Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — The Final Showdown

Ring of Honor — The Final Showdown
by J.D. Dunn

May 13, 2005

From Dayton, Ohio.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and CM Punk.

Alex Shelley says he got a taste of revenge at “Manhattan Mayhem,” and it tasted like chocolate peanut butter pie. Yeah, not a big fan. Blech. He’s not giving up his quest for revenge.

Homicide sucks down a brew and looks pensively at a nearby hospital. TRUE.

Generation Next comes out to gloat about their recent success. Man, that camera-one angle sure makes these guys look like members of the Lollipop Guild. Alex Shelley jumps them from behind and clears the ring. He wants Roderick Strong right now instead of later tonight.

Opening Match: Alex Shelley vs. Roderick Strong.
Roderick comes in on a hot streak, having impacted the title picture as an enforcer for Austin Aries. Cautious feeling out process early. AWESOME sequence as they counter each other’s finishers over and over again until they reach a stalemate. Sweeeeeet. Shelley drops Strong to the floor and hits a tope to fire up the crowd. The SNOTTLE ROCKET gets a big pop from the crowd. Shelley returns to the form he had before his injury angle as he controls the match with his pro-style offense. Roddy hot shots him on the ropes to take over, though, and tosses him onto the crowd barrier. Shelley rolls through a schoolboy rollup to the Border City Stretch, but Strong rolls through to a crucifix for two. They trade forearms, and Strong hits a dropkick to the face. Shelley rolls through a sunset flip and hits a dropkick of his own. Shelley hits a springboard Tornado DDT off an Irish Whip for two. Strong blocks a charge, stretches him across the second-rope, and stomps his back. Strong misses a charge and gets superkicked! SHELLSHOCK! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Shelley picks him up and hits another Shellshock to pick up the hard-fought win at 15:13. Using two Shellshocks kills the effectiveness of the move, but it makes Strong look like a tough little bastard. Solid opener. ***

Matt Stryker vs. The Masked Chicago Superstar.
Stryker was effectively banned from wrestling in the Northeast because he lost a stipulation match, but now that they’ve come back to the Midwest, he’s more than happy to rejoin the roster. Not sure who the Superstar is. Someone mentioned Shane Hagadorn, but he looks kind of big for Hagadorn. Stryker dominates, of course, but the crowd gives Sueprstar a “let’s go, jobber!” chant for fun. The masked man misses a running knee, and Stryker finishes with the Strykerlock at 3:22. Just a squash to get Stryker back out there in front of the crowd. 1/2*

Bryan Danielson has no comment about the cage match with Homicide.

Injury update: Jay Lethal’s neck was severely injured by those dastardly Rottweilers on the last show.

Prince Nana and Jimmy Rave arrive by helicopter.

Non-Title: Samoa Joe vs. Jack Evans vs. Delirious vs. Ebetaroh.
If ever there was a place for the “one of these things is not like the other” axiom, this is it. Joe tells the rest of the competitors that if they pin his shoulders, they can hold on to the title until he comes for it. Delirious sits motionless in the corner until the bell rings, and then he goes nuts and ducks under the ring. Jack serves Joe early, so Ebessan demands a tag and gives it right back to Jack. Delirious tags in and jaws with Ebessan in one of the funniest tête-à-têtes you’ll ever see. The referee reprimands them for not fighting, so they go into a slow motion sequence that has to be seen to be appreciated. I can’t do comedy like this justice with a recap. Even Jack Evans can’t keep a straight face on the apron. Evans eventually calls for the tag and brings back his Washington Warrior persona. Joe isn’t impressed and slaps him in the face. Jack misses a flying kick and gets booted out of his shoes again. Delirious tags in and hits 37 clotheslines in the corner! No, that’s not hyperbole. Ebetaroh hits some Flair chops in the corner but goes up and gets slammed. Maybe you’ve seen that sequence before. He takes a backdrop and does the FLAIR FLOP! Delirious throws in a few chops of his own while holding Jack’s shoe in his mouth. Oh, now that’s just insulting! Jack comes back with a standing corkscrew press for two. Joe tags in and destroys everyone, of course. Jack gets the blind tag without Joe knowing it, though, and hits the 630-senton on Delirious while Joe is choking out Ebetaroh (13:23). This set wrestling back about thirty years and was one of the funniest, most-entertaining matches you’ll ever see. ***3/4

James Gibson admits he underestimated Austin Aries last time, but now he’s got his old trainer to help him prepare for tonight’s rematch.

