Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor – 2nd Anniversary Show

Although you wouldn’t think it would be necessary, Ring of Honor decided to celebrate the start of their third year with a new title dedicated to “pure” wrestling. The idea behind the “Pure Title” is that the rules are designed to accentuate in-ring, technical action. The rules kick in for the finals, so I’ll explain more then.

Ring of Honor — Second Anniversary Show (02.14.04)

From Braintree, Mass.

Your hosts are Chris Lovey and Ray Murrow.

Samoa Joe is unhappy because Ring of Honor is hyping the crowing of the “Pure Champion” rather than paying tribute to Joe, who has held this company together for nearly a year.

Elsewhere, Alison Danger goes emo. Danny Maff and BJ Whitmer argue about how much they hate each other, but they decide to set aside their differences for the good of the Prophecy.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: CM Punk (7) vs. John Walters (2).
Punk comes out in Christopher Daniels robes to “Disposable Teens,” suckering the crowd into thinking Daniels is back. Tonight, the Era of Straight-Edge begins, he says. He also dedicates the match to Mike Ditka, playing off the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. Punk is a surprise entrant as there was one vacant spot. Once the match begins, though, Punk actually is able to back it up by hanging with ring technician Walters. Walters focuses on Punk’s arm for most of the match. Punk goes airborne with a tope to come back, though. Punk maintains his arrogant, insulting demeanor throughout the match, using his Indian Deathlock Curbstomp move to mock the hometown guy. Walters goes hard after the pinfall down the stretch, but Punk catches him with an STO and a Michinoku Driver to cut off two of his flurries. Walters comes close again with the Hurricane DDT, but Punk gets his foot on the ropes and reverses a reverse rollup to a Tiger Pin to move on at 13:02. Good, face-paced action that didn’t get too high impact for obvious reasons. **1/2

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: Doug Williams (4) vs. Chris Sabin (5).
Here’s an interesting clash in styles. Williams is an excellent technical wrestler, but I’ve noticed that in many of his big RoH matches, he adopts such a conservative style that it costs him against more aggressive wrestlers. Sabin, of course, is a flyer. He doesn’t get much of a chance to showcase that early, as Williams keeps him grounded by countering everything Sabin can think of. Williams targets Sabin’s neck, including a kneedrop off the top rope right to the back of the head. Sabin avoids a senton and comes back with those aerial moves including a springboard missile dropkick, a huracanrana, and a springboard DDT. The Cradle Shock only gets two, and Williams is able to hit the Chaos Theory right on Sabin’s injured neck for the win at 5:18. Solid but short. **1/4

Williams tells Sabin he gave him a hell of a match, but he was meant for the Pure Title.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: Matt Stryker (3) vs. Josh Daniels (6).
This should be good. Daniels’ style is highly reminiscent of the Dynamite Kid. Stryker is more like an up-tempo Dean Malenko. Stryker actually begs off after taking one of Daniels’ chops. This was really solid back-and-forth wrestling with Stryker edging toward a heel role. He goes for the Triple Verticals, but Daniels counters to a German Suplex Pin. The end sees Stryker and Daniels go back and forth with Stryker getting a bit of a flukish Strykerlock for the tapout at 8:27. The match didn’t really have enough legwork to make that believable. Even Lovey points it out. *3/4

Styker puts over Daniels and vows to make the Pure Title as prestigious as Samoa Joe made the Ring of Honor World Title.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: AJ Styles (1) vs. Jimmy Rave (8).
Styles is not only the #1 seed, but is also Jimmy Rave’s mentor, so this has a little added intrigue. The crowd absolutely *hates* Rave. It doesn’t help that he ducks out of the ring to avoid an early AJ dropkick attempt. Rave gets cute, and AJ catches him with a backbreaker. AJ works the back until Rave takes a page out of AJ’s book with a Billy Robinson-ish backbreaker. Rave nearly gets a huge upset, rolling through the Styles Clash and hitting a Shining Wizard. AJ appears to twist his knee on the Quebrada DDT, but Rave refuses to capitalize right away. When AJ finally does signal he’s okay, Rave goes right after the leg with a dropkick and Dragon Screw. Rave gets fired up but runs right into a Discus Lariat 7:36. Interesting more for the story than any of the actual work they did. **

In the back, Jimmy apologizes for going after the leg, but AJ tells him never to apologize for going after what he wants.

The Outcast Killaz interrupt a Ringcrew Express exhibition before the bell and run down the crowd and the RC Express. Dunn says they’re not going to take it, prompting a brawl between the two set to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” These guys are so fun in small doses.

Jim Cornette stands by to gloat about how good the Briscoes are. He bets the Backseat Boyz won’t even show up. He also says he tricked Samoa Joe into signing an “escape rules” cage match, putting him at a disadvantage.

