411 Video Review: Wrestlerave 03

As usual- a huge thanks to RF Video for this tape. You can pick up this tape here-

http://www.rfvideo.com/merchant/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&id=7983

This show was held at the end of the June in the Murphy Rec Centre. Now the Murphy Rec is infamous for it’s lack of air conditioning so all these guys are wrestling in a very very hot building. It just makes it more amazing what they were able to do.

Low Ki is here and thanks his fans for wishing him a speedy recovery. He challenges Flash Barker to come to ROH. He then talks about how Danny Maff has joined the Prophecy- and he will show him no mercy. The Prophecy has no place in ROH- just like Julius Smokes. He also challenges Joe to a match.

Rob Feinstein is backstage telling some jokes. Simply Luscious shows up. Rob wonders why she’s here since the Group is no more. Luscious is a bit peeved and says Corino will cause trouble.

Dunn and Marcos v. Prince Nana and Jimmy Jact Cash

Dunn and Marcos are just crazy over. Prince Nana cuts a prematch promo and introduces Jimmy Jact Cash. Dunn and Marcos point out that they are the top tag team in Ring of Honor and tongight- they’re gonna rock you LIKE A HURRICANE!

The heels attack to start but Dunn and Marcos get stereo rollups. Nana and Cash clothesline them and kick their ass. Cash elbows Marcos down and knees away. Cashits a running headbutt and an overhead slam. Cash hits a flying back elbow for two. Cash talks smack to Dunn allowing Nana and Cash to beat on Marcos. Marcos hits a Northern lights suplex and makes the hot tag to Dunn. Dunn promptly walks into a lariat by Nana. Nana chops away and hits a running splash and the ASS TO THE FACE! Nana and Cash hit the Death Sentence for two. Cash brings the European uppercuts and hits a spinebuster. Dunn hits the Gory Bomb and tags Marcos. They boot Nana and Marcos sentons Nana for two. Dunn and Marcos hit sliced bread #2 AND DUNN AND MARCOS WIN!!!! DUNN AND MARCOS WIN!!!!! AN ACTUAL VICTORY!!!! The match was crap but just seeing Dunn and Marcos win was a highlight. *

Alexis Laree v. Sumie Sakai

They lockup and shake hands again. They trade armdrags and Sakai gets a dropkick for two. Alexis gets a dropkick but Sakai bridges up. Alexis kicks her and hits a running kick for two. Sakai gets a boot and missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick gets two. Sakai gets a bow and arrow and a camel clutch. Sakai keeps choking her and everytime the ref counts to 5 she switches hands. Great stuff. Laree gets a headscissors takeover and Sakai knees her abdomen. Laree rolls through a slam with a rollup. Sakai reverses to one of her own. Laree blocks a fisherman buster and they roll around the mat constantly reversing small packages. What an awesome sequence. Sakai with a back suplex for two. Sakai gets a Northern lights suplex for two. Sakai slams her but misses a moonsault. Laree kicks her and hits the inverted DDT for the win. This match was way too short but was just awesome while it lasted. Sakai was perfect here- working the crowd, getting heat on Alexis and just doing her job to perfection. **1/2

The Prophecy are backstage. Daniels celebrates their victory in Boston but tonight bigger things are in store- winning the ROH title. Maff promises to win the title tonight. Daniels sends threatening words at the Second City Saints. They cut to Raven who has a bad gash on his ankle- but he just laughs it off.

Chad Collyer v. Matt Stryker in a submission match

At Revenge on the Prophecy Collyer beat the debuting Stryker via submission. They faced off again at Expect the Unexpected with Collyer again winning via submission. At Round Robin Challenge II Stryker made Collyer tap out- but it was in a five-way match.

