Post by Agent Kev on May 11, 2007 23:41:33 GMT -5
Skipping ahead to the first show of 2007 and will double back at some point and pick up on the 2006 shows.
Braintree, MA 1/26/07
Show starts off with a 10 bell salute for the late Doug Gentry and then they interview Rebecca Bayless who interviews new ROH champ Homicide w/Julius Smokes. Larry Sweeney (Chris Hero's super agent) interrupts the interview. Hero attacks from behind to set up their match later on the show. This was my first chance to see Sweeney in his role and he is definitely star material. Rocky Romero comes out and clears the ring. Romero gets on the mic and talks about how Homicide doesn't have his back. Homicide and Smokes say they aren't going to talk about this out here and tell Rocky to come to the back. Romero then calls out Davey Richards.
Rocky Romero vs Davey Richards
Some decent back and forth wrestling. Heated exchanges on the outside were a nice touch. Not much crowd heat here. Not a bad match but probably not the best opener. Point of the match seemed to be to get these guys over as somewhat equals but it went a little too long for an opener and for what they were trying to accomplish. Interesting finish as Romero got Richards to tap.
Next up is a Jimmy Rave promo, who puts over his new submission finisher.
Eddie Edwards vs. Jack Evans
This would have been a better choice for an opener. Spot of the match early on is when Jack goes for a rana off the ring apron to the floor but Edwards catches him and power bombs him onto the ring apron. Sick looking move and gets him an "Eddie Edwards...Eddie Edwards" chant. Overall this was a fun match. Edwards looked solid and hit some nice moves. Definitely seems worth another shot or two just needs to work on getting his in-ring persona over.
Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn vs. Delirious and Pelle Primeau
It's nice seeing the students get a shot on the Main Show. Pelle eats offense really well, but I guess that's not too hard when you weigh a buck twenty and for a small guy he has some pretty decent offense at times. Overall this was a pretty decent match, especially considering that two guys as inexperienced as Hagadorn and Primeau were in the match.
Post match Briscoe Brothers promo. They talk about their NOAH tour and their match tonight with Aries and Strong.
Colt Cabana/BJ Whitmer/Daizee Haze vs. Jimmy Jacobs/Brent Albright/Lacey
Team Jacobs attacks from behind before Team Cabana even gets to the ring and all hell has broken loose! Pretty solid mixed six-man. Jacobs/Albright really compliment each other well. Daizee takes a sick German from Albright and gets put through a table on a senton from Jacobs.
Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe
This was really solid. Definitely the best match of the night so far with both guys showing good familiarity with each other and Nigel surviving a Muscle Buster and then a clothesline got the crowd going. Nigel slipped out of a second Muscle Buster but Joe grabbed the choke. Crowd chanted "Please don't tap" but Nigel passed out in the choke. Overall the fans definitely wanted a Nigel victory here but it made sense in terms of the Joe vs NOAH storyline (with McGuinness being a NOAH wrestler) that Joe would go over. Of course the storyline later had to be scrapped.
Post match Jimmy Rave does a run in and grabs Joe in an ankle lock before McGuinness comes to Joe's rescue.
Rebecca Bayless is up next at intermission as she goes backstage to get some "exclusive interviews". Daizee Haze is backstage with a huge bump on her head and Colt Cabana cuts a promo on Jimmy Jacobs.
Jason Blade vs. Shingo vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Christopher Daniels
SICK near fall near the end in this one as Shingo turned Blade inside out with a clothesline and then drilled him with a pump-handle driver but Daniels disrupted the 3-count. Rave snuck in at the end and got Daniels to tap to the heel hook. Overall a very enjoyable spotty match.
ROH Title Match: Homicide vs Chris Hero w/Larry Sweeney
Chris Hero is great. He always has great ring entrances and this one is the same and he jaws with the fans telling them that he is the figurehead of the company, he's the one that sells the DVDs and he puts asses in the seats. I always liked him but never thought he would fit in so well in ROH. Crowd chants "Fuck You Hero" and Hero has the ring announcer tell the crowd that the future World Champion does not appreciate their profanity as Sweeney rubs his shoulders and coaches him outside the ring. Sweeney and Hero seem to be working very well together. Hero flips into the ring and announced "That Was Awesome!". Great pre-match stuff from Hero.
