ROH – The Battle of St. Paul DVD Review

ROH – THE BATTLE OF ST. PAUL – ST. PAUL, MN – 4.27.07

Introduction

BG says: The Video Wire for this weekend’s shows starts off with Austin Aries bringing Erick Stevens into the Resilience. Next up are clips from the No Remorse Corp vs. Resilience match, Mark Briscoe’s injury during his team’s title win and subsequent return to the ring to help his brother against Kevin Steen and El Generico after the NRC took Stevens out of the match. That of course led to him getting dumped on his injured head over and over again. It wraps up with a hype job for Colt Cabana’s final matches in ROH. Once again there is no new footage shown.

ROH Owner Cary Silkin announces that ROH is going to debut on PPV on July 1st, 2007. Fans everywhere will be able to watch ROH from their home on InDemand, Dish Network and TVN systems. They show clips of what to expect on PPV. As you’d expect it’s all high impact clips and a shot of then ROH champ Bryan Danielson and then GHC Heavyweight champ Marufuji with Bruno Sammartino. They highlight current ROH champ Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuinness, tag champs Jay & Mark Briscoe, Bryan Danielson, Delirious, Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, BJ Whitmer, Claudio Castagnoli, Brent Albright and Erick Stevens. Then for whatever reason we are subjected to a clip of a shirtless Bobby Dempsey hitting a cannonball on someone. He thanks the fans and asks everyone to order the PPV.

Austin Aries starts the show by talking about Samoa Joe’s title reign. Everyone said Samoa Joe could never be beaten for the ROH title, but the Aries Flurry put him down. Now Takeshi Morishima is said to be unbeatable. Aries likes to beat the unbeatable, and now he has three (really just over two) more years of experience under his belt with which to take on the champion.

JZ says: Austin Aries opens the show by comparing former ROH World Champion Samoa Joe to current ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima, and reminds everyone that he was the man who defeated Joe for the title. He promises to become the first two-time champion.

MATCH #1: Lacey & Rain vs. Allison Danger & Sara Del Ray

BG says: Danger has a stupid mask on, no doubt emulating her brother’s stupid entrance mask. A fan hilariously begs her to put it back on after she takes it off and is picked up perfectly by the camera’s microphone. Jimmy Jacobs accompanies Lacey on crutches. Rain and Danger start. They trade holds and Rain shockingly looks competent, though her face shows how nervous she is. Sara tags in and the Angels hit a double elbowdrop. Lace tags in and rolls Lacey up. Rain breaks it up and the Crew hits a double Japanese armdrag. Sara comes back with a double noggin knocker and a crossbody on both opponents for 2. Danger tags in and puts on a wristlock. They trade strikes and Danger hits the Curb Kick. The Angels tie Lacey up in the ropes and Danger goes for another Curb Kick but Rain cuts her off. Rain tags in and hits a dropkick to the head for 2. Lacey tags in and hits a drop toehold. Rain follows up with an elbowdrop and Lacey puts on a reverse bow and arrow. Danger gets to the ropes. Rain tags in and kicks Danger’s back for 2. Lacey tags in and does the same for 2. She hits a bulldog for 2. Rain and Del Rey tag in and Sara cleans house. She hits an avalanche in the middle of the ring and a gutwrench suplex for 2. She hits a series of big boots for 2. The Crew sandwich Del Rey with lungblowers for 2. Del Rey fights back and goes for the Royal Butterfly on both opponents. Lacey and Rain fight back and Rain hits a spinning lungblower. Jacobs trips Danger from the floor and Lacey hits her with the implant DDT for 2. A little sloppy, but better than I expected. They ended up pulling out stuff I really didn’t expect them to down the home stretch.
Rating: **¼