Lockup- Stryker pushes him into the ropes. Lockup- Stryker gets a waistlock into a nelson. Collyer reverses- Stryker goes into the ropes. Lockup- Collyer gets an armdrag but Stryker reverses into an armbar. Collyer goes into the ropes. Lockup-Stryker gets a hammerlock reversed into a headscissors by Collyer. Lockup- Collyer gets a headlock but gets taken down into a facelock by Collyer. Collyer rolls through and they roll around the mat. Collyer stretches him, Stryker gets on top as they continue to try for submissions. Stryker gets a leglock and reverses into an STF like hold. Collyer makes the ropes. Collyer gets a leglock and grapevines the leg into an Indian deathlock- he bends his arm back and turns it over. I don’t know what it’s called but it looks really painful. They lock wrists but Stryker reverses and drives Collyer into the mat. He bends his wrist but Stryker rolls through and bends his leg back. Collyer turns into a figure four but Stryker makes the ropes. Stryker takes him down to the mat and works a hammerlock. Collyer escapes and stomps away. Collyer with a headbutt as the commentators go off on WWE for the Lance Storm boring gimmick. Collyer bends the arm back as Stryker gets an armdrag but misses an elbow. Collyer hooks a Fujiwara armbar as Stryker tries to block it. Stryker ends up with a Texas cloverleaf but Collyer makes the ropes. Collyer bails and pulls Stryker to the outside. He rams Stryker’s leg into the apron. Collyer rams his leg into the ringpost. Collyer kicks at the hamstring and works on his leg. He bends his leg back and Stryker makes the ropes. Collyer with another submission hold but Stryker reverses and they roll out of it. Collyer kicks at his leg and they trade forearms. Collyer boots him and hits a European uppercut. Collyer hooks a figure four but Stryker reverses. They trade forearms, chops and uppercuts. Stryker starts to take control and gets a drop toehold. Stryker hooks an anklelock but Collyer rolls through and kicks off. Stryker takes him down and hook the anklelock again. Collyer rolls through again but Stryker goes for the Stryker lock. Collyer rolls through again and gets the Cloverleaf. Stryker makes the ropes. Collyer goes up top but gets dropkicked on the way down. Stryker hooks the Stryker lock but Collyer makes the ropes. They try to suplex the other and Stryker suplexes him back in. Collyer lands on his feet and gets a dragon screw. Collyer hooks the Texas Cloverleaf and Stryker taps. A bit on the slow side and it took a while to get going but it had sound psychology and lots of great scientific wrestling. ***1/4

Special K v. The Carnage Crew

At Epic Encounter the Carnage Crew lost a scramble match because Mikey Whipwreck gave them Whippersnappers. At Night of Grudges Justin Credible made his debut by attacking Angeldust and later joined the Carnage Crew in taking out Whipwreck.

DeVito introduces Justin Credible who comes out to a big pop and a welcome back chant.

Special K consists of Deranged, Dixie and Izzy this time. Credible and Deranged start. Credible rides him on the mat and Deranged cries cheating. Credible headlocks Deranged and then slaps him.

Deranged: HE HITS TOO HARD!

Credible continues hitting him too hard but Deranged gets a flying headscissors and a hurricarana. Deranged gets a spinkick and mocks him by doing crotch chops. Loc comes in and beats the hell out of Dixie. Dixie comes back with a tornado DDT and tags Izzy. DeVito comes in and beats the piss out of Izzy. Izzy coems back with armdrags and a kick. DeVito gets two hiptosses but misses a dropkick. DeVito continues kicking his ass. Izzy fights out of the Carnage Crew corner and tags in Deranged. Justin comes in and hits a superkick and Loc hits a Saito suplex. DeVito covers for a near fall. DeVito chops away and continues kicking ass. Tag Justin. Justin lights him up with chops and tags DeVito. DeVito misses a moonsault. Justin and Dixie go now. Dixie cleans house on the Carnage Crew and it’s a pier-6 brawl Katie bar the door. Dixie does a dive onto the Carnage Crew. Deranged does a hilo off of the back of Izzy onto everyone. Izzy dives onto everyone now. Deranged is left alone with Loc and Devito and they hit him with a swinging suplex. Izzy hits a double sliced bread #2 onto Loc and DeVito. Justin runs in with a superkick to Izzy and a tombstone to Dixie for the win. Match was a ton of fun especially with Justin being so over. **3/4

Samoa Joe v. Danny Maff for the ROH World Title

Maff and Joe were at the forefront of the Prophecy v. Group war. At Night of Grudges Maff pinned Joe to disband the Group and give victory to the Prophecy. This automatically made him the #1 contender.