Back in forth action in the ring with Homicide usually winning out (after Hero gets some good sequences in) which leads to Hero outside of the ring jawing with the crowd. After this Homicide controls for a while. Homicide gains the advantage and Sweeney gets actively involved in the match. Overall a decent match but just didn't have the oomph of a Danielson title match and honestly Hero and Sweeney were the best thing about this match. Cide wins when Sweeney's distraction backfires and Cide nails a Cop Killer for the win.
Jack Evans cuts a backstage promo about this being his year "and you know this maaaaannnnnn".
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong- 2 out of 3 falls
First fall focuses mostly on just solid wrestling with momentum gradually swinging from one team to the other. First big spot of the match was Aries hitting his torpedo dive through the ropes and hit a double clothesline with it on The Briscoes. Back in the ring Roddy gets going with a chop and a backbreaker. First fall goes back and forth until Aries is pushed off the top rope and Roddy eats a Springboard Spike Jay Driller.
Second fall starts with Roddy still recovering and the Briscoes jumping on him to gain the advantage as they break out a "Total Elimination" early into the second fall. Aries hits a sick death valley driver onto the edge of the ring apron shortly after Aries/Strong gain an advantage. Aries hits the 450 shortly after this but it's broken up. Aries has his brainbuster broken up and instead eats a Springboard Spike Jay Driller for the win as they go over Aries/Strong in two straight falls to assert their dominance.
Post match backstage interaction between Homicide and Samoa Joe setting up their match for the next show.
Verdict:
This was a good show that was missing that one big match to put it over the top. The first half of the show was ok and ended with a really solid Nigel/Joe match. Second half was better with the 4-way, Hero/Cide and Briscoes vs Aries/Strong. Not a show that you have to own but definitely some enjoyable stuff along the way.
Braintree, MA 1/26/07
Show starts off with a 10 bell salute for the late Doug Gentry and then they interview Rebecca Bayless who interviews new ROH champ Homicide w/Julius Smokes. Larry Sweeney (Chris Hero's super agent) interrupts the interview. Hero attacks from behind to set up their match later on the show. This was my first chance to see Sweeney in his role and he is definitely star material. Rocky Romero comes out and clears the ring. Romero gets on the mic and talks about how Homicide doesn't have his back. Homicide and Smokes say they aren't going to talk about this out here and tell Rocky to come to the back. Romero then calls out Davey Richards.
Rocky Romero vs Davey Richards
Some decent back and forth wrestling. Heated exchanges on the outside were a nice touch. Not much crowd heat here. Not a bad match but probably not the best opener. Point of the match seemed to be to get these guys over as somewhat equals but it went a little too long for an opener and for what they were trying to accomplish. Interesting finish as Romero got Richards to tap.
Next up is a Jimmy Rave promo, who puts over his new submission finisher.
Eddie Edwards vs. Jack Evans
This would have been a better choice for an opener. Spot of the match early on is when Jack goes for a rana off the ring apron to the floor but Edwards catches him and power bombs him onto the ring apron. Sick looking move and gets him an "Eddie Edwards...Eddie Edwards" chant. Overall this was a fun match. Edwards looked solid and hit some nice moves. Definitely seems worth another shot or two just needs to work on getting his in-ring persona over.
Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn vs. Delirious and Pelle Primeau
It's nice seeing the students get a shot on the Main Show. Pelle eats offense really well, but I guess that's not too hard when you weigh a buck twenty and for a small guy he has some pretty decent offense at times. Overall this was a pretty decent match, especially considering that two guys as inexperienced as Hagadorn and Primeau were in the match.
Post match Briscoe Brothers promo. They talk about their NOAH tour and their match tonight with Aries and Strong.
