Rolling Germans Review: Ring Of Honor – All Star Extravaganza

RING OF HONOR 11/09/2002: ALL STAR EXTRAVAGANZA

I had been looking forward to this show for a few months. ROH is known for putting out MOTYC (at least from a US Indy perspective) and the hype that Styles vs Dragon (two of my favourites) got after their match on this show made this a top priority for me. Then to top it off, you find out that one of the, if not my favourite Japanese wrestlers in Shinjiro “BITCHMASTER” Ohtani was working this show and you know I’m going to have fun with this.

Due to changes in my school schedule, I don’t have classes on Tuesday anymore so Tuesday is turning into my review day in light of the fact I’ve got nothing better to do with my mornings. I review a show, hit the gym and then do homework. Pretty pedestrian but come on… IT’S TUESDAY FOR GOD’S SAKE! OK so I could see a cheap flick (do they have cheap Tuesday outside of Canada?) but everything in the theater blows balls right now (well I heard that French flick that goes in reverse order is pretty good but I can’t find a theater playing it. Probably something to do with the ten minute rape scene. Ah well…).

I’d like to thank everyone that made corrections to some of the move names I had in the last review. Like I said, I’m still learning like so many others about US Indies and may not always have the exact name of a finisher down. But if you see errors then please feel free to point them out as I appreciate the help.

This review is brought to you by Rexall Spring Water. We’ve got 1.5 Litre bottles for SIXTY CENTS at work and then I get staff discount to boot. HA HA! They might as well pay to me drink this stuff.

Always remember to Drop Me A Line if you need information on where to pick up this tape along with other Ring Of Honor shows at rock bottom prices.

THEY KICKED TODDLERS OUT OF DAY CARE FOR THIS SHOW (Murphy Rec Centre again)

JOEY MATTHEWS/DIXIE vs DIVINE STORM vs THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TEAM vs DA HIT SQUAD (Tag Team Scramble Match)
Hmm… somewhere between “Glory By Honor” and this show, Joey Matthews left his partner Christian York and joined up with Special K. The commentary team doesn’t really give a good explanation and I think it deserves one considering he left his partner of seven years for a group that laughed at him while he had a bad trip off their dirty raver drugs at the last show. Anyway, we get a lot of meaningless pair off flip flop to start. The first meaningful spot comes as everyone heads up for a HEXTUPLE SUPERPLEX while DHS hit them all with a Powerbomb. YIKES! Mack heads up but Matthews cuts him off only to have Mack stop that cold and hit a MOTHERFUCKING SUPER EMERALD FROSION! SWEET JESUS! 1… 2… 2.FOOT ON THE ROPE! Divine comes from behind and hits Mack with a German Suplex for 2 and Ѕ. More flip flop until Mafia KILLS Matthews (he’s taken a beating in this match) with a Half Nelson Suplex for 2 and ѕ before Dixie saves. Now Storm comes from behind and nails Dixie with a German Suplex rolled into THE SPINAL SHOCK! 1… 2… 2.JOEL SAVES! He brings The Maximo Explosion for 2 and ѕ. We get an AWESOME Double Team as The SAT’s pull out Cross Corner Released German Suplexes. WOW! Benoit and Angle should SOOOOOO have stolen that. Then we follow up with EVENT MAXIMO! Dixie breaks all that up but DHS smoke him out with a Figure Four – Frog Splash but Divine Storm cut off DHS and hit Mafia with a Double Knee Breaker turned into a Double Flatliner for 2 and ѕ. Now the SAT’s jump in and hit Storm with a DOUBLE TURNBUCKLE POWERBOMB, which in turn crotches Dixie (who just happened to be on the top) and they hit THE SPANISH FLY for the victory. Now THIS is how a Scramble Match should go. INSAAAAAANE! Two things set this match from the rest of the scramble madness of the past. First and foremost, EVERYTHING HIT! None of this shitty 30:70 hit/miss ratio garbage that usually comes with a Scramble. The second point was great new innovations. The Superplex had been done to a lesser extent but this took it up a notch. That, along with the great SAT German Suplexes (which I loved) were nice new touches. Easily the best Scramble Match I’ve seen out of this group. ***1/4

The next set of matches are for the newly created #1 Contenders Trophy. Basically they lock in a #1 contender at all times and that #1 contender has to defend that trophy until his ROH Title shot comes up. They elected to run a Gauntlet Style (winner stays on), which I HATE because you know there’s no way in hell the first two guys are going to be there at the end. Tournaments work so much better than Gauntlets. You still get four matches leading up to the finals as you would with a four man Gauntlet with the winner facing AJ Styles. Gauntlets just burn out the wrestlers and force them to be conservative in their first match (or possibly two) before letting loose before they lose, thus robbing the fans of the complete experience they should have got in the previous bouts.

MICHAEL SHANE vs CM PUNK (#1 Contenders Trophy Gauntlet Match)
This is Punk’s in ring debut for ROH. He usually works out of the Mid West and is a damn fine worker to boot. Shane (IMO) is probably the second to top heel in the company after Christopher Daniels. He’s solid but I’m forced to wonder if his work will ever take it to the next level. Back and forth with some nice counter wrestling to start. Punk goes on the attack working Shane’s arm including a nice Ropewalk into a Guillotine Legdrop. He tries again but no dice and Shane hits a Belly to Back Suplex for 2 and Ѕ. Second Rope Elbow gets 2 and Ѕ. He looks for a Spear but ends up hurting himself due to the previous arm work and Punk goes back to the arm with a Dropkick and Slingshot Senton for 2 and ѕ. He charges but Shane meets him with a BEAUTIFUL Bicycle Kick for 2 and ѕ. He looks for The Picture Perfect Elbow but that misses and Punk hits THE SHIIIIINING WIZAAAAAARD! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! He looks for a Rolling Reverse Cradle but Shane shifts his weight and then holds onto the ropes (opposite of the ref’s line of sight) for the victory. CHEAT 2 WIN! VIVA LA RAZA! This was a lot longer than it should have been considering it’s a Gauntlet series. This didn’t play to Punk’s high end bump taking or innovative offense, which is a mistake in a debut match with fans that may have never seen him before. Still a solid match, just nothing I’ll remember after I hit the stop button. **1/4

MICHAEL SHANE vs PAUL LONDON (#1 Contenders Trophy Gauntlet Match)
I’ve detailed the history between these two on a couple of occasions so I won’t go over it again. They end up brawling on the floor with London taking a FUCKING SICK bump crashing into the railing. In the ring Shane goes to work with a Canadian Backbreaker for 2 and Ѕ. Powerbomb is turned into a Boston Crab turned into another Powerbomb but London reverses into a Sunset Flip only to have Shane roll through into a BIG TIME Lariat. Leaping Swinging DDT gets 2 and ѕ. Shane looks for a Rib Breaker but London pulls out a DDT turned into a Cradle for the surprise victory. Wow, this was a slaughter until the ending. The match was enjoyable and Shane broke out the high tiered offense (see what I was saying about being conservative the first time around?) this time. London bumped like crazy and sold like a champ. *1/4

Shane refuses to shake London’s hand after the match, which brings out Tommy Dreamer to a MONSTER POP! WOW! Dreamer puts forth a spectacular promo about how ECW was special to him and how ROH has that same spirit that ECW carried back in the day. He makes sure that Shane shakes hands but of course he nails London after the fact leading to Dreamer taking Shane out with his trademark DDT to another big pop. Too bad London is a mess…

PAUL LONDON vs THE AMAZING RED (#1 Contenders Trophy Gauntlet Match)
Ugly flip flop leads to both guys heading out for Red’s Quebrada turned into a Satellite DDT (NICE!). He looks for a Baseball Slide but London actually grabs the legs and WHIPS RED INTO THE RAILING! HOLY FUCK! Back in the ring where London hits a delaaaaaayed Brainbuster for 2 and Ѕ. We get some wacked out Matrix shit as London kicks out Red’s leg only to have him kip up and kick out London’s leg and hit The Red Star Press for 2 and Ѕ. That whole sequence was like five seconds long. You could blink and miss it. London heads up but Red cuts him off and hits a JERICHO SPIKE! 1… 2… 2 AND ѕ! Irish whip is reversed by London into a Rydeen Bomb and THE SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Whoa, so much for that match. That came out of nowhere. Fun match with good heat and some really nice moves (I’m a mark for The Jericho Spike). The ending was a bit too abrupt for my taste but the rest was fine. *1/2

