab at Mick Foley. Anyway, they restart the match with Dust and Dunn. Dust gets a rollup for 2 and a tilt-a-whirl slam. He misses a senton but hits it on his second attempt. Dixie tags in and Special K double team Dunn for 2. Dunn blocks a DDT and gets a rollup for two. Marcos tags in and gets a rollup for 2. He misses an enziguiri but hits it on his second try. Dixie stomps toes and hits a clothesline and a leg lariat for 2. Face buster gets 2 for Dixie. Dust tags in and gets hurricanrana’d. He hits the Electric Chair driver but Dunn saves. Marcos hits a huge tornado DDT and everyone tags out. Dunn cleans house and hits the Gory bomb on Dixie. The Ring Crew does all their double team moves and hit the big senton for the win. Nice little popcorn match there.
Rating: **

JZ says: Punk makes sure to give Dunn & Marcos high fives, which is always fun. Dixie & Angel Dust are still on a losing streak and coming out to no music. This match was pretty much overshadowed by the Joe/Foley/Punk stuff that happened just before it, and it’s post intermission so the crowd is still getting back into the show. They do some fun stuff and Dunn & Marcos get the victory at 4:44. I really like both teams but this was too short.
Rating: *1/4

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

BG says: Walters grabs a headlock and works the arm. Homicide comes back with a headlock. He steps through the ropes and to the outside to break an armbar and the ref doesn’t take off a rope break. He puts on a front facelock but Walters comes back with a headlock. Homicide armdrags out and they stand at a stalemate. Walters hits a bunch of armdrags and goes back to work on the arm. He blocks the octopus stretch and puts on a surfboard but Homicide flips out for the pin attempt. Walters puts on a leglock but breaks to pound on him a bit. Homicide misses a baseball slide allowing Walters to hit a dive to him on the floor. He puts on a Red Sox hat. Homicide gets mad and uses a closed fist and gets a warning for it. Walters blocks a DDT and hits Separation Anxiety for 2. He hits the chinlock but Homicide fights out and gets the STF forcing Walters to use his first rope break. Homicide hits a huge kick to the back and a clothesline in the corner. Walters gets a rollup for 2 but Homicide comes back with a hanging DDT for 2. He puts Walters on the top rope but takes a NASTY spill to the floor and the match comes screeching to a halt. Homicide starts getting counted out but J-Train rolls him back into the ring. Homicide looks seriously ruined and Walters gives him a break. The match finally resumes and Walters hits a DDT for 2. He hits the Hurricane DDT for 2 when Homicide stops the refs hand from coming down. Walters hits a big powerbomb and puts on the Sharpshooter but Homicide uses his first rope break. Walters puts on a Boston Crab and Homicide uses his second rope break. J-Train comes in and levels Walters, drawing the DQ. I’d say the injury messed up the match, but it was actually more interesting for the 2 minutes after they action got restarted.
Rating: **1/2

JZ says: John Walters is underappreciated, in my view. This is a battle of a big Red Sox fan versus a big Yankees fan. You know, the Red Sox have become almost as ubiquitous and obnoxious as the Yankees since winning the World Series. This is the second one-one-one match between these two, the first was at The Conclusion back in November of 2003. It’s interesting to see Homicide in a Pure Title setting, and the match is going pretty well. It goes well, that is, until Homicide takes a really nasty spill to the floor and lands on his head with a sickening thud. I remember a lot of people blamed Walters, but it really wasn’t either guy’s fault, it was just one of those things that happened. I do disagree with everyone letting Homicide continue the match, as he could have gotten seriously injured or injured Walters. The match ran a total of 18:31.
Rating: **1/2

MATCH #8: ROH Tag Team Title Match – Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer vs. Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero

BG says: The Pitbulls attack before the bell. Romero hits a pair of stiff strikes for 2 on Whitmer. Maff tosses Romero but gets his knee taken out by Reyes. He comes back with a spinebuster for 2. Whitmer tags in and they double shoulderblock Reyes. Whitmer hits the vertical/northern lights suplex combo for 2. Maff tags in and gets beaten into the Pitbull corner. Romero comes in and they double team Maff. Reyes gets spine busted again. Maff hits the People’s Senton on Reyes and the partners come in. Romero gets dumped onto Reyes. Maff and Whitmer do some double teaming, including a Hart Attack, on Romero forcing him to bail. Whitmer tags in and Reyes gets back in the ring. Reyes hits a really cool DDT and a dropkick to a crotched Whitmer for 2. Romero tags in and puts the boots to Whitmer. Whitmer tries to fight back but Romero cuts off the comeback. He puts on an octopus stretch but breaks to let Reyes come in. Reyes hits a neckbreaker for 2 and a kick to the back for 2. Romero tags in and gets overhead suplexed. Whitmer makes the tag but J-Train stops Maff from getting in the ring. The ref also didn’t see the tag so the Pitbulls continue to double team Whitmer. Whitmer hits the exploder and makes the tag. Maff comes in and cleans house. He hits Reyes with the half nelson suplex for 2. Whitmer comes in and they hit the high knee/cannonball combo, and throw in a dropkick for fun. They do the old Hit Squad figure 4/frogsplash combo for 2 as well. Whitmer tags in for real and tries the wrist clutch exploder but it’s reversed to a rollup for 2. Reyes hits the rolling Germans but Whitmer reverses to his own. Reyes comes back for some more and gets 2. Romero tags in and they hit a double guillotine reverse DDT for 2. Reyes pulls Maff out of the ring and they brawl on the floor. Romero hits a reverse DDT off of the top rope on Whitmer for 2 when Maff saves. Maff tags in and goes for the Burning Hammer but Romero reverses to a rollup for 2. Reyes gets dumped and Maff hits the Burning Hammer on Romero for 2 when J-Train pulls the ref out of the ring. Reyes plays possum and rolls Maff up for 3. Horrible finish to a relatively decent match. Watching Reyes so disinterested in his matches is starting to get annoying.
Rating: **1/2

JZ says: Could this be the match where the Pitbulls lose the titles? That’s a request, not a rhetorical question. I’m not even the biggest Maff & Whitmer fan, but I am just BEGGING to get Ricky Reyes off my TV screen. I’m going to disagree with Brad’s “relatively decent” assertion because I found this match incredibly dull. Reyes just looks so disinterested, and Maff and Whitmer had become tired by this point. Plus I never really cared for Maff in the first place. The match plods and plods along, finally reaching a conclusion at 16:17 after interference from Julius Smokes and the Pitbulls retain. Dammit. Jimmy Bower, talking about the interference, notes that “this is crap.” He took the words right out of my mouth.
Rating: *1/2

MATCH #9: Low Ki & Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe & Jushin Liger

