ROH – Buffalo Stampede DVD Review

ROH – Buffalo Stampede – Buffalo, NY – 10.15.05

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Top 5

JZ says: The Top 5 hasn’t change since last night. For those that missed it, here it is –

ROH WORLD CHAMPION: Bryan Danielson (since 9.17.05)
ROH PURE CHAMPION: Nigel McGuinness (since 8.27.05)
1) Roderick Strong (1, 2)
2) Christopher Daniels (5, 2)
3) Kenta Kobashi (NR, NA)
4) Austin Aries (2, 10)
5) Samoa Joe (3, 4)

Intro

BG says: The New Lacey’s Angels kick off the show. Lacey says that BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs got to try their own thing the night before when they went for the tag team titles. Since they lost they’re going to do it her way now. That means that Jacobs is wearing a feathery ring jacket, and he’s feeling it. She gives Whitmer a designer shirt and he’s willing to give it a try. Lacey rips on them after they leave the room.

Steve Corino wants the ROH World Championship and when he wins things are going to change. He rips on Internet fans for no reason as it has nothing to do with the rest of his promo, but he’s excited to have all the power in ROH.

JZ says: Lacey’s Angels start the show off with Lacey lambasting her new duo for being the same ol’ same ol’ last night. She promises to bring them to the top. She gives Jimmy a long robe with a lavender colored boa around it. Figures Jimmy Jacobs would like something like that. Whitmer resists the change, saying that his jeans are trendy. Jacobs tells Whitmer to stop dressing like a bum. These guys are a very entertaining duo, and I don’t think they need Lacey at all. Lacey then confirms this by calling them a stupid little boy and a big dumb man. THEN WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO MANAGE THEM? Her character is beyond irritating.

Dave Prazak is with Steve Corino, who has his first shot at the ROH World Title tonight. He makes fun of the internet fans, which is the fresh thing to do.

MATCH #1: BJ Whitmer vs. Davey Andrews

BG says: Time to see what one of these ROH school students can do. They lock up and Andrews grabs a wristlock. Whitmer elbows out and they trade forearms. Whitmer talks tough but Andrews forearms him down. Whitmer headbutts him back and stomps away. He runs Andrews hard into the corner and hits a backbreaker for 2. He hits a snap suplex, basically dropping Andrews onto his head for 2. He puts on a sleeper hold but Andrews fights out. Whitmer hits a knee to the gut for 2. Nothing happens for a while and then Andrews blocks a blind charge. He hits a clothesline and a back elbow. He hits a dropkick and an ugly knee strike in the corner. He hits a springboard dropkick for 2. Whitmer sets him on the top rope but Andrews shoves him away. He tries to come off with an elbow but Whitmer catches him with an exploder suplex for 2 when Lacey tells him not to pin him yet. Andrews reverses the wrist clutch exploder to a sunset flip for 2. He hits a spear for 2. Whitmer hits another exploder for 2 when Lacey again tells him to let Andrews up for more punishment. He hits a big lariat for 2 because he hasn’t hit that wrist clutch exploder yet. It’s a technicality as seconds later he hits it for the win. A bit dull, but told a good story and made Andrews look pretty good while establishing Whitmer’s new character.
Rating: **

JZ says: Despite the upgrade in attire backstage, Whitmer is wearing the same ratty old sweatshirt. He does have some silver trim on his black trunks though. Whitmer dominates and looks to Lacey for guidance. Lacey, despite being a very intelligent businesswoman, can only manage to scream things like “kill him” from the outside of the ring. Whitmer just destroys Andrews and pulls him up from a few certain falls until he gets the wrist-clutch exploder to get the win at 7:57. It looks like they might be prepping Whitmer for a singles run. Match was pretty uneventful though.
Rating: *¾

The Embassy!

BG says: The Embassy is here and Prince Nana says that somebody isn’t going to walk out of this match healthy. He warns Jade Chung not to interfere under penalty of death. Derek Dempsey happens to walk by so Nana feeds him to Abyss. Shelley and Rave shout over Dempsey’s screams about what they’re going to do to Generation Next.

JZ says: Nana threatens to kill Jade Chung, and then almost literally feeds Derek Dempsey to the monster Abyss, while Rave and Shelley watch on and enjoy it, as they continue to cut their promo over the sounds of Dempsey getting destroyed. That was all kinds of awesome.

