Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor – Weekend of Thunder, Night Two

Weekend of Thunder, Night Two
by J.D. Dunn

November 6, 2004

From Elizabeth, N.J..

Your hosts are Jimmy Bower and CM Punk.

Prince Nana is absolutely giddy because of the dominance that Jimmy Rave is showing. Rave says he can’t perform without elbowpads, so they send Angel Williams to go find some for him and to whip him up something to eat.

Opening Match: Chad Collyer vs. Nigel McGuinness
Long back-and-forth segment to start with neither man able to find an advantage. Funny spot as Collyer stomps Nigel’s hand, so Nigel finds a female fan at ringside to kiss it for him. Nigel tries to get back in but takes a shot to the face, so Nigel finds the same female fan to kiss his cheek. Collyer charges and gets crotched, so he decides to ask the same fan to kiss his injury. Gotta love fan interaction. Back in, Collyer start to heel it up by going to the eyes and kicking Nigel in the ribs. Nigel goes to the tried-and-true corner handstand into a DDT to turn things around. They exchange pinfalls before Collyer hits the Toilet Flush for two. McGuinness frustrates him with the Artful Dodger, and they go into a series of nearfalls. Nigel comes out of it and slams Collyer’s arm down into the canvas to set up the Thames Barrier, but Collyer reverses to a Texas Cloverleaf and holds out until the 15-minute time limit expires. (15:00). The fans want five more minutes, but it’s not happening. Quality mat wrestling, and I liked the spot with the female fan, but the match was rather cold and technical. **1/2

Austin Aries brags about GenNext taking spots from the Second City Saints.

The Carnage Crew vs. Davey Andrews & Anthony Franco.
Franco and Andrews are RoH school graduates. Punk, who is the head trainer, explains that he makes them wear black because they have to earn their individuality. Anyway, this is just legalized slaughter. Allison Danger walks out to watch the CC knock out Andrews with the Carnageplex. Andrews avoids a moonsault, and Franco rolls up Loc for two. The CC finish with the Second-Rope Spiked Piledriver at 4:09. Allison, whose dress makes her look like she’s going to prom while knocked up, asks the CC to team up with her because she knows all the weaknesses of Whitmer and Maff. Devito tells her to shut the fuck up unless she’s going to give him a lapdance. She warns them that they’ll be sorry. What are you gonna do, baby, sick Slash Venom on them? 1/4*

Four-Corner Survival Match: Izzy (w/Special K) vs. Trent Acid vs. Jack Evans vs. Fast Eddie.
Well, you could have guessed this would be nothing but a crazy spotfest. I’m not going to bother with much play-by-play because it would just look like a bullet list. That’s not to say that it’s not a lot of fun, especially when Jack lets his death wish loose and hits a corkscrew cannonball off the top rope. Acid busts out a Backseat Driver (Inverted Razor’s Edge). A big train wreck gets a standing ovation from the crowd. Eddie convinces Jack to go up and then doublecross him with a Blockbuster from the top to the floor on the rest of Special K. Izzy winds up hitting Acid with the Shiranui for the win (in what I’d call a bit of an upset) at 7:06. **3/4

Jimmy Rave (w/the Embassy) vs. Jay Lethal.
Nana gives the Outcast Killas air freshener to spray in front of Jimmy Rave so it won’t smell like Jersey-ite. They open with a quick series of nearfalls, ending when Rave goes to the eyes. Lethal knocks him to the floor and hits a tope suicida. Back in, Lethal slows things down with a neck crank, and the crowd chants for AJ Styles. Lethal rolls through the Rave Clash, but Rave hits a Bridging Angleslam for two. Rave slaps on a weak Crippler Crossface. So weak, in fact, that Lethal is able to simply slip out of it. Lethal explodes with a flurry, including a lariat that spins Rave over. Everyone, including the Outcast Killas, think that’s it. Lethal locks in his modified shinni no make, but Rave counters to the Rave Clash. Lethal counters that to a DDT, but Nana distracts the referee long enough for Rave to go low and finish with the Rave Clash at 8:39. Decent WWE-ish match. After the match, Lethal slaps Nana in the face and escapes the wrath of the Embassy. **

