ROH – Weekend of Champions Night Two DVD Review

ROH – WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS NIGHT TWO – CLEVELAND, OHIO – 4.29.06

Review by Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler

Honor Roll 58 (as voted on by The ROH Message Board)

The first number in parentheses represents the position each wrestler was in on the last Honor Roll, and the second number represents how many consecutive Honor Rolls they have been listed.

This is the same Honor Roll as Weekend of Champions Night One.

ROH WORLD CHAMPION: Bryan Danielson (since 9.17.05)
ROH PURE CHAMPION: Nigel McGuinness (since 8.27.05)
1) Austin Aries (1, 10)
2) Roderick Strong (4, 16)
3) Christopher Daniels (5, 3)
4) Jimmy Rave (2, 2)
5) Samoa Joe (3, 2)

Introduction

BG says: Just like the last DVD, this one has a special feature, an ROH video recap. This should be watched before the main program as it recaps what has been going on in ROH. You can watch it for free by clicking here or by going to ROHVideos.com. It includes highlights from the ROH vs. CZW six-man war, Claudio’s turn, Whitmer’s injury, Jim Cornette’s reaction to Claudio’s turn, Jacobs’ explanation about his premeditated loss and Cabana’s apology for the short match he had against Danielson.

Lacey assures Jimmy Jacobs that if he doesn’t win tonight that she’s never going to speak to him again. Jacobs is scared because of the unpredictable nature of the Six Man Mayhem match. Lacey doesn’t care.

Austin Aries and Roderick Strong talk about their opponents tonight, the Embassy. Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelley were both part of the first match Generation Next ever had as a group, but still tonight is the first time this combination of guys have battled in a straight tag team match. Aries and Strong plan to prove that they are the best tag team in the world.

BJ Whitmer interrupts Bobby Cruise’s introduction to talk about CZW. He got beat up last week and last night but he still wants a fight right now. ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette and Adam Pearce join the rally. Cornette asks Whitmer to look at the three of them and recognize all the injuries that have piled up. He wants Whitmer to rest up so that he can fight another day and watch as Samoa Joe takes out Claudio Castagnoli later in the show. Whitmer reluctantly agrees. Cornette then thanks ROH for revitalizing his faith in professional wrestling and promises that he won’t let CZW destroy it. He does have to leave to get knee surgery and announces that he’s deputizing Adam Pearce as the ROH Lieutenant Commissioner. Nate Webb sneaks in and attacks Pearce and Cornette as they leave the ring but Ace Steel chases him away. There are a lot of places they could go with Pearce as commish.

JZ says: Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs are backstage, where Lacey is yelling at poor lovesick Jimmy. She says that if he doesn’t win tonight, he will never get to speak to her again.

Austin Aries and Roderick Strong are outside the building to talk about their Tag Team Title defense tonight against Alex Shelley & Jimmy Rave. Strong can’t talk without rubbing his hands together, it’s really irritating. They go over the history they have, and say they will retain the belts.

Ring announcer Bobby Cruise is hyping tonight’s card when BJ Whitmer comes out unannounced. He says that CZW did not get the job done last night. He lays down a challenge for CZW to come out and fight him right now. Adam Pearce and Jim Cornette come out instead. Cornette says that Whitmer should live to fight another day. The crowd voices their support of BJ. Cornette goes off on a rant about the WWE for absolutely no reason. I am so fucking sick of that stuff. Cornette then runs though all of the stuff he’s done with ROH. Everyone knows this, why are we talking about it still? He’s going to have knee surgery and will miss a couple of shows. He names Adam Pearce his Lieutenant Commissioner in his absence. Pearce thanks the monkeys in attendance and Cornette leads a chant of his name. Nate Webb sneaks out and attacks Pearce, so Ace Steel makes the save.

