411 Video Review: Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies

Thanks again to RFVideo for the tape. You can get it here

Raven cuts a promo about his cage match against CM Punk and denies attacking Lucy.

Punk confronts Rob Feinstein about Lucy getting attacked. The Outcast Killahs interrupt and piss off Punk. They tell him to go drink a beer and they get their asses kicked.

Special K is backstage partying. They need more girls in the clique. They run into Alexis. Alexis yells at them and she gets into it with Becky Bayless. Tonight- it’s Alexis v. Becky.

Homicide comes out and he wants Corino now! Guillotine LeGrande and Gary Michael Cappetta come out. Guillotine cuts a promo on Homicide. Corino is here and he’ll come out later.

Prince Nana v. Homicide

Nana hits an overhead suplex and hammers away. Nana with a splash and the ASS TO THE FACE. He bodyslams him and hits a splash. Nana hammers away and chops Homicide. Homicide dumps him and does a tope con hilo. Homicide chops him and uppercuts him for two. Homicide kicks him but Nana blocks the STF. Nana hits a sideslam but misses a splash. STF and it’s over. Just a squash to get the crowd into Homicide. Ѕ*

Homicide calls out Corino again. Feinstein tells him he’ll be out later and Homicide curses him out. He wants Corino now! Gary Michael Cappetta comes out as Homicide continues to be all pissed off. Cappetta calms him down and Homicide says “Corino is a dead man.”

The Carnage Crew are backstage. DeVito had to miss last week’s show because of work. And on Saturday the wife and kids were nagging him. Loc is pissed about losing the match thanks to interference last week. DeVito and Loc promo their scramble match. The SAT make DeVito almost as sick as Loc’s fat wife. They’re gonna beat some respect into Special K tonight. I love the Carnage Crew’s promos

Dunn and Marcos v. The Purists

Walters and Dunn start. Dunn and Walters battle on the mat with Walters controlling. We get clipped to Mamaluke and Dunn. Dunn gets a Gory bomb and makes the hot tag to Marcos as Dunn and Marcos clean house. They use the power of the AIR GUITAR!~ but The Purists come back and stretch the hell out of them for the win. No rating due to the clipping.

Danny Maff cuts a promo about his match with Low Ki tonight. Low Ki may have achieved all his dreams and accolades- but it’s Maff’s time tonight. This is one awesome intense promo.

BJ Whitmer v. Matt Stryker for a spot in the Field of Honor

They lock wrists to start and then lockup. Whitmer takes him down but Stryker reverses to get on top. Whitmer flips out and works on the arm. Stryker flips out and they battle on the mat. They shake hands as the crowd chants for both. Lockup- and Stryker works on the arm. Whitmer comes back with a forearm and a leg lariat. They lockup- and Stryker forearms him and hits a leg lariat of his own for two. Lockup- Whitmer gets a waistlock but Stryker elbows out. Stryker armdrags him and they both fall out of the ring. Stryker chops him on the outside and sends him into a guardrail. Whitmer eats another guardrail. Whitmer eats a third guardrail and Stryker gives him a dragon screw legwhip on the floor. Stryker works on his knee and gets a Texas cloverleaf but Whitmer races to the ropes. Stryker works on his knee some more. Stryker lock but Whitmer is in the ropes. Stryker hooks an anklelock but Whitmer rolls out and dumps Stryker. Whitmer gives him a neckbreaker on the floor and throws him back in. Whitmer kicks him in the back a bunch of times and hooks a submission hold. Whitmer releases the hold to cover him but Stryker is in the ropes. Whitmer with another neckbreaker for two. Whitmer with a STIFF forearm and he suplexes him for two. Whitmer hooks a chinlock but Stryker elbows out. Whitmer elbows him for two. Whitmer forearms him and keeps chopping. Stryker hits a top-rope sunset flip to block a possible Whitmer suplex. Stryker and Whitmer trade chops. Stryker with a neckbreaker and a big boot for two. Stryker brings the European uppercuts but Whitmer suplexes him for two. Whitmer forearms him. He goes for a roaring forearm but Stryker ducks and hits a suplex. Stryker forearms him but Whitmer blocks one and hits a suplex for two. Whitmer elbows him and goes up top. Stryker forearms him and hits a top-rope Death Valley Driver…for two. Stryker forearms him but Whitmer crotches him on the top rope and hits a superplex for two. They trade forearms and Whitmer hits a superkick. Stryker blocks an Exploder 98 and they both hit roaring elbows on each other. They’re both down and we have a time limit draw. ***3/4

I’m getting more into Whitmer and Stryker everytime I see them as they keep topping their previous stuff every match. I didn’t like the finish very much but this was just great hard hitting back and forth action that made me want to see the Field of Honor.