In an unrelated note- Maff’s father died the night before this match yet he still showed up to compete. My heart definitely goes out to Maff for competing in this match under what had to be a extremely rough circumstances.

Maff attacks to start and stomps away and hits a running boot. Joe bails. Maff hits a tope and slaps him. Joe returns the favour and slaps the taste out of him and follows with an enziguri. Joe has Maff take a seat in a chair but Maff moves out of the way out of the Olay kick. Joe boots him and just NAILS him with the OLAY KICK! Joe does another one just for kicks. Joe hits him with a chair twice and boots him. Joe with a butterfly suplex and hooks a submission hold. Joe chops him and boots him again. Knee to the throat gets two. Joe with a release German suplex but all it does is piss Maff off. Maff clotheslines him and chops away. Maff hammers away and hits the running cannonball and a heel kick. Maff chops away and clotheslines him for two. Maff goes for the Burning Hammer but Joe hooks a triangle choke. Maff runs into the ropes to break but gets caught with a sleeper. Maff counters with a backdrop suplex for two. Joe with a sidewalk slam and he powerbombs him for two. He rolls into an STF. Maff goes right to the ropes. Maff gets a sidewalk slam of his own and goes for the Burning Hammer. Joe drops out and hits a big kick and the dragon suplex for the win. Just a stiff brutal match that was just a wee bit too short. Maff gave a fantastic performance given the circumstances. ***1/2

Joe leaves the ring and let’s Maff have the spotlight as he pays tribute to his father.

Gary Michael Cappetta is with Homicide and J-Train. J-Train cuts a promo where I understand one out of every 12 words.

Alex Shelley v. Jimmy Jacobs v. BJ Whitmer v. Tony Mamaluke

Alex Shelley and Jacobs have made a splash in IWA-MS with their violent and lengthy feud. Jacobs’ gimmick is that he wears furry boots and says HUSS! I know it sounds stupid but it’s really funny and Jacobs is great at it.

Shelley and Mamaluke start. They battle on the mat and Mamaluke gets on top. Shelley tags out to Jacobs. HUSS! HUSS! HUSS! Jacobs and Mamaluke lock wrists and trade near falls. Mamaluke gets an armbar and Jacobs makes the ropes. Mamaluke tags Shelley. Lockup- Shelley works on the arm. Jacobs rolls through to a Maple Leaf crab but Mamaluke helps him make the ropes. Shelley gets some nice near falls on Jacobs. Shelley with a headlock and he hammers away. They trade armdrags and Jacobs gets La Magistral for two. Jacobs goes to the arm. Whitmer comes in and hits a double exploder. Mamaluke runs in and hits a baseball kick and a leg sweep. Mamaluke goes for a submission but Whitmer keeps blocking everything. Whitmer does the Bob Backlund bridge up and drops him down. Mamaluke goes to the leg and bends his arms back. Mamaluke with a camel clutch. Whitmer gets one of his own. Shelley tags himself in and facewashes Mamaluke. Shelley kicks away but Jacobs comes in and takes Shelley out. Whitmer boots him to the floor. Mamaluke with a jawbreaker and he tags Whitmer. Whitmer works over Shelley and elbows him for two. Whitmer brings Jacobs in the hard way. Jacobs chops Shelley and boots him. Jacobs with a backbreaker and he tags Mamaluke. Mamaluke with a backdrop driver for two. Tag Whitmer. Poor Alex Shelley. Whitmer chops the hell out of him and suplexes him for two. Tag Mamaluke. Whitmer and Mamaluke get a double armbar on Shelly. Mamaluke goes for a superplex but Shelly pushes him down. Whitmer crotches Shelley and Jacobs takes out Whitmer. Jacobs goes for a top-rope hurricarana but Shelley holds on and drops him right onto the top turnbuckle. The crowd chants ‘Holy Huss’. Mamaluke locks in a submission hold on Shelley but Whitmer saves with a flying headbutt. Whitmer with a brainbuster but Jacobs comes in with a Senton for two. Whitmer with a Blue Thunder Driver on Jacobs but Shelley saves. Whitmer hits a BRUTAL lariat on Shelley but Mamaluke saves and puts Whitmer in a cross armbreaker. Jacobs saves but gets locked in a submission hold by Mamaluke. Shelley saves with a top-rope splash. Shelley covers Jacobs but Mamaluke saves. Shelley enziguris Mamaluke and Whitmer lariats him. Shelley blocks an Exploder with a small package for two. Whitmer hits the Exploder on Shelley and Mamaluke locks Shelley in a submission hold. Jacobs goes after Whitmer and walks into an exploder for the win. ***3/4