No DQ: CM Punk & Ace Steele vs. Roderick Strong & Austin Aries.
Punk and Steele come out of the crowd to surprise GenNext. Punk nearly gets the win early with a Michinoku Driver. They pair off and brawl at ringside. Punk gets taken out, allowing GenNext to doubleteam Steele for a while. Jack Evans comes down with a ladder, but Punk takes him out with a pescado. The ladder finds its way into the ring where Steele drops Strong on it. Aries and Punk exchange moves, but Punk rolls through and powerbombs Aries on the ladder. Sick! Jack tries to get involved again, so Steele and Punk have a contest to see who can chop him the hardest. The numbers catch up with them, though, as Evans and Strong hit a Doomsday Crossbody. Things start to meander a bit until GenNext sandwiches Punk’s leg in the ladder and Aries hits it with a chair. Punk stops short of going into the ladder and then backdrops Strong through it. For some reason, Steele has the crazy idea to go up the twisted ladder. Strong hauls him off, and they put Punk on a table on the outside. Evans tries a 450-splash off the ladder but catches the edge with his face. DANGEROUUUUUUS! Back inside, GenNext sets up Punk for another Doomsday Crossbody, but Punk counters to a powerslam on the ladder. Everyone starts hitting big moves. Steele powerbombs Evans through a table and DDTs Aries on a chair. That leaves Strong alone with Punk who gives him the Pepsi Plunge onto the ladder for the win at 19:58. The match had some great spots (especially from daredevil Evans), but it tended to move in fits and starts. ***

After the match, Punk thanks Steele and asks him to give him some time alone in the ring so he can call out Samoa Joe. He claims Joe is dodging him after being taken to the limit in two 60-minute matches, so he challenges him to a “No time-limit” match. Instead, he gets Mick Foley who plugs his book “Tales from Wrescal Lane.” He gets some heel heat for mentioning WWE, to which Punk counters “At least it’s not TNA.” Mick flashes an autographed photo of he and Lyger from a decade earlier and says it’s a tragedy that guys like Punk and Joe can put on a fantastic match that’s seen by no one while Gene Snitsky and John Heidenreich are seen by millions. He says he hopes Punk will make it in the WWE because there are a lot of doubters. Foley calls out Joe too but gets no response, so he decides to let Punk continue his sit-in.

Gary Michael Capetta talks with Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer. Collyer proposes he and McGuinness form a regular tag team and go after the belts next month.

Punk is still in the ring reading “Tales from Wrescal Lane.”

Sugar Shawn Price tries to get a word from the Embassy, but they toss him out of their “executive suite.”

Punk is still in the ring. The Ringcrew Express and Special K come out for their match, but he’s not moving. Instead, he reads a few lines from his favorite part of the book. Finally, Joe shows up and storms the ring, saying that if Mick Foley would work for a living in a real promotion his opinion would matter. Joe accepts the challenge and seals it with a forearm. Punk tells him to do some cardio.

The Ringcrew Express vs. Angel Dust & Dixie.
This is just a low-key spotfest to get the fans back into wrestling mode after long promos. Angel Dust and Dixie work in some nice doubleteams as Marcos plays face-in-peril. Dixie gets tossed to the floor, and Dunn & Marcos bust out their own doubleteams. The Electric Chair Senton gets the win for the RC Express at 4:45. Special K argue amongst themselves after the match. 3/4*

Pure Title: John Walters vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes).
I know Homicide actually is a really good technical wrestler, but I don’t really think of him as a pure wrestler. In fact, Bower points out that Homicide has been focused on brawling recently. They trade a number of basic reversals early, which both men are quite adept at. Homicide steps through the ropes, but it’s not considered a break. Walters frustrates him with a pescado and grabs a Red Sox hat from a fan to mock Yankee-fan Homicide. Homicide punches Walters in the face, drawing a warning. Walters goes for a knee, but Homicide reverses to an STF, forcing Walters to use a rope break. Homicide uses a fist again, but the ref is distracted by Smokes. See, that’s some great psychology that works the stipulations of the match. Walters gets a few rollups, frustrating Homicide again. Homicide hits a sick rope-assisted DDT and sets Walters on top, but Homicide loses his balance and falls to the floor! Sick. Referee Paul Turner lays in the count, but Smokes pushes Homicide back in the ring. Walters lets him recover in the spirit of competition. Even the Havana Pitbulls come down to express concern. Walters finally moves in and hits a pair of DDTs, but they only get two. He locks in the Sharpshooter, but Homicide makes the ropes, using one of his three rope breaks. A Boston Crab forces Homicide to use another rope break. Homicide finally can’t take it anymore, but instead of submitting, he calls in Smokes to attack Walters for the DQ, saving his pride. (18:31) That was an abrupt and dissatisfying ending, so I can only assume Homicide was seriously hurt there. Of course, it seems a strange coincidence that they worked an injury with Low Ki just one night before. Anyway, this match just seemed to sputter along even before the injury spot. **

