ROH – Live in Osaka DVD Review

ROH – LIVE IN OSAKA – OSAKA, JAPAN – 7.17.07

Introduction

BG says: The Video Wire for the Japanese shows starts off with an advertisement for Respect is Earned on Pay Per View. Next up is a clip of Nigel McGuinness being the first man to pin Takeshi Morishima in ROH. Nigel wants Morishima to remember that he pinned him and now he’s going to take his title in Tokyo. Next up, shown in full, is Takeshi Morishima’s title defense against Adam Pearce from the Driven Pay Per View bonus match tapings. You can read our review of that match when we review that DVD! The Wire wraps up with Austin Aries announcing his return to ROH. He knows his return is going to be a problem for the No Remorse Corp. They’ve been talking about him behind his back, so now they’re going to have to watch theirs.

The show starts with a little fraternal love from the No Remorse Corp. Rocky Romero picked up a ton of Japanese girls last night. Richards, feeling left out lies and says he got one too. Romero sees through him but promises to help him get one. Last night they killed Jack Evans and NOAH’s Kotaro Suzuki, and tonight they’re going to do the same to whoever they face in Osaka. Strong thinks he’s found a perfect new member for the No Remorse Corp and takes Romero and Richards to meet him.

Throughout the night a video diary of ROH babyfaces in Japan in shown. First up is Delirious screaming at Japanese fans while other wrestlers laugh from inside the bus.

JZ says: The No Remorse Corps are reminiscing about last night, as Davey Richards tries to say that he scored last night. Romero and Strong don’t believe him. Strong says he’s going to destroy Jack Evans tonight, and that he found somebody who would fit perfectly in their group. These guys have a great group dynamic in the ring, but watching their promos can often be excruciating.

MATCH #1: Jimmy Rave vs. Bryan Danielson

BG says: Jimmy Rave and Bryan Danielson come out for their match. Before they can get started CIMA walks out to welcome the fans to ROH in Osaka. Out of nowhere Roderick Strong attacks CIMA and the NRC swoops in. Danielson tries to help but the numbers are too great. Naomichi Marufuji makes the save and the bad guys bail. Danielson gets on the microphone and calls CIMA and Marufuji the best wrestlers for their companies, and says the same about himself and proposes a dream team form between the three of them to take on the NRC. If you absolutely have to cover for KENTA not being around this is the way to do it. Jimmy Rave still wants a match now that Danielson has walked out (technically I think Rave now holds a victory over Danielson by forfeit) and demands that someone come out to wrestle him. The Briscoe Brothers answer the call. They already have a match for the titles scheduled, but if Rave can find a partner they’ll defend the belts again him right now. Rave’s Muscle Outlaw’z buddy Genki Horiguchi answers the call.

JZ says: Jimmy Rave comes out for the opening match, accompanied by Genki Horiguchi. Bryan Danielson comes out next. Before the match can get underway, CIMA comes out and asks for the mic. For some reason, the No Remorse Corps come out and attack CIMA. Danielson tries to help him out but they’re still outnumbered. Naomichi Marufuji comes out to even the sides, and Danielson issues a challenge for a six-man tag team match. Jimmy Rave is all uppity about his match being cancelled, so he issues an open challenge, which is answered by the Briscoe Brothers, the ROH World Tag Team Champions. They say that the airline lost their belts, but they’ll still put them on the line tonight, as Horiguchi joins Rave.

MATCH #1: ROH World Tag Team Title Match – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Rave & Genki Horiguchi

BG says: Horiguchi and Mark start. Mark puts Horiguchi on the mat. Holy crap the hard camera is far from the ring. Mark puts on a headlock but Horiguchi counters to the head scissors. Horiguchi gets a head scissors takedown but Mark comes back with a hurricanrana and a back elbow. Rave and Jay come in, showing that this match is under Dragon Gate rules. Jay sends Rave to the floor and Mark dives out onto him. Back in the ring Rave gets double-teamed. Jay hits a dropkick for 2. Mark tags in and hits a slingshot double stomp for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. Jay tags in and they hit the double shoulder tackle. Horiguchi trips Jay and Rave hits a dropkick to the top of the head. Horiguchi hits a back elbow and dumps Jay to the floor. He drags Jay around ringside without doing much and rolls him back into the ring. Rave comes in and stomps on Jay’s face for 2. Horiguchi tags in and hits a bodyslam. He hits a double jump moonsault for 2. He puts on a half crab but Jay gets to the ropes. Jay hits a back elbow and the Complete Shot into the corner. Rave and Mark tag in and Mark hits the yelping splash. He hits a head-and-arm suplex on Rave and a crossbody on Horiguchi. He powerbombs Rave into a neckbreaker from Jay for 2. Rave blocks the Cutthroat Driver and Horiguchi hits a springboard dropkick for 2. He hits a swinging DDT and Rave hits a spear and the running knee for 2. Jay hits Horiguchi with the military press DVD for 2. Horiguchi dodges the Doomsday Device and Rave puts Mark in the heel hook as Horiguchi gets a backslide on Jay for 2. Mark and Jay kick Rave around and hit him with the spike Jay Driller for the win. Decent stuff but the crowd didn’t care and the match had little fire as a result.
Rating: **½

Next up in the video diary is Jack Evans gushing over the Mega Teriyaki Burger in a Japanese fast food restaurant. He says it’s as good a burger as Lost is a TV show, and so I believe him! I actually heard him and Mark Briscoe gushing over the Mega Teriyaki Burger at Man Up in Chicago and thought it was hilarious then.

JZ says: The Briscoes have been champions since 3.30.07, and this is their eighth defense. The Briscoes are also scheduled to defend the belts tonight against Shingo & Susumu Yokosuka. Horiguchi and Mark start it off with some mat wrestling. Jay and Rave soon get tagged in, and the Briscoes are controlling the match early on here. Rave and Horiguchi come back and go to work on Jay. Jay is able to make the tag to Mark, who is able to take down both of the challengers. The Briscoes deliver the Splash Mountain / Neckbreaker combination for a two count on Rave. Mark tries the Cutthroat Driver but Rave escapes and Horiguchi nails Mark with a springboard dropkick. Sinclair isn’t paying much attention to the legal man rule here, are all the tag matches under Dragon Gate Rules? Rave hits a running knee to the face on Mark but it only gets two. Jay hits the Military Press into a Death Valley Driver on Horiguchi for a near fall. They try the Springboard Doomsday Device but it’s avoided. Rave tries to put the Heel Hook on Mark but he escapes and the champs hit the Spike Jay Driller and that’s all at 9:20. That was a decent opener, but it was a little strange to see the Briscoes in a less than ten minute opener.
Rating: **½

The Video Diary from Japan features Jack Evans extolling the virtues of the Mega Teriyaki burger from McDonald’s. Nigel McGuinness looks on.

MATCH #2: Nigel McGuinness vs. BJ Whitmer

BG says: McGuinness puts on a wristlock to start. Whitmer counters the hold but McGuinness gets it back on. Whitmer powers him to the ropes and gives a clean break. McGuinness powers Whitmer to the corner and shows the same respect but then asks for a handshake and hits a forearm. Whitmer comes back with a neckbreaker. He hangs McGuinness on the top rope and hits a running knee for 2. McGuinness cries out “we’re friends!” when Whitmer chops him. McGuinness goes to the eyes so Whitmer returns the favor. McGuinness hits the corner combo and finally wakes the crowd up a little. He hits a running European uppercut but Whitmer comes back with a backslide for 2. McGuinness hits a hammerlock takedown for 2. He hits the handstand kick for 2. Whitmer blocks the Tower of London and hits an exploder for 2. McGuinness gets a backslide for 2. Whitmer hits a spinebuster for 2. He hits a running forearm and a big boot. He gets a roll up for 2. He hits a running knee but McGuinness comes back with the Jawbreaker Lariat for the win. I’ve never seen so many fans make so little noise, even in Japan. Whitmer just got saddled with crap spots on this tour. This was all McGuinness running through his offense, making Whitmer look like a jobber.
Rating: **

Next on the Video Diary from Japan is some wrong side of the road highway driving. Evans looks wiped out, and so when he says he’s denouncing his American citizenship because Japan is the superior country I can forgive him. He also says that he’s turning Japanese because of the Vapors song, so it’s a little hard to take him seriously.

JZ says: Both men are coming off losses last night, to Takeshi Morishima and Jimmy Rave, respectively. They chain wrestle to start as Prazak and Leonard go over their similar history, coming up in HWA and such. Neither man gains a sustained advantage, exchanging strikes. Whitmer sets McGuinness up on the top rope and lands a knee to the head for a two count. McGuinness tries to fight back but Whitmer will hear nothing of the sort. Whitmer unloads on McGuinness for a couple minutes until McGuinness can make the comeback with a few of his signature moves. Whitmer actually falls for the Mule Kick, and that gets a two count. McGuinness sets up for the Tower of London but Whitmer avoids it. Whitmer hits an exploder for two. Spinebuster by Whitmer also gets two. He avoids the Jawbreaker Lariat and gets a near fall with an O’Connor roll. McGuinness then hits the Jawbreaker and gets the win at 9:14. That was about what you’d expect from these two in less than ten minutes. Whitmer’s losing streak continues.
Rating: **¼

More video diary with Jack Evans, as he cites the beautiful Japanese scenery as the reason he’s denouncing his American citizenship and turning Japanese. He really thinks so.

MATCH #3: No DQ Match – Jack Evans vs. Roderick Strong

BG says: Jack Evans comes out to the ring and says he’s heard Strong is trying to get out of their match in favor of fighting the Dream Team in the main event. Strong comes out with Masaaki Mochizuki and says he’s putting Mochizuki in the main event as an honorary member of the NRC and he’ll fight Evans in a no disqualification, no count out match now.

They scramble around the ring until Strong bails. Evans follows him out with a missile dropkick and rams him into the barricade. Strong throws the barricade at Evans and chops him around the building. Evans uses the wall to hit a moonsault press but Strong comes back with a tilt-a-whirl facebuster on the floor. He press slams Evans into the post and rolls him back into the ring. Evans dropkicks Strong to the floor and follows him out with a hurricanrana. Back in the ring Evans gets 2. Strong hits a low blow for 2. He hits a backbreaker over his shoulder and kicks Evans down. He folds Evans across his back and slams him to the mat for 2. Evans gets a roll up for 2. Strong comes back with a roll up for 2. He ties Evans up in the ropes and bends him unnaturally and pins him for 2. He chops Evans hard in the corner and crotches him for easy access to a Yakuza kick. He folds Evans across his back again and drops down to hit a backbreaker for 2. He climbs the ropes but Evans brings him down with a hurricanrana. Evans hits a springboard spin kick and a knee to the head. He hits a springboard back elbow and a standing corkscrew press for 2. He hits a back heel kick and a knee kick. Strong bails and pulls Evans to the floor. He throws him back-first into the barricade but Evans spins on the apron to hit a kick. Strong falls over the barricade so Evans dives off the apron onto him with a somersault. Back in the ring Evans gets 2. Strong counters a handspring elbow to a facebuster for 2. He hits another facebuster and a lariat for 2. Evans gets a crucifix pin for 2. He gets a backslide for 2. He blocks the tiger driver and hits a bicycle kick. He hits a standing shooting star press for 2. He climbs the ropes but Strong cuts him off and hits a second rope fall away slam for 2. He blocks a reverse hurricanrana and hits the gutbuster for 2. He puts on a Boston crab but Evans gets to the ropes. Strong drags Evans up top only to get hit with a hurricanrana. It gets 2 for Evans. Evans climbs the ropes but Strong crotches him. Evans fights back, puts Strong in the Tree of Woe and hits the Ong Bak kneedrop. Strong pops up and hits the Sick Kick. Evans hits a reverse hurricanrana and the 630 senton (more of a headbutt) for the win. This was a little sloppy but up there with the other great matches they’ve had against each other.
Rating: ***¾

Back to the video diary we see McGuinness, Danielson and Richards in another restaurant talking about transportation. Apparently at this restaurant the gigantic menu on the wall is all inside two small machines.

JZ says: Evans issues the challenge for a no-DQ match. Strong comes out and introduces us to tonight’s honorary member of the No Remorse Corps, Masaaki Mochizuki. He will take Strong’s place in the main event tonight so that Strong can fight Evans here. This is their third singles match against each other, with Strong winning both of the first two, at All Star Extravaganza III and Good Times Great Memories, which was Evans’s last match in ROH until this one. They fight outside in the early going, with Evans trying to use his agility, but Strong overpowers him and launches him back-first into the ring post. Evans makes a comeback with a rana off the ring apron and tosses Strong back inside for a one-count. That doesn’t last too long, as Strong kicks Evans low and goes back to work on the back. Evans makes another brief comeback but Strong just won’t hear of it. Evans makes another comeback with a rana off the top rope and the crowd is behind him. Evans hits a springboard elbow and a corkscrew press for two. They fight outside the ring again and Strong tumbles over the guardrail. Evans hits a big dive all the way onto him. Back in the ring Evans gets a few near falls but can’t put Strong away. Strong comes back with a big clothesline. Strong tries the half-nelson backbreaker but it gets countered and Evans goes for a few pinning combinations but can’t hold Strong down. Evans hits a bicycle kick to the head and a standing shooting star press for two. Evans goes up top but Strong knocks him down and lands a fall-away slam from the second rope. Evans tries a reverse rana but Strong hotshots him out of it and hits the gut-buster for two. He locks on the Boston Crab and Evans reaches the ropes. Evans hits the Ong-Bak knees but Strong no-sells it and hits a boot to the face. Evans comes back with a reverse rana and hits the 630 off the top rope to get the pin on his nemesis at 14:45. It would be physically incapable for these two to have a bad match with each other, and this one was about as good as the one from Chicago in April.
Rating: ***½

More video diary footage shows Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, and Davey Richards doing stuff. I thought it was a Jack Evans video diary, but I guess it’s just a general one.

MATCH #4: Dragon Gate Rules – Delirious, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino vs. Matt Sydal, Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid

BG says: These teams make no sense; Delirious and Sydal should have swapped. Don’t tell me Dragon Gate storylines say otherwise, this is ROH and Delirious should be with the babyface team. Sydal & Delirious lock up to start. They trade holds and Delirious gets a takedown. He gets a crucifix pin for 2. Sydal gets a head scissors takedown and a dropkick. Doi and Saito tag in and trade chops. Saito hits a hurricanrana but Doi comes back with an armdrag. Dragon Kid comes in and hits a weird armdrag. Yoshino comes in and gets hit with an armdrag. Dragon Kid hits a head scissors takedown and Yoshino bails. Doi comes in and gets hit with a kneedrop. Saito tags in and hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 2. He puts on a chinlock while having a shouting match with Delirious. Doi goes to the eyes and tags to Delirious. Delirious hits a back suplex for 2. Yoshino tags in and hits a legdrop for 2. He trades chops with Saito and goes down. Sydal tags in and hits a momentum kick for 2. Sydal and Yoshino fight over a surfboard and Doi comes in with an axe handle to the arm. He hits a back elbow for 2. Dragon Kid tags in and hits a dropkick. He hits a basement dropkick and puts on a chinlock. Saito tags in and swings Dragon Kid into Doi. Sydal comes in and they hit a triple dropkick. Sydal hits a standing shooting star press on Doi’s back for 2. Doi hits a vertical suplex for 2. Delirious tags in and hits a senton for 2. He elbows Sydal’s neck and gets the crowd fired up. Yoshino and Doi hit a double gutbuster and sandwich Sydal’s face with dropkicks for 2. Yoshino hits a neckbreaker and tags to Doi. Saito comes in and suplexes Doi into Sydal. He screams out of frustration at his mistake and then gets a stern talking to from Dragon Kid. Yoshino and Delirious hold Sydal for a senton from Doi. It gets 2. Sydal puts Delirious up top and brings him down with a hurricanrana. He fights off Doi & Yoshino and then walks over them to hit a DDT on Delirious. Dragon Kid comes in and hits the 619 on Doi. He hits a dropkick on Yoshino. Saito hits an overhead suplex on Doi and Dragon Kid hits a hurricanrana on the floor on Yoshino. Sydal dives onto Doi (I’m guessing) and Delirious hits clotheslines on Saito. He headbutts Dragon Kid’s gut but Saito catches him with a German suplex for 2. Dragon Kid hits a stunner on Doi. He puts on the Christo and hits another stunner. Doi comes back with a running turnbuckle powerbomb and Delirious hits the Panic Attack. Delirious hits the Bizarro Driver for 2. Sydal hits Yoshino with the Slice for 2. Yoshino hits a neckbreaker and climbs the ropes. He comes down with a dropkick for 2. Sydal hits a leg lariat on Yoshino but Doi blocks the standing moonsault with his knees. Yoshino trips Sydal but he blocks the Bakatare Sliding Kick and hits the standing moonsault. He hits an enziguiri but Doi catches him with a spinebuster. Doi climbs the ropes but Dragon Kid and Saito cut him off and hit a stacker hurricanrana and a big splash for 2. The Muscle Outlaw’z come in and attack Saito in the corner. Dragon Kid hits a hurricanrana on Yoshino for 2. Sydal misses a shooting star press and Doi hits him with the Doi 555. He hits the Bakatare Sliding kick for 2. Yoshino hits Sydal with the Torbellino and Delirious follows that with the Shadows for 2. He puts on the Cobra Stretch but Sydal gets to the ropes. Sydal dodges the Shadows and hits a DDT. He climbs the ropes and hits a shooting star press for the win. This had some good comedy and a few great spots, amongst the many that we’ve come to expect from these guys. It was just a little too chaotic to come together into something astonishing.
Rating: ***½