Second City Saints v. Raven and Christopher Daniels in a hardcore tag match

Raven and Punk have been feuding for quite some time now. When it was announced that Raven would be debuting in Ring of Honor- CM Punk was very unhappy. CM Punk takes his straight edge beliefs very seriously and looked down upon Raven- someone who has battled addiction to drugs and alcohol in the past. Punk seemed personally angered that Raven threw away his career due to his vices.

At Expect the Unexpected Punk pulled off a major upset and bloodied Raven up en route to making him tap out to the STF. Raven was the master of mind games so he recruited Colt Cabana to team with him to take on Punk and the trainer of Punk and Cabana- Ace Steel. Raven’s team got the win- but he pinned Steel, not Punk. Punk then one-upped him in the mind games department when Cabana turned on Raven. This marked the official formation of the Second City Saints. At Epic Encounter- Raven was not present but he sent Trinity there to send a message to the Saints. Also at EE- Punk and BJ Whitmer had a brutal match that ended in a draw when Punk gave Whitmer a German from the apron through the table. Punk was very cocky about the match and talked down to Whitmer and acted like he won the match. At Round Robin Challenge II another minion of Raven showed up but he was laid out by the debuting Lucy (a.k.a. Dafney from WCW) At Do or Die- Punk cut a terrific promo where he talked about his straight edge beliefs. Also at Do or Die Daniels and Punk were both in a four way match that Daniels won. Daniels and Punk then had a confrontation after the match since Daniels is unhappy about Punk’s new group.

At Night of Grudges Raven teamed with Whitmer to take on the Second City Saints. It was a wild bloody brawl and the Second City Saints won. After the match Punk kicked Raven’s ass and put him through a table

Raven won’t let Punk in the ring so Punk gets on the mic to talk about his straight edge beliefs.

Raven and Daniels quickly clear the ring and they brawl on the outside. Double noggin knocker by Raven/Daniels and then they bust out the rowboat. Cabana gets bulldogged into Punk. Punk blocks a drop toehold onto the chair but then Daniels chairs him down. Punk returns the favour and Daniels gigs. Punk pounds him down and tags Cabana. Cabana drops a knee and works on the cut. Punk is also bleeding and is tagged in and he works on Daniels. Punk’s face is just covered in blood. Punk and Cabana both splash Daniels and it gets a nearfall for Colt. Punk comes in and works over Daniels as his blood is dripping everywhere. Cabana continues to work over Daniels but Daniels comes back and locks in submission hold. Punk comes in with a legdrop. Daniels fights both off and reaches for the tag but Cabana spinebusters him down. Daniels whips Cabana into Punk and gets an inverted DDT and hot tag Raven. Raven cleans house and drop toeholds both members of the SCS on a chair. He does the bulldog/clothesline combo but Cabana saves Punk. The ref gets bumped and Raven hits Cabana with the Raven Effect. Raven goes for the Raven Effect on Punk but Lucy saves. CATFIGHT! CATFIGHT! CATFIGHT! Punk kicks Danger in the face to end that. Daniels hits Punk with the Angels Wings but walks into a Colt .45. Raven Effect for Cabana but Punk chokes him with a chain and gives him a hangman’s neckbreaker with the chain. Punk beats his ass with the chain to win. ** The action was flat for the most part save for Punk’s awesome blade job.