MATCH #1: Conrad Kennedy III & Colt Cabana vs. Irish Airborne

BG says: CK3 is one of the more popular wrestlers on the Michigan independent scene. Cabana is still trying to wrestle his way up from the bottom of the card. Cabana and Dave start. Cabana puts on a headlock but Dave reverses to a wristlock. Cabana baits him back into the headlock but Jake tags in. Cabana puts him in a headlock as well. Jake gets a springboard headlock takedown so Cabana tags to CK3. CK3 grabs a headlock but Jake comes back with another springboard headlock takedown. Dave tags in and gets 2 after Jake boots CK3 in the face. He puts on a headlock and tags to Jake. CK3 hits a clothesline and hangs Jake on the top rope. He brings him down with a boot to the back for 2. Cabana tags in and goes after the neck. He gets a roll up for 2 and tags to CK3. CK3 hits a pair of knees to the back and a slingshot suplex for 2. He starts following orders from Cabana but still can’t get 3. Cabana tags in but Jake is able to make the to tag. Dave cleans house with a moonsault press onto both opponents. He hits an Asai moonsault for 2. Jake and Dave hit stereo hurricanranas and then dive onto their opponents on the floor. Back in the ring they go for their finisher on CK3 but he fights out and hits a hammerlock neckbreaker on Jake. The Crists hit a double spinebuster and a double team moonsault onto CK3. Cabana hits the Flying Asshole on Jake and an atomic drop and a powerbomb on Dave for the win. The Irish Airborne are impressing me in these shorter matches and have me curious as to what they can do in a more important and more structured match.
Rating: **½

JZ says: Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard are the hosts, as usual. This is Kennedy’s main show debut. Irish Airborne get a good pop and chant at the beginning. Cabana dominates the Crist brothers early on. CKIII comes in but quickly loses control of the match and Airborne isolates him. CKIII makes the comeback with some Tully Blanchard like offense. Cabana is tagged back in. CKIII comes back in, and he and Cabana are working well as a team. Cabana coaches his partner from the apron. Airborne come back and use their high-flying double-team stuff. Cabana comes back with the flying asshole and gives Dave the powerbomb with a folding press to win the match for his team at 8:47. That was a fun little opener, and CKIII looked pretty good in his debut.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #2: Delirious vs. Chris Sabin

BG says: His name may be Sabin but he looks more like Titus to me with that hair. Congratulations to you if you know what those names refer to. They lock up and Delirious grabs a wristlock. Sabin reverses to one his own and gets a crucifix pin for 2. Delirious gets a roll up for 2. They do a lot of rope running and Delirious bails. Back in the ring Sabin hits a back elbow. He hits a springboard dropkick for 2. He hits a thrust kick to the back of the head for 2. He puts on a strangle hold but Delirious gets to the ropes. Delirious hangs Sabin on the top rope and hits a leaping clothesline for 2. The throws his elbow pad at Sabin for 2. He does it twice more and hits a back suplex for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Sabin fights out and hits a back heel kick. Delirious hits an enziguiri but Sabin comes back with a kick to the face. Delirious blocks a blind charge and hits a dropkick to the back. He hits the Panic Attack and a hurricanrana for 2. He hits a clothesline with his bad arm and Sabin comes back with another back heel kick. He hits an enziguiri and a sit out powerbomb for 2. Delirious gets a sunset flip for 2. Sabin dumps him on the turnbuckle and hits a boot to the face. He sets Delirious in the Tree of Woe and hits a dropkick for 2. He sets him up top but Delirious fights him off and hits Shadows Over Hell for 2. He goes for the cobra stretch but has to settle for a roll up for 2. Sabin hits a swinging backbreaker but the Cradle Shock is reversed to the cobra stretch and Sabin taps. The finish was all kinds of fun but this didn’t click for me until the home stretch. I’d like to see these two go at it again though.
Rating: **¾

JZ says: Okay, here’s the deal – I finished this match and went to bed last night, and when I woke up my computer had restarted itself and I lost everything I typed about this match. So I’ll just sum it up by saying that I really enjoyed it, and my only complaint is that Delirious won with a submission move (at 11:59) when he hadn’t done any prior work on any body part or anything. Minor complaint though, as this was a really fun match and I wish Sabin could be around on a more regular basis.
Rating: ***¼

MATCH #3: Six Man Mayhem – Jimmy Yang vs. Trik Davis vs. Jay Fury vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Flash Flanagan vs. Spud