JZ says: Danger is wearing a mask for some reason. Anybody know what the hell that is? I must say this is an interesting choice to open the show. Jimmy Jacobs accompanies the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew; he’s on crutches from his recent knee surgery as a result of the awesome steel cage match with BJ Whitmer less than a month ago. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard are hosting the event, as usual. Lacey and Rain have a cool theme song, cool team name, and cool matching gear. That still doesn’t mean I want to see it in Ring of Honor, but that’s still pretty good. The Dangerous Angels control the early goings of the match, as Jacobs looks on concerned for his lady love. The Crew take over on Danger and work on her back for a while. Prazak talks about how there are two women’s feuds in ROH right now, and that’s two too many. Rain goes for the Rain Drop but Danger avoids it and makes the hot tag to Del Ray. The Crew cut her off and hit some double team moves on Del Ray. A choreographed looking spot leads to Del Ray hooking both Lacey and Rain in the Royal Butterfly. Danger gets a rollup on Lacey out of that for two. All four women are brawling in the ring. Rain hits a sort of Tornado Lung Blower on Del Ray and they roll to the outside. Danger hits a knee to Lacey’s face and goes for the ropes but Jacobs trips her and Lacey hits the Implant DDT for the pin at 9:33. The action was okay, but they’re still girls.
Rating: **

MATCH #2: Do or Die Match – Rhett Titus vs. Michael Elgin

BG says: I thought Elgin was Rhino for a second. Titus has a narcissist gimmick now. Titus grabs a wristlock to start. Elgin counters so Titus goes to the ropes. Elgin gets a headlock takedown but Titus comes back with a dropkick. Titus dance before his legdrop attempt makes him look retarded. Elgin dodges it and hits clotheslines and a powerslam. Jimmy Rave runs out and knocks Elgin to the floor. He hits a side suplex on Titus and slaps on the heel hook until the referee makes him break. The match ends in a no contest.
Rating: ½*

The crowd is very into Rave, probably because they were wondering why no ROH regulars had appeared on the show to that point. Dave Prazak comes out and asks Rave what he’s doing there. Rave said sitting at home was just making him meaner, so he’s going to make an example of Michael Elgin right now.

JZ says: Titus comes out with a new flashy gimmick. Elgin is bigger, but he doesn’t have much of a look. Titus gains the early advantage but is too cocky to maintain it. Elgin comes back with a powerslam and Jimmy Rave runs out and before he even touches anybody the referee calls for the bell at 1:43. I guess that’s a no-contest. Titus looked like he was trying too hard and Elgin is too generic.
Rating: DUD

Rave gets a huge pop and the crowd actually chants his name. Dave Prazak is ringside with a microphone asking Rave why he’s here, since he’s supposed to be out with a broken jaw. He wants to fight Elgin, and the crowd wants to see it.

MATCH #3: Jimmy Rave vs. Michael Elgin

BG says: Rave hits a knee to the gut to start. Elgin comes back with chops and stands strong when Rave tries to shoulder block him. Rave slams him to the mat by his hair and stomps on his face. Elgin hits an ugly slingshot elbow but Rave catches him with a spear. Elgin hits a German suplex for 2. He hits a clothesline in the corner but Rave hits a dropkick to the knee. He hits a dragon screw and puts on the heel hook for the win. Why bother giving Elgin any offense at all?
Rating: ¾*

Jimmy Jacobs starts to talk about his knee and about Lacey but the ROH students interrupt. They ask Jacobs how Lacey was in bed so he makes fun of their appearances and storms off. Primeau and Franklin take it with a laugh but Bobby Dempsey looks hurt.

JZ says: Elgin gives it a go, but Rave is just all over him. Elgin tries to attack the jaw, but Rave is having none of it. He hits a huge spear and the crowd is really into Rave for some reason. Elgin hits a nice German Suplex with a bridge for a two-count. Rave hits a dropkick to the knee. He follows that with a Dragon Screw and the Heel Hook and Elgin taps at 2:49. Rave gave Elgin too much there, but he’s still really over with St. Paul.
Rating: ½*

Jimmy Jacobs is backstage to congratulate Lacey on her win tonight. She’s in the shower right now, so he’s going to talk about what’s going on. Some of the students come in and want to know how Lacey was, and Jacobs gets pissed that they would show that kind of disrespect to his woman.

