Reviews from Across the Pond – ROH Glory by Honor VI Night One

Before we begin, a spot of housekeeping. When I originally got this post at 411, my intention was to review a fair few British wrestling DVD’s, in an attempt to alert my predominantly North American audience to the wealth of untapped talents available across the pond. That so far hasn’t happened, mostly because I kept getting distracted with new, shiny DVD’s, but I’m now resolving to start intermingling the British wrestling with the ROH I’ll be reviewing from the video on demand service. So, this is where I turn to you, reader (s?) Do you, like me, reside in Britain and want me to take a look at your local promotion? Are you from outside of Europe, and would like to know more about a British talent that has caught your eye? Do you represent a British wrestling company and wish me to review a DVD? If the answer to any of those questions was yes, fire me off an email or submit a comment. I should note that if someone wants me to review a goliath, nine-disc set that will cost me mountains of money, that won’t happen. Try and keep it to around £10/$15-20. Also, don’t expect reviews to be immediate, when you consider there’s a fair queue for reviews to be submitted on this site, and I’ll also forget to order it for days and days, get halfway through writing about it, and then see something else fun and put it to the back of my mind. Anyway…

This November 2007 event is an offering from ROH’s video on demand service, so if there are any differences between this review and ones based off the DVD, that’s why.

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard. Tonight, Mitsuharu Misawa makes his way to ROH for the first time ever!

MATCH 1- BRENT ALBRIGHT & BJ WHITMER VS KEVIN STEEN & EL GENERICO

Albright and Whitmer, alongside Adam Pearce, tried to convince Kevin Steen to ditch El Generico and turn the Hangman 3 into the Hangman 4. Steen offered a violent rejection, leading to this grudge match in the opener.

The Hangmen attack before the bell and dump their opponents to the floor, where the beatings continue. However, when the action returns to the ring, El Generico spearheads a fightback- BJ hurls him high into the air, but the masked man adjusts and gets a missile dropkick to Albright. Flying leg lariat Steen, and Generico assists his portly partner in a trademark double-team; drop toe-holding BJ while Steen follows up with the flipping leg-drop. The Hangmen retake control by isolating Generico. Delayed vertical suplex by Albright. The Generico Luchador tries to fight back with a Tornado DDT to Whitmer, but he gets caught at the apex and dumped hard into the turnbuckles with a release Northern Lights Suplex! Vicious. Cover gets two. Demolition Decapitator gets the same. Albright nails the 61-Knee, and BJ follows up with a Bridging German Suplex for two. Whitmer tries for a back suplex, but Generico slips out the back door and leaps across the ring- hot tag to Kevin Steen!

Steen is a house of fire and takes out both his opponents handily. He positions Whitmer for the Package Piledriver, but it’s countered with a back-drop. Generico soars off the top turnbuckles and onto Whitmer with a high crossbody, and then in turn Albright takes the Generic Luchador out. Impressive Belly to Belly suplex to Steen! He can only get two on the cover though, before El Generico breaks it up. Whitmer gets taken out by a Tornado DDT, and Albright is sent to the floor. Yakuza Kick to BJ! Big Dive onto Brent on the floor! In the ring, Steen crushes Whitmer with a swanton off the top, and that’s enough for three.

Rating- ** ½-A solid, unspectacular, formulaic tag match to get the excited Philadelphia crowd into the show. There’s not much more to say about matches like this.

Post match, Shane Hagadorn throws powder (!) into Kevin Steen’s eyes, and that triggers an all out assault from the Hangmen. They decimate Steenerico and leave them lying in the ring. Shane dedicates the violence to Adam Pearce, who is conspicuous by his absence tonight.

In the back, Whitmer and Albright tell Steenerico that they’ve paid the price for messing with the Hangmen. Steenerico may have won the battle, but the Hangmen 3 have won the war, and Delirious is next on the hit list!

MATCH 2- CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI VS HALLOWICKED

Castagnoli is deluged with shouts of “HEY!” pre-match.

Some flashy mat wrestling gets us underway. Hallowicked takes things up a gear, snapping a huracanrana before getting a step up leg lariat in the corner. He sets Double C on the top rope, before tossing him off. As in, flinging him down to the mat, not performing a sex act. I know Chikara’s a bit wacky, but it’s not usually that off-beat. Claudio fights back with a Bicycle Kick. He deftly walks the ropes before dropping an elbow for the two count. Giant Swing! ‘Wicked recovers from that to get a sit-out spinebuster. Double C catches the charging masked man with a Samoan Facebuster, and a Running European Uppercut finishes off.