Punk chokes Raven with the chain on the top rope as Cabana beats on Daniels.

Raven (coughing up bile) challenges Punk to a dog collar match.

A bloody Punk cuts one of the most intense promos I’ve ever seen where he finally reveals his true hatred for Raven. This is a MUST SEE promo!

AJ Styles v. Chris Sabin for the NWA Title

AJ comes out to the Theme from 2001. No backstory here.

Lockup- AJ with a waistlock and he gets a front facelock. Sabin with a waistlock and he goes for the nelson but Styles breaks it and they face off. Styles takes him down and rides him on the mat as the commentators FINALLY go through the CODE OF HONOR! Styles and Sabin continue to face off on the mat. Sabin shoves him and goes for an Oklahoma Roll but his shoulder isn’t down. Styles with a headlock but Sabin gets one of his own. Sabin blocks the Styles Clash. They fight on the apron and Styles snaps his neck on the top rope. Collyer baseball slides him and headscissors AJ into the guard rail. Sabin with a flying clothesline and he gets a crossface. They fight over a suplex and AJ gets a neckbreaker suplex. AJ with a brainbuster for two. AJ stretches Sabin with a neckringer. AJ chops him and gets a powerslam for two. Blind charge by AJ eats boot and they both kick each other. They trade chops and Sabin gets a release German for two. AJ blocks a fisherman’s buster and gets a powerbomb for two. Sabin blocks an inverted DDT and goes for something but AJ reverses it into a crucifix for two. Sabin gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Sabin goes up top and gets crotched. Sabin hits a hurricarana but AJ rolls through and holds on. Styles Clash finishes it. Just great wrestling for ten minutes- nothing more, nothing less. ***1/2

AJ gets on the mic and names some of the previous title holders of the NWA Title. He brings up what Shane Douglas did to the belt and then puts over the NWA Title. He asks the fans to respect the title as much he does and as much as he respects the fans.

Gary Michael Cappetta lets Low Ki know that Homicide is looking for him.

Trent Acid v. Homicide (w/J-Train) in a Fight Without Honour match

This feud actually began in CZW as Homicide took issue with Acid claiming to be the Big Japan champion. They had a match at CZW’s Then and Now which Acid won. At Do or Die Acid gave Homicide a Yakuza Kick.

At Glory by Honor all the way back in October- the Backseats first match was against Homicide and Corino. Corino ended up turning on Homicide to give them the win.

Acid jumps him as the match starts. Acid kicks him in the face and hits an Asai moonsault to the outside but his legs hit the rail and he lands on his head. Ouch. Acid stomps away at Homicide. Acid starts mocking Homicide and gets Yakuza Kicked for his troubles. Homicide does a face wash and bootscrapes him. Homicide hits a T-bone suplex and a Northern lights suplex for two. Homicide strikes him but Acid comes back with a superkick after it was blocked the first time. Acid hits a double knee and a missile dropkick to the back of the head for two. Acid gets a ladder. Homicide gives Acid an overhead belly to belly onto a ladder. Homicide has Acid in a chair and does a flying bodypress to the outside. Acid comes back with a DDT onto the ladder. Acid Mafia kicks the ladder onto Homicide for two. Acid throws a chair onto his head. Acid sets up two chairs and puts a ladder in between them. Acid does a Blue Thunder Driver through the ladder for two. Homicide with a dropkick and a baseball slide and hooks the STF. Homicide does a brainbuster on the chair for two. Homicide goes for the Cop Killah but Johnny Kashmere runs in and they hit the T-Gimmick on Homicide for a delayed two as Kashmere and Train brawl to the back. Backseat driver gets two. Homicide blocks a backseat driver but walks into a Mafia kick. Homicide comes back with an Ace Crusher and a Northern lights driver for two. Homicide lays Acid out on a table and goes up top but Acid throws a chair at him. Homicide does an Ace Crusher from the top rope through a table on the outside! Back in- it gets two. Homicide leads the crowd into a Let’s Go Acid (by flipping them off) and Let’s Go Homicide chants. They trade Mafia kicks and Acid wins but it only gets two. Acid gets a ladder and climbs up but Homicide pushes him off and he goes flying to the outside. Homicide lays Acid out onto the ladder and goes for his crazy tope but Acid moves and Homicide crashes and burns. It gets two. They trade Mafia kicks again. Homicide goes for the Cop Killah but Acid rolls through and gets a rollup for the win. Yea- it was a spotfest- but the spots were spectacular and it was non-stop action throughout. A lot of people complained about the ending but I thought it was neat. These guys spend the whole match putting each other through tables and using ladders when all that was needed in the end was a simple rollup. ****