BG says: Jacobs and Davis start. Jacobs goes for a leapfrog and his pants split immediately. How unfortunate. He grabs a headlock but Davis reverses to a wristlock. He gets a sunset flip for 2 and a crucifix pin for 2. He gets another sunset flip for 2 and hits a leg lariat. Yang tags Jacobs out and Jacobs takes offense. Spud comes in for Davis as Yang destroys Jacobs’ pants. Yang hits an ocean cyclone suplex on Spud and he bails. Flash, Fury, Yang and Spud get involved in a complicated looking spot before Yang and Fury get into a kicking contest. Yang hits an Asai moonsault on o Spud and Flash on the floor. Fury follows him out with a springboard corkscrew dive. Davis goes for a dive but Jacobs cuts him off with a spear for 2. Spud comes in and takes Jacobs down before diving from the top turnbuckle onto everyone on the floor. Flash’s nose starts to bleed as Davis hurricanranas Jacobs from the top onto the group on the floor. Back in the ring everyone misses moves off the top. What are the odds that EVERYONE would miss? Yang hits a superkick on Jacobs for 2. Spud takes out Yang’s knee and hits a DDT for 2. Fury hits the Jaytriz Enzifury on Spud but Flash catches him with a DDT for 2. Davis hits a tornado lungblower on Flash for 2. He reverses the Contra Code to a roll up for 2. Jacobs crotches him up top and hits a super Contra Code for the win. This was a fun little exhibition, even if nobody got to hit more than four moves the entire match. Jacobs walks to the back, celebrating with his pants around his ankles.
Rating: ***

JZ says: Jacobs and Davis start it off, and Jacobs rips his tights on a leapfrog less than a minute into the match. Now that’s just good comedy. Davis nicely allows Jacobs to regroup and they do some chain wrestling. Davis gets a series of near falls and a big kick to the face. Yang tags himself in and Jacobs takes exception, so Yang further rips his drawers. That’s just mean. Spud is in and Yang just abuses him. Flanagan and Fury come in and assert themselves. It all breaks down to the usual six man mayhem stuff. Davis gives Jacobs a rana off the top to the floor onto the other four guys. That was neat. Jacobs and Yang are center of attention now, and they do a really odd looking spot where I’m not sure who was supposed to be hitting who. Jacobs winds up hitting the Super Contra Code to pin Davis at 8:02. That was much better than I thought it would be, with some fun spots and one of my favorites going over. After the match Lacey lambastes Jimmy, telling him to put his pants on. Jacobs celebrating like he just won at WrestleMania is pretty funny. Trik Davis and Jay Fury looked good.
Rating: **½

MATCH #4: Samoa Joe vs. Claudio Castagnoli

BG says: Claudio Castagnoli, wearing the tattered remains of the ROH ring jacket that he wore at The 100th Show, takes control of the microphone from the rafters. He says that he did not come to fight but rather to wrestle. The crowd tells him that Joe will, in fact, kill him. He challenges Joe to go hold for hold with him and leave the brawling for another day. Joe comes out and tells Claudio to stop trying to speak English and agrees to a wrestling match, on his honor. The crowd was great here.

Joe squeezes extra hard during the handshake, just to make sure Claudio knows what he’s getting into. Claudio grabs a wristlock but Joe reverses to his own. Claudio tries to reverse back so Joe pinches his nose. This happens again and Claudio bails. Back in the ring Claudio goes back to the wristlock. Joe gets a drop toehold and smacks the nose. Claudio hits a European uppercut but Joe stands strong. He slaps and kicks Claudio down and then throws some European uppercuts of his own. Claudio tries to bail but Joe won’t let him. Joe dodges a crossbody and hits the Big Joe Combo with an elbowdrop for 2. He puts on a half crab but Claudio gets to the ropes. Claudio goes to the eyes and hits a neckbreaker. He hits the seated European uppercut for 2. He hits another neckbreaker for 2. He starts stretching the neck and hits the Match Killer for 2. Joe blocks the Alpamare Waterslide and hits a powerslam for 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2 and puts on the STF. Claudio gets to the ropes. Joe sets him up top but Claudio fights him off and hits a blockbuster for 2. He unloads with European uppercuts but Joe smacks him down. He hits a running kneestrike in the corner and sets him up top. He goes for the musclebuster but Nate Webb runs in from the crowd and attacks Joe to draw the disqualification. There was some cute stuff in the beginning but this moved at half speed and really disappointed.
Rating: **

Necro Butcher joins in the fun, cracking Joe’s knee with a chair over and over. Adap Pearce and Ace Steel make the save. Webb takes a nasty bump onto a ton of chairs as Steel and Necro brawl through the crowd. Back in the ring Pearce hits Webb with a dragon suplex into the turnbuckle. This guy must have a death wish. He also takes a jumping piledriver on the floor. Necro sets up two chairs in the ring but ends up going through them when Steel and Pearce hit him with the APA powerbomb. Steel goes for a top rope tombstone piledriver onto a chair but Super Dragon runs out to break that up. CZW gets the advantage (which is annoying because Webb gets back up and by all accounts he should be dead) until BJ Whitmer makes the save. The extra characters clear out and we have ourselves a match.