A very tired-looking Mark Briscoe gets some face time on the video diary. He says he doesn’t wash his clothes but rather sprays it with some kind of Japanese Febreze that he stole from a hotel room during the NOAH tour he was on. That’s kind of gross.

JZ says: I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m no longer able to recap the action in this one. Long-time rivals Sydal and Delirious start it off, with Delirious doing lots of stalling. They do some impressive mat wrestling, with both guys showing off what they can do. Just as I suspected, the action starts to get out of control and I’ll leave most of the PBP for Garoon. Both teams take turns being in control when the match slows down just a little bit. Both trios display some impressive double and triple teaming. This one breaks down to a brawl with everyone coming in and out as they wish, which is okay since its Dragon Gate Rules. The action keeps coming fast and furious, with everyone busting out some signature moves. Yoshino uses that awesome missile dropkick he does. Fellow Muscle Outlawz members Genki Horiguchi and Jimmy Rave briefly interfere. Sydal eventually gets the pin with a Shooting Star Press on Delirious at 20:58. That was a fairly typical six-man action spot-fest. I didn’t feel compelled to write much about it since I know Garoon handles play-by-play really well, but it was entertaining if not entirely memorable.
Rating: ***½

Mark Briscoe doesn’t wash his clothes. Ewww.

MATCH #5: ROH World Tag Team Title Match – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Shingo & Susumu Yokosuka

BG says: HEY, Shingo’s back! If I remember correctly Shingo’s original partner was BxB Hulk and then when he got injured it was going to be YAMATO. He got injured too so Shingo had to look outside of New Hazard. What, Cyber Kong is no good? The Briscoes attack the challengers at the bell. They brawl on the floor and the challengers gain control in the ring. Shingo puts a chinlock on Mark. Jay and Yokosuka tag in and Jay hits a leg lariat. Shingo tags in and they hit a double shoulder tackle. Shingo hits a bodyslam for 2. Mark tags in and they hit their double shoulder tackle for 2. Mark and Shingo trade forearms and Shingo takes control with headbutts. Yokosuka tags in and hits a backbreaker for 2. He puts on a half crab and then turns it into a camel clutch. Shingo comes in and hits a gutbuster and a DDT. He hits a senton for 2. He hits a kneedrop for 2. He puts on a chinlock and then hits a fistdrop. Yokosuka tags in and hits a clothesline in the corner. Mark hits a second rope forearm but Yokosuka keeps him from tagging out. Jay hits a cheap shot and Mark hits a leg lariat. Jay tags in and puts on the Stretch Plum. Shingo breaks it up. Mark tags in and hits a dropkick in the corner. Jay hits a Yakuza kick, getting 2 for Mark. Mark puts on the Mark Nulty Special but Yokosuka gets to the ropes. Jay tags in and they hit the double throw. Jay hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a legdrop for 2. Mark tags in and hits a gutwrench suplex and a kneedrop for 2. He hits a vertical suplex but Shingo hits him with a DDT on the apron and Yokosuka hits Jay with a super exploder. Yokosuka slams Mark onto Jay and tags to Shingo. Shingo hits Mark with a DDT and Jay with the Complete Shot at the same time. They bail so Shingo dives off the apron onto them. The challengers sandwich Mark with clotheslines and hit a double back suplex for 2. Mark hits a powerbomb out of nowhere on Yokosuka for 2. Yokosuka hits a backdrop and Shingo hits his partner with a German suplex, allowing him to hit an exploder on Mark. Shingo hits Jay with a hanging DDT and climbs the ropes. He misses a kneedrop and the Briscoes hit a double uranage. They sandwich Shingo with dropkicks for 2. Jay hits a stunner and the DVD for 2. Mark hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. A shooting star press hits knees and Yokosuka hits a clothesline in the corner. He hits more clotheslines but Mark won’t go down. Shingo hits the Gallon Throw and a lariat on Mark for 2. Yokosuka hits a butterfly facebuster for 2. Jay hits a big boot and a reverse falcon arrow for 2. Yokosuka rolls Mark up for 2. Mark hits another leg lariat and Jay hits the Jay Driller for 2 when Shingo saves. Shingo blocks the Doomsday Device and hits a lariat on Jay. He hits the Last Falconry on Mark for 2 when Jay saves. Yokosuka sets Mark up top but Shingo clotheslines him by mistake. Mark chops Shingo to the floor and helps Jay hit the Doomsday Device on Yokosuka for the win. Sadly this never got out of first gear and sort of sputtered along at the same pace the entire match. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t a thrill either.
Rating: ***¼