Rating- *- Nothing match. The crowd were silent throughout unless they were cheering “HEY!” You could tell this one was unimportant because Castagnoli didn’t even need to bust out the Alpamare Waterslide or the Ricola Bomb.

Claudio’s post match celebration is interrupted by Larry Sweeney. The SuperAgent says the very sight of CC makes him sick, so he offers to sell his contract up the river to the WWE. Castagnoli says Sweeney’s contract will only be useful to him if he ever runs out of toilet paper.

MATCH 3- DELIRIOUS VS DAVEY RICHARDS

This one had been brewing ever since Delirious became an ally of the Resilience in April of 2007

They start things out on the mat, with both men coming close to getting their signature submission holds (Cobra Stretch for Delirious, Chimera for Davey.) The Incoherent one bites Richards’ leg, and gets flattened with an STO for his troubles. The action spills to the floor, where Richards whips Delirious into the barricade and slams him down, before mocking the disapproving fans at ringside. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but Davey was so much more enjoyable to watch when he revelled in being an absolute asshole to everything and everyone, rather than being the super intense fan favourite we see today. Delirious comes back with the Panic Attack. Shades of Matt Sydal with the Here-It-Is Driver! That gets two. Davey hooks Delirious in a German Suplex, and transitions into the Chimera, forcing the masked man to get his feet onto the ropes. Delirious continues the submission theme with another Cobra Stretch attempt. This one is unsuccessful, so he heads up top and flies off with Shadows over Hell- but Richards catches him! Alarm Clock! Tombstone Piledriver! Chimera, and Delirious is forced to tap out.

Rating- ** 3/4- I really enjoy watching these two guys around this time period, but this was a disappointing match. The Philly crowd continued to be uncharacteristically lifeless, and the match was aimless and meandering, lacking the certain spark necessary for what was meant to be a long awaited grudge match.

The Age of the Fall vent their frustrations at the evils of Wal-Mart and Ikea. I can remember there was a lot of disappointment with the Age of the Fall angle because, after an extremely promising start, the ideology of the group was never fully explained, and the stable just fizzled out. The thing is though, I don’t think the group needed a concrete ideology. I always thought of the Age of the Fall as a way of Jimmy Jacobs combating his insecurities- for the past couple of years he’d been used and manipulated by Lacey, and so when he saw an opportunity to have his own stable, he took it, thinking of the reasoning behind it afterwards. It was all just a pretence so he could have genuine power. Case in point- he rallies against the big companies bringing down the little man, yet targeted ROH, an independent promotion, rather than trying to take it to the WWE. Some saw that as a booking oversight from Gabe Sapolsky- I always thought of it as Jimmy just being desperate to be seen as strong and dominant somehow, and he obviously saw it easier to go about it in ROH. Also notice that when Austin Aries took Lacey from Jimmy Jacobs, the group’s efforts became devoted to maiming Double A more than anything. And, when Tyler Black became a popular figure within ROH, Jimmy turned on him, because he wanted to be seen as the big guy in the faction. When he lost to Black in the Cage match at Violent Tendencies, he left ROH for two years! Maybe I’m overthinking things though…

MATCH 4- ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS- THE BRISCOE BROTHERS VS THE NO REMORSE CORPS

The NRC, of course, represented by Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero.

Mark Briscoe and Rocky Romero start us out, with Double R getting an early chance at the cross-armbreaker. They transition into a nice, quick sequence, which Mark comes out on top of with a flying knee. Tag to Jay, tag to Roderick. The elder Briscoe takes Strong down with a huracanrana and flying leg lariat. Vertical suplex by Mark, the Briscoes utilising frequent tags. In comes Rocky for a strike exchange with Jay. It reaches a stalemate, but Briscoe gets another vertical suplex, and Mark follows up with a flying knee. Romero slips out the back door of yet another vertical, and makes the tag to Roderick Strong. Here come the chops! And a big dropkick by Strong! Enough for two. Mark backs Strong into the corner and tags in Jay, which is the cue for the Briscoes to decimate Roddy with double teams! Rocky hits the ring for another strike exchange with Jay, which again has no clear winner. Slam and a kneedrop by RR for two. Mark nails Roderick with a Samoan Drop, the Briscoes then crashing into him with a double shoulder tackle. Dave makes the point that no-one has been able to cut the ring in half so far, which is quite true, and makes me long for a good old fashioned tag formula match. This so far feels like they’re just going through the motions.

