Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — The Chicago Spectacular, Night One

Ring of Honor — The Chicago Spectacular: Night One
by J.D. Dunn

Samoa Joe is your Videowire host. He has words for Bryan Danielson, who he gets in a cage tonight, and Homicide, who will be his opponent when he wins the title.

December 8, 2006

From Chicago, Ill.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Jimmy Bower.

Brent Albright assures us we will know his name.

Bryan Danielson says he’s gotten used to the pain in his shoulder. He also introduces one of his tag partners for the elimination match tomorrow night — Jimmy Jacobs.

Opening Match: Kikutaru vs. Tank Toland.
Toland looks like a pre-dyejob Scott Steiner. Jaws with the crowd about the same as Steiner too. “You’re lookin’ at the fucking man!” Sadly, he doesn’t have enough roid rage to be charismatic like Steiner does. Lots of comedy from Kikutaru early, but he stops to mock argue with the referee and gets nailed with a clothesline. Tank spears him and hits a running boot. Kikataru elbows out of a chinlock, hits the Dragon Screw and the Shining Wizard for two. He sets up for a suplex but stops to give a long speech, and Tank is able to reverse his suplex and finish with the Waterwheel Slam at 7:50. Tank isn’t there yet, and this had too much of his offense and too little Kikutaru to be entertaining. *1/4

The Briscoe Bros. vs. The Irish Airborne.
This is the Briscoe brothers versus the Crist brothers. Jake hits a sloppy rana on Mark early, and the Crists try some doubleteaming. Mark comes back with a Northern Lights Suplex, though. Dave Crist gets caught in the Briscoes corner for a bit before getting out of trouble with a spinning wheel kick. The Crists hit stereo suicidas on the Briscoes, but they go for the Irish Air Raid too early, and the Briscoes break it up. Jay boots Jake in the face for two, and the Briscoes hit a Splash Mountain Neckbreaker. Dave gets taken out with a DVD and a doublestomp, allowing the Briscoes to kill Jake dead with a Doomsday Device at 5:23. Pretty good for what was essentially a squash. **1/4

Before the show, Pelle Primeau called out Shane Hagadorn for tomorrow night.

Homicide vs. Brent Albright.
Albright has been steamrolling the competition since jumping over from Smackdown, and so he became a sort of mercenary-for-hire. Homicide refuses to shake Albright’s hand, so Albright jumps him from behind. Homicide comes back with a rana and knocks Albright to the floor. He slams Albright’s head into the crowd barrier. Albright reverses a whip and sends Homicide into the barrier. Referee Todd Sinclair has to keep Homicide from using a chair. Finally, they get back in. Homicide goes for the Cop Killa, but Albright counters to a backdrop suplex. Brent works in his 619-ish knee. Homicide comes back with a corner clothesline and bulldog for two. A belly-to-belly suplex gets two, and Homicide clotheslines Albright to the floor. Albright avoids the suicida and tosses Homicide’s shoulder into the post. Back in, Homicide backflips out of a German Suplex and hits Eddy’s Triple Verticals. He takes his time going up top, though, and Albright is able to yank him off the top with a flying armbreaker. He hits a Half-Nelson suplex and applies the Crowbar (Reverse Armlock). Homicide makes the ropes, but Albright refuses to break the hold and gets disqualified at 12:57. Samoa Joe chases Albright away, and Bryan Danielson appears at the entrance to pay Albright off for injuring Homicide’s shoulder. Oh, you bastard, Bryan Danielson! The match was okay, but it had Albright’s usual deficiencies (lack of personality, lumbering posture). It’s hard to think of a Rottweiler as an underdog too. **1/2

Four-Corner Survival: Davey Richards vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger) vs. Matt Cross.
Davey wants to start with Daniels, and they do some exhibitiony reversals. Whitmer and Cross tag in. Cross does some flippy stuff, but Whitmer boots him right in the face. Whitmer and Daniels, former Prophecy stablemates, team up against Cross. “M-Dogg” eventually hits Daniels with an enzuigiri and gets the hot tag to Davey. Davey sends Daniels out and cleans house on Whitmer. Cool spot as Daniels misses Davey and connects with a back elbow on Whitmer only to have Davey springboard off the opposite ropes and hit a flying spinkick. Cross hits Davey with a doublestomp for two. Richards dives out on Whitmer, and Cross tries to follow but gets cut off by Daniels. He tries a second time and hits a Space Flying Tiger Huracanrana, drawing a “holy shit” chant from the crowd. Daniels recovers and hits Davey with the Best Moonsault Ever for two. Everyone starts breaking up pinfall attempts. Cross hits a DDT on Whitmer and goes up, but Richards cuts him off. Daniels cuts them both off and ranas Cross into a moonsault on Whitmer before realizing what he’s done. Richards springboards into a missile dropkick on Daniels and puts Cross on top. Richards gets knocked off but avoids an SSP and locks in the Chimera Stretch. Whitmer breaks it up, though, and finishes Cross with the sitout Tombstone at 16:53. Lots of wild action and, even if the spots were convoluted, the match was a lot of fun. ***1/2

Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave.
Nigel tried to beat some respect into Jimmy at “Dethroned,” but he made the mistake of ribbing Jimmy with a roll of toilet paper, setting Rave off all over again. Jimmy attacks without a handshake, and steps on Nigel’s throat. Nigel fights back and snaps the rope right in Jimmy’s face, but Jimmy gives him Rock Bottom on the apron. Nigel tweaks his ankle off a rebound and isn’t able to do his handstand. Rave goes right after Nigel’s leg with a legvine. The Chicago crowd goes mild (as they have been throughout the show, which is quite uncharacteristic of them). Rave hits a Dragon Screw and goes back to the legscissors. Nigel headbutts his way out of it and knocks Rave down with a series of forearms. Rave hits a spear for two. The running knee gets two more. Ghanarrhea gets two more. Nigel rebounds with a lariat, but Rave spears him again and locks in a Stepover Ankelock. The Pedigree only gets one, and Nigel hulks up. Tower of London only gets two. Jimmy spears him off another rebound and finishes with the Stepover Anklelock at 12:04. Nigel still doesn’t give him respect, so Jimmy jumps him and reapplies the hold. Bizarre, heatless match. It wasn’t poorly worked or anything, but it was cold and emotionless. **

Bryan Danielson blows off suggestions that he paid off Brent Albright to injure Homicide. He also introduces the third member of his tag team – JIMMY RAVE…the crown jewel. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

Adam Pearce & Shane Hagadorn vs. Delirious & Ace Steel.
Funny moment as Ace gets a big pop by playing to the crowd, so Pearce tries the same thing and falls on his ass. Pearce is going with the Krusher Kruschev look tonight. Steel and Pearce go really old school, including a spot where Pearce tries to block a sunset flip by grabbing the ropes, and referee Todd Sinclair kicks Pearce’s hands away. Steel charges right into a boot and gets clotheslined to play face-in-peril. Very old-school southern-style match follows. They even work in a false tag spot. Hagadorn and Pearce hit a Demolition Decapitation, but it only gets two. Blasphemy! Ace crawls through Pearce’s legs and rolls into the hot tag. Delirious and Steel whip Hagadorn into Pearce, setting them up in the gay sex position. Steel and Delirious channel the Bushwhackers with a battering ram, and Delirious finishes Hagadorn with the Cobra Stretch at 11:11. Just a quick formula match to bring the crowd back after the intermission. **

Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey).
Finally, the crowd has something to cheer about as hometown boy Colt calls Jacobs a “pussy-whipped little bitch.” Bower sums up the storyline: Jacobs loves Lacey, Cabana got to do Lacey, Cabana dumped Lacey. They slug it out, and Cabana hits a few belly-to-belly suplexes. Lacey gets in the ring, but Cabana spins her around and makes her dry-hump a slumped Jimmy Jacobs. Okay. Jimmy gets knocked down, so Lacey scolds him. Jimmy fires back, but Colt no-sells. Colt channels the Superfly with a crossbody and locks in the Billygoat’s Curse (reverse Boston Crab). Lacey jumps in and tosses her cocaine in Cabana’s eyes for the DQ at 7:22. Daizee Haze runs down and attacks Lacey to continue their feud, but Jimmy spears Daizee right out of her boots…literally. Colt tosses Jimmy aside and is about to piledrive Lacey when hired-gun Brent Albright returns and jumps Cabana. Jimmy and Brent spread Colt’s legs, and Lacey stomps on his nuts with her heel. OUCH! I think I’d rather drink the Drano. BJ Whitmer finally makes the save. **1/2

Delirious hops in the ring to recruit BJ Whitmer for his team. I like how everyone treats Delirious like Lassie. “What’s that, boy? Pelle Primeau’s trapped in the well?” Nigel McGuinness also wants in because Jimmy Rave will be there.