MATCH #4: BJ Whitmer vs. Shingo

BG says: They lock up but neither has a strength advantage. Whitmer grabs a headlock and hits a leg lariat. Shingo hits a chinbreaker but Whitmer comes back with a spinebuster for 2. He beats Shingo down in the corner but Shingo gets fired up and hits a gutbuster. He hits a DDT and a senton for 2. He puts on a chinlock and hits a fistdrop. He hits a kneedrop for 2. He hits an elbowdrop for 2. He hits a spinebuster for 2. He puts on a half crab and floats into the STF. He switches to a crossface but Whitmer gets to the ropes. Shingo hits a clothesline in the corner but Whitmer returns fire with a dropkick to the knee and a knee to the face. Shingo bails so Whitmer follows him out with a suicide dive. Shingo blocks a suplex on the ramp but Whitmer comes back with an exploder on the floor. Back in the ring Whitmer gets 2. He hits a snap suplex and a northern lights suplex for 2. He blocks a blind charge but Shingo hits a Manhattan drop. Shingo hits the Gallon Toss and a lariat for 2. He hits the Blood Fall for 2. He goes for the Last Falconry but Whitmer blocks. Shingo hits another clothesline but Whitmer returns fire with a German suplex for 2. He sets Shingo up top and hits a superplex. Shingo pops right back up but Whitmer puts him down with a lariat for 2. He hits another clothesline but Shingo stands strong. They both hit many clotheslines but neither goes down and Shingo hits the Last Falconry for the win. Really fun strong style match.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: Shingo is on his way back to Japan, so this is his second-to-last match in ROH for a while. Whitmer is returning from missing the last weekend double shot due to a neck injury suffered in the steel cage match with Jacobs. Shingo will fight the winner of tonight’s ROH World Title match tomorrow night in Chicago. Whitmer controls the early going by working in Shingo’s neck. Shingo comes back and goes to work on Whitmer’s head region. Both men exchange power moves and hard strikes, with neither sustaining a prolonged advantage. The fight spills outside the ring, where Shingo falls victim to an exploder suplex on the floor. Whitmer isn’t messing around tonight. Whitmer hits a few moves inside the ring, but Shingo comes back with a huge lariat for two. The Blood Fall follows but Whitmer kicks out of that. They continue to go back and forth going for big moves. Whitmer hits a superplex but Shingo no sells it so Whitmer hits a huge lariat for two. Whitmer tries the wrist-clutch again but can’t hit it. They start throwing lariats at each other and neither man will go down. Shingo finally hits the Last Falconry to get the pin at 10:01. That was good, clean fun.
Rating: ***

MATCH #5: ROH World Tag Team Title Ultimate Endurance Match – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked & Gran Akuma