Takeshi Morishima making a cell phone call in a parking lot is somehow interesting enough to make the video diary. What the hell?

JZ says: The Briscoes have been champions since 3.30.07, and this is their ninth defense (second of tonight). The champions attack right away. Shingo won the titles from the Briscoes earlier in the year with Naruki Doi, and the Briscoes quickly won them back. The challengers are able to recover fairly quickly and go to work on the champs with suplexes and various double team maneuvers. Jimmy Bower invades the booth to thank everyone for making these Japanese shows possible. The challengers continue to dominate, as the commentators speculate that the Briscoes’ first match earlier tonight took a lot out of them. Mark takes a beating for several minutes before finally making the tag out to Jay, who locks in a Stretch Plumb on Yokosuka. The Briscoes continue to control the action for several minutes on Yokosuka. Yokosuka makes the big comeback and hits an exploder off the top rope on Mark. He makes what should be the hot tag to Shingo but the crowd is fairly quiet. Even so, Shingo beats up both champions and Jay gets sent to the outside. Mark gets double teamed in the ring but the challengers can’t quite put him away. The champions come back and this one turns into a big brawl, with tags becoming optional. Somewhere in there Jay hits the Jay Driller on Yokosuka but Shingo is able to break up the pin. A little miscommunication by the challengers a few minutes later allows the champs to hit the springboard Doomsday Device and retain the titles at 17:52. That was decent enough, but lacked the spark that the Briscoes had with Shingo and Doi back in March. Prazak says that next for the Briscoes are Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness, then Kevin Steen & Generico. These guys are unstoppable.
Rating: ***¼

Tremendous, Takeshi Morishima knows how to use a cell phone. And it rained that day.

MATCH #6: Dream Six Man Match – Bryan Danielson, CIMA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Davey Richards, Rocky Romero & Masaaki Mochizuki

