Finally... Testing The Limit LIVE REPORT!

[AndyKaid]

It certainly took me long enough. It's 5:12 according to the microwave clock, so I apoligize if some of this stuff doesn't make much sense. It's spell checked but I can't really proof read it til I'm more awake. That said, it's up at wrestle-fan.cjb.net complete with intro right now. And if you don't feel like going there, here's the report-

FIRST MATCH: Nigel McGuiness vs. John Walters

NIGEL is awesome. Walters is the same guy I’ve been seeing for the past year putting on variations of the same basic indy match, and he becomes exposed when not in multi-man matches. This match was pretty solid, considering, and Nigel pulled out some nifty arm work. Walters’ best spots come when the lights went out… twice. At one point they teased wrestling with just the spotlight on, but luckily there were no more light outs as the evening progressed. Walters picks up the win with a whatever. I think he reversed an armbar into a roll up.

SECOND MATCH: Izzy (w/ Special K) vs. Roderick Strong

This should have been the opener as it was faster paced and drew the crowd’s involvement. Izzy starts out with a flurry crisp offense, and that goes on for a while before the Roderick massacre begins. Roderick won with the cross arm Widows Peak, which looked positively tame compared to the beating he gave Izzy. Post match he makes what’s left of Special K his collective bitch. This Strong vs. Special K psuedo-feud is fun.

THIRD MATCH: The Carnage Crew vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer

The story from MKJ is that the Carnage Crew showed up late and didn’t have time to plan a match out with Maff and Whitmer. This started like it was going to a southern tag before it degenerated into an ECW-lite brawl that was totally forgettable. The Carnage Crew wins with… something, and I’m a little surprised by the outcome. So, yeah.

FOURTH MATCH: Jay Lethal vs. Ace Steel vs. Alex Shelley vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Pre-match Alex Shelley cuts a GREAT promo. I can’t remember much of it now, but he took shots at Punk, Lethal, and Scorpio, but what made it so great is how short it was considering all the people he burned. Oh, I just remembered that Shelley did a SHOOT~! on the Jay Lethal family. For those who aren’t aware, Jay’s family goes to all the shows and his sister is constantly screeching for him. It’s actually quite cute and good to know the American family is still going strong. Green Lantern Fan does the most intentionally funny thing he’s ever done by screeching “Go Jay Go!” during the match in vein of the Lethal sister, and even threw in a “Let’s Go Hydro!” for good measure.

When Scorpio was announced I was soooo excited. I hadn’t seen him live for 9 or 10 years! Hell, the most recent match I’d seen of his was from 99. I was hoping he wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of other established names from the past that have wrestled in ROH, and thankfully he didn’t. He’s toned down his flying a bit and is actually a more complete wrestler than he was in 99. This match had a lot of stories going on like Ace-Scorpio having a love/hate relationship from their NOAH work, Scorpio wanting to see what Shelley had, Shelley still holding a grudge against Jay Lethal, Lethal kinda sorta getting the rub from Scorpio during the match… it was just really good. Probably the second best match of the show. Shelley goes over Lethal to win.

Post match, Scorpio gets on the mic and puts ROH and Jay Lethal over. After that, Jungle Boogie blares out of the sound system and they start dancing. Scorpio even pulls down his pants to partially reveal a thong (!!!). Good segment, if not a bit odd. I’d really like to see 2 Cold return somewhere down the line.

[AndyKaid]

FIFTH MATCH: The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide w/ Julius Smokes) The Briscoes (Jay & Mark)

This was a pretty good match and is underrated in the live reports I’ve read. It was the best tag match on the show, if that says anything, which it doesn’t really. Eh. It was heated throughout and about halfway through the match, the fans began to remember that Ki turned heel. I’m a big mark for Low Ki’s in-ring work, but I’m gonna boo the hell out of him because he turned on our world champion. That’s what logic would dictate anyway. Some of these smarks are too jaded for their own good, which is why I never cared for the Heel Section of TNA fame, but that’s going off on a tangent. The match? Oh yes, back to the match. It was exactly what you would expect out of these four. Good, solid wrestling that included one spot where Mark Briscoe’s head HIT THE CEILING! Jay pinned Low Ki by reversing a Ki Krusher into a small package.

After the match, things got pretty crazy. When the two teams were going to shake hands, Ki kicks Jay in the head really hard, knocking him out. Mark goes ballistic and a wild brawl ensues. Then JOE comes out and wants to kill Ki. Nearly the entire locker room empties and it’s a really intense scene. Ki, Cide, and Smokes are all going crazy at ringside. Ki does a Homicide and starts throwing tables and chairs. One of the chairs (these aren’t the typical folding chairs, but the padded, already in a seat position chairs) obliterates referee Paul Turner, hitting him in the side of the head when he wasn’t looking, knocking him out immediately. They carried him out and it just continued from there. They fought to the back and even knocked one of the curtains down. According to later reports, they went out into the parking lot, and hotel residents called the police. The show abruptly went to intermission and I was left speechless.