Gary Michael Cappetta is out and puts over the match. Since neither won neither are in the Field of Honor technically. But since the match was so good- both men are in the Field of Honor! Whitmer and Stryker both cut promos on being in the Field of Honor.

Special K v. The Carnage Crew v. SAT v. The Backseat Boyz in a tag team scramble

This is the SAT’s first chance to get their hands on the Backseats since Death before Dishonor when they attacked them. The Carnage Crew is also pissed at Special K for losing last week.

Kashmere and Dixie start. Kashmere bulldogs him and hits a big boot. Dixie bails. Jose and DeVito go with Jose hurricaraning him. DeVito hammers away but eats an elbow. DeVito powerslams him for two. DeVito chops him but gets armdragged. Loc and Acid go. Acid does a double kick and a forearm and hits a double knee in the corner. Loc gets a saito suplex and Acid bails. Izzy and Joel go. They battle on the mat and Joel kills him with a clothesline. Loc comes in with a forearm and a kick. The SAT double team him with a springboard senton. Izzy comes in with a springboard missile dropkick and Special K double team Joel. The Backseats go after Special K. They hit Dixie with the Dream Sequence. The Carnage Crew hit the Backseats with the carnage plex. Izzy is able to handle the SATs for a bit until they catch him coming off the top and they swing him into the mat. Loc hits Jose with a neckbreaker. Acid hits Loc with a Yakuza kick. DeVito comes in and hits Acid with a Northern lights suplex. Kashmere comes in and bulldogs DeVito. Izzy hits a moonsault dropkick on Kashmere. The SAT go for the Spanish Fly on Izzy but Dixie saves. Loc hits Izzy with a neckbreaker and the Carnage Crew give him a spike piledriver. Special K all run in at once. The SATs dive onto Special K. Acid gives Cloudy a superplex on the floor. Lit is in the middle of the ring dancing. Kashmere gives him a cradle breaker. Dixie runs in and rolls him up for the win. The usual scramble stuff- not as good as the one in Dayton though. Special K running in at the end really pissed me off and just made everyone look stupid. And did they have to win AGAIN? ***

Special K start to rave when the White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ hits and Alexis comes out!

Alexis Laree v. Becky Bayless

Special K attack Laree to start. Bayless forearms her twice. Laree boots her and takes her down. Laree forearms her and kicks her. Special K surround her. Lit and Angeldust accidentally collide. Hijinx captures Laree but Cloudy nails him by accident. Laree hits Becky with an inverted DDT for the win. DUD This was just a comedy match to kill some time. I hope Becky Bayless was acting there because if not- she has a lot more training to do.

Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger) v. Xavier for the #1 contendership

At Unscripted last year- Xavier shocked the world by joining the Prophecy and beating Low Ki for the title. At the same show the Prophecy won the tag titles as they had control over ROH. In March things started coming apart. At Expect the Unexpected Daniels and Xavier lost the tag belts to Red and AJ and Xavier suffered a concussion. The next week at Night of Champions Xavier lost the ROH title to Samoa Joe and suffered more concussions- causing him to take time off. At Death before Dishonor Xavier returned. Daniels claimed he knew about it all along but no one really believes him. Tonight the two Prophecy members face off for the #1 contenders trophy.

Xavier cuts a promo beforehand talking about how he is better then Daniels. He asks Daniels to lay down for him so the Prophecy can be great again. Daniels tells him that he only won because Daniels let him.