BG says: So this was originally supposed to be CIMA & KENTA vs. Richards & Romero, playing off of Richards turning on his mentor KENTA to show his support for the NRC. KENTA got hurt so we got this. CIMA and Richards start. They lock up and Richards powers CIMA to the ropes. CIMA gets a takedown and goes after the leg. Richards kicks his arm and puts on the Stretch Muffler. CIMA gets to the ropes. He hits a knee to the gut and a kick to the head. Richards gets a roll up for 2. He gets another for 2. They both go for and miss dropkicks. Danielson and Romero tag in. Romero forces Danielson to the ropes and hits a cheap shot. Danielson hits a dropkick and European uppercuts. Romero hits a monkey flip but Danielson dumps him to the floor and follows him out with a suicide dive. Marufuji and Mochizuki tag in and trade kicks and Marufuji goes down. Marufuji puts on a headlock but Mochizuki comes back with kicks. CIMA comes in and they hit a double dropkick for 2. CIMA tags in and hits a slingshot senton. He puts on a surfboard but Mochizuki makes the tag to Richards. Richards hits a bodyslam for 2. Romero tags in and they hit a double back elbow. Romero hits a kneedrop for 2. Danielson tags in and they make a wish on Romero. Danielson puts on the Mexican Surfboard and Marufuji comes in to hit a high-speed kick. That gets 2 for Danielson. Marufuji tags in and puts on a camel clutch. CIMA comes in and hits a high-speed dropkick to the face. That gets 2 for Marufuji. Marufuji drives Romero’s face into the mat with his boot for 2. Romero gets a sunset flip for 2. CIMA tags in and hits a lungblower for 2. Danielson tags in and gets kicked down. Richards tags in and goes to work on Danielson’s arm. Richards, Romero & Mochizuki triple-team Danielson in the corner. Richards hits an armbar takedown and puts on the Fujiwara armbar. Danielson gets to the ropes. Richards & Romero hold Danielson on the apron for a kick from Mochizuki. Mochizuki hits a vertical suplex for 2. Romero tags in and goes after the arm. He puts on a cross armbreaker but Danielson gets to the ropes. Romero hits a Manhattan drop and a big boot. Richards tags in and kicks Danielson’s chest. He puts on the cross armbreaker but Marufuji breaks it up. Danielson blocks a blind charge and hits a second rope European uppercut. CIMA tags in and the crowd goes mild. He hits a double stomp to the chest and one to the back of the head. He hits a second rope dropkick to the head but Mochizuki keeps him from diving out. Richards gets a roll up for 2. Mochizuki tags in and jumps into a dropkick. Marufuji tags in and hits a back elbow. Mochizuki hits an axe kick but Marufuji hits him with the chasing clothesline for 2. He hits the leg-and-arm whip but Mochizuki returns fire with a running kick for 2. Marufuji hits a superkick but Mochizuki comes back with an enziguiri. Danielson and Romero tag in and Romero puts on the cross armbreaker. Richards rams Danielson into the corner and Romero hits a dropkick. Romero kneedrops Danielson over Richards’s knees for 2. Romero knees Richards by mistake and Danielson hits him with a backbreaker. Our heroes triple-team Romero in the corner. CIMA hits a palm strike and the Iconoclasm. Danielson puts on the Cow Killer but Richards makes the save. Danielson climbs the ropes but Romero cuts him off and locks in the Diablo Armbar. Danielson gets to the ropes. He crotches Romero up top and hits a back superplex. CIMA tags in but Romero blocks the palm strike and comes out of the corner with a DDT. CIMA comes back with the Perfect Driver but Mochizuki catches him with a kick to the head. Marufuji hits Mochizuki with a clothesline but Richards hits him with an enziguiri. Danielson hits a tiger suplex on Richards but Romero catches him with a DDT. He puts CIMA in the cross armbreaker but CIMA counters to the Schwein for 2. CIMA and Marufuji hit a double superkick, the assisted Shiranui and then CIMA hits the Schwein again for the win. The crowd was DEAD for this and it hurt it a lot. Aside from the novelty of this having top guys from the three promotions team up there wasn’t much to this.
Rating: ***

The show ends with hype for the Race to the Top Tournament. In Bracket A is Whitmer VS. Primeau as well as Richards VS. Jigsaw. Bracket B sees Stevens VS. Hero and Delirious VS. Generico. Bracket C has Claudio VS. Hallowicked and Sydal VS. Quackenbush. Bracket D sees Evans VS. Steen and Albright VS. Cross. I’d say that’s a good lineup.

JZ says: Mochizuki is a one-night member of the No Remorse Corps. Last time he was in ROH he was beating Davey Richards in a singles match. Prazak starts in with his “ace” talk early on, and Leonard even chimes in. CIMA and Richards start it off with some mat wrestling, with CIMA taking early control. They exchanges holds and fight to a standoff. Danielson and Romero get tagged in and Danielson immediately takes Romero down. Those two fight for a minute and then each takes a turn dancing before tagging out to Marufuji and Mochizuki. CIMA comes in to help Marufuji and they take over on Mochizuki. Prazak points out that this match is being contested under ROH rules and not Dragon Gate. Mochizuki escapes CIMA and tags out to Richards, and now the bad guys take over. That doesn’t last long though, as Danielson and Marufuji take turns abusing Romero. Romero comes back and Richards tags in and they start working on Danielson’s arm. Danielson’s arm takes loads of punishment before he’s able to come back and tag in to CIMA, who goes straight after Richards. Marufuji comes in soon and he has an intense exchange with Mochizuki. They tag out to Danielson and Romero, and this one is breaking down now. Despite Prazak’s earlier claim that this match was being held under ROH rules, there is no more tagging to speak of. Everyone starts hitting big moves on someone. Romero ends up alone in the ring with Marufuji and CIMA, and takes the Schwein, an assisted Shiranui, and another Schwein and gets pinned at 25:00. That turned into the usual spot-fest by the end, but I was never bored and even with Prazak and Leonard constantly saying “Ace” it was kind of cool to see Danielson, CIMA, and Marufuji on the same team.
Rating: ***½

We close the show with an ad for the upcoming Race to the Top Tournament. Looks like there are going to be some good matches there.