BG says: The first fall is a tap out match. Jigsaw and Primeau start. Primeau hits an armdrag and puts on an armbar. Jigsaw comes back with the Gory Special and a slam. Quackenbush tags in and the crowd is already completely behind him. He dominates Primeau on the mat so Primeau goes to the ropes. Primeau puts on a front facelock but Quackenbush escapes and hits a backbreaker and a gutbuster. He puts on an armbar but Primeau gets to the ropes. Primeau goes for a cross armbreaker. Franklin doesn’t tag in but pulls Quackenbush off into an armbar of his own. I guess Franklin’s gimmick is that he’s dumb. Primeau tags him in legally because he’s not getting the legal man idea. Hallowicked tags in and hits a modified Iconoclasm on Franklin. Franklin hits a series of armdrags into an armbar. He hits a facebuster and goes for a bit, despite the fact that it’s submission only. Jay Briscoe tags in and boots Franklin down. He hits a bodyslam and tags to Mark. The Briscoes hit the double shoulder tackle and Mark hits a vertical suplex. He hits a pair of bodyslams and tags to Jay. Jay hits the DVD and puts on the Stretch Plum but Primeau breaks it up. The Briscoes toss Primeau up into the air and Jay slaps the Stretch Plum back on Franklin to eliminate him. The next fall is scrambled egg rules. The CHIKARA guys do some flippity do da to each other and then force Mark to hit a legdrop on Jay. The Briscoes bail so Jigsaw dives out onto them. Quackenbush forces Akuma & Hallowicked to hit each other over and over again. Akuma comes back with the Yoshi Tonic on Quiackenbush for 2. Jay hits a stunner on Akuma and clotheslines him to the floor. Mark hits a missile dropkick on Hallowicked. The Briscoes double team Hallowicked for 2. Akuma trips Jay and Hallowicked hits Mark with a Rydeen bomb. Akuma misses a moonsault so Mark hits him with a T-bone suplex. He and Jay hit the cutthroat driver/legdrop combo to eliminate him. The final fall is for the tag titles. Jigsaw hits a leg lariat on Jay for 2. Mark makes a blind tag and hits a Yakuza kick/Complete Shot combo wit Jay for 2. He puts on the Mark Nulty Special but Jigsaw gets to the ropes. Jay tags in and hits a back elbow for 2. He hits a dropkick for 2. Mark tags in and hits a slingshot double stomp for 2. He hits a fistdrop and a belly-to-belly suplex for 2. Jay tags in and hits an elevated legdrop for 2. Jigsaw hits a superkick and tags to Quackenbush. Mark tags in but Quackenbush hits him with a crotch bump. He sets Mark up top and hits a palm strike and a hurricanrana. He puts on a leg submission but Jay breaks it up. He dodges the double shoulder tackle and tags to Jigsaw. Jigsaw hits a dropkick on both opponents off the second rope. The Briscoes hit the double hiptoss on Jigsaw and shove him to the floor. Jay hits Quackenbush with a brainbuster and Mark hits a Manhattan drop. They hit Total Elimination and the springboard Doomsday Device for the win. The Briscoes looked like killers here, putting out all three teams and barely breaking a sweat. The scramble portion was insane thanks to the CHIKARA influence, but the tag title portion was little more than a squash. Fun stuff all around.
Rating: ***

JZ says: The last time ROH did Ultimate Endurance was August of last year. The Briscoes have been the ROH World Tag Team Champions since 3.30.07, and this is their first defense. This is also the ROH debut of Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Hallowicked, and Gran Akuma. Quackenbush gets a pretty strong reaction. Primeau is the Top of the Class Trophy holder. The first fall is a Tap Out match. Primeau and Jigsaw start it off. Quack gets tagged in quickly and shows his stuff right away. He gets several submission attempts on Primeau. Franklin and Hallowicked get tagged in next. Franklin takes his eye off the ball and Jay Briscoe comes in and makes him pay for it. Jay gets a submission on Franklin and Primeau breaks it up, but he pays for that. Jay then goes back to the submission and Franklin taps out at 6:34. This next fall is under scramble rules, so I might have trouble keeping up. As predicted, this one is way too much for me to follow, but I’m enjoying seeing the CHIKARA guys in an ROH ring. A combination Cutthroat Driver / guillotine leg drop by the Briscoes is enough to pin Akuma and eliminate his team at 10:20. This is now a regular tag team match and the titles are on the line. Jigsaw takes a beating for a few minutes until he can tag Quack in, and he goes to work on Mark. The match breaks down into a big spot fest and the Briscoes are able to nail the springboard Doomsday Device and get the pin to retain their titles at 16:33. That was actually a ton of fun and probably the best ultimate endurance yet.
Rating: ***½

MATCH #6: No DQ Street Fight – Brent Albright & Adam Pearce vs. Colt Cabana & Homicide

