ROH: "Better Than Our Best" Thoughts~!

[Agent Kev]

Show starts off with Colt Cabana coming down to the ring during one of the pre-show matches and looking challenge Homicide.

Six Man Mayhem: Ace Steel vs Jack Evans vs Matt Sydal vs Jimmy Jacobs vs Jake Crist vs Dave Crist

I'm not usually a fan of the Six Man Mayhem matches because they usually come off as somewhat of a cluster but this was one of the better one that i've seen. Ace looked really good here and he just decapitated one of the Crists earlier on with a clothesline. Good stuff throughout and I'm digging the Irish Airborne so far- I think they are going to be a good addition to the roster. Great way to get the crowd going to start a show.

Jim Cornette comes down and talks a lot about the CZW fued. He says Adam Pearce has been deputized tonight and will be watching the front and back doors to ensure the CZW guys are stopped if they try to interrupt the matches tonight. Cabana comes down and Cornette grants him a "Chicago Street Fight" tonight with Homicide. Then Cornette calls out Delirious and Delirious walks circles around Cornette until Cornette backs into the corner. Cornette tells Delirious that he is impressed with his athetic ability and energy but that he has never had a singles victory in ROH and must get one tonight to stay on the ROH roster. Delirious gets on the mic and cuts a brillant gibberish promo challenging Ricky Reyes that brings the fans to their feet.

Ricky Reyes vs. Delirious

Really good 10 minute match here. Fast paced match with Delirious coming out on top by reversing the Dragon Sleeper into a submission. Crowd erupts and Delirious does the Lambeau Leap into the ROH crowd to celebrate earning his roster spot.

Jimmy Rave/Alex Shelley/Masato Yoshino vs Dragon Kid/Genki Horiguchi/Ryo Saito

Yeah so this was pretty phenomenal. Almost on the level of the 6-man from the previous night. Shelley and Rave totally hung with DO FIXER and the match just flowed very well. Great stuff.

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Yang (Four Corner Survival)

This was a fun star-studded popcorn match. Good placement after the 6-man cause anything else might have drawn yawns from the crowd. Everyone looked good here and as typical with the ROH Four Corner matches it picked up at the end and worked it's way to a nice finish.

Post match Joe cuts a promo challenging Bryan Danielson. Danielson comes out and proceeds to cut the best damn promo Ring of Honor has seen this year. The crowd chants "Joe is Gonna Kill You" at Danielson and he gets on the mic and says something like "I hate to break it to you idiots but Joe isn't going to be killing anyone". Danielson goes on to say how Joe didn't make the ROH title, it made him and without ROH Joe would still be in Samoa climbing trees to get coconuts for his family. Danielson just toys with the crowd here. It's amazing how Danielson has taken the weakest parts of his game and made them strengths. He has truely taken his entire wrestling persona to another level this year. Great promo and he also gets some shots in on Lance Storm by saying "If I can be serious for a moment" at one point.

Danielson leaves and Chris Hero and Necro Butcher attack Joe (who is still in the ring). Adam Pearce comes down to help Joe and then BJ Whitmer, Claudio and eventually Cornette come down.

More to come...

[novocain]

Hurry up big man...I'm interested to see your thoughts on Storm/Dragon.

[brad512]

Well I just finished the DVD and thought it was the better than the previous 3 shows. Top to bottom, this was the best show. The weakest match on the card (Delirious vs. Reyes) still was decent enough and had a good storyline behind it. The 6-way was a great opener with lots of nice spots.

The 6 man tag match between Rave/Shelley/Yoshino and Do Fixer was really good. I loved it! Yoshino throwing the toilet paper in the back of Saito's head to start the head was hilarious. Shelley did a really good job gelling in this match considering the lack of time spent in the ring with the Dragon Gate guys (plus the language barrier). Rave was kinda non-existent until late in the match when he really came on strong. I just really enjoyed this match.

The 4 way between Styles/Daniels/Joe/Yang I thought was great! Another really good match that was REALLY fun to watch. Everyone performed well in this match. If this was on a TNA ppv, it would've gotten a lot more praise/acknowledgement. But since it was on such a loaded card, it doesn't stand out as much. Heck, going into intermission, I already felt like this show was gonna top the rest of the really good shows I've seen from the previous nights.

Blood Generation vs. Aries/Strong was just another unbelievable match to an unbelievable show. You could argue it was best match on the show. Aries was a trooper in this one, getting a broken nose from CIMA and still not missing a beat for the rest of the match. CIMA didn't take it easy on Aries either, cause he was going to town on Aries' face. A lot of really good stuff in this match. It's hard for me to say which match is the best so far. Rave/Shelley/Yoshino vs. Do Fixer, Styles/Joe/Daniels/Yang, and the tag title match all have been nearly equally as great IMO.

Next up is the most anticipated match for me, as Lance Storm returns from retirement. The RoH fans gave him a warm welcome. This match was solid, but I don't think it was Storm's best match like ppl were saying. In fact, I would say it was far from it. I enjoyed the match and all, but I guess my expectations were a bit higher considering the praise guys like Gabe were giving for this match. Still enjoyed it, but I guess maybe I had just been spoiled at this point in the show with so many great matches already taken place. After watching these past few shows, I think Danielson is really underrated in the charisma department. Sure, he's not real flashy or anything, but the guys got a lot more charisma than some ppl give him credit for. Comparisons to his charisma with a guy like Benoit should be insulting to Danielson. I enjoy his mic work quite a bit, and he's really fun to watch when he's interacting with the fans. Maybe I'm just behind, but I've always gotten the impression from ppl over the net that Danielson is about as bland as they come (which is ludacris if you ask me).