JZ says: Claudio is up in the crowd to introduce himself. The heel heat he’s getting here is great. He challenges Joe to a match of wrestling holds, rather than a fight. Joe says he will wrestle Claudio, and the crowd responds with the awesome “Joe’s gonna wrestle you” chant. I seriously love that. Claudio stalls a lot to start, as Joe just looks ready. He dominates Claudio in all aspects in the early going, using lots of forearms and European Uppercuts. Claudio gains control for a little while and goes to work, but Joe is mostly able to dominate with both wrestling and strikes. Joe goes up for the Muscle Buster and Necro Butcher and Nate Webb run in Joe wins the match by DQ at 11:57. Necro kills Joe’s leg with a steel chair, making Joe’s legit bad knee even worse. Ace Steel and Adam Pearce run out to fight off the invaders. The match was pretty fun too; I would like to see more in the rematch. Steel and Pearce dominate Webb and Necro until Super Dragon comes out and gives CZW the advantage. Finally, BJ Whitmer comes out, neck brace and all, and the crowd is chanting his name. This segues into our next mtach.
Rating: ***

MATCH #5: BJ Whitmer vs. Super Dragon

BG says: They trade forearms to start and Whitmer goes down first. Dragon shoots Whitmer to the floor and follows him out with a tope suicida. He smacks a chair across Whitmer’s back and rolls him into the ring. He takes off Whitmer’s neck brace and jams the chair into his back. He hits a double stomp to the back of the neck and the Curb Stomp onto the chair. It gets 2 with a one-fingered cover. Dragon sets up the chair on puts Whitmer’s head onto the seat. He climbs the ropes but Whitmer crotches him. Dragon recovers and goes for the senton but Whitmer gets his knees up. He hits a lariat and an exploder suplex for 2. He sets up a table and goes for an exploder over the ropes. Dragon blocks and hits a neckbreaker. He goes for the Psycho Driver off the apron but Whitmer blocks it. Dragon hits a forearm and a springboard leg lariat for 2. He sets Whitmer up top and hits a blue thunder superbomb for 2. He sets up another table at ringside and goes for a Psycho Driver from the second rope through them but Whitmer blocks and hits an exploder from there through the tables. He rolls Dragon back into the ring and naturally gets the win, bloody back and all. This was violent and very intense given the fans’ genuine concern for Whitmer’s neck. Had the finish not taken so long to set up it would have been even better.
Rating: ***¼

Steel and Pearce come back out and, by Whitmer’s request, drag Super Dragon out of the building and dump him in the sidewalk. Great stuff, but it would be the last time these boys get the upper hand on CZW.

JZ says: Dragon dominates in the early going by working on the injured neck of Whitmer. He uses a chair and double stomps to abuse the neck. Dragon executes the Curb Stomp right onto the chair. This is just getting sick. Whitmer fights back and goes for the Exploder off the top but Dragon blocks it. He goes for the senton but Whitmer blocks it and kills Dragon with a lariat. He picks him up and delivers the Exploder but Dragon is able to kick out at two. Dragon goes for the Psycho Driver through the table again but Whitmer blocks it. Dragon hits a spin kick to the back of the head. A Blue Thunder Driver from the top only gets two on Whitmer. Another table is set up, and Whitmer delivers an ill-advised Exploder off the top through said table, taking a nasty bump on his own neck. Back in the ring you bet your ass that’s enough for the victory at 12:11. That was a totally sick brawl with both guys taking ridiculous risks. It made for a hell of a match though. The crowd chants “BJ Whitmer” after the match.
Rating: ***½

Intermission

BG says: Dave Prazak is with the Embassy and asks where Prince Nana is. Alex Shelley says that Nana is already celebrating in Ghana awaiting the tag team titles to enter the country. Shelley was the founding member of Generation Next and Rave has fought them since their inception, so there’s nobody better to take the titles.

JZ says: Prazak is backstage with Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, and Daizee Haze. Shelley claims to have used alliteration in his speech, but he really didn’t. That was one of the weaker Embassy promos.

MATCH #6: Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Sydal

BG says: Daniels has been dominating Sydal, beating him twice in triple threat matches and then once in a singles match. He hurt his leg in their one-on-one encounter and the match suffered as a result. Daniels grabs a headlock to start and switches to a wristlock. Sydal reverses to a front facelock but Daniels escapes and Sydal bails, seemingly having injured his ankle. In the ring Daniels goes back to the wristlock. They fight it out on the mat until Sydal comes up with a full nelson. More chain wrestling leads to Sydal banging up his ankle while searching for a wristlock. He hits a head scissors takedown and a dropkick. Daniels hits a telegraphed neckbreaker for 2. He hits another neckbreaker for 2. They fight up top where Sydal traps Daniels and dropkicks him to the floor. Back in the ring Sydal puts on a seated abdominal stretch. Daniels fights out and nothing happens for a while. Sydal hangs Daniels over the second rope in the corner and hits a double kneedrop. He hits a spear in the corner and a gutbuster for 2. He puts on his abdominal submission that doesn’t look like it hurts and Daniels gets to the ropes. He hangs Daniels over the top rope and dropkicks him to the floor. He follows him out with a slingshot hurricanrana and rolls him back into the ring for 2. He hits a double stomp and an Asai moonsault for 2. He puts on an octopus stretch but Daniels counters to a roll up for 2. Sydal comes back with a dropkick and climbs the ropes. Daniels tosses him off and hits a lariat. He hits a running forearm and a back suplex. He holds on for another and a blue thunder bomb. He hits the STO for 2. He hits the uranage and the triple jump moonsault but can’t cover because of the damage to his abdominal region. He slowly crawls over Sydal for 2. Sydal sets him up top but Daniels blocks a hurricanrana. He doesn’t block an enziguiri and Sydal hits a leaping knee sending Daniels to the floor. He follows Daniels out with a moonsault from the top and rolls him back into the ring. He hits a snap mare for 2. He gets a pair of roll ups for 2. He hits a clothesline in the corner and climbs the ropes. He comes down with a DDT for 2. He hits another double stomp and goes for the shooting star press but Daniels moves. Daniels’ Arabian press hits knees and Sydal hits a standing moonsault for 2. Daniels blocks the Enzirana and hits the Last Rights out of nowhere for the win.

This picked up tremendously after a painfully slow start. Sydal’s attack was focused but Daniels was able to block a lot of his offense and in the end that’s what won him the match. This was better than their fist match but these guys really need to try to have one without injuring themselves.
Rating: ***½

JZ says: Sydal has terrible entrance music. He does get his share of the dueling chant though. They do some cool chain wrestling to start and Sydal may have hurt his ankle on a leg sweep. These two have quite the history together, having appeared in several three way matches together as well as a one-on-one match the last time ROH was in Cleveland. Sydal takes control and knocks Daniels to the outside with a dropkick. Back in the ring Sydal continues going to work on the midsection of Daniels. Sydal gives Daniels a scary looking rana out on the floor, where it looked like Daniels’ head bounced right on the floor. Daniels comes back and hits two rolling back suplexes followed by a Blue Thunder Driver. Big STO by Daniels only gets two. Daniels hits the Best Moonsault Ever but his injured midsection doesn’t allow him to make the cover. Sydal sets up for the moonsault belly-to-belly but Daniels blocks. Sydal hits a moonsault to the outside and a series of near falls back in the ring. He hits a huge DDT off the top for two. Shooting Star by Sydal misses. Arabian Press by Daniels hits knees. Standing moonsault by Sydal gets two. Daniels blocks the headscissors and nails the Last Rites to get the win at 18:23. That was a fun match, and better than their first. Daniels makes Sydal look really good.
Rating: ***½

MATCH #7: Title vs. Title – ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness

BG says: This is the first title vs. title match in ROH history. It’s under Pure Title rules. Nigel would then seemingly have the advantage, but being under Pure Title rules only the Pure Title can change hands on a count out or a disqualification. That should give the ending away right there.

