Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies

This is a trip backwards a ways to fill in one some of the gaps in the 2003 shows I haven’t done yet.

This show resides right in the middle of the “second chapter” of ROH’s history that details Samoa Joe’s rise to glory and Homicide’s MVP campaign.

Just to recap: CM Punk and Raven are engaged in a bitter feud resulting from Punk’s sanctimonious lifestyle choice and Raven’s past drug abuse. At Death Before Dishonor, Raven and Tommy Dreamer tied Punk up and poured beer down his throat. Obviously, Punk wasn’t going to let that go unanswered, but he had other problems as his girlfriend Lucy (WCW’s Daffney) was attacked and put out of action…by persons unknown.

Meanwhile, the revamped Prophecy, under the guidance of Christopher Daniels, continued to wreak havoc on RoH, putting the Amazing Red out of action and naming its newest member Jim Cornette at Wrath of the Racket! Cornette’s alliance with the rogue group would last only one show before they turned on him.

As violent as the Prophecy’s reign of terror was, it was nothing compared to the hatred bubbling under the surface of the Steve Corino/Homicide feud, which stretches back to the beginning of 2003. During the feud, Homicide tried to fork out Corino’s eye, gave his girlfriend a Copkillah, and caused a riot in New York. In fact, it was a feud so violent that Corino walked out of the promotion after the riot, citing Ring of Honor as an “unsafe work environment.” However, Homicide asked Corino how he could face his son Colby while still ducking out of a fight. Corino returned and promised revenge at the last show.

The concept here is that former friends Low Ki and Dan Maff will be going at it as well as former Prophecy stablemates Christopher Daniels and Xavier facing off for the #1 contender’s trophy. Hence, “Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies.”

Ring of Honor — Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies
by J.D. Dunn

August 16, 2003

From Fairfield, Conn.

Your hosts are Ray Murrow and Chris Lovey .

Raven opens the show by denying he had anything to do with the attack on Lucy. He thinks that the only way he can make his cage match with CM Punk more violent is to make it a “Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun” match.

Elsewhere, CM Punk interrupts a Rob Feinstein promo about picking up women (that’s what you call overcompensation, folks) and demands to know what he’s going to do about the attack on Lucy. Feinstein promises that Ring of Honor is investigating. The Outcast Killaz mouth off to Punk and get beaten up for it.

Special K realize its been a total sausage fest, even with the adorable, buxom Becky Bayless at their side, so they try to recruit Alexis Laree (Mickie James) into their ranks. She says she’s here for honor and competition, not to be some raver’s groupie. Becky keeps poking at her, though, so Alexis promises to kick her ass in the ring.

Opening Match: Prince Nana vs. Oman Tortuga.
But wait! Homicide commandeers the ring and demands Steve Corino. He gets Corino’s lackey Guillotine LeGrande instead, who promises Corino will be there to beat Homicide’s ass. Nana takes offense to Homicide jacking the ring, so we get…

Opening Match: Prince Nana vs. Homicide.
Nana comes out firing with an overhead suplex and the buttalanche. Homicide goes to the eyes to turn the tide and hits a tope. Nana hits a sideslam but misses a senton off the top. Homicide finishes with the STF at 3:05. Rob Feinstein comes down to ringside and promises Corino will be there later. Homicide made the segment by wearing my favorite T-shirt: Don’t make me break my probation. 3/4*

In the back, The Carnage Crew complain that about their day jobs and lousy families. Loc complains about Special K being a bunch of cheap wrestlers.

The Purists vs. The Ringcrew Express.
The Purists are Tony Mamaluke and John Walters. This is a total squash as Walters and Mamaluke stretch out the youngsters wherever possible. We get some clipping (seriously?!), and Dunn & Marcos make the comeback. Neat spot as Dunn is on Mamaluke’s shoulders in the Electric Chair position and Walters comes up behind him and gives him a super Lungblower. That sets up a Full Nelson Leglock/Side Leglock combo to give the Purists the win at 2:25 (shown). 1/2*

Dan Maff talks about his history with Low Ki but says he’s yesterday’s news. His breaking point was when his own daughter said that Low Ki was her favorite wrestler.