Mark turns things up a notch, wiping out his opponents with a moonsault press. Romero comes back with a running knee that flattens Briscoe. Double elbow, and a lateral press from Strong for two. Roddy then LAUNCHES Romero into a missile dropkick, with Mark tied up in the tree of woe. Back suplex from the Havana Pitbull gets two. The fans get behind Mark Briscoe, but he can’t quite make the tag. Eventually he’s able to get a release T-Bone to Strong, and it’s hot tag to Jay! He is able to deal with both men for a while, but gets his momentum quashed with a stinging chop! I’ll let you guess who pulled that one off. Jay comes back with a gourdbuster to Rocky and then a DVD to Strong for two. Jay-Driller countered into an Alabama Slam. Romero is legally brought into the match and lands a spike DDT, following it up with a running knee for two. Double-teaming from the challengers! Strong heads up top but Mark Briscoe meets him. Military press into a DVD from Jay to Rocky! Springboard Ace Crusher from Mark to Roddy! Cover gets two. They try for the Springboard Doomsday Device, but Strong blocks it and Romero locks Jay in an Ankle Lock! On the floor, The Messiah of the Backbreaker dumps Mark into the barricade, but Jay mans up and reaches the ropes. He gets a desperation clothesline to Strong, and by now Mark is ready to get back in the ring- Double Neckbreaker to Romero! Mark tries for the Cutthroat Driver to Strong but the NRC leader slips out of it and into a chop exchange. Leg lariat from Briscoe, and a moonsault gets two. Jay boots Rocky off the apron, and the Springboard Doomsday Device works this time! One, two, three! Title retention!

Rating- ***- This didn’t get off to an inspiring start for me, but the action was fast and furious down the stretch. A solid tag match overall, and the crowd were marginally more into this than they were for any of the previous bouts, so that’s something I guess.

The familiar scream of the Age of the Fall fills the air to interrupt the Briscoes celebration, and the revolutionary stable come out of the crowd and into the ring for a brawl! It’s three on two but the Briscoes fight valiantly, only for Lacey to drop them both with a pair of low blows. A staredown ensues between the two dominant rule-breaker factions in the AOTF and the No Remorse Corps, but here come the Vulture Squad! The high-flyers hit the ring and it’s time for a huge brawl! The No Remorse Corps fight to the back with the Briscoes, which means the six-man can begin!

MATCH 5- TORNADO SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH- THE VULTURE SQUAD VS THE AGE OF THE FALL

A thing going against this review is that people are throwing moves at each other like there is no tomorrow. A thing going against the match is that the crowd seem distracted by something going on in their midst, rather than the in-ring action. Ruckus sets the tone for the match by landing a Shooting Star Press off the apron. Necro Butcher flattens all his opponents with punches and kicks. Evans floors him and heads up top, but the Butcher dodges the 630 and slams a fist into his gut. Jigsaw has to super-kick him in the face to take him down. Ruckus returns to get a flying neckbreaker on Black. He ascends to the top rope, but Necro stops him by throwing a chair at him. Jimmy locks Jiggy in the End Time, and it’s enough for the tap out.

Rating- **- Passable spotfest, but the crowd needed to be absolutely raucous considering what they were going for, and, admittedly through no fault of their own, they simply weren’t.

But that’s not all! The Briscoes and the No Remorse Corps hit the ring again, and the fight is back on! Everyone descends to the floor, giving Lacey the ring to herself. She screams for everyone who supports the Age of the Fall to come to the front of the crowd, and is livid when she is just met with a sea of middle fingers, claiming everyone who supports freedom should be supporting their cause. One woman has had enough of Lacey’s ranting though- Daizee Haze hits the ring! Mindtrip to Lacey! The ladies battle it out on the fall, and now Delirious wants a piece of the action! As do the Hangman 3! And Steenerico! So now we’ve got an absolutely monstrous brawl with half the roster, and just to add to the chaos everyone starts diving from the ring to the floor. Eventually the ring clears and the dust settles, and it’s the Vulture Squad of all the factions that stand tall. That was fucking awesome, and an injection of pure adrenaline that this show desperately needed. I always love it when different feuds intertwine as it adds a layer of unpredictability and fluidity to a card, and that’s precisely what happens here.

In the back, the Briscoes are pumped after what just went down, and challenge the Necro Butcher and Jimmy Jacobs to a match the following night. Daizee Haze interrupts to let the Briscoes know she’ll be taking care of Lacey, and the trio decide to bond over drinks.

And after all of that, and an intermission…

MATCH 6- TOP OF THE CLASS TROPHY- MITCH FRANKLIN VS ERNIE OSIRIS

This is obviously not the most hi-tech match ROH has ever witnessed. Osiris gets a vertical suplex. Franklin comes back with a gutwrench suplex. He charges, but Ernie seizes him and dumps him with a nice wheelbarrow suplex. Standing Shooting Star, and we have a new Top of the Class Trophy holder! This is the greatest night in the history of our sport. Too short to rate.