Colt Cabana/BJ Whitmer/Daizee Haze vs. Jimmy Jacobs/Brent Albright/Lacey
Team Jacobs attacks from behind before Team Cabana even gets to the ring and all hell has broken loose! Pretty solid mixed six-man. Jacobs/Albright really compliment each other well. Daizee takes a sick German from Albright and gets put through a table on a senton from Jacobs.
Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe
This was really solid. Definitely the best match of the night so far with both guys showing good familiarity with each other and Nigel surviving a Muscle Buster and then a clothesline got the crowd going. Nigel slipped out of a second Muscle Buster but Joe grabbed the choke. Crowd chanted "Please don't tap" but Nigel passed out in the choke. Overall the fans definitely wanted a Nigel victory here but it made sense in terms of the Joe vs NOAH storyline (with McGuinness being a NOAH wrestler) that Joe would go over. Of course the storyline later had to be scrapped.
Post match Jimmy Rave does a run in and grabs Joe in an ankle lock before McGuinness comes to Joe's rescue.
Rebecca Bayless is up next at intermission as she goes backstage to get some "exclusive interviews". Daizee Haze is backstage with a huge bump on her head and Colt Cabana cuts a promo on Jimmy Jacobs.
Jason Blade vs. Shingo vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Christopher Daniels
SICK near fall near the end in this one as Shingo turned Blade inside out with a clothesline and then drilled him with a pump-handle driver but Daniels disrupted the 3-count. Rave snuck in at the end and got Daniels to tap to the heel hook. Overall a very enjoyable spotty match.
ROH Title Match: Homicide vs Chris Hero w/Larry Sweeney
Chris Hero is great. He always has great ring entrances and this one is the same and he jaws with the fans telling them that he is the figurehead of the company, he's the one that sells the DVDs and he puts asses in the seats. I always liked him but never thought he would fit in so well in ROH. Crowd chants "Fuck You Hero" and Hero has the ring announcer tell the crowd that the future World Champion does not appreciate their profanity as Sweeney rubs his shoulders and coaches him outside the ring. Sweeney and Hero seem to be working very well together. Hero flips into the ring and announced "That Was Awesome!". Great pre-match stuff from Hero.
Back in forth action in the ring with Homicide usually winning out (after Hero gets some good sequences in) which leads to Hero outside of the ring jawing with the crowd. After this Homicide controls for a while. Homicide gains the advantage and Sweeney gets actively involved in the match. Overall a decent match but just didn't have the oomph of a Danielson title match and honestly Hero and Sweeney were the best thing about this match. Cide wins when Sweeney's distraction backfires and Cide nails a Cop Killer for the win.
Jack Evans cuts a backstage promo about this being his year "and you know this maaaaannnnnn".
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong- 2 out of 3 falls
First fall focuses mostly on just solid wrestling with momentum gradually swinging from one team to the other. First big spot of the match was Aries hitting his torpedo dive through the ropes and hit a double clothesline with it on The Briscoes. Back in the ring Roddy gets going with a chop and a backbreaker. First fall goes back and forth until Aries is pushed off the top rope and Roddy eats a Springboard Spike Jay Driller.
Second fall starts with Roddy still recovering and the Briscoes jumping on him to gain the advantage as they break out a "Total Elimination" early into the second fall. Aries hits a sick death valley driver onto the edge of the ring apron shortly after Aries/Strong gain an advantage. Aries hits the 450 shortly after this but it's broken up. Aries has his brainbuster broken up and instead eats a Springboard Spike Jay Driller for the win as they go over Aries/Strong in two straight falls to assert their dominance.
Post match backstage interaction between Homicide and Samoa Joe setting up their match for the next show.
Verdict:
This was a good show that was missing that one big match to put it over the top. The first half of the show was ok and ended with a really solid Nigel/Joe match. Second half was better with the 4-way, Hero/Cide and Briscoes vs Aries/Strong. Not a show that you have to own but definitely some enjoyable stuff along the way.