RoH Tag Team Championship: The Havana Pitbulls (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer.
These two teams were the last ones standing in “Ultimate Endurance” at “Glory by Honor 3.” The opening sees the challengers dismantle the champs with power and doubleteam moves. Maff hits the People’s Senton to pop the crowd. Reyes and Romero take a breather and come back with a vengeance on Whitmer. Romero ties Whitmer up with a SICKENING Octopus stretch. Whitmer hits a desperation Exploder on Reyes and inches over to the tag. Smokes actually pulls Maff off the apron too late, and Whitmer is able to make the tag, but everyone just sort of ignores it. Whitmer hits another Exploder, and this time he makes the hot tag. Maff cleans house on the champs with a series of suplexes. The challengers hit a Frogsplash/Figure-four combo on Reyes, but he counters the Exploder ’98 to a rollup for two. Whitmer and Reyes trade rolling Germans. Maff makes the save and brawls with Reyes on the outside. Back inside, Whitmer tries a Super Exploder ’98, but Romero counters to a reverse bulldog. SWEEEET! Maff hits a Burning Hammer! DANGEROUUUUUUS! Smokes pulls the ref out before he can count three, but the ref refuses to DQ the Pitbulls. Romero pulls an Eddy Guerrero and goldbricks in the middle of the ring. Then, when Maff goes to capitalize, Romero pops up and small packages him for the win at 16:12. This alternated between “good” and “flirting with great,” but never really got over that plateau. Too many botched and confused spots (especially where Smokes was concerned) really held this back. And this is the second match in a row where the announcers had to cover for the referee. ***

Samoa Joe & Jushin Lyger vs. Low Ki & Brian Danielson (w/Julius Smokes).
After failing to wrest the title away from Joe at Midnight Express Reunion, Danielson named Joe’s longtime nemesis Low Ki as his tag team partner for this match. That’s kind of like naming Bad News Brown as you Survivor Series partner. Ki BEGS Joe to start and then tags out before they make contact, pissing off the fans. Joe gets the best of Danielson, prompting a tag to Ki, but Lyger calls for the tag before Ki and Joe can go at it again. Lyger knocks Ki to the floor, and the faces hit dives to the floor. Joe & Lyger isolate Ki for a bit, but Danielson gets the tag and manages to isolate Lyger in the heel corner. Just to be a dick, Danielson goes after the mask. He even does the partner-assisted abdominal stretch. Lyger actually plays face-in-peril for a LONG time. Ki even gets in the Double Stomp for two. Finally, Ki misses a springboard kick, and Lyger hits a brainbuster. HOT TAG TO JOE! Joe gives Ki a Facewash and the Olay Kick. Lyger even gets in on the act, hitting one of his own. Ki eventually gets out of trouble and tags Danielson. Danielson LEVELS Joe with a forearm, but he can’t put him away. Lyger tags in and SMOKES everyone with Shoteis. Danielson and Ki team up for a springboard kick/Hart Attack on Lyger. CATTLE MUTILATION! Joe makes the save. Ki comes in and puts Ki in a hanging armbar. Lyger makes the ropes but winds up taking the PHOENIX SPLASH! Dragon is the legal man, though, so he gives Lyger a Dragon Suplex, but it only gets two. Ki holds up Lyger for a Danielson charge, but of course that goes awry, and Danielson takes out his own partner. LYGERBOMB and we’re out at 21:17. After the match, Low Ki blames Danielson for the loss, so The Rottweilers attack him. Joe and Lyger return to make the save, and all three men get a standing ovation. As usually happens when someone visits an indy promotion, they just kind of get out of his way and let him do his thing. This had the added intrigue of Danielson’s battle to pin Lyger and the possibility of seeing Joe and Ki go at it again. Not a match of the year candidate or anything, but pretty good. ***1/4

Sugar Shawn Price tries to get a word with the Embassy. Nana announces that he’s putting a contract out on Jay Lethal, and the Outcast Killaz are going to take him out.

Bryan Danielson talks about his love of wrestling but says it is hatred, and not competition, that will drive him against Low Ki.

The 411: It really did have the feeling of a special weekend because of Lyger, but there were no real feuds that were paid off (at least no ROH feuds). The matches were just here to further feuds instead of finish them so, outside of the main event, nothing is particularly historic. Everything ranged from average to okay. Enough for a mild thumbs up, but there's nothing so earth-shatteringly great that you have to pick it up.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]