BG says: This would be the brawling portion of Cabana’s farewell tour. Pearce and Albright attack our heroes from behind before the bell. Cabana hits a crossbody on Albright and Homicide slams Pearce off the top rope. Homicide hits a flying elbow on Pearce but Albright catches him with a clothesline. Homicide dumps Pearce & Albright to the floor and follows them out with a topé con hilo. Cabana hits both opponents with clotheslines off the apron. Pearce rakes Homicide’s eyes as Cabana sends Albright into the crowd. Homicide backdrops Pearce into the crowd and slugs Shane Hagadorn down. He hiptosses Pearce into a row of chairs and hits a low blow. The throws a chair and a garbage can at Pearce. Pearce returns the favor but Homicide regains control with more chair play. He hits Pearce with a DVD from the merchandise table and another garbage can. Where are Cabana and Albright? Pearce hiptosses Homicide into some chairs. Cabana reemerges to help Homicide out but Pearce is able to hit a vertical suplex on Homicide onto a chair. Homicide backdrops Pearce over the barricade onto the ramp as Cabana hits Albright with a chair. Homicide bodyslams Hagadorn on the floor and rams Pearce into the barricade. He sets up a table but Pearce shoots him into the barricade. Hagadorn goes for a chair shot on Homicide but hits Pearce by mistake. Homicide hits Hagadorn with a chair and sets him on the table. He climbs the ropes and splashes Hagadorn through the table. Back in the ring Cabana and Homicide hit stereo dropkicks off the top on Pearce & Albright. Cabana jabs Pearce and Homicide hits the Ace Crusher. They hit a double elbow on Albright and on Hagadorn. Cabana hits the Flying Asshole on Pearce and Homicide follows up with his running knee. Hagadorn this a low blow on Cabana but Homicide hits Albright with a crossbody. Albright counters the lariat to the Crowbar but Cabana saves. Cabana gets a backslide on Albright for 2. Albright comes back with the 908 and a swinging neckbreaker. Pearce hits Cabana with a top rope legdrop for 2 after Albright kicks a ladder into Homicide’s face. Hagadorn puts a section of the barricade in the ring and Pearce sets it up in the corner. Homicide hits Pearce with a lariat and drops a ladder on Albrights back. He puts the ladder in the corner and hits a low blow on Pearce. Albright swings Homicide into the barricade in the corner just before Cabana clotheslines Pearce to the floor. Hagadorn distracts Cabana and Albright hits him with the half nelson suplex for the win. Shockingly fun and insane brawl. Homicide and Cabana hit the Cop Killer and Colt 45 on Hagadorn after the match to keep the crowd happy. Cabana soaks in some cheers and leaves without cutting a self-serving promo. He does dance with a kid on his way out though.
Rating: ***¼

JZ says: This one starts off as a big brawl, as expected. It goes to the outside, where Pearce and Homicide fight while Cabana and Albright pair off on the other side of the arena. Nothing of note is really happening; it’s just the usual brawl. Hagadorn gets involved and accidentally hits Pearce with a chair. It basically turns into a handicap match since Hagadorn interferes through the whole thing. Albright is able to nail Cabana with a half-nelson suplex and that gets the pin at 13:35. That was fine for a tag match brawl, but nothing about it really stood out. Homicide hits a nasty Cop Killa on Hagadorn to get some heat back.
Rating: **¼

INTERMISSION

BG says: Rebecca Bayless catches up with the tag champs at intermission. Tomorrow they’re facing the former Zero-One junior tag champs Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. The Briscoes remind us that they also held gold in Japan and they’re the current tag champs. Mark makes sure the Kevin Steen & El Generico know that his head is in better shape so they can come after him whenever they want. And Claudio Castagnoli needs to find a partner so they can get their win back on him.

JZ says: Rebecca Bayless is with the ROH World Tag Team Champions, The Briscoe Brothers. Tomorrow night they face Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley. The Briscoes cut their usual awesome promo. They will take on and destroy everyone.

MATCH #7: Four Corner Survival – Delirious vs. Rocky Romero vs. Jack Evans vs. Erick Stevens

BG says: All elements of the NRC’s various feuds are represented in this match, as you have the NRC’s Romero, the Resilience’s Stevens, the soon-to-have-a-stable Evans and the angry-about-being-injured-by-Strong Delirious. Stevens and Romero start. Romero immediately tags out to Delirious. Delirious goes for a headlock so Stevens uses his power to shrug the lizard man off. Stevens stands strong through Delirious’s offense and hits a powerslam for 2. Romero tags Stevens out and kicks the chest. Evans tags Delirious out so Romero tags out to Stevens. This should be good. Evans goes for a sleeper hold but Stevens shrugs him off. Romero tags Stevens out and hits a flying knee on Evans. He hits a climbing knee to the back in the corner and a back suplex for 2. Stevens tags in so Romero tries to tag out. Delirious jumps off the apron, forcing Romero to face Stevens. Stevens hits a clothesline and a back elbow. He hits an overhead suplex and Romero bails. Evans and Delirious toss him right back inside. Stevens continues the beating, and lets Evans and Delirious get in on the fun. Romero dodges the Choo Choo Avalanche but Delirious and Evans hit a double clothesline. Evans hits a standing shooting star press but Delirious and Stevens break it up. They hit Evans with a double hiptoss and Stevens hits Delirious with a clothesline. He hits Evans with a senton for 2. Stevens blocks a sunset flip from Evans and hits a two-handed chokeslam. He hits the Choo Choo Avalanche and a lariat for 2 when Romero breaks it up. Romero hits Evans with a German suplex and Stevens follows up by German suplexing Evans to the floor. Stevens and Romero trade slaps and Romero puts on an anklelock. Delirious breaks it up with a dropkick to Romero. Stevens goes for the Doctor Bomb on Romero so Delirious hits both of them with Shadows Over Hell. Romero comes off the second rope with a DDT on Delirious for 2. Delirious comes back with the Panic Attack. He sets Romero in the Tree of Woe but Stevens grabs him and powerbombs him into Romero. Romero tries to sit up so Evans hits him with the Ong Bak kneedrop. Stevens hits Evans with a powerslam for 2. Delirious sends Stevens to the floor with a back elbow and follows him out with a somersault dive off the top rope. Evans kicks Romero around but Romero comes back with the tiger suplex and a buzzsaw kick for the win. The fact that this turned into a handicap match against Romero was great. The action that came after the triple-teaming was also fantastic and the NRC remain dominant. SUGAR!
Rating: ***½

JZ says: Almost everyone has an issue with everyone else in this match, except for Delirious & Evans, who recently teamed up. Delirious and Stevens start it off. Nothing in particular is on the line here as far as I know. They fight for a few minutes and Evans gets tagged in. Romero comes in soon after that and he dominates Evans. Prazak and Leonard are putting over Evan’s forthcoming group, which I’m excited about seeing. Stevens comes back in and gives Romero a taste of his own medicine. Everyone is pretty much against Romero here, with Delirious and Evans utilizing the most direct teamwork. Stevens and Romero wind up in the ring together and beat the crap out of each other for a little bit until Delirious comes back into the ring. Stevens tries the Doctor Bomb on Romero, leaving them in perfect position to receive the Shadows Over Hell from Delirious. It breaks down to a big brawl with everyone hitting big moves. Delirious hits a dive on Stevens outside the ring, allowing Romero to give Evans a nasty kick to the head for the win at 15:27. That started a little slow but got pretty good down the stretch.
Rating: ***¼

MATCH #8: FIP World Heavyweight Title Match – VS.