Danielson goes after the arm at the bell but Nigel shoves him away. Danielson goes for the crossface chicken wing but Nigel breaks away. They fight it out on the mat but neither man comes up with anything significant. Danielson slaps Nigel’s face and puts on a headlock. He switches to a cravat and holds on through Nigel’s attempts to escape. Nigel comes back with a roll up for 2. The chain wrestling that follows is absolutely incredible. Danielson alternates between European uppercuts and a cravat and tells Nigel to use his first rope break. Nigel breaks free and forearms Danielson instead. Danielson retaliates with a stronger forearm and goes back to the hold. Nigel relents and uses his first rope break. He hits a closed fist behind the referees back and Danielson retaliates in kind, getting a warning. Nigel does it again prompting the same action from Danielson and he is penalized one rope break. Nigel hits an armbreaker from the mat and one from the second rope. He stays on the arm with a vicious hammerlock and Danielson uses his second rope break. Danielson goes for a sleeper hold but Nigel reverses to another armbar. He lifts Danielson up by his arm but Danielson breaks free and hits a dropkick. Nigel pulls on the arm and then floats into a hammerlock. Danielson escapes and goes for the Mexican surfboard. His arm is too hurt to lock it in so he stomps on Nigel’s thighs. Nigel slams the arm to the mat and shoves Danielson to the floor. Back in the ring Danielson hits a German suplex. He hits a clothesline and a running forearm. He hits a neck wrench suplex and climbs the ropes. He hits the diving headbutt for 2. He puts on the crossface chicken wing and Nigel uses his second rope break. Danielson slaps away but Nigel uses the handstand to hit a thrust kick. He follows up with the Tower of London and Danielson uses his last rope break to stop the count. Danielson climbs the ropes but Nigel crotches him and goes for the Tower of London again. Danielson counters to the Cow Killer and Nigel uses his last rope break to escape. Nigel suplexes Danielson to the floor and fights with him as the referee starts to count them out. He chokes Danielson with the edge of a table and runs back into the ring. Danielson barely beats the count but gets inside at 19. He gets a backslide for 2. He hits a roaring elbow but Nigel comes back with the rebound lariat for 2. Danielson puts on the Cow Killer so Nigel pushes himself out of the ring. The British really are smart. Danielson follows him out with a suicide dive. He knocks Nigel into the crowd and rolls back into the ring. He flies out onto Nigel in the crowd with the springboard forearm but wipes out after Nigel smacks him with a chair. Nigel gets back into the ring at 19 and Danielson gets counted out.

The first fifteen minutes saw some of the best pure rules rope break action I’ve seen. The entire match flew by and the finish was hot. This was easily the best Pure Title match to date and quite excellent as far as World Championship matches goes.
Rating: ****¼

Nigel wins and no titles change hands. Bobby Cruise, ever the retard calls Nigel the new World Champion until Todd Sinclair corrects him. The crowd craps all over the finish and asks for five more minutes. That doesn’t really make sense given the finish. Danielson gets in Nigel’s face but he just walks away.

JZ says: I’ve heard a lot about this match, so I’m pretty excited to finally watch it. I wish it was the main event though. Both titles are on the line here, thus Pure Rules are in effect. Danielson has been champion since 9.17.05, and this is his nineteenth defense. Nigel has been champion since 8.27.05 and this is his eleventh defense. They start off slowly with mat wrestling, with both men trying to assert his authority. Nigel is the first one to use a rope break, to escape a cravat. Nigel is able to goad Danielson into using two closed fists, resulting in a warning and the loss of a rope break for Danielson. Nigel is able to get Danielson to use another one, and Danielson locks Nigel in a cross face chicken wing, which Nigel uses his second rope break for. Both men are up and Danielson kills Nigel with slaps to the face. Nigel gets the Mule Kick and Tower of London for two when Danielson uses his third rope break. Danielson puts on Cattle Mutilation and Nigel uses his third and final rope break. Both men tumble outside the ring and the count is on. Nigel holds a table on Danielson in hopes of keeping him down, but Danielson makes it back in at 19. He puts on Cattle Mutilation in the center of the ring and Nigel has no more rope breaks. The clever Nigel slides out under the bottom rope to escape the hold without tapping out. That’s awesome. Danielson hits a dive to the floor and both men are down. He throws Nigel into the crowd and the people are going nuts and Danielson dives from the top rope over the barricade onto Nigel, who was able to get a chair out. This restarts the count. Nigel is just able to sneak back in under the count to win the match at 28:34. The announcer starts to announce Nigel as the new World Champion, but Todd Sinclair reminds him that only the Pure Title can change hands on a countout. So Nigel wins, but neither title changes hands. That was a good clever finish to leave the fans wanting more. The match was tremendous up until that point too. The crowd and Danielson want five more minutes, but Nigel doesn’t oblige.
Rating: ****¼

MATCH #8: ROH Tag Team Title Match – Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Alex Shelley & Jimmy Rave

BG says: A video package for the main event Tag Team Championship match is shows. It does a good job of showing the Embassy/Generation Next feud without including guys like Abyss and Fast Eddie who have left the company, but the music still leaves a lot to be desired. The Embassy has been on an insane hot streak leading into this match, giving them a ton of momentum.