BG says: The pop for Liger once again is quite huge, as is the amount of streamers thrown at him. Joe and Ki start. Ki tags out to Danielson before anything can happen. Joe wins a test of strength but Danielson stomps his hands. Joe dominates a striking battle but Danielson takes him to the mat and puts on a deathlock until Joe makes the ropes. Joe grabs a headlock, gets a snap mare and kicks Danielson hard on the back. Ki and Liger tag in. They lock up and Liger dodges the cheap shot on the break. He hits a big shoulderblock and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on both Ki and Danielson. Joe hits a suicide dive on Danielson and Liger hits a somersault dive on Ki. Liger gets a drop toehold into a Mexican surfboard. He puts on a dragon sleeper but Danielson saves. Joe tags in and they make a wish on Ki. Joe hits a delayed vertical suplex and Liger tags in. Liger hits a palm strike to the chest but gets caught in the heel corner with a dropkick to the face. Danielson tags in and they both choke Liger. Danielson hits a backbreaker but Liger powers out of a surfboard attempt. Ki tags in and hits an elbow drop for 2. Danielson tags in and goes after the mask again. Liger gets tossed to the floor where Ki throws him into the guardrail. Back in the ring Danielson gets 2. He puts on an abdominal stretch and gets some help from Ki. Liger hip tosses out but Danielson catches him and tags out to Ki who comes in with an elbow drop for 2. He puts on the head scissor choke and gets some help from Danielson. Danielson tags in and gets the airplane spin and the fireman’s carry slam. He dizzily tags to Ki who gets 2. The crowd gets heavily behind Liger as Ki nails him with an elbow in the corner and the douche bag double stomp for 2. Liger dodges the Tidal Wave Attack and hits the fisherman’s buster. Joe gets the tag and destroys Ki with the face wash, catching Danielson along the way. Everyone falls outside where Joe hits the ole kick. And just because this is a special night, Liger hits the ole kick on Ki as well. Back in the ring, Joe hits a powerslam for 2. Ki comes back with a big lariat and tags in Danielson. Danielson hits some European uppercuts and a flying forearm for 2. Joe hits the legsweep and tags Liger in. Palm strikes all around for everybody! Ki attacks Liger from behind and knocks Joe out of the ring. Liger and Ki do a Tidal Wave Hart Attack. Liger gets a rollup for 2 on Danielson but he comes back with the Cow Killer. Joe saves with a senton but gets hit with the Black Magic Attack. Ki dodges the palm strike and puts on a crucifix hold but Liger makes the ropes. Ki misses the Phoenix splash but hits the koppo kick. He tries the splash again and nails it for a Danielson pin attempt. Danielson hits the dragon suplex for 2. Joe comes in to help out Liger who hits a palm strike and a brainbuster for 2. Ki knocks Joe off the apron and holds Liger for Danielson, but Liger moves out of way and Ki gets hit with a roaring elbow. Joe comes in and lariats Danielson while Liger koppo kicks Ki. Liger hits the Liger bomb and Danielson and that’s all she wrote. This went a million miles per second and ruled every step of the way. This was a better tag match than anything else I’ve seen in 2004 in ROH, and a definite must-see match. After the match, Ki and Danielson argue until the Rottweilers all jump him and beat him down. Joe and Liger make the save and J-Train finally gets what he had coming to him in the form of a Liger palm strike.
Rating: ****1/2

JZ says: Jushin Liger has just about the coolest theme music of all-time. Though I’m afraid you haven’t experienced it until you have had Nick Scoville sing it for you. The crowd gets on my good side by cheering the babyfaces (duh) and booing the heels, which given that Bryan Danielson and Low Ki are the heels, that’s a big accomplishment for an East Coast ROH crowd. Let’s get one thing out of the way – this match is awesome. Everyone is feeling it tonight, and the heels are acting like heels, and Liger is just so crazy over he could do whatever he wanted. Joe is of course, Joe. Need I say more? Everyone is hitting their spots and going at a breakneck pace, the good guys go over at 21:16, what more could a good wrestling fan want? One of the best tag team matches in ROH history, if not the best. Danielson gets to turn back babyface again as the Rottweilers attack him and Joe and Liger make the save. Great match, great finish, great everything here.
Rating: ****1/2

Aftermath

BG says: SSP is backstage all excited about the night behind him. He goes into the Embassy locker room. He wants the promised statement from Nana. First, Nana yells at the girl and sends her to get him Jimmy Rave some ice. Nana’s statement is that Jay Lethal made a mistake in putting his hands on the Embassy. Now Ghana has declared war on Jay Lethal. Prince Nana is upset, and it doesn’t really get any better than that.

Bryan Danielson says it’s always been about the wrestling for him. But now, as far as the Rottweilers go, it’s not about the wrestling, it’s about the hate!

JZ says: Sugar Sean has so much enthusiasm, how can you not like the guy? And how can you not like The Embassy? What a perfect group they are.

Bryan Danielson is angry!

MVP

BG says: Jushin Liger. I hate to do it again, but the man not only delivered excitement, but played face-in-peril to perfection. He lived up to all the adoration that the fans placed on him.

JZ says: Yeah, how can you give it to anybody but Liger? He delivered for the second straight night, and it really was a pleasure to see him work.
________________________________________________________________________________________

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

See you soon with our review of All Star Extravaganza II!

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The 411: BG says: The undercard is pretty lacking here. The opener is fine if you really like that kind of wrestling and Lethal versus Rave is a good time. The main event is definitely worth your while however, and is highly recommended, and helps to carry the show on its own strength pretty well. JZ says: I found the undercard extremely lacking, so I can’t be as generous as Brad with my rating of the show. But it is totally worth it to see Liger on American soil,

Final Score:  6.8   [ Average ]