MATCH #2: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sterling Keenan

BG says: Keenan has a cool look and entrance song, but something seems lacking in his presence. Claudio looks great dressed as Cap’n Crunch, and his ring presence is undeniable. Keenan grabs a wristlock to start. Claudio smoothly reverses to one of his own while playing to the crowd. He trips Keenan up and hits a basement dropkick. He hits a back bodydrop and Keenan bails. Keenan hangs Claudio up on the top rope and stomps him back in the ring. He hits a back elbow for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a fist drop for 2. Claudio comes back with a series of European uppercuts for 2. He hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Keenan hits a backbreaker for 2. He hangs Claudio on the second rope and hits a lung blower for 2. Claudio comes back with an inverted northern lights bomb and the Ricolabomb for the win. Pretty much just a squash for Claudio, but I dig his stuff.
Rating: *¾

JZ says: This is Keenan’s first appearance in ROH since August. The crowd tries some kind of bad clap along to Claudio’s music, which is phenomenal by the way. Claudio dominates and hits his European Uppercuts and generally has control of the match. Then he gets the Pyramid Powerbomb to get the win in short order at 5:06. As much as I like Claudio, that match was a whole lot of nothing. But at least Claudio got another win, that might earn him a spot in the Top 5. It should.
Rating: *

More from Jade Chung

BG says: Jade Chung says she’s not afraid of anything because of all the torture Prince Nana has put her through. She’s actually pretty good with a promo.

JZ says: Jade cuts another pretty good promo about how she is no longer afraid of anything, including Abyss, which she proved last night. I didn’t realize she was good at promos, but that’s like her third in a row that I thought was quite good.

MATCH #3: Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Jacobs

BG says: The crowd calls for Jacobs to HUSS but he refuses at Lacey’s command. Lethal gives a HUSS but Lacey stands firm with Jacobs. They work the mat to start and Jacobs bails. Back in the ring Lethal gets a drop toehold and Jacobs bails again. Back in the ring Jacobs tries to cheap shot Lethal but ends up crotching himself on the post. Lethal hits a backbreaker for 2. He hits a back suplex for 2. He hits a snap suplex for 2. He puts on a cobra clutch and hits a seated dropkick. Jacobs bails and avoids a dive attempt. Lethal dropkicks him off the apron but Jacobs comes back and hangs Lethal up on the top rope. He comes off the turnbuckle with a clothesline for 2. Jacobs gets distracted looking for approval from Lacey after every move. He hits the big elbow for 2. Lethal blocks La Magistral and gets 2 but Jacobs comes back with a palm strike. He hits a series of double stomps and a senton but takes too long to cover and only gets 2. Lethal hits an enziguiri and Jacobs flops like Flair. Lethal hits a series of back elbows and a back bodydrop. He hits a spinebuster for 2. He sets Jacobs up on the top turnbuckle and then tosses him off. He hits a leg lariat and a springboard DDT for 2. Jacobs blocks the running suplex and flat lines Lethal into the turnbuckle. He climbs the ropes and hits a hurricanrana for 2. Lethal blocks the Contra Code and Jacobs blocks the dragon suplex. Jacobs hits a spear and jumps to the top rope to hit a senton for 2. Great sequence there. Lethal blocks the Contra Code and hangs Jacobs on the turnbuckle before dropping him on his head with the dragon suplex for the win. Jesus Fictional Christ that was nasty. Started a little slow in order to establish Jacobs’ new character but finished up strong.
Rating: **¾

JZ says: The crowd is all into the Huss, which Lacey tries to kibosh. The crowd chants for “just one Huss,” which I think is pretty clever. Jay Lethal gives the fans what they want. Jacobs is especially flaming tonight. Lethal controls things early on, and Jacobs keeps running to the outside of the ring, which becomes a problem when he accidentally crotches himself on the ring post in a cute little spot. Jacobs goes on offense and looks to Lacey for almost constant guidance. Lethal gets a nice springboard DDT, and Jacobs gets a nice second rope hurricanrana. They do a nice reversal of finishers sequence and Jacobs hits a spear and a back senton for two. Lethal is able to hit the Dragon Suplex (looks like a nasty bump for Jacobs) for the win at 11:06. That was a fun little match that got real good by the end. The crowd Husses at Jacobs after the match, but he won’t indulge them, he’s more concerned about how Lacey is feeling.
Rating: ***