Lockup- Xavier pushes him down. Lockup- Daniels shoves him down. Lockup- Xavier gets a waistlock which Daniels reverses. Xavier goes to the arm and works on that. Lockup- Daniels controls him on the mat but Xavier reverses. Daniels works him over and gets a submission hold but Xavier goes to the ropes. A fan starts ragging on Daniels and Daniels gets into it with him as the commentators go over the Code of Honor. Daniels gets a headlock but Xavier reverses into a hammerlock which Daniels has trouble reversing. Daniels with a headlock and Xavier tries to fight out and gets an armbar. Xavier punches him and Daniels gets all pissed off. Daniels gets a shot in on him. Daniels and Xavier shove each other and then threaten to slug it out which they do. Xavier wins but gets speared down by Daniels. Daniels suplexes him on the top rope and drops some knees. Daniels keeps mocking a fan as he works on Xavier’s midsection. Daniels drops an elbow for two. Daniels slams him and drops an elbow for two. Xavier dumps on the apron and kicks him into the rail. Xavier baseball slides him into the rail again. Xavier jumps off the top rope onto the middle rope and then does a moonsault onto Daniels! That was cool. Xavier knees him and works on the neck. Xavier hooks a Maple Leaf crab and then starts chopping. Xavier knees him in the head and hooks a chinlock. Daniels blocks a piledriver with a backdrop and goes back to the midsection. Daniels dropkicks the ribs and hits a rib breaker for two. Xavier blocks a suplex and stretches Daniels. Xavier hits a running dropkick but gets kneed by Daniels. Daniels drops a knee and whips him into the ring corner. Daniels hooks an abdominal stretch but Xavier comes back with an inverted DDT for two. Xavier drops Daniels’ chin onto his knee and kicks him for two. Daniels spears Xavier and gets a backdrop and leg lariat. Daniels sends him face first to the mat for two. Xavier pulls Daniels off the ropes and hits a clothesline. Xavier gets another move that works on the neck but Daniels comes back and goes back to the ropes. Daniels misses the Picture Perfect Moonsault. Xavier hits the 450 Splash but Daniels is in the ropes. Daniels blocks an X-breaker with a rollup for two. Xavier rolls through a crossbody for two. Daniels gets another quick pin cover for two. Daniels goes to the ribs but Xavier blocks Angel’s Wings and rolls him up for two. Double clothesline and both men are down. Xavier uppercuts him but Daniels blocks a backslide. Xavier backslides him but has his foot on the ropes and the ref catches him. Daniels gets a rollup holding the tights for the win. **1/4

While the match was psychologically sound it was also very slow and boring and just seemed like one long feeling out process. The deal with both guys going from friends to enemies was nice as were some of the moves in the match. But for the most part it was slow and boring and ultimately- disappointing.

Gary Michael Cappetta runs into a pissed off Punk who is leaving Corino’s room. Punk goes off looking for Daniels. Cappetta sees LeGrande and Corino. Corino says his neck is fine and he only works the main event! LeGrande throws him out.

Slyk Wagner Brown v. Johnny Storm v. Deranged v. Hydro

Deranged tries to fingerpoke Hydro but Storm saves. Hydro pokes Deranged but Brown saves. Brown dumps both members of Special K out and then clotheslines Storm as he tries to fly out. Brown works on his arm and gets a headlock. Storm reverses into one of his own. Brown reverses and takes him down with a shoulderblock. They trade near falls and then kip up. Storm boots him and headlocks him. Deranged tags in and hits a springboard dropkick on Brown. Deranged gets a satellite headscissors. Brown catches him on a moonsault press but Deranged DDTs him for two. Deranged chops away but Brown gets a military press moonsault for two. Storm tags in and gets a knee headlock. Storm kills him with a clothesline but walks into a spinkick. Hydro is tagged in. Hydro and Deranged knee him and hit a Demolition Decapitation for two. Hydro suplexes him for two. Storm lands on his feet after a German and tags Brown. Brown clotheslines Hydo and they do the same 4-way submission that they did in Dayton. Brown blocks a Storm tope and Deranged kicks Brown in the face. Hydro clotheslines Brown out but gets tripped up by Storm. Storm flies out onto Hydro. Deranged does a springboard moonsault to the outside onto everyone. Brown joins the pack and flies out onto them. Brown throws Hydro back in. Hydro forearms him and hit a running one. Hydro clotheslines him for two. Hydro hits a top-rope splash for two. Tag Deranged. Deranged: Are you crazy- I’m not fighting him! Deranged hurricaranas Hydro and hits a powerbomb for two. Storm is tagged in and plants Deranged on his head for two. Storm DDTs Deranged for two. Brown comes in and hammers away at Storm. Storm boots him. Storm goes up top but Brown plants him into the mat for two. Storm dumps him on the top and goes for a hurricarana but Brown gives him a top-rope sidewalk slam him for two. Brown slips going up top and ends up missing a Shooting Star Press. Deranged is tagged in and hits a reverse hurricarana for the win. ***1/4 Deranged is shocked that he won. This was a fun match- the Special K guys are always entertaining and Brown busted ass to impress everyone. MUCH better then the Dayton 4-way.

CM Punk v. Samoa Joe

The crowd chants ‘Alcoholic’ and ‘You Drank Beer’ at Punk as Punk cuts his usual awesome straight edge promo and talks about his upcoming cage match with Raven. The crowd sings ‘Raven’s gonna kill you’ at Punk.