Country Whipping Match: Hydro, Dixie & Izzy vs. The Carnage Crew.
These two have been feuding for some time in one of those timeless “rich guy vs. common man” feuds. Much like in life, Special K always seems to get lucky, frustrating the Carnage Crew with victory after victory. To make matters worse, Devito’s daughter actually joined Special K to suck dick for some X (well, that’s what’s implied). The CC hits the ring and brutalizes Special K early. This isn’t so much a match as a reason for the Carnage Crew to kill people for revenge’s sake. The CC is about to hit Izzy with the Spiked Piledriver, but Angel Dust appears in the aisle with Devito’s daughter. Credible and Devito chase after him, leaving Loc at the mercy of five guys. They give him a spiked piledriver through a table and finish him off at 8:46. Special K gets another undeserved victory. Dunn & Marcos return to help Loc to the back. *1/4

In the back, Special K gloats about banging Devito’s daughter.

Gary Michael Capetta brings out Julius Smokes. BBBLEDA, BBBLEDA, BBBLEDA! Smokes is worried because Homicide has disappeared and won’t return his phone calls. He reaches out and asks Homicide to call him and let him know what’s what.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: CM Punk vs. Doug Williams.
The story here is Williams power and technical acumen against Punk’s mindgames and treachery. Punk does everything he can to avoid Williams and frustrates him into opening himself up as chases after Punk. Punk cockily works him over in between jawing with the crowd. Williams bides his time and hits the Chaos Theory. He misses the follow-up knee, though, opening a door for Punk to zero in on that injured knee. Punk actually ties him in the tree-of-woe and chops the knee. Williams hoists himself out of the tree-of-woe and slips into another Chaos Theory, but his knee buckles on the bridge, and Punk is able to roll his shoulder up, putting Williams’ shoulders down for the pin. Punk picks up the fluke victory at 10:43. Great psychology, leading to a logical conclusion. **3/4

Steve Corino sits back to reminisce about all the great things that have happened to him since he has joined Ring of Honor. He mocks the Pure Wrestling Title and says they should just come out with a Sports Entertainment Title. He also puts over CM Punk as his hero. You and me both, Steve. You and me both.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: AJ Styles vs. Matt Stryker.
Ideally, this is where you go for the most intense match and set up a rematch for the title down the road. The crowd is solidly behind AJ, giving him a “Holy Shit!” chant off an eyerake. AJ’s knee was hurt in the earlier match, and the Strykerlock works the knee, so the story here should be self-evident. Or so you’d think. It turns out that AJ’s leg is just fine, but Stryker doesn’t find that out until he’s searching for his teeth after an AJ dropkick. Stryker aggressively targets the knee anyway, slamming it down on the apron and going for a ringpost figure-four. Back in, Stryker torques the knee with a leglock. AJ chops his way back and charges, but Stryker backdrops him to the floor! In a bit of a play on the Whitmer/Stryker match from “War of the Wire,” Stryker ignores the ref’s pleas for mercy and attacks AJ. Back in, Stryker chopblock’s AJ’s knee. AJ comes back with a spinkick and rolling cradle, but Stryker cuts him off with an eyepoke! Boo! Stryker boots him down and locks in the Strykerlock. AJ makes the ropes but misses a quebrada. Stryker sets AJ on top, but AJ shoves him off and hits a springboard 450-splash for the win at 20:36. For those that insist that Styles just ignores psychology in lieu of working in his usual spots, this is actually a pretty good Exhibit A. It’s not a bad match, but it’s held back by AJ not selling the knee injuries from both the earlier match and this one. A quebrada and a springboard 450-splash? What could have been a classic winds up simply being “pretty good.” ***

CM Punk dedicates his victories to Ace Steele and Colt Cabana and says he’ll be flying home with the belt on one arm and Tracy Brooks on the other. Somewhere, Steve Cook cries a single tear.

HC Loc is *pissed* about the loss and says they will get their revenge on Special K.

Ring of Honor Tag Championship: The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Backseat Boyz.
Ring of Honor did a good job of letting this one simmer for a while. The Backseats won the titles in a gauntlet and then lost them at the next show to Special K. The Briscoes beat Special K for the titles and have held them until this point. Both teams are on strong winning streaks. Both teams are just awesome at the doubleteam maneuvers without being overly spotty like the Spanish Announce Team. Of course, we don’t see that here because they ignore the ref and turn the damn thing into a Tornado Tag. The Backseats hit the Dream Sequence early. Nice spot as Trent Acid tries to sprint up the ropes, but Mark catches him and yanks him back down into the ring. Mark springboards right into the T-Gimmick, but Jay saves him. Mark tries to hits Acid with a Tornado DDT to the apron! Jay grabs Kashmere, and the Briscoes hit a Springboard Spiked Jaydriller to finish Kashmere off at 7:58. This was quite disappointing as they threw the rules out the door and just went with the big spots and headdropping. Plus, it was basically just another Briscoe squash. **

Spanky makes an appearance talking about being able to come home again.