PAUL LONDON vs THE AMERICAN DRAGON (#1 Contenders Trophy Gauntlet Match)
This is kind of old school TWA versus new school TWA as Dragon is a graduate under Michaels and London is a graduate under Rudy Boy. Dragon just got back from his first tour of New Japan Pro Wrestling so I was particularly interested to see if he’d improved. WORK THE MAT… Version 1 leads to Dragon absolutely BRUTALIZING London with SUPER STIFF SHOTS! He ties London up in the ropes “Andre Style” and DRILLS HIM with a Dropkick. London’s head literally snaps to the side in a sickening visual. Jacknife Cradle gets 2 and Ѕ. They go back and forth with stiff shots until London gets in a Swinging DDT followed up with a Backflip Dropkick and a Standing Moonsault for 2 and ѕ. Dragon rebounds off an Irish Whip into a LARIATOOOOOO for 2 and ѕ. Dragon looks for his Super Backdrop but no dice as London hits a SUPER RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP! He looks for The Shooting Star Press but gets cut off allowing Dragon to hit a Snap Superplex for 2 and ѕ. He looks for The Dragon Suplex but London reverses into a Double Leg Cradle for 2 and ѕ. Dragon comes right back with a HUGE Lariat and follows up with a FUCKING BRUTAL DRAGON SUPLEX followed up with The Cattle Mutilation for the victory. Dragon carried London the whole way. He looked spectacular as everything looked crisp. His strikes were really impressive as Dragon’s not one to hold back the pain and London was game enough to take it all. Props to London for working his third match in a row and taking such a hellacious beating to boot. **1/2

HOMICIDE/DOUG WILLIAMS/LOW KI vs CHRISTOPHER DANIELS/DONOVAN MORGAN/SAMOA JOE (Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles)
As predicted in my last review, the beatdown of Jay Briscoe and subsequent save by Low Ki and Doug Williams led to a six man tag this month. Personally, I’m not a fan of the concept of three guys defending two titles, especially considering Samoa Joe is “freelance” to this company. Homicide is a great choice for the third man on the team considering Briscoe has got his title shot against Xavier later on in the evening. We get the requisite M Pro six man pair offs to start until it’s settled down with Homicide working over Daniels. Ki tags and they hit a FUCKING BRUTAL Double Running High Kick. That was SOOOOOO SICK! Williams tags and slaps on a Reverse Gory Special. Morgan tries to save but Williams knocks him down with Daniels foot and then slaps on a grapevine while still holding Daniels. AWESOME! Joe makes the save and the momentum switches as The Prophecy go to town. Morgan Huracanrana gets 2 and Ѕ. Daniels tags and hits his trademark Soviet Slam into The Triple Jump Moonsault for 2 and ѕ. Morgan tags but Williams stops the double team and hot tags Homicide. Morgan’s out and CUE THE TRAINWRECK! Williams hits a plancha followed up by Daniels hitting a Ropeflip Quebrada only to have Homicide hit the Somersault Tope Suicida but HE’S CAUGHT (that’s impressive) only to have Ki hit a Swandive Plancha and then Joe ends it with THE FAT ASS CORKSCREW PLANCHA! I LOVE IT! Get ready, it gets RIDICULOUS from here on in. Back in the ring and Joe hits Williams with a BRUTAL DRAGON SUPLEX! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! Homicide saves and now he and Morgan pair off leading to Morgan getting THE GOLDEN GATE SWING! 1… 2… 2.KI SAVES! Morgan looks for a kick but Homicide blocks and slaps on THE CROSS LEGGED STF! TAAAAA… NO! DANIELS SAVES! Irish whip is reversed by Homicide who hits a Lariat and a TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER! ROLLED THROUGH BY DANIELS! 1… 2… KI SAVES! KI KRUSHER! BLOCKED! LAST RITES! NO! INSIDE CRADLE! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! THIS IS NUTS! TIDAL CRUSH! NO! SUPER INVERTED DOUBLE LEG CRADLE! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! ANGELS WINGS! NO! BACKDROP RIGHT INTO THE COP KILLA! STOPPED BY JOE! ISLAND DRIVER! STOPPED BY WILLIAMS! CHAOS THEORY! NO! MORGAN STOPS THAT! BUT KI FROM BEHIND! DRAGON CLUUUUUUTCH! TAAAAA… NO! DANIELS WITH A SUPLEX ONTO A MORGAN! POWERBOMB – NECKBREAKER! YOU FUCKING LOVE IT! 1… 2… 2.999999! Irish whip by Daniels but that’s reversed and it’s a Swinging DDT but no dice as Daniels looks for a lariat but NO! CHAOS THEORY! 1… 2… 2.MORGAN SAVES! INSANITY! GOLDEN GATE SWING! 1… 2… 2.HOMICIDE SAVES! BRAAAAAAINBUSTAAAAAAH! 1… 2… 2.JOE SAVES! He looks for The Lariat but Homicide cuts that off with The Mafia Kick and looks for THE COP KILLA but Joe slips out and it’s A BRUTAL POWERBOMB! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! JOE WITH THE STF ON THE KICKOUT! REAR NAKED CHOKE! KI AND WILLIAMS ARE HELD OUTSIDE AAAAAAND TAPTAPTAPTAP! This reminded me so much of the old Michinoku Pro Six Man tags. Solid pace for the first half and absolute insanity in the second half. Near falls after near falls after near falls. I wish you could hear my voice on my recording, I actually break down laughing I enjoyed this so much. ***3/4

ALEXIS LAREE vs ALLISON DANGER
Ugh… Laree beats her around, nefarious cheating ensues from Mace and Danger until Laree gets in a DDT for the victory. BOOOOORING… Version 1. DUD!