MATCH #4: ROH Pure Title Match – Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe

BG says: This is Joe’s rematch after losing the title at Dragon Gate Invasion. Nigel compares Joe to Shrek and Joe attacks before the bell. Nigel gets a front facelock and Joe uses his first rope break. He gets a cross armbreaker and Joe uses his second rope break. Nigel gets a headlock and puts Joe’s hand on the ropes, tricking the referee into taking away Joe’s last rope break. Sneaky bastard. Nigel goes for the Artful Dodger but Joe catches him with kicks to the face. He hits the Big Joe Combo and puts on a chinlock. He switches to a hammerlock but Nigel rolls over for 1. Joe kicks him in the face and then washes it. He hits a bodyslam and a second rope elbow drop for 2. Nigel misses his European uppercut charge and Joe hits a snap suplex for 2. He puts on the Mark Nulty Special and Nigel uses his first rope break. Joe hits a powerslam for 2. He hits a running kick for 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2 and goes right into the STF. Nigel uses his second rope break to escape. Joe puts on the Samoan crab and Nigel uses his last rope break. They trade strikes and Joe hits a Manhattan drop. He hits the Sick Kick and a senton for 2. Nigel bails and Joe follows him out. He hits the Ole kick once but Nigel dodges a second attempt and Joe’s leg gets stuck in the barricade. Nigel runs back into the ring and Joe starts to get counted out. Nigel celebrates too early as Joe gets back in at 19 and hits the Thousand Hand Slap and a high knee in the corner. Nigel blocks the muscle buster and hits a chin breaker. Joe reverses the Tower of London to the choke but Nigel rolls back and holds the ropes for the win. The last few minutes were great, but the rest of the match was pretty dull compared to their other matches against each other, which weren’t mind-blowing to begin with. It did do a lot to elevate Nigel, however.
Rating: **¾

JZ says: This is Joe’s rematch after losing the title back at Dragon Gate Invasion. Nigel’s had successful defenses against Roderick Strong, BJ Whitmer, and Jay Lethal thus far. Nigel cuts a really funny promo before the match and refers to Joe as “the wrestling bear,” which is great. Joe loses all of his rope breaks in about a minute, which is kind of neat. It’s even neater though when Joe dodges the artful dodger and kicks Nigel in the head. Joe continues to absolutely dominate. Joe goes for the Ole Kick outside the ring and gets his leg caught in the barricade and barely beats the count back into the ring. Nigel think s he has it won, but Joe shows him that is not the case. Nigel avoids the Muscle Buster and goes for the Tower of London, which Joe reverses into the choke and Nigel pushes back and gets his feet on the ropes (perfectly legal) for the win to retain the title at 10:54. That was much shorter than I expected, but they packed some really good stuff into it and Nigel looked really good despite taking the horrendous beating one can expect to take from Joe.
Rating: ***¼

The GeNesis of Generation Next

BG says: After a quick clip of the original group they show Alex Shelley getting kicked out. He apologizes to the locker room for his evil antics while in the group but nobody cares. Nana accepts him and he joins the Embassy. Generation Next brings in Matt Sydal to combat Nana’s acquisitions. The Embassy abuses Jade Chung until Roderick Strong comes to her rescue and challenges the Embassy to Steel Cage Warfare. This was a pretty awesome video package, I just wish someone would sell ROH a bad ass song that could go over these things instead of the generic music that plays.

JZ says: The video package for this showing Alex Shelley (and thus the Embassy) versus Generation Next is really pretty awesome. Actually it’s probably the best video package I’ve ever seen on an ROH release. It covers the feud, makes everyone look awesome, and makes me really hyped to see this match.

MATCH #5: No DQ War – Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley & Abyss

