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Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — A Fight at the Roxbury
November 2, 2007 | Posted by
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| Ring of Honor — A Fight at the Roxbury by J.D. Dunn This is ROH’s debut in the Reggie Lewis Center, a venue that is probably very nice live, but it looks awkward and small on video. Whitmer is in the midst of a heavily hyped losing streak. They go over the top off a suplex early. Albright gets the better of that and starts tossing BJ into the barricade. The fans actually start to warm up to Albright, which should tell you just how much they’ve turned on BJ. BJ turns the tide, but the referee scolds him and tells him to get back in the ring. That allows Albright to recover. Hmm…conspiracy angle? Back in, Albright targets BJ’s arm in anticipation of the Crowbar. Albright hits ROLLING GERMANS, but BJ counters to a Dragon Suplex for two. Albright comes back with the Crowbar, but BJ is in the ropes. BJ hits a kick to the head and only gets two, so BJ gets PISSED and headbutts the referee! That turns BJ babyface again in the eyes of the crowd. No closing bell due to ref unconsciousness, but it was around 10:00. Well, that was different. The match was in the area of “okay” before the abrupt ending. ** Rave hits a stiff forearm early, rocking Danielson’s jaw. That’s just going to piss him off. Danielson locks in a variation of an abdominal stretch. Rave reverses to a Stepover Anklelock attempt, but Danielson rolls through and returns the forearm. Rave pops up and SPITS in the face of American Dragon. That’s what we in wrestling call “a very bad idea.” Danielson returns the favor and drives his elbow into Rave’s jaw. Danielson hits an Earthquake Splash and locks in the Triangle Choke. Rave just stomps him to counter. Danielson comes off the top…right into a spear. Rave goes for the Stepover Anklelock, but Danielson elbows his way out of it. Rave tries it again, but Danielson rolls through to a cover. They trade nearfalls and then strikes. Rave rolls through a hiptoss attempt, but Danielson traps him and starts hitting elbows until Rave is out at 10:51. Rave got in his share of licks, but Danielson outclassed him, and Danielson wasn’t even really trying that hard. Good wrestling, though. **1/2 Steen cheapshot Briscoe after Mark had a concussion and then attacked him at the PPV. The fight is on even before the bell rings. Steen takes over on the outside and powerbombs Briscoe into the crowd! Steen beats him all the way up to the bleachers and threatens to go up the scaffold, but that’s what the fans want, so Steen heads back down. Boo! The brawl goes back down to the ring where Steen hits an enzuigiri and the pump-handle neckbreaker. Steen’s senton finds Mark’s knees, though, and Mark gets two. Mark fights from the top rope, but Steen just LAUNCHES him through a table on the floor. Mark is out. Steen drags him back in and delivers the Packaged Piledriver for the win at 9:44. Well, that was more decisive than I thought it would be. Like the opener, this one just seemed to be getting started before the big train wreck spot, and then it ended abruptly. Mark is one step closer to death. **3/4 Claudio and Hero were supposed to reunite to challenge for the tag titles the following night, so they have a tentative ceasefire, which is made all the more odd by the fact that they never really feuded after their breakup. Nigel and Quack do a bit of counter wrestling to establish that they respect each other’s skillz. Hero cheapshots Quack, tricking Nigel into heading over to his corner to take a swipe at him. That allows Hero to tag in. Ha! Mindgames. Like a lot of ROH four-corner matches, it turns into a de facto tag match with the Kings of Wrestling taking on Quackenbush & McGuinness. Claudio isn’t really happy with Hero’s tactics, though. Goofy spot as Quackenbush forces Claudio to do an Electric Chair Drop on Hero. Nigel tags in and cleans house until Hero gets all Tracy Smothers on his ass. Quack comes in and hits Hero with the BTS (Reverse Samoan Drop) for a close two. Hero and Castagnoli get into an argument but have to turn their aggressions on Nigel. Claudio hits the Apomari Waterslide, but Quack makes the save and sends Claudio into the Randy Savage over-the-top bump. Toland and Dempsey block the Jawbreaker Lariat and toss Nigel into the barrier. Claudio boots Hero right into next week, leaving Claudio and Quack. Quack crucifixes him for two, but Claudio kicks out and nails him with an uppercut for the win at 18:42. I’m not quite sold on Quackenbush. He seems like a nice guy on the Chikara Podcast a Go-Go, but his offense is way too convoluted to be believable (like a lot of Chikara guys). He seems like someone ROH would have hired back in 2003 (the Backseat Boys, the SAT). Not that he’s a bad wrestler, but I’d like to see him tone down his style á la Tom Carter. The other guys turned in their usual, with Claudio seeming more motivated than ever. I like the goofiness of Sweet & Sour too. That’s just so…Hero. ***1/2 Pelle tries a number of shoulderblocks, but that doesn’t work so well. He tries to pick up the temp and has more luck. Edwards comes back with chops, though. Pelle hits a rana but runs right into a clothesline. Edwards charges but spills to the outside, allowing Pelle to springboard into a rana that sends Edwards into the crowd barrier. Back in, Edwards hits the Backpack Stunner for two. A Fisherman’s