BG says: They lock up and Strong hits an armdrag. He hits a hiptoss and puts on a headlock. Daniels hits an armdrag, a hiptoss and a bodyslam and Strong bails. Back in the ring Daniels grabs a headlock. He hits a shoulder tackle for 1 and puts the headlock back on. They trade holds on the mat until Strong goes to the corner and hits a cheap shot. He blocks a blind charge but runs into a bodyslam. Daniels hits the Arabian press and goes back to the headlock. Daniels hits a hurricanrana but Strong pulls him down butt-first to the apron. He whips Daniels into the barricade and breaks the 20 count. He hits a backbreaker on the barricade and rams Daniels’s back into the apron. He gets back in the ring at 8 and Daniels gets back in at 14. Strong hits a vertical suplex for 2. He hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 2. He puts on a seated waistlock but Daniels comes back with a roll up for 2. Strong hits a clothesline to stop any momentum. He hits a back suplex for 2. He catapults Daniels into the bottom rope as the match slows down a tick. Strong hits a butterfly suplex for 2. He puts on a hammerlock and rams Daniels into the corner. Daniels gets a sunset flip for 2. Strong goes low but Daniels catches him with the STO. He hits a leg lariat and a jumping knee. He hits the DVD for 2. He gets a body scissors takeover to the floor and hits another Arabian press. Back in the ring Daniels hits a crossbody off the top for 2. Strong hits the uranage backbreaker for 2. He drops Daniels gut-first on the turnbuckle and hits a fall away slam off the second rope for 2. He goes to the eyes so Daniels responds in kind. Daniels hits a uranage but misses the triple jump moonsault. Strong hits a gutwrench backbreaker for 2. Daniels hits a palm strike but Strong comes off the second rope with the Sick Kick for 2. He puts on a Boston crab but Daniels gets to the ropes. Daniels gets a roll up for 2. Daniels blocks the tiger driver and hits the Complete Shot into the Koji Clutch. Strong gets to the ropes. Strong bails so Daniels follows him out with a baseball slide. Strong shoves him into the barricade but Daniels beats the count back in. Daniels hits a chinbreaker and a Cactus clothesline. Strong rams Daniels’s back into the post and pulls apart the barricade. He breaks the count and goes for the tiger driver on the barricade but Daniels counters to a backdrop on the floor. Daniels goes for the Angel’s Wings on the barricade but Strong blocks and chops Daniels down. Daniels’s foot gets stuck in the barricade and he gets counted out. This started out really slow but picked up steam as it went on. The finish was a little cheap but it was creative, no doubt about it.
Rating: ***½

Jimmy Jacobs tries to cut his promo again when his old allies Pearce, Albright and Hagadorn come up to him and ask him about the action he may or may not have gotten from Lacey. Jacobs flips out and walks off all heated. Pearce hijacks the promo to talk about spoiling Colt Cabana’s final match tomorrow night. He says it’s not an honor to be fighting Cabana in his final match and says it doesn’t matter to him that they’ve come up in the business together. Before Chicago belonged to Cabana it belonged to Pearce, so the only thing special about tomorrow night’s match is that Pearce is going to show Chicago and Cabana that it’s going to be a tough fight.

JZ says: Strong has been the FIP Champion since 11.10.06, and this is his thirteenth defense. I don’t think Daniels has ever wrestled down in FIP, so Strong really is taking on all comers. I reviewed this entire match last night, but apparently I forgot to save it and I had a power outage last night. So I’m not going to re-watch the entire match and re-write the review. Strong is able to get the win by countout at 23:33. The crowd does not like that finish one bit. The match started slow but picked up in the last ten minutes or so.
Rating: ***½

Jimmy Jacobs is backstage to once again talk about what’s going on. Adam Pearce, Shane Hagadorn, and Brent Albright also want to know how Lacey was. Jacobs once again gets all pissed off about the disrespect everyone shows Lacey. This leads to Pearce cutting a promo on Colt Cabana, who he will face tomorrow night in Cabana’s last ROH match. Pearce cuts a pretty good promo that makes me want to see the match.