Ring of Honor Championship, Four Corners: Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki vs. Dan Maff vs. BJ Whitmer (w/Alison Danger).
Low Ki is coming back after injury time off. Of course, he and Maff hate each other. Whitmer seems like the odd man out here, even after his performance at “Wrath of the Racket.” Alison Danger tries to coordinate between Maff and Whitmer. In theory, the Prophecy should have an advantage if they can work together. Then again, when does that ever happen? Maff ensures we don’t get Ki vs. Joe to start. Joe gets booted in the face and just crumbles, clutching his eye. Ki grabs Whitmer with a hanging armbar off the ropes. Whitmer and Low Ki exchange some *vicious* chops. Low Ki gets a questionable two off a Bridging Butterfly Suplex. Maff saves Whitmer from a Hanging Dragon, and suddenly everybody winds up on the floor. Joe nearly has his finger taken off somehow, but he still manages to whip Maff into Whitmer. Joe’s finger is bleeding all over the place, so the ref pauses to tape him up. Lovey actually references Hacksaw Duggan in Mid-South. Maff bites the injured hand, drawing chants of “You Sick Fuck!” The Prophecy isolates Joe in their corner, basically turning the match into a tag. Ki blind tags himself in and cleans house. Referee Paul Turner screws up, refusing to count Ki’s pin on Whitmer because he’s not the legal man and then counting Whitmer’s pin on Low Ki. Ki misses the Tidal Wave, and Joe absolutely BITCHSLAPS him in the face. Joe considers it a tag, and who am I to argue. He powerbombs Maff right on his head, but Low Ki comes in to kick him in the face. Finally, Joe and Ki get a chance to go at it again. The crowd goes wild for that. The Prophecy interrupt, though, and go for their respective finishers. Ki and Joe counter to their own submissions, though, sitting face to face as they choke out their opponents. AWESOME! They take off their tape, but Maff spears Low Ki out of the ring. Joe sees Whitmer coming and locks in the Coquina Clutch. Whitmer taps at 23:01. Had we gotten the teased Ki/Joe battle, it would have been much better, but the idea was to hold off on that for later, so it’s forgivable. ***1/2

I have to pause for a moment to say this is the worst use of a double-disc since WrestleMania IV (Yes, I know that’s not a disc.). All of the previous matches were on one disc, and the Pure Finals is the only match on the second disc. At least cut it off after the tag title match so you can make better use of the space.

Pure Wrestling Title Tournament Finals: AJ Styles vs. CM Punk (w/Tracy Brooks).
Three new rules that make up the “Pure” division. You get three rope breaks before they stop counting. That comes into play early as Punk braces himself on the ropes to flip out of a wristlock and loses an arguable one. Punk counters a sunset flip to an anklelock, forcing AJ to use a ropebreak. The other two rules are that there are no closed fists and a 20-count on the floor. If you use a closed fist, you lose a rope break. They crisscross, and AJ goes after Tracy Brooks. Punk makes the save with a plancha. AJ hits Punk with a dropkick on the outside, injuring his leg again. AJ leaps the barrier, but Punk follows him with a dive over the barrier. Back in, Styles tries his kip-up rana, but Punk counters to a Boston Crab, forcing AJ to use another rope break. AJ gets a hanging choke on the ropes, and the ref again takes a rope break away from Punk, controversially so. Punk locks in an anklelock, forcing AJ to use his final rope break. AJ counters a hangman, making Punk use up his last break. Punk tries a superplex, but AJ counters to a top-rope gourdbuster! They fight from their knees, and AJ knocks Punk to the floor with the Discus Lariat. Back in, Punk surprises AJ with the Shining Wizard for two. Punk drops AJ on his head with a piledriver and goes back to that anklelock crab. AJ makes the ropes and climbs over, using them for leverage. In a mirror of “The Tradition Continues,” Punk tries a Shining Wizard, but AJ counters to the STYLES CLASH! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The slug it out with Punk on top, and AJ hits him with a Pelé Kick! SUPER STYLES CLASH! ONE, TWO, THREE! Punk’s foot was on the ropes, but he used all his rope breaks (controversially), so it doesn’t matter. AJ becomes the first Pure Champion at 16:36. While AJ again ignored the legwork down the stretch, they did an excellent job putting over the rules of the match and coming up with different strategies. The match also put over Punk as a superstar because AJ needed the Super Styles Clash to finish him off. After the match, Samoa Joe comes out to congratulate AJ but reminds him who the real world champion is. ***3/4

“Good Times, Great Memories.” Colt Cabana declares AJ Styles a cheater. His guest is Ace Steele, who does his Dusty Rhodes impression. The real Dusty Rhodes interrupts and cuts a real promo on Special K.

Gary Capetta says he couldn’t understand a word Julius Smokes was saying earlier, so he asks him again. J-Train says Homicide is Patrick Swayze & Whoopie Goldberg. He’s a ghost. Smokes sees one of Special K acting like a wigga and holds him in place until the Carnage Crew gets there to interrogate him on the whereabouts of Devito’s daughter. When he’s not forthcoming, they introduce a coathanger and a blowtorch to the proceedings!

A look at the top moments of the second year close us out.

The 411: Ring of Honor closes out their second year with another winner. The historical aspect of crowning the first Pure Champion is enough to get a recommendation, but there were also some very good matches near the end. Unfortunately, AJ is the one guy that you didn't want with the title at that particular time, but they had no way of knowing that at the time. Definitely check it out for the tournament. Thumbs up.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]