Suplex gets two more. Pelle tries another rana, but Edwards gives him a sick powerbomb. Edwards finally finishes with a Cross-Legged Brainbuster at 7:14. Actually, I’d call that a bit of an upset. Pelle has a nice little Spike Dudley niche carved out for himself, but most of his offense is headscissors and huracanranas. Edwards might make a good midcarder or part of a tag team. Right now, he’s a little too blandly indy, though. **1/4 Sydal has been aimless ever since he and Christopher Daniels lost the tag titles. Oddly enough, Sydal was a heel as part of a face team while Generico is a babyface as part of a heel team. Sydal starts out hot with a few headscissors, but his cocky side comes out as he talks trash about beating every masked man in ROH. Generico hits a tilt-o-whirl backbreaker to come back. Sydal hits the Sydal Clothesline and blocks the brainbuster. He guillotine drops Generico and they brawl to the floor. The fans actually start singing “Olé” only they replace “olé” with “Sydal.” Back in, Generico hits a packaged lift into a powerbomb. It only gets two above the fans’ objections. Sydal blocks the big boot and hits a standing moonsault. ONE, TWO, THREE! Wait, no. It turns out that new ref Mike Crockett hit the mat while he was positioning himself, and the fans interpreted it as a count. Well, that’s how they spin it anyway. Sydal finishes with a huracanrana a few moments later at 14:05. **3/4 This is basically a rematch from the Reborn Again with Delirious replacing Bryan Danielson. You’d think if they couldn’t get it done with Danielson, they won’t be able to get it done with Delirious either. Big fracas to start with everyone brawling around ringside. The match finally settles down with the makeshift Resilience kicking ass on all three members of the NRC. Stevens eventually gets triple-teamed and plays face-in-peril. The fans are just all over Roderick Strong here, making the match a lot of fun from a heat standpoint. The NRC act like total dicks, stomping on Stevens’ nuts and pissing off the faces in the corner at every opportunity. Finally, Stevens hits a T-Bone gets the hot tag to Delirious. Cross wipes out Romero and Richards with a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back in, Delirious hits the Bizarro Driver on Richards for two. Stevens blind tags himself back in and Choo-Choo Avalanches Romero. It breaks down with all six men in the ring. Cross nails the handspring elbow, setting up the Panic Attack. Stevens hits a TKO! ONE, TWO, THR-Romero kicks out. The Oklahoma Stampede is broken up by Strong. Everyone takes turns breaking up finishers. Roderick goes low on Stevens but runs into a press powerslam. Richards tries the handspring back kick, but Stevens catches him with the full-rotation German Suplex. That sets up Shadows Over Hell. Cross adds a Twister Press. Strong makes the save. Cross goes up again but gets crotched. Romero takes him down into the cross armlock, but Delirious saves with a legdrop. Strong comes in and gets crucifixed by Delirious. They take turns reversing until Delirious reverses into a Chemical Imbalance II for the win at 21:36. Delirious finally gets some measure of revenge. The match succeeded in furthering the Delirious/Strong feud as well as continuing Stevens’ image as a monster. Cross didn’t add much but a few spots, and a lot of people feel he’s starting to get exposed as not much besides a spot-monkey. Match was good fun, though. I’m starting to dig Romero in this role. ***1/2 Jay got the pin in the tag match between the Briscoes and Whitmer/Morishima, so he gets the title match. Morishima just bulrushes him early and hits an Olé Buttalanche up against the railing. Jay comes back and tries a somersault plancha, but he bangs his leg on the barrier. That allows Morishima to take over and use his ass to his advantage. Jay tries to chop his way back, but Morishima no-sells and destroys him in the corner. Morishima shoves down referee Todd Sinclair and continues pummeling Briscoe. They work in the old “ref kicks the heel’s hand off the ropes” spot, allowing Jay to come back. Jay hits a number of forearms and big boots, but nothing can put the big man down. Morishima takes over again with the flying sideslam and a buttbutt. He tries another, but Briscoe counters to a German Suplex. The DVD sets up a Superfly Splash. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The fans think that was three. Jay tries a sunset flip but gets squashed. He still catches Morishima on top and hits a SUPERPLEX! ON-No! Not even one. Morishima shows fighting spirit and takes Jay’s head off with a lariat. BACKDROP DRIVER! ONE, TWO, THREE! Morishima picks up another successful defense at 13:27. This was like every Vader match from 1991-1994, and that’s a good thing. Morishima didn’t give Briscoe’s offense a lot of respect, which made Jay’s desperation that much more palpable. **3/4 |
The 411: No bad matches this time out, but nothing that qualifies as a must-have either. The NRC/quasi-Resilience match and the #1 contender match are the standouts. Everything else was in the good-to-pretty-good range. The angle advancement also hovered around solid. The Briscoes/Steen & Generico brawl was good, but it pales in comparison to their PPV brawl. Nothing really wrong with the show, but it just isn't exciting enough for you to go out of your way for either. Neutral feelings on this one. |
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| Final Score: 6.0 [ Average ] legend |