BG says: Aries challenged Nana to this match all the way back at Dragon Gate Invasion. Steel Cage Warfare would take just as long to happen after Strong’s challenge. Abyss and Evans start in the ring as Aries and Strong dive onto Shelley and Rave on the floor. Evans hits an enziguiri but Abyss nails a huge back bodydrop. The other four brawl on the floor as Abyss hits a torture rack backbreaker. The Embassy take the ring over and beat on Evans. They keep Aries and Strong on the floor as Shelley hits a back suplex on Evans. Shelley hits the Skull Fucker on a wooden chair on Evans. Strong and Aries put a ladder in the ring and knock Abyss down with it. They finally gain footing in the ring and beat on Abyss in the corner with help of the ladder. They drop Shelley on the ladder and he bails. Rave tries to run away but they catch him and beat him on the floor. Abyss nails Evans with a big boot and Shelley beats on Strong in the crowd. Aries hits Abyss with a baseball slide and dives onto him from the top rope. He hits him with a chair across the back and chases after Nana. There’s some directionless brawling for a while until Abyss sends Evans over a crate and Rave chokes Aries out with his own shirt. Back in the ring Rave puts the ladder over Aries and hits it with a chair. It gets 2. Abyss sets up a table somewhere in the crowd. Shelley beats on Strong in the ring but Strong comes back with the double knee gutbuster. Abyss tosses Evans into a wall. Strong runs to beat on Abyss as Aries rams Rave’s leg into the barricade. Abyss sets Evans on the table and climbs a cage that’s nearby. Strong attacks Abyss with a chair. Aries runs out to help and they legsweep him into the cage. They set Abyss in Evans’ place and Evans climbs the cage. He jumps off onto Abyss with the 630 senton. Aries chokes Rave with his wrist tape and sets up a table at ringside. Shelley drop toeholds Strong into the table and Rave sets Aries up on it. Back in the ring Strong hits a backbreaker on Shelley. Rave runs in but gets hit with a uranage through a chair that had been set up. Strong and Aries put a pair of tables next to each other. Strong goes to powerbomb Rave through them from the ring but Shelley breaks it up with a superkick. Strong and Shelley fight to the apron and Shelley hits the Shellshock through the tables. Nana attacks Aries from behind and Rave takes advantage. Nana hits the butt splash in the corner but Jade runs in and low blows him. Aries hits the Finley roll on the ladder and climbs the ropes. He goes for the 450 splash but Rave moves and he hits the ladder. Rave and Nana hold him down with the ladder for the win. Started with a lot of nonsensical stuff but got really cool in the second half. Altogether this was as good as the first six-man tag between these teams.
Rating: ***½

JZ says: This one starts off as a big brawl on the floor. Evans takes a really scary bump from Abyss inside the ring. The Embassy takes control of Evans while holding Strong and Aries outside the ring. Evans takes the skull fucker on a wooden chair. Aries and Strong bring out a ladder and nail Abyss in the face with it. Gen Next takes control and the brawl just goes on. We even get a picture-in-picture so that we can try to follow everything. There’s some steel cage like structure hanging around in the arena, which makes for a nice prelude to Steel Cage Warfare quite honestly. Evans gets on top of one of these batting cages and gives Abyss the 630 through a table. A few minutes later Shelley gives Roderick a pretty sick Shell Shock off the apron through a table. That leaves Rave and Aries as the only legal men standing in the match, so Nana takes this chance to interfere. Jade comes in and gives him a low blow, much to the delight of the crowd. Aries gives Rave the fireman’s roll onto the ladder and begs the crowd to cheer for him before taking a sick bump on the ladder, allowing Rave and Nana to put the ladder on top of him to hold him down for the three count at 17:54. The beginning and ending portions were hot, but the middle was a little dry. That finish rules though, so that bumps the match up a little bit.
Rating: ***½

Intermission

BG says: Dave Prazak is backstage with ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson. Danielson carries the belt proudly because ROH lets him wrestle the way he wants to wrestle and gets the spotlight because he’s the champion. He doesn’t like that Corino wants the belt for power, because the belt represents freedom. Then he pimps his Scott Lost T-shirt. I’m all about Danielson’s blatant PWG shilling and I’ll get down on the Scott Lost love by directing you to my review of his first PWG match against Joey Ryan.

JZ says: Dave Prazak is with ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson, who is making his second title defense tonight. Danielson reiterates his point about how the ROH belt means wrestling freedom. He says no one tells him to go three minutes or to go eight minutes or whatever. I hate that, because they just tell him to go longer. I hate it when promos in ROH talk about behind the scenes booking while trying to maintain a sense of realism. I mean, I still want to believe wrestling is real, and when Danielson cuts promos like that it makes the whole thing look fake.