ROH Tag Team Titles: BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs vs. CM Punk & Ace Steel.
The Second City Saints had a brutal match with Maff & Whitmer at the “Battle Lines are Drawn” and then they had another brutal MOTYC at “Death Before Dishonor II, Part 2.” The SCS have nothing against Jacobs, but the bad blood is still there with Whitmer, so things are contentious early. Punk and Steel play default heels, isolating Jimmy Jacobs and delivering a hellacious beating to the poor little guy. Jacobs ranas Steel into the buckle to get out of trouble. Whitmer gets the hot tag, but Punk gives him a Shining Wizard to cut off his flurry. The SCS hit a Doomsday Device on Whitmer, but Jacobs makes the save. Punk T-Bones Whitmer and applies the Anaconda Vice. Jimmy breaks it up with a senton, though, and takes Steel out with a tope. That allows Whitmer to hit an Exploder for two, and the champs finish Punk with the Doomsday Rana at 16:43. Whitmer finally buries the hatchet with the Saints and shakes hands. It was too slow and one-sided early, but it redeemed itself in the end. **1/2

Prince Nana comes out gloat about Punk’s loss. He advises Punk to get out of his match with Rave now while he still can. Of course, Jimmy Rave jumps Punk from behind and tries to ensure he won’t make it to the cage match. Matt Sydal and Daizee Haze make the save.

Jimmy Rave (w/the Embassy) vs. Matt Sydal (w/Daizee Haze).
Fast Eddie double-crossed Sydal and joined the Embassy, and Rave gave Sydal the Rave Clash just because he could, so Sydal has issues with the Embassy here. Rave works the ribs early and cheats with the Nana-assisted abdominal stretch. Daizee points it out, and the ref actually listens to her! She also steals Nana’s crown. Sydal battles back in spite of his sore ribs, hitting a rana off the top for two. He runs right into a spear but sidesteps another and sends Rave to the floor. Sydal hits a twisting tope to the floor. Nana is so upset, he starts abusing Jade Chung. Sydal goes for the Styles Clash but winds up settling for the Here It Is Driver (Ki Krusher). He goes up, but Rave catches up with him and crotches him. Sydal recovers and hits the Moonsault Belly-to-Belly, but it only gets two. Rave blocks another Here It Is Driver and goes for the Rave Clash. Sydal blocks it, but Rave hits a running knee and finishes with the Rave Clash for real at 12:36. Sydal really opened a lot of eyes with this match and earned himself a regular spot in ROH. Rave looked like he usually does – solid, but unspectacular. **1/2

Nigel McGuinness & Chad Collyer vs. Colt Cabana & Doug Williams.
This is a “dream partner” tag match. Nigel and Colt have the real feud here. Nigel accused Colt of not being serious about wrestling and dissolved their partnership. Then, in an otherwise respectful match, Nigel got the win off a lowblow that he claims was unintentional. Collyer is the odd man out because, while all four guys are more “technical” wrestlers, Collyer has a decidedly more American style than the others. This plays out exactly like what it is, a tag extension of the Nigel-Cabana feud. Cabana and Doug are just out there to have fun in the early part of the match while Nigel and Collyer play the straight men. Williams spends much of the match in peril before getting the hot tag to Cabana. Cabana hits a double quebrada and battering rams Collyer’s head into Nigel who had set up in the handstand. Collyer and Williams wind up brawling on the outside. Nigel tries a schoolboy, but Cabana spins out of it and squats down on him for the surprise win at 14:46. **3/4