THE RING CREW vs THE CARNAGE CREW
TCC slaughter everybody (there’s like six guys) until they put Marcos away with a Spike Piledriver. BOOOOORING… Version 2. DUD!

JAY BRISCOE vs XAVIER (w/Simply Luscious) (Ring Of Honor Title)
This was set up last month as Briscoe was supposed to be a “sacrifice” to The Prophecy but he ended up defeating Xavier in a non title match. The Prophecy was less than pleased and smoked him out (thus setting up the awesome six man you just read about) leading to this re-match with The ROH Title on the line. They work the mat for the first few minutes with some really nice exchanges. It’s opened up as Briscoe goes on the attack with a Split Legged Facejam for 2 and Ѕ. Irish Whip is reversed into an Overhead Belly to Belly for 2 and Ѕ. Briscoe is tripped up and pulled out by Luscious giving Xavier the chance to hit a DOUBLE JUMP ROPEFLIP QUEBRADA! WOW! Back in the ring where Xavier hits a 270 Powerbomb for 2 and ѕ. He heads up but gets cut off and we get a Superplex for the Double KO. Briscoe goes on the attack with a German Suplex for 2 and ѕ. DVD! GUILLOTINE LEGDROP! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! JAY DRILLER! BLOCKED! GARGOYLE SUPLEX BY XAVIER! SPLIT LEGGED FACEJAM! 1… 2… 2 AND 9/10! “BRISCOE!” “BRISCOE!” “BRISCOE!” Xavier looks for The X-Breaker but Briscoe slips out and hits a Powerbomb. He heads up but Luscious blatantly throws in a chair to get the ref to throw it back out giving her the chance to crotch Jay (someone in WWE needs to steal that) and allow Xavier to hit a SUPER X-BREAKER for the victory. This was really good. They paced it well with a consistent build, layered the moves well and garnered solid heat from the crowd. This was easily the best match Xavier has had in ROH. ***

THE AMERICAN DRAGON vs AJ STYLES (#1 Contenders Trophy Gauntlet Match Finals)
From what I understand from reading online and through the commentary team, this is the first time that Dragon and Styles have ever faced each other. They wanted a shot months ago but it was held off for some reason (anyone know?). Styles is of course the last man in the Gauntlet Series. Dragon was given appropriate time to rest (and one assumes further prepare with Styles on little things in the match) before coming out. It was that rest period that let me know this wasn’t just going to be a throwaway end to the Gauntlet Series. Management knew these two could steal the show and there’s no point in putting a guy with half a tank in there when he can be back to full strength with an hour’s rest time.

Dragon, proficient in the mat game like few others on the US Indy circuit or for that matter anyone in North America takes it right to mat wrestling. To his credit, Styles manages to hang with Dragon for the mostpart. You can tell throughout the first few minutes that Dragon is just one step ahead of Styles on the ground. It’s not a discredit to Styles in the slightest, he did what he could and should be given respect as such.

The body of the match works twofold. The first comes in the simple story of Dragon working over Styles left arm. You can tell Dragon’s tour of Japan helped his work just that much more as his working over the limb comes off that much better, tighter, more vicious, than it would have only working opponents in the US. The second story, and that which attracts the more direct attention is the brutality unleashed by both guys. Both Dragon and Styles are known for stiff strikes. They aren’t afraid in the slightest to unleash their stiff onslaught upon one another throughout the entire match. As the match segues from the first half into the second half, it is taken up a notch further with Dragon’s hardway cut over his left eye.

Styles had looked for his Quebrada DDT and in a move that I needed three rewinds to catch, just knicks Dragon in the face with his knee/shin/foot. Honestly, you would think it was from some of the horrendous forearms that Styles threw but it’s the little things that can do the most damage sometimes. In any event, Dragon’s face is draped in blood soon after and the match progresses into the heavy hitting offense.

I found it enjoyable that both guys unleashed a lot of heavy offense but not quite their top tiered offense. It’s a testament to the credibility of viable finishers like The Dragon Suplex and The Styles Clash that they can get the job done without having to resort to neck breaking moves like The Cradle Suplex or Crucifix Driver that Dragon and Styles use respectively. They work a well paced near fall sequence, strong in its story telling of both men brutalizing each other and needing time to recover rather than the overdriven pace set by the six man tag earlier in the night. The ending is one of the best I have come across in a long time as it not only put over a strong move that seems to have lost a bit of its credibility as of late but also put over the idea of bringing the match to a boiling point before getting the release. It’s an idea that seems lost on many wrestling matches of late as the viewer and the live fan alike can see the end coming and despite a great match, label it as “anticlimactic” and move on. Easily the match of the night and yet another Match Of The Year Candidate from Ring Of Honor. ****1/4

STEVE CORINO/LOW KI vs MASATO TANAKA/SHINJIRO OHTANI
YES YES YES! THE MOTHERFUCKING BITCHMASTER IS ON MY TV AGAIN! Man I mark out for this guy so much it’s not even funny. This is a Zero One gaijin vs native match. Z1 had a scout (the owner Mr. Nakamura IIRC) looking for talent and ROH gets a major benefit in having two international stars in Tanaka and Ohtani working the main event. The crowd is RABID for the Z1 natives and who can blame them? Ki and Tanaka take it to the mat with some beautiful work until Ohtani tags in and DICKS IT UP! TREE OF WOE BASEBALL SLIDE THAT SHIT DOWN! He looks to dick it up some more with a Hamhawk but Ki BITES HIS FINGERS! HEY! THAT’S AN OHTANI TRADEMARK! BASTARD! Corino tags and brings the pain but Ohtani has none of that shit and tags Tanaka. Corino tags Ki and he goes on the attack with a FUCKING BRUTAL Running High Kick. YIKES! Power Drive Elbow gets 2 and Ѕ. Indian Deathlock is rolled through into a Camel Clutch (NICE) and Ohtani tags. He brings the chops but Ki’s all “FUCK THAT” and brings some stiffness of his own. Corino tags and hits a Cross Arm Breaker but Ohtani BITES HIS FINGERS! HAHAHA! BOOOOOOT SCRAAAAAPES! YOU LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! Ohtani looks for a Running High Kick but no dice and Corino works the leg. Ki tags and looks for The Ki Crusher but that’s blocked so he switches into The Dragon Clutch but Tanaka saves. He looks for The Matrix but Ohtani ducks and CLOCKS HIM with a High Kick. Tanaka tags but he’s nailed with a Koppo Kick and FUCKING LEVELED with The Tidal Crush for 2 and ѕ. This is SUPER STIFF! Irish Whip is rebounded by Tanaka with THE GORE! SPEAR! GORE! Corino tries to come in but Tanaka hits him AND Ki with a DOUBLE DDT/STUNNER! AWESOME! Back to Ki as he hits THE SHOTGUN! FROG SPLASH! 1… 2… 2 and 9/10! Running forearm misses as Corino tags in but no help there as Tanaka runs him over with The Lariat. Ohtani tags and Z1 hit DOUBLE DDT’S. Ohtani gets cocky and that’s a mistake as he’s met with an EXPLOIDAAAAAAH and Corino follows up with Locomotion Suplexes into a Brainbuster for 2 and ѕ. OLD SCHOOL EXPULSION! 1… 2… 2.TANAKA SAVES! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMBAAAAAAH! 1… 2…. 2 AND 9/10! Ki is called in as Corino holds Ohtani but The Matrix hits Corino instead as Tanaka runs in and FUCKING STEAMROLLS KI WITH THE LARIATOOOOOO giving Ohtani the chance to hit THE SWANDIVE DROPKICK! SPIIIIIDER BOMBAAAAAAH! YOU DAMN RIGHT IT’S OVER! This was SOOOOO FUN! The crowd ate the Z1 stuff up with two spoons. You can tell that the Z1 natives didn’t bring their outright “A Game” but this still kicked ass nevertheless. Absolutely brutal stiffness from both teams with nuclear heat at various portions. GOD I WISH Ohtani was on my TV more often. A great way to finish off a great show. ***1/2

Final Thoughts: Don’t even think about it, BUY THIS SHOW! I’m forced to wonder if this show can surpass 3/30 as my personal favourite. It’s a really close call to be honest. I hold Ki vs Dragon in such high regard that 3/30 always sits on top but if there’s ever a show that approaches it, this would be it. The wrestling was consistently good – excellent from top to bottom with the back to back squashes being the only exception. Four ***+ matches and another MOTYC make it easy to give Ring Of Honor: All Star Extravaganza a high recommendation.

Justin Baisden
Rolling Germans Wrestling