MATCH #6: ROH Tag Team Title Match – Sal Rinauro & Tony Mamaluke vs. Homicide & Ricky Reyes

BG says: Ricky Reyes earned this match on the strength of his Trios Tournament 2005 win. Sal and Homicide start. Homicide grabs a hammerlock and gets a roll up for 1. Sal gets a wristlock but Homicide rolls out. Sal goes back to the arm and tags to Mamaluke. They work the mat and Homicide tags to Reyes. They do some cool chain wrestling and Mamaluke comes up with the Mark Nulty Special. Reyes reverses to a surfboard but Mamaluke comes back with a leglock. Reyes makes it to the ropes. Homicide tags in and gets dominated by Mamaluke on the mat and bails. Homicide gets back in the ring and gets a roll up for 2 when Mamaluke reverses to a triangle choke. Homicide powerbombs out in a big way. Sal tags in and out and the champions double-team Homicide. Sal tags in again and comes off the top rope with an ax handle to the arm. He hits an armbreaker but Homicide comes back with the Ace Crusher. Reyes tags in and they double-team Sal. Reyes hits a bodyslam and a kneedrop for 2. Homicide tags in and hits a stiff kick to the back. Reyes tags in and hits a neckbreaker. Sal comes back with a hurricanrana but Homicide cuts off the tag. Reyes puts on a chinlock and kicks the back for 2. Homicide tags in and the Rottweilers hit a guillotine legdrop for 2. Homicide hits a kick to the back for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Sal fights out and gets a roll up for 2. He gets a backslide for 2. He reverses a bodyslam to a roll up for 2. Homicide hits him with an exploder suplex and tags to Reyes. Reyes hits a gut wrench suplex for 2. Homicide tags in and hits an elbow drop. He pulls Sal to the second rope and hits a sick DDT from there for 2 when Sal puts his hand on the bottom rope. Back on the second rope Sal hits a hurricanrana. Mamaluke and Reyes tag in and Mamaluke cleans house. He hits a side suplex on Homicide and follows it up with a frog splash for 2. He puts on an armbar but Homicide rolls out and slugs him down. Reyes and Sal tag in and Sal hits a missile dropkick. He hits a moonsault press and a tornado DDT for 2. Sal gets a roll up for 2. Homicide runs in and hits a piledriver. Reyes hits a German suplex for 2 when Mamaluke saves. He knocks Homicide to the floor and hits a suicide dive. Reyes puts on the dragon clutch in the ring but Mamaluke breaks it up. Homicide hits a clothesline on Mamaluke and drags him to the floor. In the ring Sal catches Reyes with a springboard crossbody for the win. There were some awesome moments in this match, especially the chain wrestling early on. Unfortunately, as much as Mamaluke shined in the beginning the match was plagued with awkward moments and dead stretches. Good stuff, but probably could have been much better.
Rating: ***

JZ says: The crowd, as usual, has trouble slapping the guardrails to any kind of beat. This is Mamaluke and Sal’s third defense. Reyes is finally cashing in his match that he earned by being one-third of the winning team of the Trios Tournament. Homicide was also part of that team, but he used his match back in April to get a World Title shot at then-champion Austin Aries in New Jersey. Rocky Romero has yet to name his match. Prazak explains all that just after I got done typing it. Mamaluke and Homicide actually wrestled each other way back at Honor Invades Boston, when James Maritato (Nunzio) was Mamaluke’s partner and Homicide was still a Natural Born Sinner with Boogalou. Reyes gets his choke sleeper on late in the match, and when Mamaluke breaks it up the crowd boos. That’s not a good sign for the underdog babyface champions. Sal then beats Reyes with a springboard crossbody block at 19:39, which the crowd also boos. That was an insanely long match for that finish, which makes the champions look like total chumps who just got lucky and got a fluke win. They are not doing anything to set the tag team division on fire.
Rating: **½

Commissioner Cornette

BG says: Commissioner Jim Cornette joins us from his office as he wasn’t able to make it to the show. He wants the contenders to the ROH World Championship to be decided based on wins and losses and not personal issues. He’s bringing back the top 5 rankings in ROH. I always thought the top 5 was the best system they’ve had, but I hope this time around they stick to it and actually give the guys in it the title shots, instead of having it and not using it strictly like they did before.

JZ says: Cornette apologizes for not being able to be in Buffalo. He says the situation with the World Title needs to be rectified, and thus he is bringing back the Top 5 rankings. It’s about time. He says the Championships need to be treated with respect, and that this is a very serious matter. That’s all well and good, but we’ll see how well these new Top 5 ratings hold up. Everybody remember the Contender’s Ring and the title petitions?

