|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Sept 19, 2004 19:27:47 GMT -5
Show opens with a "Good Times, Great Memories" segment with special guests Prince Nana and The Outkast Killas.
John Walters vs. Nigel McGuiness
This was a decent opener where the ending came out of nowhere and kinda made it seem a little rush. That being said the match was still pretty good. I am really digging Nigel and his European style that he brings to the table. It is very unique and fresh in the US indy scene. I also dig his turnbuckle stand where he baits in his opponents (similar to Rocky Romero's where he cradles himself into a ball and begs his opponent to take his hand). I'm still not sold on John Walters. I think he is okay, but he is yet to REALLY show me what he is made of. Until he does in my eyes he is not worthy of being the Pure champion. Hopefully in Chicago and in Dayton he will be able to prove me wrong.
Next Up: Roderick Strong vs. Izzy
|
|
|
|
Post by IWSfan4life on Sept 19, 2004 19:45:36 GMT -5
"I'm still not sold on John Walters."
I wasn't either until later this year. The Gen Next fued and a few awesome pure matches (4 way and vs. Collyer) have me more than happy with Walters, and I think he's one of the more underrated workers right now. Can't wait to see this match.
-Jason Burke
|
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Sept 19, 2004 20:10:59 GMT -5
Roderick Strong vs. Izzy
This was a fun little sprint that was good for what it was. Izzy started off with his high-flying super spotty fun offense until he tried a running rana from the apron to the floor. Strong grabbed him and threw him into the ring barracade and then into the ring post and that was the beginning of the end. From there it was pretty much Strong KILLING Izzy with his backbreakers, chops, strikes and other assortment of death devices while Izzy tried to get in short flurries of offense to no avail. Mark another one up for GenNext.
Next Up: The Carnage Crew vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer
|
|
AndyKaid
NWA Champion
Member of Sweet & Sour International
Posts: 662
|
Post by AndyKaid on Sept 20, 2004 0:27:50 GMT -5
Hey Kev, did they clip Walters vs. McGuiness to edit out the black outs?
btw, their match at GBH 3 was MUCH better than this one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Sept 20, 2004 8:00:19 GMT -5
Hey Kev, did they clip Walters vs. McGuiness to edit out the black outs? btw, their match at GBH 3 was MUCH better than this one. I'm guessing that they edited it as there weren't any blackouts. I didn't notice the clipping though. |
|
|
|
Post by IWSfan4life on Sept 20, 2004 17:28:47 GMT -5
I'd love to see another Pure fued like Stryker/Collyer had earlier in ROH, and how Stryker/Shelley started to. Any pure guy in ROH could benefit from that.
-Jason Burke
|
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Sept 21, 2004 20:46:34 GMT -5
The Carnage Crew vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer
The best thing about this match was that it was short. I just wasn't feeling this one at all.
2 Cold Scorpio vs. Alex Shelley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Ace Steel
This was fun. Shelley did some nice micwork at the beginning of the match to cut down the other 3 competitors. This was pretty much Scorpio's match as he saw a majority of the action and played his opponents off one another during the match. Finish came when Lethal hit a dragon suplex throw on Scorpio but it was broken up and then Shelley nailed Lethal with the Shellshock for the win.
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Low Ki & Homicide
Another really fun match. I am totally digging Cide as a heel and Ki's move to heeldom has been superb as well. It really freshens up both guys for me and Cide is SO much better as a heel that it's not funny. Nice finish as Cide nails Jay with a lariot but he is not the legal man so the ref won't count. Jay then hits Cide with the Jay Driller after ducking another lariot. Jay then reverses the KiKrusher into a small package for the 1-2-3 and to become the first man to pin Ki in ROH since 2002.
There was a 10-minute pull-apart/locker room/parking lot brawl featuring Rotweilers, Briscoes, Joe and the ROH locker room following this match.
Second City Saints (C) (CM Punk/Colt Cabana) vs. Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes/Rocky Romero)
Pre-match festivities included Colt Cabana doing his tribute to Rick James by coming out to "Super Freak" and dancing around the ring.
This was a solid match. Good story throughout with the Saints working over Rocky and cutting the ring in half until he makes the tag and then the Pitbulls work over Punk and cut the ring in half. Fun spot of the match where Punk has Rocky in a "surfboard" and then Cabana stops Ricky from breaking it up, Punk tells Cabana to put Ricky in a "surfboard" move but Cabana can't so Cabana flips Ricky over and steps on him and mimics life he is on a surfboard riding a wave. LMAO. Rocky tenaciously works over Punk's arm during the second half of the match with a variety of armbar submissions and takedowns. Ending comes when Rocky grabs Punk for a small package, Cabana tries to hold onto Punk's arm to stop the pin from happening but Ricky takes him out and the small package is completed for the 1-2-3. Good job of putting HP over SCS here cleanly (whereas a lot of their past matches have included interference this one did not). This definitely puts HP and The Rotweilers even more so a head above the rest of the ROH roster with the exception of Joe.