Strong and Rave start. Strong puts Rave on the mat with a waistlock but Rave shoves away. Strong grabs a hammerlock and then chops away. Shelley and Aries come in to help their partners and Generation Next takes over. Shelley and Rave get dropkicked out of the ring and Strong and Aries dive out onto them. Strong destroys Rave at ringside and then trades with Aries to do the same with Shelley. Back in the ring Aries hits a bodyslam on Rave. He hits the powerdrive elbow for 2. Strong tags in and hits a butterfly suplex for 2. Aries tags in and they hit the Hart Attack for 2. Strong tags in and they hit a double back suplex for 2. He chops Rave down and tags to Aries. Aries hits a slingshot senton for 2. Strong tags in and goes back to the stiff chops. Aries tags in and hits a baseball style chop and a baseball slide to the groin for 2. Daizee Haze runs in and low blows Aries. Shelley runs in and grabs a testicular claw. He hangs Aries in the Tree of Woe and stands on the crotch. Rave comes in and gets 2. He hits a snap suplex for 2. Shelley tags in and eats a chinbreaker. He tags to Rave who hits an elbowdrop. He puts on a chinlock but Strong breaks it up. Shelley comes in and hits a neckbreaker. He puts on an abdominal stretch and gets some added leverage from Haze. Rave hits a dropkick and Shelley hits another neckbreaker. Rave hits another dropkick for 2. He hits a legsweep and gets a crucifix pin for 2. He slingshots in from the apron and stomps Aries for 2. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Shelley. Shelley puts on Aries’ old fishhook before locking in the camel clutch. Rave distracts the referee and Haze comes off the top with a dropkick. It’s hard to tell whether that was meant to hit Shelley or Aries. I’m going to guess Shelley because Strong gets the tag and cleans house. He hits a tiger driver on Shelley and tags to Aries. They hit a double backbreaker and a chop into a brainbuster for 2. Shelley hits the Air Raid Crash on Strong. Rave and Shelley hit a clothesline/spear combo on Aries. Rave hits the running knee for 2. Shelley hits a superkick and Rave hits Ghanarhea for 2. Shelley goes for Sliced Bread #2 but Strong counters to the Rikishi driver. He hits the Sick Kick on Rave and follows up with two half nelson backbreakers. Aries fights Shelley off and hits the 450 splash on Rave for the win. This was about on par with the tag team matches they had throughout the feud in 2005.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: We get a nice little video package showing highlights of the past Generation Next versus Embassy feud, which is being renewed tonight for the Tag Team Titles. I miss Abyss. The Embassy stalls for a while, and Raven and Strong eventually start it off. It breaks down early on and all four men are brawling on the arena floor. The champs isolate on Rave and go to work on his ribcage with some good teamwork. The challengers soon take over on Aries and work on his neck for a while. Strong finally makes the hot tag and decides to kill the Embassy with chops and kicks to the face. Shelley and Rave knock Strong outside the ring take over on Aries. Ghanarea gets broken up at two. Shelley goes up for Sliced Bread #2 on Strong but it gets modified to an Owen Driver. Strong grabs Rave and delivers two half nelson backbreakers and Aries follows up with a 450 to get the pin on Rave at 18:09. That was another excellent tag team title defense by the champions, but I still think these four could do better.
Rating: ***½

Aftermath

BG says: Nigel McGuinness talks about proving tonight by beating Danielson that he is the best wrestler in the world and the top champion in ROH. Danielson comes in and asks Nigel why he needed to use a chair after guaranteeing he didn’t need such things to win. Delirious comes up to Danielson and complains about the mask that Danielson ripped at The 100th Show. Nigel uses this distraction to lay Danielson out with his title belt. That actually accomplished a lot.

JZ says: Prazak is backstage with Nigel McGuinness, who feels that he has proven that he is the best champion in Ring of Honor. Danielson interrupts and wants to know why Nigel had to use a chair to beat him. Delirious interrupts that and screams unintelligibly at him, allowing Nigel to cheap shot the World Champion and leave him lying.

MVP

BG says: Nigel McGuinness, for beating the champ and having a fantastic match in the process.

JZ says: Nigel McGuinness, for really stepping up and looking like a credible threat to dethrone Danielson and win the World Championship.

THE FOLLOWING MATCH IS NOT ON THIS DVD

BONUS MATCH: ROH Tag Team Title Match – AJ Styles & The Amazing Red vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe, Night of Champions, 3.22.03

BG says: Red and Jay start the match off in an awkward fashion and Mark’s participation in the match doesn’t help matters a great deal in the early going. Styles makes the tag and, in what is probably one of the only times in his career brings some balance to the match. Styles and Mark chain wrestle until Styles hits a nasty German suplex. Jay comes in but Red superkicks him into another German suplex from Styles. The Briscoes bail so the champs follow them out with stereo planchas. Back in the ring Styles gets 2 on Mark. Mark hits a head and arm suplex and tags to Jay. Mark hits a clothesline and Jay hits a forearm. They follow that up with by washing Styles’ face at the same time. Jay hits a snap suplex for 2. Styles hits a gutbuster and a backbreaker. He hits a snap suplex and tags to Red. Red comes off the top with an elbowdrop for 2. He hits a leaping kick for 2. Mark comes in with a missile dropkick and hits a gutwrench suplex. He hits a kneedrop for 2. The commentators have Jay and Mark mixed up at this point. Mark hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Red hits Brain Damage (an incredibly contrived maneuver) and tags to Styles. Styles hits a delayed brainbuster for 2. He hits a backbreaker and a gutbuster. He hits a dropkick for 2. Mark comes back with a powerbomb for 2. He dropkicks Styles onto the top turnbuckle but Styles reverses the springboard Ace Crusher to a back suplex. Red tags in and knocks Jay off the apron. He hits the Red Star Press for 2. He hits a thrust kick for 2. Jay gets a cheap shot and Mark hits a clothesline. Jay tags in and hits a bodyslam. He puts on a chinlock and then hits a big boot. Mark tags in and hits a vertical suplex for 2. He hits another for 2. Jay tags in and hits a DDT. Red gets a sunset flip for 2 but Jay cuts off his momentum with a lariat. He puts on a front facelock and the referee doesn’t see Styles make the tag. Mark tags in but Red takes both Briscoes down with sloppy offense. Jay and Styles tag in and Styles cleans house. He hits a superkick and a powerslam on Jay and an inverted powerslam on Mark. Mark and Red hit Shining Wizards at the same time in an awkward moment. Jay hits a Cactus clothesline on Styles and Red hits a roundhouse kick on Mark. Jay blocks the Code Red and hits a DDT for 2. Styles hits a DDT on Mark and an inverted DDT on Jay. Strike that and reverse it. He hits a neckbreaker on Mark but Jay catches him with a falcon arrow for 2. Red hits Jay with super Code Red for 2. Mark ends up on the second rope so Styles throws Red up onto him. Red hits a hurricanrana and Styles catches Mark in midair to hit the Styles Clash for the win. Well, the finish was great but time has not been kind to this match. I’m not a fan of most of what Red did here as it was mostly very sloppy. The story of the match was pretty weak and of all the “innovative” moves thrown out a large amount of them didn’t hit. Still, points for effort.
Rating: ***

JZ says: This is the first title defense for Styles & Red, who won the titles a week before this from Christopher Daniels & Xavier. This is the first time the Briscoe brothers have teamed up. Red and Jay do some cool stuff for a bit, then tag out to AJ and Mark for some more cool stuff. They mat wrestle for a while until AJ hits a big German Suplex on him, and Jay comes in and takes one too. The Briscoes take over and abuse AJ with some sick looking offense. This one is much too fast to call. Red hits Brain Damage, which is a nasty head drop move. Red Star Press gets two. This allows the Briscoes to isolate on the small Red and go to work on him. A big brawl breaks out and everyone is hitting big stuff on everyone. Red hits a devastating Code Red from the top rope on Jay but Mark breaks it up. The finish is great – AJ throws Red into a rana on Mark, and AJ catches him with a Styles Clash to get the win and retain the titles at 16:48. That match was definitely a product of its time that doesn’t hold up quite as well today, but I still had some fun watching it.
Rating: ***½

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 HOW WE ROLL!

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