MATCH #7: Low Ki vs. Colt Cabana

BG says: Ki is in here to get a little revenge for his buddy Homicide. Cabana mocks Ki’s stance and Ki actually laughs. They lock up and Ki puts on an armbreaker in the ropes. Ki mocks Cabana on the apron but it doesn’t phase him. Ki grabs a wristlock but Cabana reverses to his own. Ki hits the rising kick to escape. Cabana gets a hammerlock but Ki bites his knee to escape. He puts on a wristlock and bites Cabana’s fingers. Cabana kicks away and puts on a wristlock. Ki goes for the rising kick again so Cabana tickles him. He grabs a headlock so Ki slaps him in the balls. He puts on a chinlock but Cabana powers out. Cabana blocks a chop and does the Tango with Ki around the ring. Ki gets frustrated and bails. Back in the ring Cabana goes to work on the arm. He stretches Ki’s legs apart and pulls on his ears. Ki rolls out and goes for a basement dropkick but Cabana backs up and goes back to the stretch. Ki shoves his fingers up Cabana’s nose and wipes the snot on his face. Ki has enough of Cabana’s antics and strikes at him. Cabana comes back with a suplex attempt but Ki blocks and hangs him up on the top rope. It gets 2. He gets a snap mare for 1. He puts on a legvice and Cabana starts to wiggle. It only gets him stuck in the Mark Nulty Special. Ki gets the legvice back on so Cabana uses the referee to help him wiggle up. They trade chops but Cabana’s are worthless. He hits a series of elbow strikes and a bodyslam. He hits a butt butt and a lariat for 2. He hits a hurricanrana for 2. He climbs the ropes but Ki knocks him down and drapes him over the turnbuckle. He stands on his back and hit a double stomp for 2. Cabana dumps Ki to the apron but gets booted in the face. Ki goes for a top rope double stomp but gets hit with a Manhattan drop. Cabana nails the whirly bird and goes for the cover but Homicide comes down the ramp with a microphone. He taunts Cabana long enough for Ki to hit a dropkick from behind. He climbs to the top and hits a crazy double stomp for the win. A little long for what they were going for, and the ending wasn’t very dramatic, but a lot of the match was fun and the feud is seemingly in full swing now.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: Cabana mocks Low Ki for being so angry all the time. Prazak and Leonard talk about how big of an insult it is to be Konnan’s bitch, which I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. They so some wrestling to start, and Ki counters by biting. Cabana says he won’t stoop to that level. Cabana goes to work on the arm and particularly the fingers of Low Ki. When Ki takes control he goes to work on the midsection of Cabana, trying to take his wind away. Cabana gets the whirly bird and goes for the cover, but Homicide comes out and interrupts the match with a microphone in hand. He calls Cabana CM Punk’s bitch. This allows Ki to take the advantage and nail a HUGE double stomp from the top rope to get the win at 20:34. That was technically fine and had some good stuff but it was nothing memorable, and the entire Homicide versus Cabana feud has a very sports-entertainment feel to it, which I don’t personally mind, but ROH is always selling themselves on not being sports-entertainment, and that’s a little annoying. The feud is finally starting to pick up though.
Rating: ***