Field of Honor Qualifier: Matt Stryker vs. BJ Whitmer.
Both of these guys are solid technical wrestlers. Everything is even until Whitmer foreshadows his heel turn by giving Stryker a forearm in lieu of a clean break. Stryker hits a stiff leg lariat. They take things to the floor where Whitmer gets whipped to the steel. Whitmer tries to block a charge and gets Dragon Screwed. Back in, Stryker locks in the Strykerlock, but Whitmer is in the ropes. Matt tries the Anklelock, but Whitmer rolls him to the floor. Whitmer works the back with a front facelock/bodyscissors. They trade chops, and Whitmer gets an Exploder out of nowhere for two. Stryker ducks a swing and hits an overhead uranage, dropping Whitmer on his head. Whitmer goes up, but Stryker catches him and hits a Super Schwein for two. Now Stryker goes up, and Whitmer catches him with a superplex. Both men go for Roaring Elbows and knock each other out. The bell rings, signaling a time limit draw before either man can get up. (15:39) The crowd wants five more minutes, but Gary Michael Capetta comes down and announces that Ring of Honor has ruled that neither man will be in the Field of Honor…then he reverses it and says that both men will be in the Field of Honor. Gary, you teasing bastard. I don’t have much to say other than this is just above average for a match of its type and hardly as spectacular as they were selling it. **3/4

Scramble Tag: The Backseat Boyz vs. The Carnage Crew vs. The Spanish Announce Team vs. Izzy & Dixie (w/Special K & Becky Bayless).
The idea here is that everyone hates Special K. As a result, Special K has to take a number of wicked bumps. The Backseats hit the Dream Sequence on Dixie, but the Carnage Crew stalks them until the Backseats stop to play to the crowd, then they hit Johnny with the Carnageplex. The CC hit Izzy with the Second-Rope Piledriver, forcing all of the other Special K members to break up the pin. The ref can’t disqualify just one team because who would win? Everyone takes turns diving onto each other as per usual, but Dixie smartly dons a hat to disguise himself and rolls up Johnny Kashmere for the win at 9:11. Special K tries to start a rave to celebrate, but “Seven Nation Army” interrupts them, signaling the arrival of Alexis Laree. **1/4

Alexis Laree vs. Becky Bayless (w/Special K).
Becky fakes a fingernail injury, distracting the ref long enough for the Special K boys to attack Alexis. The other Special K girl distracts the ref while the guys try to attack Alexis. Instead, they wind up smashing into each other like the Keystone Cops. Alexis is able to fend them off long enough to pin Becky with a DDT at 2:37. Chick filler. 1/2*

#1 Contender’s Trophy: Christopher Daniels (w/Alison Danger) vs. Xavier.
I’d be interested to hear why Gabe did away with the #1 Contender Trophy concept since it seemed to work so well for long-term booking. Before the match, Xavier says that Daniels picked him to be the champion because he knew Xavier was the better man. Daniels retorts that the only way Xavier could have won the title was because of him. This would have been a better match had Xavier not been turned into a non-entity by his injury. Both guys are actually heels, but the crowd loves Daniels, making it strange that Xavier actually tries to wrestle as they open the match. Daniels focuses on mindgames and making Xavier wrestle at his pace. Xavier comes back and tries to work the neck, prompting an “AC Slater” chant. They trade the advantage back and forth with Daniels working the ribs and Xavier working Daniels’ neck. The difference is that Xavier is trying to use his athleticism and power advantage while Daniels focuses on openings and strategies. Daniels misses the Best Moonsault Ever, and Xavier hits the 450-splash, but he can’t cover immediately because of the rib work. ONE, TWO, THR-Daniels gets his foot on the ropes. A hot series of nearfalls follows as both guys start reversing their trademark moves and reversing those reversals. Xavier nearly gets the win with a backslide, but the ref catches him putting his feet on the ropes. As Xavier stops to argue, Daniels sneaks up and rolls him up with a handful of tights. This time, the ref doesn’t catch the cheating, and Daniels picks up the win at 22:26. This is exactly how you should book a heel vs. heel finish. Thankfully, they built the match around their personalities (something that doesn’t happen nearly enough these days, especially in TNA and the WWE) and it worked out well. ***1/2

Steve Corino denies that there is a problem with his neck. And it has nothing to do with the B3 bomber being deployed to Albania.

Four Corners Survival Match: Slyk Wagner Brown (w/April Hunter) vs. Deranged vs. Hydro vs. Jonny Storm.
Special K tries to go the Nash/Hogan route with the FINGERPOKE OF SHROOMS! Slyk comes in and dumps them both then tricks Jonny Storm into trying a dive. How did Brown never get picked up by the WWE? He looks like Brickhouse Brown and Butch Reed had a kid. Special K finally decide to team up rather than kick the crap out of each other. Everyone busts in the multi-man pretzel. Wow, April is…well built. Slyk botches a spot where Hydro was supposed to clothesline him over the top as well as a swinging sidewalk slam, *and* he slips going up for a shooting star press. Well, that answers my earlier question. At least he didn’t land on his head. Everyone dives out on top of everyone else as per Special K’s contract. Deranged flukes out a win with a reverse rana at 12:26, and even he can’t believe it. **1/4