Homicide offers his hand to Acid and the lights go out. Special K run out but the lights are still out so it’s hard to see what’s going on. The lights go back on and Special K splashes the Backseats through the table. Special K hold a big rave.

Jim Cornette is coming to Ring of Honor on August 9th. He cuts a classic old school Cornette promo about how ROH has to prove it’s the next big thing.

We cut back to the ring as the rave is going on.

The Carnage Crew are talking about kicking Special K’s ass and then talk about their hardcore match against the TWA guys. They then cut this awesome promo about what hardcore means.

DeVito: What about those kids- who aren’t even yours??

Special K continue to rave- even Cabana shows up!

Joe talks about his upcoming match against Paul London. “Do yourself a favour and listen to your fans- and please don’t die.”

Gary Michael Cappetta and hears shouting backstage. Homicide runs out and confronts him and threatens to kill Cappetta if he doesn’t leave.

Lit v. Benny Blanco

Benny controls to start. Lit gets a neckbreaker and drops elbows. Lit misses a splash and Benny gets the rolling suplexes for three. DUD

Hydro v. Angeldust

Hydro and Angeldust are shocked when they find out they have to face each other instead of teaming.

They lock up and Angeldust works on the arm. He gets an armbar but Hydro comes back. Hydro with a suplex for two. Blind charge eats boot and Angeldust sends him into the turnbuckle. Angeldust chops him and hits a knee to the head for two. Angeldust with a drop toehold and he kicks Hydro’s face for two. Angeldust gets another near fall. Hydro slingshots Angeldust into the turnbuckle and gets a German suplex. Hydro hits a diving headbutt for two. They trade slaps off the top-rope and Angeldust hits a top-rope urinage for two. Angeldust misses 4 kicks and Hydro spins him around and drives him into the mat for the win. **

Outcast Killahz v. The Christopher St. Connection

Orman almost gets killed by Buff E. so h runs and tags Diabalo. Buff E chops the shit out of him. Buff E does the dick slam of doom and tags Mace he rubs himself all over him. The CSC then kiss Diabalo. The Outcast Killahs get some offence in as the crowd chants ‘Let’s Go Homos’. Mace does the crotch rider and suplexes Orman. Hot tag Buff E. who cleans house. They whip the Outcast Killahs into each other but stop themselves before they kiss. The Outcast Killahs then whip the CSC into each other and they kiss. The Outcast Killahs are again whipped into each other but they stop and turn around- right into kisses from the CSC. The CSC quickly hit the Gay Basher for the win. This was a comedy match but it was very very funny.

The Bottom Line- A fun ROH tape with all styles of wrestling presented- so there’s something for anyone and everyone. All of the matches are here are good as there’s nothing bad at all on this tape. Homicide v. Acid is amazing and everything else on here is a blast to watch.

Once again you can pick up the tape right here-

http://www.rfvideo.com/merchant/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&id=7983