ROH Title Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Trent Acid
They cut into this match as Gabe Sap...er....Chris Lovey.....er....Jimmy Bower lets us know that Trent Acid suffered an ankle injury minutes into this match as they show him doing a rana on Joe to the floor. They then show about a minute of the match. Joe KILLS Trent with a finisher (I think it was an Island Driver) for the win.
More to come...
|
|
|
|
Post by NewFnShow on Oct 1, 2004 13:13:19 GMT -5
Kev, I just noticed that you never finished this(which means you never watched Aries vs. Danielson.) What gives?
|
|
|
|
Post by IWSfan4life on Oct 1, 2004 16:46:30 GMT -5
I can't wait to get this show and check out Aries/Dragon. I didn't like Dragon against any other great wrestlers (London, Cannon, Styles, Hero) so I doubt I'll like this but Aries is the sh*t so I'll keep an open mind.
-Jason
|
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Oct 1, 2004 22:36:06 GMT -5
Kev, I just noticed that you never finished this(which means you never watched Aries vs. Danielson.) What gives? I haven't been in the mood to watch it yet. I've been too busy with other stuff to sit down for 2 hrs and watch it in one sitting. I'll try and do it tomorrow after the UGA game. |
|
|
|
Post by NewFnShow on Oct 2, 2004 14:59:09 GMT -5
Oh ok. I thought maybe you had watched it but didn't review it or something.
And that LSU vs. Georgia game should be sweet. I'll definately be watching.
|
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Oct 2, 2004 15:20:11 GMT -5
Oh ok. I thought maybe you had watched it but didn't review it or something. And that LSU vs. Georgia game should be sweet. I'll definately be watching. UGA 10 LSU 0. So far so good. |
|
|
|
Post by Agent Kev on Oct 2, 2004 22:16:03 GMT -5
Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson (2 Out Of 3 Falls Match)
This was a really good match. And I would like to point out that some have said that this is better with a second viewing. I thought the first fall was tremendous and pretty much flawless with just smart, smart wrestling at it's best. The second fall started out great with Danielson on the offensive as he had tapped to the Cattle Mutilation in the first fall. He changed his strategy from going after Austin's midsection to going after his leg. During the second fall Dragon does a tope and seems to get caught up in the ropes and crashes and burns as Aries moves out of the way (looked like a botch by Dragon but also looked like Aries was supposed to move out of the way). This kinda killed a lot of the matches momentum for me. The first fall was great, but long. This created several minutes of stalling with nothing much happening. Then match eventually comes back to together and they continue on but it just felt like a void from that point. The rest of the match is solid with Dragon pulling out a fucking wicked leglock on Aries that can only be described as a cross between an indian-deathlock, figure four and a mutalock. He basically applies the move standing up while Aries is dying in pain on the ground, then to get extra leverage Dragon bends backwards to bridge to add more pain to Austin's world. I don't want to spoil the match by listing who beat who with what but I felt there were a lot of similarities between this and the Dragon/London match from 4/12/03. I highly recommend this match to wrestling enthusiasts but I have a hard time placing it in my Top 3 ROH matches of 2004 after one viewing. So far I've still got Cide/Danielson, GenNext 8-man and Punk/Joe above this one until I have a chance to watch all of them again. I think another thing that made this match not come off as good as the others was the crowd reaction. I think the crowd enjoyed the match but they weren't very vocal during it, like they have been during other matches. Sometimes the crowd can make a good match seem better than it really is and likewise can make a great match not seem as good.
Overall I think this was a good show but not great. It definitely wasn't at the level of the last one I watched (DBD II Pt2). There are some good matches on this card (SCS vs. Pitbulls, 4-way, Ki/Cide vs. Briscoes) but the real reason to get this show is to see Dragon vs. Aries for yourself and form your own opinion on it. That being said I'm still not sure how I feel about the match as a whole. Obviously I liked it, but I think it could have been better if it was kept a little shorter. I generally am a fan of 2/3 falls matches but I think this one could have been better as a straight one on one contest just because the first fall was so damn good.
Updated ROH 2004 Show Rankings:
1. Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2 (MUST-SEE)
2. ROH Reborn: The Completion (must-see)
3. 2nd Year Anniversary (must-see)
4. Generation Next (must-see)
5. ROH Reborn Stage Two (need-to-see)
6. Survival of the Fittest (need-to-see)
7. The Battle Lines are Drawn (need-to-see)
8. ROH Reborn Stage One (good to see)
9. World Title Classic (good to see)
10. Testing the Limit (good to see)
11. Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 1 (good to see)
12. Round Robin Challenge III (good to see)
13. At Our Best (good to see)
14. The Last Stand (good to see)
|
|