BONUS

Osaka Uncut

BG says: There is also an uncut version of the Delirious/Doi/Yoshino vs. Sydal/Saito/Dragon Kid six-man tag all from the floor camera, but the version on the main show isn’t clipped at all so there isn’t much point to the bonus. The show was just really short so they had to tack on bonuses. Neither this nor the Shingo vs. Jigsaw match were that interesting.

JZ says: This is an un-cut version of what the floor camera taped during the Dragon Gate Rules six-man tag team match from this show. I don’t really see the point of including this as a bonus feature. I know they had space to fill, but there have been tons of pre show and/or FIP matches they could have used here instead.

VS.

BG says: This match was for a spot in the Florida Heritage title tournament. They lock up and Shingo powers Jigsaw to the ropes. He gets a headlock takedown and hits a big shoulder tackle. Jigsaw hits a pair of armdrags and a head scissors takedown. Shingo bails and baits Jigsaw into a chase, which always works out well for the heel. Prazak distracts the referee so Shingo chokes Jigsaw with his Japanese flag. He hits a back elbow and a fistdrop for 2. Shingo distracts the referee while Milo Beasley hits a legdrop on Jigsaw on the apron. That gets 2 for Shingo. He goes to the eyes and hits a leg lariat for 2. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. He puts on a half crab and then switches to a crossface. Jigsaw gets to the ropes. Shingo hits a clothesline in the corner but Jigsaw blocks a blind charge and hits a leg lariat. Shingo bails so Jigsaw follows him out with a big dive. Back in the ring Jigsaw comes off the top with a dropkick for 2. He goes for a swinging DDT but Shingo counters to a spinebuster for 2. Jigsaw hits an enziguiri and a superkick for 2. Prazak distracts Jigsaw but it’s not enough to keep the masked man from hitting a crucifix bomb for 2. Milo trips Jigsaw and Shingo hits the Last Falconry for the win at 12:10. I could not have been less interested when this match started but they ended up reeling me in without much trouble.
Rating: **½

JZ says: Prazak explains the upcoming Eddie Graham memorial tournament, and issues an open challenge on behalf of Shingo for a qualifying match to get into said tournament. Jigsaw answers the challenge. He really is skinny. They start off by stalling a bit. They do some mat wrestling with Shingo coming up on top there. Jigsaw comes back with his superior agility so Shingo bails. He baits Jigsaw out to chase him, and then takes advantage back in the ring. Shingo distracts the referee long enough for Milo Beasley to miraculously recover and interfere. Shingo controls for a few more minutes before Jigsaw is able t come back. He knocks Shingo to the floor and hits a big dive and tosses him back in. Jigsaw hits a missile dropkick for two. Prazak tries to interfere and distracts Jigsaw momentarily. He’s not too affected though, as he manages to hit the Crucifix Bomb for another near fall. Beasley interferes again and trips Jigsaw, allowing Shino to hit the Blood Fall to get the pin at 12:10. That started slow but got going pretty good by the end. I miss Shingo.
Rating: **¾

MVP

BG says: Jack Evans gets it for being the driving force in the match of the night and ROH’s Japanese ambassador.

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 RACE TO THE TOP TOURNAMENT NIGHT 1!

The 411: BG says: The lack of a title match hurt this a bit. I would have argued that it was nice to see the tag titles focused on given that the show had a Dragon Gate feel to it, but that match didn’t main event the show. The Dream Team match was a cool idea, however. The crowd unfortunately was dreadful, quiet even by Japanese standards. The bottom line however is that two-thirds of the matches on this show were over ***, so there is that. ROH said that the Japan shows would be ROH style shows but in reality they very much conformed to their host promotions. Live on Osaka is largely a novelty show, so if you’re into that kind of thing then pick this up. JZ says: I gave half the matches on this show ***½, which for other promotions would be outstanding, but for ROH seems just a little short of what they normally do. Those three matches were good, and nothing on the show went below **. It’s a bit of an odd show to sit through given how quiet the crowd is, but the matches are good and it’s a very short show so it’s easy to watch.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]