ROH World Title: Austin Aries vs. James Gibson (w/Danny Ray Nelson)
These two had a great match at “Stalemate” that ended in, what else, a stalemate. Jamie has been sick with himself ever since and obviously had this date circled on his John Deere calendar. The work a long feeling out segment early, but YOU CAN’T HEADSCISSOR AUSTIN ARIES! Gibson misses a charge and spills to the floor, setting up an Aries tope. With Gibson incapacitated, Aries snaps his arm down over the railing. Gibson’s arm just sort of hangs there for the next few minutes as he tries to get some feeling in it. Of course, Aries goes right after it with an armbar and an armscissors. A Tornado Armbar DDT gets two. Gibson makes the one-armed comeback and hits a guillotine legdrop. He blocks a charge with his elbow but injures his own arm in the process. They exchange strikes and clothesline each other for a double KO. They take things to the floor where Gibson blocks a brainbuster and crotches Aries on the railing. Back in, Aries snaps Gibson’s arm off the top rope and gets a pair of nearfalls off his slingshot splash and quebrada sequence. Aries blocks the Tiger Driver and Finlay Rolls into the 450-splash! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Punk calls it 2 and 15/16. Aries hits a corner dropkick but whiffs on a second one. Gibson locks in the Guillotine Choke but drops it and hits the Tiger Driver! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The crowd thought that was it. Aries avoids a moonsault and punts Gibson in the face. Gibson blocks the 450-splash, though, and locks in the Guillotine Choke on the top. Aries scoops him up and jumps off the top rope with Jamie in tow, slamming Gibson down to the mat and knocking the wind out of him to pick up the win at 23:47. Nelson consoles Gibson after the loss, and Jamie gets a nice standing ovation. The arm injury angle meant Jamie had to play defense for much of the match, so there wasn’t quite the back and forth there was in the “Stalemate” match. This match had more intensity, though, as both guys dropped the posturing of the first match in favor of a rabid chase for the title. Different, but equal to “Stalemate.” ****1/4

Dave Prazak welcomes Samoa Joe who says the Pure Title actually means something now that he has it. Alex Shelley cuts him off and says since they both hate GenNext, they should team up. Joe says the reason he hates GenNext is because of Shelley. Guess that’s a “no.”

Best-of-Five Series, Match #5: Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson.
Homicide went up 2-0 in the series, but Danielson roared back to tie it up. A stipulation was added before the match — the winner gets a title shot at Austin Aries while the loser takes on Doug Williams. Homicide attacks in the aisle and gouges Danielson’s head with a fork. Once he has the advantage, he takes it into the cage and calls for the match to start. The violence continues on the inside. Danielson sets up a pair of chairs in a spot that’s been repeated throughout the series, but Homicide reverses and suplexes Danielson through the chairs. He follows it up with a wicked chair shot, but Danielson comes back and hits a running chairshot in the corner. He actually tries some wrestling with a Mexican Surfboard into a Dragon Surfboard. Homicide is in the ropes, though. They brawl on top, and Homicide hits a Super Ace Crusher off the top! Homicide crawls up to the top, but Danielson catches up with him. Homicide tries to bite Danielson’s thumb off, but Bryan tosses him back into the ring and hits a SWANDIVE HEADBUTT OF THE TOP OF THE CAGE! DANGEROUUUUS! Well, it was better in theory as Danielson’s head was scraping the ceiling and Homicide was too close to the corner. It only gets two anyway. Homicide breaks up the Airplane Spin and hits a piledriver. He knocks Danielson out with a lariat and loads up his fist with the brass knuckles. Danielson avoids his swing, though, and picks up Homicide into the longest Airplane Spin in the history of time. That’s enough to pick up the win at 14:13. That’s a weird finish to such a brutal feud, but I can’t argue with the first 13 minutes of action. Homicide teases being classy with a handshake and then he gives Danielson an Ace Crusher when he’s not looking. Danielson promises to give Homicide the first shot at the title once he wins it. ***3/4

The 411: ROH's tremendous 2005 streak continues with an excellent title match and the blowoff to a six-month feud that is still being referred to today. Plus, it had a wildly entertaining four-man match. This was a little something for everyone. Highly recommended.
Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]