SIXTH MATCH: ROCKIN’ REBEL vs. Cloudy (w/ Special K)

What a better way to follow up a riot than to have a Rockin’ Rebel match! This was a riot in a different sense of the word. Just the sight of Green Lantern Fan TURNING HIS BACK on the match bumps this up to a full half of a star. Of course, here at Wrestle-Fan we don’t rely on stars like certain “lesser” newslettery publications (figure that one out Wade K. and Dave M.!!!). Therefore, we can throw out such terms like Match of the Year Candidate without so much as batting an eye, and yet somehow we remain more trustworthy and accurate that people who live off of their opinions of the business. AND THAT’S THE FACTS, JACK! Er, Rebel. He won, btw. With a legdrop. Oddly, the crowd was much more hostile towards him in this match than they were on 6/24.

Sometime after the match, DUNN & MARCOS! decide that they aren’t gonna take it anymore. Maybe it wasn’t after this match. I honestly can’t remember and can’t find it in any online results. Oh yeah, RCE rulz, so that’s all that needs to be said.

SEVENTH MATCH: The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) (c) vs. The Havana Pitbulls (w/ Julius Smokes)

Before the match, or should I say, right after Punk’s entrance, Ace Steel heads to ringside. He gets on the mic and says in light of recent events he didn’t feel right having the Saints come out to Afi. Punk gives him a confused look as Super Freak blares over the PA and out comes Colt Cabana decked out in Rick James attire, complete with wrap around sunglasses. HUGE pop for Colt, and a nice little gesture too.

The match itself unfortunately never took off as much as I would have liked it to. There were some good moments though, and Rocky Romero’s hands through legs thingie is always great. The Pitbulls took home the titles in another big upset of the night.

EIGHTH MATCH: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Trent Acid

Joe seemed a little off his game here, which is quite understandable considering how broken down his body must be. Trent Acid seemed uncharacteristically game that night, and really brought it to the champ like he was wrestling a world title match. Unfortunately, Acid bruised his heel bone after ranaing Joe on the outside so they had to rush the finish and Joe went over Acid after an Island Driver. Acid had to be helped to the back. It’s really sad to see something like this happen when he was putting in so much effort, but wrestling is so random sometimes. Good match though.

NINTH MATCH: 2/3 Falls: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries

A little less than two months ago, ROH put on their first annual Survival of the Fittest tournament. Basically, things ended up in a 6-way elimination final and the last two remaining were Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson. These two absolutely tore the house down for the next 20 plus minutes. While Bryan Danielson came out victorious that night, Austin Aries came out of the match looking like a legitimate star, and Danielson simply re-solidified himself as one of the best workers in the world. The following month a rematch was announced with a stipulation of best 2 out of 3 falls added later. How could Danielson and Aries top their last match? I’m happy to report that they did just that… and then some.

I don’t want to go into detail on the match. And it certainly isn’t that I’ve forgotten it. The scene of American Dragon responding to chants of “Please Don’t Die” with a determined “I don’t give a f**k if I die” before delivering a superplex will be forever engrained in my mind. I simply don’t want to spoil the intricacies of the match, specifically the emphasis on realistic body part work and subsequent selling. Not to mention the apparent on-the-fly re-working of the entire match to tell a different story that somehow wound up making perfect sense. The fact that the tired, uber-jaded crowd was into the match way past midnight (some watching under the assumption it would go the full three hours) should speak volumes about the quality of match these two world-class workers put on. I spit in the face… IN THE FACE of those who say wrestling isn’t an art form, a point which that match really drilled home.

Was this the best match this year? For my money, without a doubt. No matter how you feel about Ring of Honor as a company, I urge EVERYONE right down to Little Johnny, who still clutches his Rocky Maivia action figure, to check out this match. That said, it’s entirely possible that not everyone will like it. At the same time, although I absolutely HATE the term, go into this match with an *sigh* “open mind” if you’ve had previous problems with Danielson or Aries (for whatever reason, I’ll never know). And, yeah, it’s possible that some people just won’t get it. Well, for those of you who do “get it”, enjoy 75 minutes of some of the best wrestling you’ll see this, or any, year.

The ME alone makes this the best show ROH has put out this year. There was a bunch of decent to good stuff leading up to the amazing main event. Do yourself a favor, as a wrestling fan, and BUY THIS TAPE!!! Or DVD, if you feel inclined.

[IWSfan4life]

Cheers on the review, the Dragon comment sent chills up my spine. I will order this tape no doubt, but I'm waiting to do so until after I see the build to this match (IE. their Survival of the Fittest match).

-Jason Burke

[AndyKaid]

Good call on seeing the SotF match first. It did indeed come into play during the match...

[IWSfan4life]

Yeah I already love Aries and thats w/o seeing the Dragon matches, so I can only imagine how much i'll love him after. I'm streaky with Dragon, but have loved his stuff this year thus far.

-Jason Burke

[Pike]

What a better way to follow up a riot than to have a Rockin’ Rebel match! This was a riot in a different sense of the word. Just the sight of Green Lantern Fan TURNING HIS BACK on the match bumps this up to a full half of a star.

Yeahhh! f**k Rebel. I love that guy: