Post by Agent Kev on Mar 31, 2007 22:16:03 GMT -5
Epic Encounter II- St. Paul. MN 8/25/06 (DVD)
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Irish Airborne
This was a very enjoyable opener. Started off with Airborne hanging with the Briscoes. I really dig the style that the Airborne bring but I think they are still trying to find their niche as they tend to go a little overboard sometimes. Briscoes do a FANTASTIC closing sequence to win this as they hit a springboard Doomsday Device, Jay then hits a press slam into a death valley driver (which is like the best move ever), Mark then does a double stomp and then goes flying out of the ring to take out the Airborne member who had gotten killed by the doomsday device and then Jay straps on the stretch plum for the submission victory. Great finish and the crowd ate it up.
Homicide vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Some technical difficulties before this match as the lights appeared to go out but Jimmy Jacobs came out anyway and sang to Lacey. Overall a decent match that went a little too long. Seemed like they may have been trying to stretch it out to get the lighting stuff fixed.
Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli
I liked Cide/Jacobs better than this but it was still decent but not on the level of their match at the "100th Show).
Colt Cabana & Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinuaro
This was a solid mid-card match that was pretty much what I thought it would be. Good mix of comedy and action.
Post-match Briscoes come out and brawl with Davey Richards setting up the Richards/Cide vs Briscoes match for the next night in Chi-Town.
Cabana then cut a backstage promo talking about his Chi-Town match with Bryan Danielson when Jimmy Jacobs interrupted basically asking Colt if he fucked Lacey. Colt replied by singing some of Jimmy's song and telling him that he needs to get his self esteem up and not to worry about him and Lacey.
Matt Sydal vs. Delirious
This was ok in a fun, big spot way. Was probably really good live, but on tape it played out as mostly spots. Great effort and heart by both guys but just missing something meaningful.
Post match Christopher Daniels interview morphs into Jimmy Jacobs searching for Lacey and finding her and Colt Cabana in a compromising position leading him to the depths of emo-dom. Great stuff.
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & BJ Whitmer (World Tag Team Title Match)
This match was kinda weird for me. The execution was good and there were a lot of "holy sh*t" moments for the fans but overall it just seemed like a very random match and it didn't flow very well. I did love the last minute where Strong went over Joe but that was about it. However, the crowed ate it up like candy. So mission accomplished on that end.
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH World Title Match- 2 out of 3 Falls)
This was a really good match but it didn't really come into it's own until it was about 50 minutes in. They did a good job of drawing parallels to their last 2 matches but their didn't seem to be a lot of emotion in the first 2 falls. The 3rd fall was great and the stretch run was tremendous but overall this was definitely not on the same level as their UK match. Still a quality match though.
Verdict:
This show was just ok. The first 4 matches filled their role perfectly but the last 3 matches just didn't live up to my expectations. Sydal/Delirious and the tag-title match were both good but neither seemed to have any story whatsoever and just seemed like they were done to pop the crowd (there is nothing wrong with that- I just enjoy my popcorn matches earlier on in the card). Danielson/McGuinness was really solid but didn't live up to their previous UK encounter. This is a DVD that should be purchased by hardcore ROH fans or during a sale if you can pick it up cheap.
2006 Show Rankings:
1. Supercard Of Honor- Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06
2. Unified- Liverpool, UK 8/12/06
3. Better Than Our Best- Chicago Ridge, IL 4/1/06
4. Death Before Dishonor IV- Philadelphia, PA 7/15/06
5. Anarchy In The UK- Broxbourne, UK 8/13/06
6. In Your Face- New York, NY 6/17/06
7. The 100th Show- Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06
8. Generation Now- Cleveland, OH 7/29/06
9. Fight of the Century- Edison, NJ 8/5/06
10. Time To Man Up- Long Island, NY 8/4/06
11. Best In The World- New York, NY 3/25/06
12. Weekend of Champions Night 2- Cleveland, OH 4/29/06
13. Tag Wars 2006- Dayton, OH 1/27/06
14. Dragon Gate Challenge- Detroit, MI 3/30/06
15. Arena Warfare- Philadelphia, PA 3/11/06
16. Destiny- East Windsor, CT 6/3/06
17. Fourth Anniversary Show- Edison, NJ 2/25/06
18. Chi-Town Struggle- Chicago Ridge, IL 6/24/06
19. Epic Encounter II- St. Paul. MN 8/25/06
20. Throwdown- Detroit, MI 6/23/06
21. Dissension- Cleveland, OH 1/28/06
22. Hell Freezes Over- Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06
23. Ring of Homicide- Edison, NJ 5/13/06
24. How We Roll- Long Island, NY 5/12/06
25. Weekend of Champions Night 1- Dayton, OH 4/28/06
26. Unscripted II- Long Island, NY 2/11/06
27. War of the Wire II- Dayton, OH 7/28/06
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Irish Airborne
This was a very enjoyable opener. Started off with Airborne hanging with the Briscoes. I really dig the style that the Airborne bring but I think they are still trying to find their niche as they tend to go a little overboard sometimes. Briscoes do a FANTASTIC closing sequence to win this as they hit a springboard Doomsday Device, Jay then hits a press slam into a death valley driver (which is like the best move ever), Mark then does a double stomp and then goes flying out of the ring to take out the Airborne member who had gotten killed by the doomsday device and then Jay straps on the stretch plum for the submission victory. Great finish and the crowd ate it up.