The main event was another entertaining match as well. Cabana pouring alcohol over Homicide's bloody face had to sting REAL bad. It was definitely intereresting watching a bunch of chairs getting thrown in the ring (with one hitting Cabana that cause a roar of boos towards the fan). Cabana won with the Colt 45. Smokes and Reyes were tying up Cabana after the match and beating him down. During this, Homicide oddly pulls them off and eventually shakes Cabana's hand. A fine match for what it was and a great way to end a feud in the post match aftermath.

Overall, I can see why ppl said this was the best show. Even though it might not have had a 5 star match, it had 3 matches that I would rate at least 4 stars. Plus, every match was entertaining and I got a big bonus seeing one of my all-time favs, Lance Storm, return to the ring. Top to bottom, this is the best show I've seen from RoH . It aint saying a lot from me since I can count the number of shows I've watched using both of my hands. However, I still think it means something considering how good the 3 previous shows were (all of which I watched). A great show that certainly spoiled me in terms of wrestling for awhile.

[novocain]

As far as traditional tags go, CIMA/Doi vs Aries/Strong is my favorite this year (however I haven't seen BITW yet).

I thought Storm/Danielson was very solid and it was nice to see Storm getting a good reaction. The only natural downfall is Lance had mastered the 90's style which isn't as hot nowadays but the two wrestled a very smooth match that held me the whole way through.

This is a extremely well rounded card but in my eyes, it just can't topple the mammoth card that SCOH was. My MOTY in Danielson/Strong and another MOTYC seals it for me. But I'd probably put BTOB right behind it, regardless. Fucking phenomenal shows.

[Agent Kev]

novocain said:

As far as traditional tags go, CIMA/Doi vs Aries/Strong is my favorite this year (however I haven't seen BITW yet).
.

Morishima/Rikio vs Marufuji/KENTA is up there!

[brad512]

admin said:

novocain said:

As far as traditional tags go, CIMA/Doi vs Aries/Strong is my favorite this year (however I haven't seen BITW yet).
.

Morishima/Rikio vs Marufuji/KENTA is up there!

That was a really good match. I'd still put the Marufuji vs. KENTA match back in January as my NOAH MOTY though.

[Agent Kev]

brad512 said:

After watching these past few shows, I think Danielson is really underrated in the charisma department. Sure, he's not real flashy or anything, but the guys got a lot more charisma than some ppl give him credit for. Comparisons to his charisma with a guy like Benoit should be insulting to Danielson. I enjoy his mic work quite a bit, and he's really fun to watch when he's interacting with the fans. Maybe I'm just behind, but I've always gotten the impression from ppl over the net that Danielson is about as bland as they come (which is ludacris if you ask me).

Those comments come from people who watched Danielson back in 2002 and 2003 when he was primarily focused on just wrestling. They either haven't seen Danielson's work from 2005 and 2006 or just flat out refuse to acknowledge that he has taken the weaker points of his game and stepped them up.

[Agent Kev]

Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi (ROH Tag Team Title Match)

Really fun tag-match here. Very reminiscent of the 6-man match from the "Dragon Gate Challenge" show in Detroit that also included Aries, Strong, CIMA and Doi. The funny thing for me here is that CIMA is weak link in this match. He is not overly bad but he has some moments where he pauses like he's kind of lost. That being said, it doesn't really take away from the match. Good stuff.

Bryan Danielson vs. Lance Storm (ROH World Title Match)

Just a fantastic classic wrestling match between two great wrestlers. I thought this was a great match from beginning to end. Storm brings it and Danielson continues on his hot streak. Really back and forth for most of the match before Danielson pulls away which sets up for the Lance Storm stretch run which brings the crowd to it's feet before Danielson comes out victorious. Danielson continues to have great matches that build to a climax with the contenders comeback stretch only to be thwarted by the champ. At one point fans chanted "You Still Got It" at Storm only to have Danielson gain the advantage and scream "Who's got it now?" at the crowd. Great stuff.

Homicide vs. Colt Cabana (Chicago Street Fight)

This was a good match that did a good job of tying the fued together in the match and bringing it to a close. That being said, it just seemed to be missing that something extra to really make me care about it. I think the fued dragged on too long (probably due to Cide being injured throughout a lot of the fue) and that hurt it for me a bit.

Verdict:
Definitely a show you will want to add to your collection. Really solid from top to bottom. Danielson/Storm is just a great wrestling match, the ROH tag-title match is really fun, and the DG/Embassy 6-man is great. Just a step below the last show but only due to the Main Event not being as good.

2006 Show Rankings:
1. Supercard Of Honor- Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06
2. Better Than Our Best- Chicago Ridge, IL 4/1/06
3. Best In The World- New York, NY 3/25/06
4. Tag Wars 2006- Dayton, OH 1/27/06
5. Dragon Gate Challenge- Detroit, MI 3/30/06
6. Arena Warfare- Philadelphia, PA 3/11/06
7. Fourth Anniversary Show- Edison, NJ 2/25/06
8. Dissension- Cleveland, OH 1/28/06
9. Hell Freezes Over- Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06
10. Unscripted II- Long Island, NY 2/11/06