Joe gets a waistlock but Punk reverses. They trade hammerlocks and Joe goes into the ropes. Punk takes him down and works on his arm. Joe trips him up and locks in a crossface. They lock wrists with Joe winning. Punk hits a hurricarana and starts chopping. Joe throws him to the mat but Punk goes back to the arm. Joe gets an overhead suplex. Joe stomps away and facewashes him. BOOTSCRAPE! Joe chops him and sends him into the rail. Joe makes Punk take a seat and chops him. OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY. Punk trips him up though and does a drop toe hold into the chair. Punk chops him and now it’s OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY time for Punk. That just pisses Joe off and he kicks the shit out of Punk and it’s OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY OLAY time for Joe and this time it hits. Joe puts Punk in another seat but does not call for an OLAY OLAY and kicks him again. The fans chant ‘One More Time.’ Joe chops him and makes him take another seat. Damn- don’t piss off Joe by mocking the kick. Punk bails and runs back into the ring- and that just pisses Joe off more. Punk starts nailing Joe with forearms and stomps away. Joe drops him knee first on the canvas and locks in a leglock. Punk kicks out of it but Joe goes back to the leg. Joe hangs him in the Tree of Woe and chops his knee. Joe does a running kick to the knee. Punk hits the divorce court and does a slingshot senton on the arm. Punk goes Old School but legdrops the arm instead- for two. Punk hooks a cross armbreaker but Joe makes the ropes. Punk goes up top and Joe follows him. Joe blocks the Pepsi Plunge and enziguris his knee. Joe hits a top-rope dragon screw legwhip for two. Joe kicks him a bunch of times and clotheslines him down. Joe keeps kicking him but gets elbowed by Punk. Joe goes back to his leg. Joe and Punk trade forearms and Punk hits the Shining Wizard…for two. They trade chops and kicks and Joe gets a dragon screw legwhip. Joe STRETCHES him with a half Boston crab for the win. ***1/2 Daniels runs in and lays out Joe with Angel’s Wings.

These guys worked really well together and this match was also psychologically sound- but unlike Daniels v. Xavier they managed to make it very entertaining with lots of cool spots (the OLAY OLAY ones in particular) and Joe just murdering Punk’s leg was a sight to see. I hope these guys feud soon- they could have some great matches down the road.

Homicide v. Steve Corino in a No Holds Barred match

At Glory by Honor- Corino and Homicide were in a tag match against the Backseats. Miscommunication befell them and they lost the match. After the match Corino attacked Homicide and left him laying. At All Star Extravaganza Homicide attacked him with a fork. At Final Battle Corino beat the crap out of Homicide and caused him to miss a #1 contenders match. They finally had their big one on one match at the First Anniversary Show and Corino won. Corino’s taunting of the crowd led to a big riot that scared the crap out of Corino and he vowed never to return. Meanwhile Homicide and his crew successfully fended off Corino’s Group by defeating them at Epic Encounter. Homicide never forgot about Corino and began issuing challenges to him- which Corino ignored. Finally at Wrath of the Racket Homicide brought his son into the mix by asking Corino how he could look him in the eye if he was such a pussy. This infuriated Corino so much that he agreed to return to ROH.

Guillotine LeGrande hands the mic over to Corino’s personal ring announcer Bobby
Cruz who introduces Corino by announcing every single title he’s ever held. Funny funny stuff. Then streamers are thrown into the ring in honor of Corino.