Non-Title: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk.
This is not nearly the MOTY match-up that it would eventually become. Despite being involved in one of the top feuds in the company, Punk was still just an upper midcarder at best and not the face of ROH he would become in 2004-2005. In fact, Punk seems preoccupied with his feud with Raven, which is a dangerous mistake to make when you’re in there with Joe. Both guys have mild injuries — Punk with his knee, Joe with his elbow from the BJ Whitmer match a week earlier. After a brief opening where Joe works in all of his usual spots, the champ goes after Punk’s knee. It’s highlighted by him hanging Punk in the tree-of-woe and hitting a high kick to the exposed knee. Punk tries to target Joe’s arm, but it’s mostly as a defensive move because he never comes close to beating Joe except for a fluke Shining Wizard. He tries again, and Joe snaps off a Dragon Screw, setting up the Single-leg crab for the win at 13:07. After the match, Christopher Daniels hits the ring and hits Joe with the Angel’s Wings then poses with the belt. Punk is too injured to make the save, but he puts himself in between Daniels and Samoa Joe. Daniels gets a creepy smile on his face and backs off. Curiouser and curiouser. **3/4

Grudge Match: Homicide vs. Steve Corino (w/Guillotine LeGrande).
The short story is “they hate each other.” Corino gets his usual laundry list intro complete with streamers from his protégés, and the funny thing is his crew has to clean up the ring themselves. They do a lot of grandstanding until Homicide slaps Corino in his ear, breaking Steve’s eardrum. Corino tries to leave the arena, but Julius Smokes and Slugger block his path. They finally decide to toss wrestling out the window as Homicide grabs some hidden barb wire out from under the ring and rips Corino’s arm open with it. Corino comes back, slamming Homicide’s head into the barrier and then digging his own fingers into the cut. Now that’s sickening fun! You know why Homicide’s a true professional? He gets up and stumbles around so the live crowd can marvel at the carnage. They try a table piledriver, but the table breaks midway through. Ew! The blood’s all over Homicide’s face and running in his own mouth. Homicide comes back with a Tornado DDT and a Shining Wizard while running at about Mach 3.0. He tries a tope con hilo, but Corino ducks out of the way, sending Homicide spilling over the barrier into the crowd. DANGEROUUUUUUUS! Back in, Corino locks in the shinni no make, but Homicide makes the ropes. He goes low to counter another one and hits the Yakuza kick. The crowd is in love with Homicide at this point. Corino catches him going up and hits a SUPERPLEX! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Corino takes *forever* to go up, though, stopping to blow snot on the fans. That allows Homicide to hulk up and hit an Ace Crusher off the top! Corino counters another Ace Crusher to a Death Valley Bomb for two. Homicide comes back with a Michinoku Driver for two. Lovey points out Corino’s rumored bad neck. A lariat can’t get the job done, but Homicide applies the STF. That doesn’t quite get it either, so he locks in the Regal stretch, forcing LeGrande to throw in the towel before Corino passes out at 23:39. How much you like this match depends on how much you want to question the logic of whether these guys should be able to do what they’re doing down the stretch or how much you just want to sit back and wince with each passing move. This was about as fun as sickness gets, though these two would actually top themselves later in the year at “War of the Wire.” ***3/4

Low Ki vs. Dan Maff.
Maff attacks during Ki’s entrance. There’s not much chance of them topping the intense violence of the previous match, so they just try to stiff the shit out of one another. Then again, they probably would have put on the same match regardless. Maff powers out of a jujigatame and slaps Ki in the face, triggering a test of chops. Low Ki wins that one but runs right into a Burning Lariat. For some odd reason, he chooses to no-sell it and pops up into a kick to Maff’s face. Maff zeroes in on Ki’s injured shoulder to slow the match down. Ki starts kicking his way back and hits the springboard, knocking Maff unconscious at 11:13. Ki would later issue an apology for the kick cutting the match short. The match had some promise up to that point, but let’s face it – there’s no way Danny Maff was walking out of this a winner. **

In the back, Becky Bayless promises Alexis Laree that she’ll become more serious in the future, but one of the other Special K members can be seen slipping a roofie in Alexis’ drink.

Christopher Daniels puts over Maff’s toughness. CM Punk interrupts his promo and asks if Daniels had anything to do with the attack on Lucy. Daniels is ambivalent, so Punk decides to cut a promo on Raven instead. When he’s done, Daniels just stands there cackling. INTRIGUE~!

The 411: Another solid show in a string of them for ROH in 2003. A lot of the card was filler, but entertaining filler, and the big matches had at least one interesting aspect to them that made them worth seeing. I'd definitely recommend it for the Corino/Homicide bloodbath, especially if you're a fan of that feud. Thumbs up for "Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies."
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]