MATCH #8: ROH World Title Match – Bryan Danielson vs. Steve Corino

BG says: Danielson sent out open contracts to wrestling companies all over the world, and Steve Corino signed on the one sent to Dream Stage Entertainment and HUSTLE. Corino hits a clothesline and a brainbuster at the bell for 2. Danielson bails and Corino follows him out. He sends Danielson into the guardrail and rolls him back into the ring. They trade forearms and Danielson takes him down with one of the roaring variety. Corino bails and Danielson gets the crowd hot to a new chant. Back in the ring they lock up and take cheap shots on each other. Corino talks trash but becomes more concerned with the crowd than he is with Danielson. He grabs a wristlock but Danielson gets out with a dropkick. Danielson puts on an armbar but Corino reverses to a headlock. Danielson comes back with another dropkick for 1. They knuckle up and Danielson gets a suplex for 2. He gets another for 2. He hits a third for 2 and releases the knucklelock. He gets nasty with strikes and Corino returns fire. Danielson hits an enziguiri and puts on a dragon sleeper. Corino comes back with a neckbreaker for 2. He hits a bodyslam and an elbow drop for 2. Corino sets Danielson on the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex for 2. He hits a DDT for 2. He hits a clothesline in the corner and they trade slaps. Danielson hits an enziguiri and a running forearm. He hits a butterfly suplex and a butt splash for 2. Corino sets him on the top rope and goes for Homicide’s Ace Crusher but Danielson blocks and hits a dropkick. He goes for the Mexican surfboard but claims Corino is too fat and just steps on his thighs. He hits the neck wrench suplex and climbs the ropes. He misses the diving headbutt and Corino puts on a cobra clutch. Danielson makes it to the ropes. He hits a German suplex for 2. Corino comes back with an STO for 2. Danielson blocks a lariat and puts on the Cow Killer. Corino makes it to the ropes. He sets Corino on the top rope and hits a running forearm. He brings him down with a superplex and climbs the ropes. He hits the diving headbutt for 2. He puts on the Cow Killer and rolls Corino up for 2. He goes for the Regalplex but Corino blocks and gets a roll up for 2. Corino hits a northern lights bomb for 2. He goes for Old School Expulsion but Danielson reverses to the Regalplex for 2 and puts on the crossface chicken wing for the win. Solid title defense, but it never really kicked into second gear, and it certainly never felt like Corino was a threat to the title, or even really wanted it badly for that matter.
Rating: ***

JZ says: Corino busts out the Northern Lights Bomb right away in hopes of scoring a quick fall. The crowd debuts the most bizarre chant I’ve ever heard. If you know what I’m talking about, good for you; if not I’ll leave it to you to discover. Corino calls a fan a faggot, which Prazak chalks up to speculation, then notes that calling people faggot is a page out of the AJ Styles playbook. Well, that just proves that Prazak rules. Danielson controls a good deal of the match and even makes fun of Corino for being fat. Corino is letting the crowd really get to him here, and it’s kind of funny. Danielson gets the Cattle Mutilation on, but Corino is able to reach the ropes. Corino goes for the Old School Expulsion but Danielson reverses into the Regal-plex and then locks on the cross face chicken wing and Corino taps out at 24:13. That was a solid title defense and all, but it never once felt like Corino was going to win. I still enjoyed myself though.
Rating: ***¼

Aftermath

BG says: Backstage Roderick Strong congratulates Danielson on his victory, being the next challenger to the title, when The Embassy attacks him. Generation Next makes the save and the two factions brawl around the building.

Ace Steel is working out somewhere dark, as we can only see him with a night vision lens. Steel wants to exact some revenge on Chad Collyer for bloodying him up on his protégé CM Punk’s last night with ROH. He’s been in Harley Race’s gym every night since then with bad intentions. He’s losing money, friends and his wife because all he does is work out in preparation for his vengeance. Good promo, unfortunately the feud only comes back around when ROH rolls through the Midwest.

JZ says: When Danielson walks through the curtain, he is met by Roderick Strong. The Embassy butts in and Generation Next come out and it’s a big brawl, and Danielson just walks away. I like that. Gen Next and the Embassy are fighting in the crowd.

Now we have an Ace Steel promo shot with a black and white camera. He wants to talk about that disgusting match he had with Chad Collyer back in August. He’s going crazy, and this promo pretty much reflects that.

Make sure to visit rohwrestling.com or call 215-781-2500 to get a hold of the ROH Merchandise store and get some good stuff.

We close with the standard ads for the ROH Straight Shootin’ Series as well as the ROH Wrestling School (with head trainer Austin Aries).

MVP

BG says: I’m going to give it to Jack Evans, almost by default. Nobody on the show really stood out but Evans hit the craziest spot in the match of the night, so he gets the nod.

JZ says: Nigel McGuinness, for calling Samoa Joe the wrestling bear.

You can pick up this show, as well as all other ROH shows at ROH Wrestling Dot Com.

Coming soon will be our review of This Means War!

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E-mail Brad at [email protected]
E-mail Jacob at [email protected]

The 411: BG says: Not a bad match on the show, but again nothing spectacular. The angles progressed without any huge twists or turns and no titles changed hands. It’s a solid show, but nothing worth going out of your way for. JZ says: There’s good stuff all over this tape, but none of it is great and I got the feeling that if I missed this show I wouldn’t be missing anything grand. Still, there’s something to be said for a show that’s solid all the way through, and this one was most certainly that.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]