MATCH 7- NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS MATCH FOR THE ROH CHAMPIONSHIP- AUSTIN ARIES VS BRYAN DANIELSON

We start things out with a prolonged technical sequence. Some very nice holds and counter holds, including a simultaneous headscissors! Aries is able to gain the advantage and send Danielson to the floor, but the Heat Seeking Missile is countered with a knee to the face from the Dragon. Bryan controls in the ring, before tying up Aries in the Tree of Woe. Double A battles out of his precarious position though, and then takes his opponent down with a Swinging Stunner. Power Drive Elbow Drop! That gets a two count. Once again Danielson is sent to the floor, but this time the Heat Seeking Missile connects with full force! Austin rolls Danielson back in the ring and tries to follow him in with a slingshot, but Danielson gets the knees up, and cinches in a Triangle Choke! Aries makes it to the ropes, so Bryan tries a good old fashioned Airplane Spin. Austin slips out before the dizziness can set in though, and follows up a shinbreaker with a back suplex. The action spills to the apron, the two men exchanging forearms. Danielson wins that mini battle to send AA back to the ring. He heads up top and crashes into the Resilience leader with a missile dropkick, before kipping back up to his feet. But so does Aries! Back to the top rope the action goes, with Danielson trying to bring Aries down with a missile dropkick. Austin switches the momentum in mid-air to counter into a crossbody for two. Dragon rolls through that for two, and then into Cattle Mutilation! Double A is able to resist it, so Bryan tries out the elbows to the head! Once again Aries bravely fights through the pain, and goes back to basics with a kick to the head and a DDT. He locks in the Last Chancery, and now it’s Danielson’s turn to resist. He does so successfully, and then hooks in his trademark inside cradle! For one! For two! But not for three! Austin kicks out- Brainbuster! 450 Splash! 3 count!

Rating- *** 1/2- A really enjoyable, cerebral match that just flew by. I liked the little callbacks to their previous encounters, as well as some of the innovative mat wrestling in the beginning. It’s not quite what these two are capable of, and it did feel a touch too short, but it’s still by far the best encounter on the show so far.

Post match, as one might predict, there’s a handshake between the two.

Back on the mean streets of Philly, the Age of the Fall lament the state of architecture nowadays.

And it’s now time for our main event… except it isn’t, because Larry Sweeney wants to talk! Sweeney, surrounded by his Sweet and Sour entourage, praises Chris Hero for his victory at Survival of the Fittest, which earned him an ROH World Title shot. Being the super-agent that he is, Larry was able to get a clause put into the contract last-minute saying Hero could take his title shot any time he wants, and he wants it right now! Nigel McGuinness, ROH World Champion, comes out to protest because his arm is injured, and defending the title now would put him at risk of having to sit out for four months and forfeit the belt. Hero & Sweeney goad him, claiming he’ll have to forfeit the belt anyway if he refuses to wrestle tonight. Nigel gives an impassioned speech about how much it tears him up to not be able to wrestle at Glory by Honor, but Sweet and Sour show no sympathy, and use Bobby Dempsey (donning a puntastic “Survivor of the Fattest shirt) as an example of what they could do to Nigel’s arm. Eventually, McGuinness snaps, and reluctantly agrees to defend the belt tonight! This should have been such a great angle, but a vocal minority of the Philadelphia crowd pissed all over it by jeering McGuinness for having the audacity to (GASP!) suffer an injury! I did quite like, as a hidden highlight if you will, Sara Del Ray being appalled by her stable’s treatment of Bobby Dempsey. A romance angle between the two of them would have been amazing, and probably would have catapulted ROH above the WWE in terms of worldwide recognition. Anyway…

MATCH 8- ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP-NIGEL MCGUINNESS VS CHRIS HERO

Unsurprisingly, Hero goes right after the arm, but not before getting a big boot and a flash roll-up for an immediate two count! Out to the floor they go, where Chris steals Nigel’s T-shirt and puts it on as a sign of disrespect, before entering the ring rear-end first, as the champion is prone to do. McGuinness comes back with a lariat from the non-injured arm for two, but the arm is too big a bullseye for any offence to be sustained. Blockbuster from Hero, and then a LEAPING CRAVAT HOLD! The champion mounts another brief comeback, unleashing some passionate chops and lariats from the non-injured arm. A distraction from Sweeney brings Hero right back in control though, and he grounds Nigel in the ring for an arm-bar! The crowd start to stir as Chris cinches the hold in tighter, and the belt inches towards the Sweet and Sour camp… McGuinness is able to shuffle over and get his foot on the bottom rope, but thanks to another distraction from Sweeney, Paul Turner doesn’t see it. McGuinness can’t put up with the pain anymore, and taps out! Turner rings the bell, but just as he does so notices the foot of the champ on the bottom rope. Hurriedly, he informs the timekeeper, and the match is back on!