Homicide vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Some technical difficulties before this match as the lights appeared to go out but Jimmy Jacobs came out anyway and sang to Lacey. Overall a decent match that went a little too long. Seemed like they may have been trying to stretch it out to get the lighting stuff fixed.
Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli
I liked Cide/Jacobs better than this but it was still decent but not on the level of their match at the "100th Show).
Colt Cabana & Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinuaro
This was a solid mid-card match that was pretty much what I thought it would be. Good mix of comedy and action.
Post-match Briscoes come out and brawl with Davey Richards setting up the Richards/Cide vs Briscoes match for the next night in Chi-Town.
Cabana then cut a backstage promo talking about his Chi-Town match with Bryan Danielson when Jimmy Jacobs interrupted basically asking Colt if he fucked Lacey. Colt replied by singing some of Jimmy's song and telling him that he needs to get his self esteem up and not to worry about him and Lacey.
Matt Sydal vs. Delirious
This was ok in a fun, big spot way. Was probably really good live, but on tape it played out as mostly spots. Great effort and heart by both guys but just missing something meaningful.
Post match Christopher Daniels interview morphs into Jimmy Jacobs searching for Lacey and finding her and Colt Cabana in a compromising position leading him to the depths of emo-dom. Great stuff.
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & BJ Whitmer (World Tag Team Title Match)
This match was kinda weird for me. The execution was good and there were a lot of "holy sh*t" moments for the fans but overall it just seemed like a very random match and it didn't flow very well. I did love the last minute where Strong went over Joe but that was about it. However, the crowed ate it up like candy. So mission accomplished on that end.
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH World Title Match- 2 out of 3 Falls)
This was a really good match but it didn't really come into it's own until it was about 50 minutes in. They did a good job of drawing parallels to their last 2 matches but their didn't seem to be a lot of emotion in the first 2 falls. The 3rd fall was great and the stretch run was tremendous but overall this was definitely not on the same level as their UK match. Still a quality match though.
Verdict:
This show was just ok. The first 4 matches filled their role perfectly but the last 3 matches just didn't live up to my expectations. Sydal/Delirious and the tag-title match were both good but neither seemed to have any story whatsoever and just seemed like they were done to pop the crowd (there is nothing wrong with that- I just enjoy my popcorn matches earlier on in the card). Danielson/McGuinness was really solid but didn't live up to their previous UK encounter. This is a DVD that should be purchased by hardcore ROH fans or during a sale if you can pick it up cheap.
2006 Show Rankings:
1. Supercard Of Honor- Chicago Ridge, IL 3/31/06
2. Unified- Liverpool, UK 8/12/06
3. Better Than Our Best- Chicago Ridge, IL 4/1/06
4. Death Before Dishonor IV- Philadelphia, PA 7/15/06
5. Anarchy In The UK- Broxbourne, UK 8/13/06
6. In Your Face- New York, NY 6/17/06
7. The 100th Show- Philadelphia, PA 4/22/06
8. Generation Now- Cleveland, OH 7/29/06
9. Fight of the Century- Edison, NJ 8/5/06
10. Time To Man Up- Long Island, NY 8/4/06
11. Best In The World- New York, NY 3/25/06
12. Weekend of Champions Night 2- Cleveland, OH 4/29/06
13. Tag Wars 2006- Dayton, OH 1/27/06
14. Dragon Gate Challenge- Detroit, MI 3/30/06
15. Arena Warfare- Philadelphia, PA 3/11/06
16. Destiny- East Windsor, CT 6/3/06
17. Fourth Anniversary Show- Edison, NJ 2/25/06
18. Chi-Town Struggle- Chicago Ridge, IL 6/24/06
19. Epic Encounter II- St. Paul. MN 8/25/06
20. Throwdown- Detroit, MI 6/23/06
21. Dissension- Cleveland, OH 1/28/06
22. Hell Freezes Over- Philadelphia, PA 1/14/06
23. Ring of Homicide- Edison, NJ 5/13/06
24. How We Roll- Long Island, NY 5/12/06
25. Weekend of Champions Night 1- Dayton, OH 4/28/06
26. Unscripted II- Long Island, NY 2/11/06
27. War of the Wire II- Dayton, OH 7/28/06