Dragon Gate Rules: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal & Shingo (w/Allison Danger).
Remember, Shingo, if you tag with Matt Sydal, you tag with everyone he’s ever tagged with. Sydal taunts his former stablemates with his tag title belt. Strong and Aries had a tag title match scheduled for the next night. Generation Next pretty much dismantle the Blood Generation boys (yes, Sydal and Shingo are actually stablemates in Dragon Gate). Sydal gets caught in the wrong corner. Strong slingshot suplexes him to set up Aries’ slingshot twisting press, but Sydal gets his knees up and gets the much-needed tag. Shingo takes over and blocks Strong while Sydal holds an abdominal stretch. He stops to pose and gets his head taken off by a Strong clothesline. Shingo gets the giant swing by Aries’ throat. He slingshots Aries into a lungblower from Sydal, but Strong makes the save. Aries blocks a rana and tags in Strong. Goofy spot as the Blood Generation stacks Aries on Strong’s shoulders and makes Strong powerbomb his own partner. Sydal flies out on Strong with a twisting press as Shingo tries to finish Aries. Strong hits Shingo with a superplex, but he’s immune (no seriously). Sydal springs up on Strong’s shoulders into a DDT. Fans love that spot. Aries tracks down Sydal and gives him a super brainbuster (with an added chop from Strong). Shingo hits a lariat for two. Aries recovers, though, and boots Sydal in the head to allow Strong to slam him down with a Waterwheel Slam. Aries adds a 450-splash and gets the win at 19:22. The early portion suffered from lack of defined roles, but it really got going down the stretch and finished with a furious pace. ***1/2

ROH World Title, Steel Cage Match: Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson.
Danielson has had a vise-grip on that ROH World Title. Homicide is hot on his trail, though, and Joe is one of Homicide’s homeys. Joe comes out in bad-ass terminator mode, jabbing away at Danielson’s face and no-selling a headbutt. He snaps off a powerslam and goes low, forcing Danielson to scurry for the door. Danielson rocks the big guy with a rolling forearm and goes up, but Joe catches him and slams him back down to the mat. Danielson gets caught between the ropes and the cage, and Joe destroys him with a charge. The champ is bleeding. Homicide appears at ringside and tosses Joe a fork. Oh, this can’t be healthy. Danielson blocks a jab, but Joe forks his cut and then stabs him in the ass with it. Forty years ago we’d have you upside down with a fork in your ass! Finally, Todd Sinclair takes the fork away. Joe has to settle for an enzuigiri. They battle on the top rope, and Joe hits a flying enzuigiri to knock Danielson off the top. Joe hits the powerbomb into the STF into the crossface. This has just been total domination from Joe. Joe thinks about going over, but Danielson hits a big backdrop superplex to take over on offense. Finally. Danielson hits a Swandive Headbutt and goes for the door, but Joe has his ankle. The Regalplex gets two. The Stampede missile dropkick sets up the CFCW. Joe whips Danielson into the cage and hits a senton for two. Danielson tries an O’Connor Roll, but Joe counters to the Coquina Clutch. Danielson fades but uses the Bret Hart counter for two. They trade rollups, and Joe gets two off a Rolling Cradle. A strong lariat gets two. Danielson avoids a charge and ties Joe in the tree-of-woe. He tries to go over the top, but Joe catches up with him and puts him in the Coquina Clutch with both men dangling on the cage. Danielson passes out but the blood and sweat causes him to slip out of Joe’s grip and fall to the floor for the successful title defense at 20:42. Joe dominated for well over half the match, but it was a highly entertaining time. Danielson looks both lucky and like a genius, and the final image of Joe looking down off the cage with that “I can’t believe that happened” look is icing on the cake. ****

Davey Richards promises a win next time out.

Adam Pearce gets nice and cozy with his leather strap. He’s upset that Homicide gets all the cheers and calls Homicide a snake for fooling the fans into thinking he’s on their side. Really good interview from Pearce.

The 411: Like so many shows in the last half of 2006, this one has a mediocre undercard saved by two matches at the end. The dead crowd really hurt this one, and it's odd that it comes from Chicago, which is usually one of the best audiences in wrestling. The cage match at the end just does bump this over into the "recommended" column, but be prepared to exercise your "Next" button on occasion. Mild thumbs up.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]