Hero and Sweeney are apoplectic with rage, and this gives McGuinness all the more time to recover. He drags Hero onto the ring apron, and then drops him with a Tower of London on the floor! Back in, and another lariat. London Bridge! Hero taps!

Rating- ***- These two, plus Larry Sweeney did such a great job of putting together a worthwhile and memorable title match considering McGuinness only had one arm. Obviously the action wasn’t as high impact as a regular title defence from this company, but the effort and story was there. Commendable match.

Post match, the intelligent majority of the Philadelphia fans find their voice and gives Nigel a rousing ovation.

And so, after one false start…

MAIN EVENT- MITSUHARU MISAWA & KENTA VS NAOMICHI MARUFUJI AND TAKESHI MORISHIMA

The crowd are absolutely electric for the ROH debut of Misawa, although KENTA gets some respect as well. Marufuji and Morishima might as well have been Pelle Primeau and Bobby Dempsey for all Philadelphia cares. Chants of “THIS IS AWESOME!” erupt before the match even begins. No pressure then guys.

KENTA and Marufuji get things off to a hot and heavy start with a forearm exchange, followed by some slick mat wrestling. Marufuji opts to tag Morishima, who is insistent on having Misawa in the ring! And the legend complies! Thunderous chants of “MISAWA” fill the arena as the fabled star from the far-east hits the ring. He forearms Morishima down and out to the floor. Not wanting to do too much work, Misawa tags back to KENTA. The junior heavyweight gets hoisted up and sat on the top turnbuckle by Takeshi, who then tags in Marufuji. He pretends he’ll let KENTA down, but then dropkicks him in the face! KENTA gets out of a sleeper with a back suplex, and makes the tag to Misawa! He forearms Marufuji for a two count. Only Mitsuharu Misawa could get a two count off of a simple forearm. Back in comes KENTA, who batters Marufuji with a barrage of kicks. He drapes him over the top rope, and then lands his trademark flying knee to the back of the head. Misawa adds into the mix a monkey flip.

KENTA hooks in a leg lock, forcing Morishima to break it up. Marufuji is eventually able to squirm over and make the tag, allowing Takeshi to crash into Misawa with a full force Missile Dropkick! Backdrop Driver is blocked, and we have a heavy forearm exchange. Misawa switches things up with a spinning kick and tags in KENTA. He foolishly tries a body slam, and Morishima simply falls on top of him for a two count. Marufuji comes soaring in with a frog splash, and then takes KENTA out to the floor, sitting him on a chair next to the barricade. Big Ole Dropkick! And then a nasty hip block by Morishima! Back in, a side slam by the former ROH World Champion gets a two count. KENTA fights back with kicks and makes the tag to Misawa!

The Emerald One heads off the top rope with a flying forearm to Morishima. Pfft, he’s got nothing on Tito Santana. Tiger Driver is blocked, and Takeshi knocks Misawa Down with a hip block. Marufuji tags in and smacks the legend with a superkick. Shiranui? Blocked! Butterfly suplex! Tag to KENTA, but Misawa is sent to the floor, leaving him wide open for double teaming. To KENTA’s credit he fends off both his opponents, but gets squashed when trying to German Suplex Morishima. When is he going to realise that won’t work? Misawa attempts to help out but Marufuji superkicks him back to the floor. He then gives one to KENTA, but the Shiranui is blocked. Go 2 Sleep! Cover, but Marufuji gets his foot on the bottom rope. Naomichi fights back with a Dragon Screw Leg Whip for a two count. In come the heavyweights to trade forearms. Big lariat from Morishima! Only two! Misawa fights back and sets Morishima on the top rope, but the 30 minute time limit expires! The crowd are not best pleased, but surely they can’t be too upset- they got to see four of Japan’s greatest stars, all in one match!

Rating- *** 1/2- I enjoyed that a lot. It wasn’t the most technically proficient match in the world, but it was a definite change of pace to the usual ROH main event. Credit needs to go to KENTA for wrestling for two men on his team, and putting on a few electric sequences with Marufuji. Misawa was always going to be a shadow of his former self, and if he hadn’t had his reputation with him he would have been booed out the building for what he contributed to this. Still, given what he accomplished in the wrestling business, you can’t criticise him too much, can you?

And finally, The Age of the Fall return to complain about tourism. Revolution is coming!