They stare each other down. They lockup and Corino pushes him back. Corino starts chopping but Homicide fights back and Homicide kicks his ass with punches. Homicide blocks a drop toehold and works on his leg. Corino reverses and gets a leglock. They keep fighting each other and Homicide headbutts him. They trade chops and Homicide goes to the eyes. Homicide hammers away and chokes him. Homicide keeps chopping him. Corino taunts him and gets slapped. Corino shoves him and gets SLAPPED. Corino bails to confer with Guillotine and because his ear drum just got shattered. Corino starts to leave but Julius Smokes, Benny and Slugger stop him. Homicide runs after Corino and whips him into the rail. Homicide hammers away and throws him back in. Homicide hits a running forearm and a big knee. Homicide starts raking his nose. Homicide misses a diving headbutt and Corino hits a leg lariat for two. Corino sends Homicide into the ropes and Homicide falls out. Corino and Homicide brawl on the outside. Corino chokes him on the rail. Homicide blocks a post shot and sends Corino into the post. Homicide finds BARB WIRE and rakes his arms with barb wire and Corino is bleeding from the arm. Homicide then starts forking his arm and biting it. Homicide is kicking some ass and Julius Smokes loves it. Corino lariats him but his arm is bleeding and he can’t capitalize. Corino boots him and dumps Homicide. Corino spits at Julius Smokes and rams Homicide into the rail. Homicide is gushing blood. Corino rakes the barb wire into his forehead and piledrives him for two. Corino piledrives him through a table. Corino facewashes him back in. Corino slaps him and gets spat. Homicide boots him and gets a tornado DDT. Homicide hits the Shining Wizard for two. Corino bails. Homicide goes for his CRAZY TOPE but Corino moves and Homicide goes FLYING into the crowd. The crowd gets nervous as the same thing happened in Queens. (Well except for the flying into the crowd part) Corino hooks the Cobra clutch sleeper but unlike Queens- Homicide makes the ropes this time. Corino hooks the sleeper again as Homicide is fading fast. Homicide ballshots him and hits the Yakuza kick! Homicide’s face is just COVERED in blood. Julius Smokes dances on the outside. Homicide goes up top but Corino punches him. Corino hits a superplex for two. Corino hits a running forearm and he taunts the crowd. Corino goes up top and blows snot rockets at the fans. Homicide gets a second wind and hits a top rope Ace Crusher….for two. Homicide hits a suplex for two. Corino blocks an Ace Crusher and hits the Old School Expulsion….for two. Homicide hits a tombstone slam for two. Homicide nails him in the back of the neck and hits a lariat for two. Homicide chops him. Corino forearms him but Homicide gets a droptoehold and hooks the STF. Guillotine LeGrande has had enough and throws in the towel. ****1/4

Wow. That certainly lived up to the hype. You want blood, sick spots and brutal hatred? This match has it. I also liked how they built on their First Anniversary Show match by having them do the same sequence that spelled doom for Homicide last time. Corino took an absolute shitkicking here by bleeding from the arm and suffering a busted eardrum. Both men gave it their all in this match and held nothing back- and it showed.

I do have a few problems with the match- There were some selling issues and the finish was really cheap. I understand they were trying to keep the feud open if need be but the towel finish caught everyone by surprise and sort of deflated their love for the MOTYC we had witnessed.

It’s a great match that lives up to the hype that ROH has given it.

Corino lays on the mat passed out as his crew tends to him. Homicide stands victorious over Corino and pours water on him.

Dan Maff v. Low Ki

Maff and Ki were trained by Homicide who taught them to respect and to appreciate pro wrestling. Low Ki and Maff took this to heart and when Ring of Honor opened up- they took it upon themselves to uphold the Code of Honor at all times with Low Ki feuding with the Prophecy- the people hell bent on destroying ROH and the Code of Honor. Maff shocked the world by joining the Prophecy at Epic Encounter while Low Ki was out with an injury. Low Ki made a surprise return at Death before Dishonor and now he wants Maff.

Maff attacks Low Ki from behind and kicks his ass. Maff beats on him with chops but Low Ki comes back with kicks. Low Ki does the Ki Kick Combo and finishes it with the Mongolian drop. Low Ki hits an elbowdrop and chops away. Maff blocks a suplex and hooks a submission hold but Low Ki gets a cross armbreaker. Maff rolls out and slaps him. Low Ki slaps him back and they have a slap war which Low Ki wins. Maff hits a clothesline but Low Ki kicks him back down. Low Ki hooks a crucifix armbreaker but Maff gets a German suplex and chops him. Maff sends him into the turnbuckle and drops an elbow for two. Maff keeps chopping him in the back but Low Ki gets a second wind and starts kicking away. Maff keeps chopping him but Low Ki won’t go down. Low Ki gets a spin kick to the back of the head. Low Ki gets a rolling kick and KNOCKS Maff out legit. No one knows what to do so Low Ki just covers him for the win. I’m not going to rate it because of the abrupt ending but it seemed about ***-ish.

Alexis gets into a confrontation with Special K and takes a drink of water- SPIKED WITH ECTASY.

Christopher Daniels is backstage gloating about his night. Allison Danger interrupts and Daniels shuts her up and talks about how he’s close to being ROH champ. Punk shows up and asks him if he took out Lucy.

Punk then cuts a promo on Raven about their upcoming steel cage and their previous dog collar match. In 21 days- Raven will face Punk’s wrath and he will stand victorious once and all.

The Bottom Line- Homicide v. Corino is a must see brawl and that’s enough for a recommendation. This show also has Low Ki’s last ROH match, and a bunch of good matches up and down the card. Your views on Daniels v. Xavier may vary so I wouldn’t write that match off. A good show featuring a must see violent brawl.

Recommended

http://www.rfvideo.com/merchant/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&id=8051