Theo’s ROH Fifth Year Festival Adventure 3.06.07

Homicide defeated Davey Richards in 16:10 with the Cop Killa. Fun match, and a great way to get the crowd involved from the get-go. Davey heels it up big time, making a kid in the front row cry by just staring at him! Homicide and Davey had great chemistry, and everything was very slick. Very sweet tope con hilo from Homicide to the outside on Davey. Lots of false finishes before Homicide finally hit the Cop Killa for the pin.

Sara Del Ray defeated Allison Danger in 8:29 after a Butterfly Submission Suplex. This was the SHIMMER Special Attraction match, and was pretty solid. The crowd wasn’t very into it at first, but fortunately the ladies were able to turn things around by the end of it, and got a nice ovation from everyone. After a good bit of chain wrestling, Sara locked in the Butterfly Submission before bridging over into a pinning combination.

Jimmy Rave & Jimmy Jacobs defeated Colt Cabana & BJ Whitmer in around 14 minutes. A solid contest between these two teams. Cabana/Jacobs and Whitmer/Rave paired off at first, and brawled into the crowd. In a great spot that teased the following night’s Falls Count Anywhere match, Whitmer attempted to throw Jimmy Rave off of the lower balcony, but Rave was able to escape. Jacobs, however, was on the receiving end of a Whitmer powerbomb on the guardrail. Ultimately, the two Jimmies hit near simultaneous spears, and Jacobs was able to pick up the win over Whitmer after the Contra Code.

Matt Sydal defeated Delirious in the 2 out of 3 Falls match, 2 falls to 1, in 23:22.
Sydal won the first fall after a low blow and a small package at just over the 10-minute mark. Delirious picked up the second fall, as Sydal submitted to the Cobra Stretch in the 17th minute. In the final fall, Delirious was on the top rope, but Sydal pushed the referee into the ropes, crotching Delirious, allowing Sydal to go up top and deliver the Moonsault Belly to Belly Suplex (Cyclorama) for the win. Tremendous pacing in this match, as it started off relatively slowly with a feeling-out process. The second fall was about building to their finishing moves, and the final fall revolved around trying to hit whatever they could to put each other away. Sydal was great at portraying his new cocky persona, and he’s incorporated a lot more heelish mannerisms into his repertoire.

After intermission, two UK female wrestlers, Jetta and Eden Black (Jezebel) came out to address the crowd. They were clearly heels, and challenged Danger and Del Rey to a tag match for the next show. Jetta coped very well considering all the jeering she was getting from the fans.

Roderick Strong defeated PAC to retain the FIP Title in 18:09. It was announced that with this defense, the FIP Title was now the FIP WORLD Title. Outstanding match, akin to the Strong vs. Evans match in FIP but better in my opinion. PAC hit all kinds of crazy moves, the highlight of which was a Corkscrew Shooting Star Press from the top rope to Strong who was in the crowd. PAC gave Strong some of the stiffest forearms I think I’ve ever seen. The finish came after Strong’s running/flying boot to the face followed by the Gibson Driver. After the match, Strong went ultra-heel and attacked PAC, applying the Stronghold. However, Delirious ran down to make the save to a big ovation. PAC received a unanimous “Bring Back PAC” chant.

Naruki Doi and SHINGO defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe to become the NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions in 22:40 after the Last Falconry from SHINGO on Mark. Wow, what a shocker! The crowd did not see that result coming, that’s for sure! Both teams were equally impressive, especially SHINGO, who had brilliant facial expressions throughout the entire match. Very fast-paced, as you would expect from these two teams. The Briscoes continue their trend of busting out new moves each match, as Mark hit a split-legged moonsault into a twisting leg drop on Doi, who was sprawled over Jay’s knee. Jay & Mark were unable to hit their big trademark moves on the Dragon Gate guys, and after SHINGO avoided the Cut-throat Driver, Mark was on the receiving end of a Last Falconry, giving the UK its first ROH title change. After the match, Jay got on the mic, in utter disbelief that he and his brother had lost the titles in their first defense after all their hard work to win them. Jay challenged Mark to a match the following evening, for one night only, saying that they both needed to “MAN UP!” and refocus. This announcement received a huge pop.

Samoa Joe defeated Nigel McGuinness in 22:53 after Nigel passed out from the Rear Naked Choke. This match was absolutely epic, and probably the best encounter they’ve had. Even though Nigel was the home country guy, Joe got the most of the cheers, being his penultimate match for the company, but neither of them were particularly booed. Fans gave a standing ovation for most of the match. Started out pretty stiff, but things really kicked off when Nigel went for the Tower of London on the apron. Joe reversed, and proceeded to drop Nigel with a Muscle Buster straight down on the apron! From my angle, it looked like Nigel had been crippled. Two other referees ran down, and eventually Nigel was helped up, and started taking him backstage. However, Joe got on the mic and called Nigel a “British pussy.” At this, Nigel fought off the referees, hobbled back into the ring, and slapped Joe square in the face as hard as he could. The closing segment was unreal, as Joe kept trying to put Nigel away, but McGuinness would just not stay down. I should point out that Nigel’s selling was tremendous at this point. He kicked out of another Muscle Buster, and two lariats, and was running on pure adrenaline, flopping all over the ring as though he had nothing left in the tank, but didn’t want to give up. Joe was finally able to lock in the choke, and Todd Sinclair called for the bell, as Nigel had passed out. Awesome finishing stretch.

After the match, Joe got on the mic and put over Nigel McGuinness as the future of ROH, and how he knew he was leaving the company in good hands. This was a definite “passing of the torch” moment, and was very special. Nigel and Joe left the ringside area together, hugging, thus bringing the first night of the UK double shot to a close.

Night 2- Attendance was down from Night 1, probably a bit under the 1,000 mark.

Before the show properly started, we were treated to an awesome moment as BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs appeared out of nowhere and started battling in the crowd! Eventually, they made their way to the back, but it got the crowd into a nice little buzz and was very fitting for the storyline surrounding those two.

In the opener, Delirious defeated Colt Cabana in 11:43 with a pinning combination. Hilarious stuff, as was probably expected. Colt’s music screeched to a halt in his entrance, to be replaced by the music of the UK’s own Big Daddy, and Colt walked out in full Big Daddy attire, complete with baby doll (a joke, as Big Daddy would pick up kids from the audience and carry them around). This was even taken further, as Colt picked up a guy from the front row, probably in his twenties, and carried him around ringside! When the bell rung, Cabana emulated Delirious, going crazy and running around outside the ring, whilst Delirious could be heard muttering “BahbahbahThat’sMyGimmickbahbahbah!” The two had plenty of fun with the baby doll as well, with Cabana dropping it on its head, cuing chants of “Daily Mirror!” (the right wing UK newspaper that makes a big deal out of EVERYTHING like that.) Colt started the “Easy!” chants, before turning to Delirious and saying “Just like you’re Mom!” Delirious hung his head, upset, so the crowd started chanting “Say you’re sorry!” at Cabana. The actual match was a classic British style-wrestling match, with plenty of counters and pin attempts. Hilarious moment came when Cabana shifted Delirious’ mask round so that the Lizard Man couldn’t see, prompting Delirious to start pinning Todd Sinclair, thinking it was Cabana. Delirious kept trying to wrestle Sinclair, got him in a waistlock and started feeling his…fat. Very funny, should look good on DVD.

The Dangerous Angels (Allison Danger & Sara Del Rey) defeated UK talent Jetta and Eden Black in 6:28, when Sara pinned Jetta after the Butterfly Submission Suplex. Jetta didn’t get much of a chance to shine, but Eden Black definitely impressed. The crowd were more positive about this match and seemed more into it than Night 1.

BJ Whitmer defeated Jimmy Jacobs in 12:32 after an Exploder on the entrance ramp/staging. Crazy stuff as usual! This started immediately after the SHIMMER tag match finished, as Whitmer and Jacobs again appeared in the crowd and started brawling, with Whitmer throwing Jacobs into a load of chairs. The two brawled into the lower balcony, where Whitmer threw Jacobs across a tabletop, knocking over everyone’s beers. They teased Whitmer powerbombing Jacobs off the balcony, but Jacobs escaped. They went back down to the lower level, where Jacobs climbed the railings of the staircase, jumped off and hit a sweet hurracanrana! THEN, he went back up to the balcony and dived off with a 12ft cross body! Back in the ring, Jacobs brought out the spike, and nailed Whitmer just above the eye with it, busting him open quite nastily. Jimmy then wiped Whitmer’s blood all over himself, which garnered plenty of “EMO!” chants. There was a brutal spot where Whitmer had Jacobs on his shoulders, and Jacobs rammed the spike in his head 6 or 7 times before pulling off a reverse hurracanrana! Later, BJ reversed the Contra Code into a sit-out tombstone piledriver, and Jimmy was literally folded in half. Building to the finish, the two battled on the entrance ramp and staging area, teasing a powerbomb into the crowd again. Jimmy attempted a spear, BJ blocked it, and hit the Exploder to pick up the victory.

Matt Sydal defeated PAC in 11:25 with the Shooting Star Press. This was the Battle of the High-Flyers, and was another great showing for PAC. It was a little sloppier than Strong-PAC but in no way disappointing. Most impressive move again goes to PAC, who ran at one of the turnbuckles and launched off in a springboard corkscrew Phoenix Splash. Sydal was as awesome as ever, and we were even treated to the Sydal Strut, which fits his character perfectly! Sydal got the win with a beautiful Shooting Sydal Press, and the two-shook hands after the match.

Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe went to a knockout draw at 27:05 when neither man could answer the 10 count. Absolutely phenomenal, this match blew me away. There were so many terrific matches during the double shot, but I think there is a strong argument for naming this Match of the Weekend. Jay & Mark just laid everything on the line, and I’d confidently say this was their best match against each other to date. There were so many insane spots it’s hard to remember them all! A Super Facebuster/Falcon Arrow hybrid kicked off the ‘big moves’ and things just kept getting crazier and crazier. Battling onto the floor, Mark hit a split-legged moonsault off the guardrail onto a downed Jay. Crowd were split 50/50, it really was a great atmosphere. Incredibly scary moment came when Jay was standing on the apron. Sinclair had bent down for some reason, and Mark, being the crazy S.O.B that he is, took a run up, jumped off of Sinclair’s back in a hurracanrana over the top rope, taking Jay to the outside, which got botched and both men were driven head first into the guard rail before meeting the floor! Fortunately, neither were injured, but that could have been a LOT worse than it was. And that was only half way through the match! Back in the ring, they exchanged high impact moves, but were too worn out to make the cover. Despite taking a Jay-Driller, Mark was able to hit the Cut-Throat Driver, but couldn’t get the pin. Sinclair counted to 10 and the match was ruled a draw. That was a fitting end, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better finish. Both men received a standing ovation as they made their way backstage.

Naruki Doi and SHINGO defeated the No Remorse Corps of Davey Richards and Roderick Strong in 19:34 which was contested under Dragon Gate Rules. Another great tag team match, and an impressive first defense for the Dragon Gate guys. The Dragon Gate Rules concept didn’t really work, as has been the case with previous Dragon Gate tags, with everyone still tagging in and out, but this was quickly overlooked due to the high quality of the in-ring action. Strong and Richards had some magnificent double teams, the best of which involved Strong powerbombing Doi whilst Davey delivered a Lung blower simultaneously. At one point, it looked like the tag titles could change hands again, as Davey went for a beautiful Shooting Star Press, but Doi managed to bring the knees up. For the finish, Strong and SHINGO battled on the outside, allowing Doi to hit a Top Rope Doi 555, getting the 1, 2, 3 on Davey.

Nigel McGuinness defeated Jimmy Rave in 21:17 in the Fight Without Honor after a sickening lariat. This match was just BRUTAL. It started off slowly, as McGuinness was working with an injury; his leg was heavily taped up, and I had seen him earlier in the day limping pretty badly. However, they worked around this extremely well. At one point, Rave teased the disgusting ring post spot that Danielson did on Nigel last year at Unified, and the crowd went ballistic. Fortunately, Nigel avoided it this time! Nigel brought out a guardrail from under the ring, and set it up as a platform between the ring and the ‘proper’ guardrail. It was effectively used many times, with the bumps getting crazier and crazier. Rave hit an STO on Nigel onto the guard rail, and then later, back in the ring, Nigel back body dropped Rave over the top rope, crashing through the guard rail, bending it completely in half! But that wasn’t enough to pin Jimmy. He even kicked out of the Tower of London onto a steel chair! Jimmy got the advantage a little later by locking in the Heel Hook on Nigel’s injured leg for a close call, but Nigel picked himself up and battled out of it, inadvertently knocking out the referee. Nigel brought Rave to the apron and delivered a Tower of London onto the guardrail, and Rave’s head went through the bars! It looked truly disgusting. The ref, however, was out and was therefore unable to make the count. Sinclair ran down, but by that time Rave was able to kick out. After a few counters, Nigel was able to hit a devastating lariat to pick up the victory.

Samoa Joe defeated Homicide in 23:01 after a Top Rope Muscle Buster. Joe came out to a remix of all his theme tunes he’s used over the course of his ROH career. The Joe chants went on pretty much the entire length of the match. Very solid match, not their best, but by all accounts better than their Battle of the Icons match in January. Smokes interfered at one point, but Joe gave him an Ole Ole kick to sort him out. Joe was going for another one, when Homicide shot out of nowhere with a lightning-fast tope con hilo, cutting off Joe, but also overshot it a bit and wiped out a couple of fans at ringside! Crazy! Smokes was funny as usual, and despite getting involved on a few occasions, I don’t think he detracted from the match. Lots of high impact moves and near falls, but eventually Homicide fell victim to the Top Rope Muscle Buster, and there is no getting up from that. After the bell, the locker room poured out onto the stage and Joe gave his farewell speech, putting over ROH immensely, saying “THIS…is wrestling!” which got a massive cheer. Joe then turned to all the guys standing on the stage and put them over, saying that ROH will live on without him due to each and every one of those wrestlers. Joe finished with the classic “on the knees, kissing the ROH logo” and the entire arena chanted “You’re a legend!” whilst bowing down to him. Another special moment, which should translate very well to DVD.