MATCH #9: ROH World Title Match – Takeshi Morishima vs. Austin Aries

BG says: The Aries fans are much louder than the Morishima fans. Aries rushes Morishima but gets shoved away. He hits a dropkick but Morishima just keeps coming. Morishima hits a shoulder tackle so Aries goes after his knee. He finally knocks Morishima down with a clothesline but only gets 1. Aries sticks and moves with strikes but Morishima catches him with the butt butt. He boots Aries to the floor and pulls him back into the ring. He puts on an armbar and clubs Aries down. He kicks Aries around and then stands on his chest. He hits a hard slap to the chest and stand on Aries’s neck. He hits a back elbow and goes for the backdrop driver. Aries blocks so Morishima hits a knee to the gut. He jogs around the ring as if to say he’s having no problem with Aries. Aries rolls to the floor to get a break but Morishima follows him out and pushes him into the barricade. Back in the ring he kicks Aries’s chest and works over the neck. He hits the butt lariat and puts Aries on the apron. Aries comes back with bell ringers and then low bridges Morishima to the floor. He follows him out with the Heat Seeking Missile but Morishima comes back with an Irish whip into the barricade and an Olé butt splash. Aries dodges a second butt splash attempt and hits two dropkicks. Back in the ring Aries hits a slingshot splash for 2. He hits a Lionsault for 2. Morishima blocks the brainbuster and pancakes Aries. He hits a sidewalk slam for 2. He hits a handspring avalanche and climbs the ropes. Aries dodges a dropkick and puts on an armbar. Morishima gets to the ropes. Aries stomps the back and climbs the ropes. Morishima catches him on the way down with an overhead suplex. Aries hits the crucifix bomb and a roaring forearm. He hits a clothesline but Morishima catches him with a clothesline of his own. Aries counters the backdrop driver to a crossbody for 1. Aries hits the Aries Flurry but Morishima gets his foot on the bottom rope. Great, great spot there. Morishima crotches Aries on the top rope and hits a super backdrop driver and a lariat for 2. He hits a clothesline in the corner and another backdrop driver for the win. I’m a mark for Flair/Vader style matches, and this wasn’t too far off. The allusions to Aries’s title win over Joe were fantastic. Best match of the night.
Rating: ***¾

JZ says: Morishima has been the champion since 2.17.07 and this is his fourth defense (after BJ Whitmer, KENTA, and Nigel McGuinness). Aries is the aggressor right away and actually backs Morishima into the corner. The champion doesn’t take too kindly too that and shoves Aries around. The match pretty much goes that way for the next while, with Morishima just decimating the much smaller challenger. Aries finally makes a comeback outside the ring and the crowd is very much behind him. It doesn’t last long, however, as Morishima comes back and tries the Ole Butt and Aries moves out of the way and hits two dropkicks to the champion’s face. Aries keeps fighting back and Morishima continues to absorb it and keep control of Aries. Morishima goes for the Back Drop Driver but Aries blocks it. Aries hits a kick to the head and tries the brainbuster but he can’t do it. So he kicks him in the head instead and this time hits the brainbuster. He goes up for the 450 and hits it but Morishima gets his foot on the ropes. The crowd bought that one. Aries goes to the top rope and Morishima follows him and hits a back drop driver off the top and a huge lariat but Aries actually kicks out. Morishima gets frustrated and hits another back drop driver and this time Aries is down for the count at 15:04. That was a tremendously fun match and the crowd was behind Aries all the way. It was very much in the vein of Vader vs. Flair from Starrcade ’93.
Rating: ***¾

Aftermath

BG says: Jimmy Jacobs finally gets his promo time, but has to go through Rebecca Bayless. We all know how he feels about Bayless. Jacobs tries to set the record straight but the No Remorse Corp comes up to congratulate him on his sexual conquest. Jacobs flips out again and says that nobody really knows what happened between him and Lacey in Detroit. Jacobs storms off again so Strong takes over and shows off the new FIP World title belt. Tonight he beat Christopher Daniels and Romero beat three enemies of the NRC.

JZ says: Idiot Rebecca Bayless is backstage with Jimmy Jacobs, who finally has his opportunity to talk about what’s going on. He hates the primate mentality of the ROH locker room, and on cue Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero come out and start acting like disrespectful jocks. Jacobs says none of them know what happened between him and Lacey.

That leads to Strong and Romero cutting a cocky promo about how awesome they are. I like the characters these guys do, but they’re still kind of awkward with them.

MVP

BG says: Austin Aries gets it this time around for having the match of the night and bringing back memories of his amazing title win over Samoa Joe.

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 GOOD TIMES, GREAT MEMORIES!