wrestling / Video Reviews
Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor – The Era of Honor Begins
March 18, 2006 | Posted by
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Loading...This is the edited “Takedown Masters” DVD version of Ring of Honor’s first show. I’m sure you can find the full version from their site or from a trader.
Ring of Honor — The Era of Honor Begins (02.23.02)
Red, you probably know, but if you don’t, just picture Rey Mysterio without a mask and about 20 pounds lighter. Jay Briscoe looks a little like a bald Edge with no muscle definition. We get the usual flippy-flop reversals to start, which the crowd appreciates far more than I do. It does end in Jay tossing Red to the floor, though. Jay misses a pescado, but hits a leg lariat once they get back in. Red comes back with a spinning enzuigiri for two. Jay blocks a Tornado DDT and drops him with a Muscle Buster! It only gets two. Jay goes up but gets caught coming off the top. Red gets two off a brainbuster. They get into a kick battle, which actually goes badly for Red who is known for his stiff kicks. Red blocks a Jaydriller (like a Tiger Driver ’91), but Jay stays with it and drops Red right on his head. Red gets his foot on the ropes, though. Red crotches him on the top, and they do an absurd spot where Red runs up the opposite turnbuckle and springboards toward Briscoe so that Jay can hit a clothesline. What could Red have possibly hoped to accomplish other than putting himself in position to take that move? A half nelson suplex sets up a missed cannonball senton from Jay, and Red hits the Red Alert (corkscrew legdrop off the top). The Red Star Press finishes moments later at 8:28. This match summed up most of the complaints people had about indy spot wrestlers. There was a lot of action, but moves like the Muscle Buster and K-Driller were basically shrugged off, and one particular spot was so contrived it was ridiculous. I haven’t kept up with Jay, but Red has made significant strides over the past few years. *1/2
Scoot is known as “The Black Nature Boy,” but the only resemblance noted by the announcers is that he uses a defensive strategy. Crowd chants, “AC Slater” for Xavier, but he looks much more like the Rock. I’m surprised they didn’t chant something about Prince Iaukea. Mat wrestling starts, but it’s not all that fun because they don’t more than one reversal deep before they start with the spots. Fine by me. Scoot counters a tilt-o-whirl headscissors to a facebuster. Xavier tries something and drops Scoot directly on his head. That looked awful. Scoot would be okay, though. He’s a wrestler. He gives Xavier an Alabama Slam for two. Xavier tries a bulldog, but Scoot FLOORS him with a lariat. Nice. Scoot makes the mistake of going up, which is not his forte. He misses a guillotine legdrop. Their timing gets knocked off as Scoot falls to the mat when Xavier was expecting him to stay up, so Xavier has to improvise with a People’s Elbow, drawing the ire of the crowd. Xavier lays in a series of forearms, but his sunset flip is countered to a reverse DDT. That’s creative! Scoot delivers the Force of Nature (a Pump-Handle Fire Thunder Driver), but Xavier’s foot is under the ropes. Xavier rolls to the outside as Scoot yells at the ref. Scoot continues to yell at the ref and gets schoolboyed for two. Scoot goes for the Force of Nature again, but Xavier slips out and finishes with a Regal Cutter (Head-and-Arm Neckbreaker) at 10:06. Now this was more like it. Scoot considers walking out, but Xavier convinces him to shake his hand. **1/4
Mikey Whipwreck is the special guest referee because everyone but Brian XL is a student of his. Red is a last second addition to change it from a 5-man. This is basically a bunch of spotty luchaesque stuff early on. I’m not even going to bother trying to recap it because everyone just starts armdragging and dropkicking everyone else. Quiet Storm flies out with a tope. Then the Maximos. Then Red one-ups everyone with a springboard somersault plancha. XL goes him one better with a springboard Asai moonsault. As if all of this isn’t contrived enough, they do a big pyramid spot with the Divine and Storm dropping everyone with flying neckbreakers. XL delivers a Rolling Northern Lights suplex and a standing moonsault on Joel Maximo. Joel reverses a jujigatame to a Crippler Crossface. The Maximos and Red isolate Storm and powerbomb Red on top of him. Red and the Maximos bust out the MPro offense with a camel clutch seated dropkick. Red counters another Rolling Northern Lights attempt by XL to a DDT (think the Canadian Destroyer but with a DDT). Red blocks a sunset flip, but XL holds on and delivers a Pendulum Bomb. Red accidentally stumbles into Jose Maximo who pins him with a backslide at 10:00. XL gets back in, but Storm hits him with a Spinal Shock and Divine gets the pin at 10:27. That leaves the Maximos vs. Divine/Storm. Divine accidentally takes out his partner with a forearm. The Maximos deliver the Spanish Fly (Revolution), but Storm sneaks in and German Suplexes Jose as Joel is covering Divine. Both Divine and Jose are eliminated at 11:34. Joel delivers a German Suplex for two and goes from a wakigatame into a jujigatame. Storm reverses to a Saskatchewan Stretch (STF with an Abdominal Stretch). Maximo makes the ropes, but Storm nails him with an elbow and calls for the Storm Cradle Driver. Maximo counters and hits a side Cradle Driver, dropping Storm right on his head. Of course, Storm kicks out and no-sells. All of a sudden, he’s Jackie Fargo. Storm drops Joel on his face with the Storm Cradle Driver to pick up the win at 14:55. Spotty and sloppy but almost no dead points. Pretty fun match. ***
Winning pinfall gets a contract. Everyone here is from Shawn Michaels’ TWA. Guess which two are the most talented. If you’re really new to wrestling, you probably only know Shane as Matt Bentley and Spanky as Brian Kendrick. At this point, they have a sort of on-going rivalry over who is the best member of the academy. Oz reminds me a little of Savio Vega. Spanky starts with Oz, and Spanky acts like a total jerk, showing way more personality than he does on Smackdown. Oz catches him with a spinkick and tags to Shane. Shane and Spanky chop the hell out of each other. Shane goes up but, Loa pushes him off and hits him with a clothesline. Shane starts to fight out of trouble, but Spanky hits him with a leg lariat. Spanky gets a bow-and-arrow for a bit before he and Shane clothesline each other. Ikaika gets the tag and sets Shane on the top. Shane blocks and delivers a missile dropkick. Oz and Spanky both get tags, but Oz backdrops him over and gets two off a Fisherman’s Suplex. Michael Shane flies in with a HBK-ish elbow drop on Spanky. Ikaika makes the last second save. Spanky delivers the Tiger Wall Flip and calls for SB#2, but Oz sneaks in and hits him with a German Suplex. Loa makes the save. Shane and Oz lock in a double Pendulum lock. Spanky makes the save but takes a Superkick that knocks him absolutely silly. Shane hits a clothesline on Loa that takes them both over, leaving Spanky alone to hit Oz with Sliced Bread #2 for the win and the contract at 12:26. Thanks to their WWE-ish style, this would probably appeal a lot more to mainstream fans than the other matches. Spanky and Shane share a tense handshake. **1/2
This was just a few weeks before Eddy’s return to the WWE and subsequent redemption (in the wrestling sense, not the Biblical one). Crazy offers a handshake, but Eddy slaps the taste out of his mouth. Eddy is your RUDO GOD! Eddy dominates early and hits a brainbuster. They exchange takedowns, and Crazy gets a backdrop suplex. Eddy returns the favor with his own. They exchange armdrags, and Super Crazy gets the Diez Punch Count in the corner. Eddy blocks a quebrada on the outside and delivers a sickening brainbuster DDT on the floor. Back in, Eddy delivers a slingshot senton for two. A fallaway slam gets two more. A beautiful sequence follows as Eddy goes for a sunset flip only to have Crazy roll through and fake a Jackknife Rollup. Eddy ducks his head, so Crazy flips over him and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Crazy gets two off a springboard moonsault, but Eddy comes back with a huracanrana off the top. Crazy hits a spinning wheel kick, but Eddy drops him with a devastating sideswipe powerbomb. A tilt-o-whirl backbreaker sets a pair of brainbusters. Crazy rolls out of the way and catches an flustered Eddy with a small package for the win at 10:42. If you’ve only seen Crazy in the WWE, you haven’t seen a tenth of what he’s capable of. ***
Dragon and Ki try to get rid of pesky Daniels and pepper each other with kicks, but Daniels dropkicks them during a lock-up. Crowd is fully behind Low Ki. Daniels lets Ki dropkick Dragon and then hits Ki with a backdrop. Dragon gets tied in the tree-of-woe and dropkicked by Ki. Ki delivers a Kappou kick to Daniels and starts to hit him with measured kicks. Dragon sneaks in with a Cattle Mutilation attempt, but Daniels breaks it up and comes up with an insane spot where he puts Ki in a chinlock while also holding Dragon in a Boston Crab. Dragon scissor snaps Daniels’ arm, but Low Ki comes in and kicks Dragon’s face into hamburger. Dragon starts chopping both guys and locks Daniels in an Indian Deathlock modified with a chickenwing. Low Ki starts kicking him in the face, which only puts more pressure on Daniels as Dragon keeps falling over. Finally, Dragon one-ups Daniels’ earlier double move by grabbing Ki for a Northern Lights Bridge while he’s got Daniels in the Deathlock! Do these guys just drop acid and come up with this stuff? The crowd loves that. Dragon takes Daniels down with an arm twist. Low Ki snapmares Dragon down and kicks him in the back, so Dragon gets pissed and returns the favor. Daniels tries to get involved and pays for it as Dragon and Ki have a contest to see who can punt Daniels the hardest. Daniels would later, of course, bust out the same spot in TNA. They start sandwiching him with kicks, but he avoids the final one and they kick each other’s shins. See, *that’s* the difference between a total spotfest (as some have called this match) and building up to a spot. Daniels parcels out a little return punishment with a pair of reverse bulldogs. Dragon and Ki try to team up against him, but Daniels delivers a combination DDT and neckbreaker on both men. He goes up, but both guys slam him off and deliver a double Yakuza kick. Dragon and Ki continue to team up, but Daniels Ki off a headscissors into a Tornado DDT on Dragon. Ki recovers and springboards into a kick on Daniels for two. Daniels catches Dragon on the top rope and puts him in an Abdominal Stretch on the top. Ki kicks Dragon to the mat and puts Dragon in a Hanging Dragon Sleeper. Low Ki blocks a reverse suplex and hits Dragon with a Pele-ish kick. Daniels catches Dragon with a Blue Thunder Driver for two. Dragon sets Low Ki up on top and delivers a Shoryuken (Dragon Uppercut). Ki, Dragon and Daniels all wind up on top, and Daniels superplexes everyone to the mat. Dragon recovers and gets to off a Dragon Suplex on Daniels. Low Ki makes the save and rides Dragon down in the Dragon Clutch. Daniels breaks that up and hits an STO on Low Ki. The Best Moonsault Ever gets two before Dragon saves. Daniels levels Dragon with a lariat, but Low Ki springboards into roundhouse kick on Daniels in the corner. Dragon knocks Ki out with an elbow and puts Daniels in the Cattle Mutilation (Bridging Double Chickenwing). That leaves both men exposed, though. Ki goes up and drills Dragon with a Phoenix Press. Dragon is done. Daniels is out of it, so Ki lifts him up and finishes him with the Ki-Krusher at 20:04. Spots with a brain equals a MOTYC. There actually was a story with Ki and Dragon teaming up against Daniels, and his efforts to outsmart them. Daniels is your real cerebral assassin. After the match, Dragon challenges Low Ki to a singles match since he didn’t pin him. Daniels grabs the mic and tells them both to go to hell because he can beat anyone in a singles match. Low Ki takes the mic away from him and offers to meet both men in a round robin at RoH’s next show. ****1/4
The 411:Â I was ready to give it a mild thumbs down before the triple threat. Despite what many will tell you, there is a difference between a spotfest and a match that has a lot of spots. That match put the disc over the top to a solid recommendation. Certainly different than what the WWE was putting on at around the same time. The other matches are either good but flawed, or misseable, but definitely look for the Triple Threat. |
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| Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]  legend |
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