Post by Agent Kev on May 26, 2007 23:12:37 GMT -5
Dave Prazak is in the ring and he announces the NEW ROH Champion Takeshi Morhishima. Nigel McGuinness comes down and says that the NOAH office has sent him down to speak for Morishima and says that Morishima never gets in the ring unless he's gonna kick somebody's ass and hypes the Main Event of tonight (Morishima vs Whitmer). Irish Airborne hit the ring. They challenge Nigel and Morishima to a tag-match in the future. Morishima comes down and takes them out. Lacey comes down to the ring with Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright (Nigel is still in the ring). Lacey gets on the mic to hype the Jacobs/Albright vs Cabana/Nigel match for later. Jacobs and Albright get into the ring and Rave sneak attacks Nigel and puts the heel hook on him. Colt Cabana hits the ring (Rave takes a powder) and it looks like we are under way.
Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright w/Lacey vs Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness
McGuinness is isolated immediately and is controlled for the first 5 or so minutes. Cabana gets the hot tag and lukewarm crowd starts to get going a little. Back and forth decent match. Crowd popped for the finish but was pretty quiet until then.
BJ Whitmer backstage promo is up next. Whitmer hypes up his title shot tonight against Morishima and talks about how he earned the title match and says he's gonna have the biggest party of 2007 tonight in Dayton when he wins the ROH title.
Sterling Keenan vs Jimmy Rave
Based on intros this one looks to be a heel vs heel match-up as Keenan came down with a very smug attitude/persona. I just can't seem to get into Keenan. He's not particularly bad but he's just kind of there. This one kind of felt like a competitive TV match. Definitely think Keenan got in too much offense in this one but it's not like it hurts Rave at all as he gets Keenan to tap fairly quickly once he clamps on the heel hook.
Post-match Nigel hits the ring and he and Rave brawl through the crowd.
Lacey w/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Daizee Haze
I'm not a big fan of women's wrestling. This seemed okay for what it was. Best part of the match is when they cut to the crowd and Delirious is sitting in the middle of them watching the match. Jacobs hits a spear on Daizee for the win.
Rebecca Bayless goes into the crowd to interview Delirious (who is out of action this week due to Roderick Strongs beat down at the last show). Delirious remains silent.
Austin Aries cuts a backstage promo on Roderick Strong. Aries then hypes his match tonight against Matt Sydal.
Jay Briscoe vs Homicide vs Christopher Daniels w/Allison Danger
This was a solid match. They linked all three of these guys back to the very first ROH show and explained why they were fighting on the 5th Year Anniversary Shows.
Open The Brave Gate Title Match: Matt Sydal (c) vs. Austin Aries
This is the first time a Dragon Gate title was defended in the US so that's pretty cool. Oh yeah and these two guys use to be stable mates. Decent match with the right result. Nice to see Sydal getting a real push with the tag-belts and now a victory over Aries (even though he was somewhat still nursing an injury).
Roderick Strong hits the ring post match with Davey Richards and they attack Aries. Delirious to the ring! Delirious then cuts a promo in his native tongue.
Cut to Rebecca Bayless at Intermission. She is with Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs. Lacey tells Jimmy she wants him to kill Cabana and Jimmy is smitten.
Tank Toland w/Larry Sweeney vs and Mitch Franklin
Sweeney comes out with Toland and Franklin and Sweeney announces Toland as Chris Hero's personal trainer and then tells Mitch Franklin that Toland is gonna destroy him. Toland basically kills Franklin and makes an example out of him just like Sweeney said he would. Toland then does push ups over Franklin. Pretty decent short segment.
Six Man Mayhem- Pelle Primeau vs Matt Cross vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Shingo vs Mark Briscoe vs Roderick Strong
This was far and away the best and most exciting match of the show so far. Non-stop action and the match continued to build throughout. Pelle Primeau took a ton of offense in this one and got a huge "Pelle Primeau" chant at the end of the match (no one else got individual chants except for Matt Cross who got a smaller "M-Dogg 20" chant as he was leaving. Although there were "ROH" and "This Is Awesome" chants). This match made Pelle Primeau. Great performances from everyone else and towards the end Austin Aries comes down and chases Strong out of the match. Shingo looked awesome and Matt Cross looked pretty good except for blowing a post at the beginning of the match. This match should have happened earlier as it really woke up the crowd.
Davey Richards vs Samoa Joe
Crowd chants "Please Don't Go" to Joe before the match starts. Decent match. Joe hits Richards with a sick muscle buster on the apron and then rolls him into the ring to put him away in a great finish. Crowd chants "Thank You Joe". Richards refuses to shake Joe's hand and Joe gets on the mic and says "that proves appoint. If you smack your bitch around enough she's bound to disappoint you". Joe then goes into his farewell speech.
ROH Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs BJ Whitmer
Morishima hits the ring and they brawl immediately before the ring introductions. Morishima pretty much dominates this match with Whitmer surviving and making short comebacks. Whitmer hits an exploder for a near fall but comes up short. He goes for a wrist-clutch but is denied and instead eats a sidewalk slam. Morishima then hits a sick Uranage slam but BJ comes back with a belly-to-back and a lariat for another 2 count. Morishima then kills Whitmer with a backdrop driver for 2 and then hits a stiff clothesline for 2. Morishima then puts his thumbs down and nails another backdrop driver this time for the three count. Pretty good match.
Backstage the Briscoe Brothers cut a promo about their tag-title match on the next show.
Austin Aries then cuts a promo about Roderick Strong and about looking for new talent.
Verdict:
Overall this show just didn't have a good flow and really didn't have that great match or very good match to put it over. My favorite match on the show was the Six Man Mayhem- which was a ton of fun. Sydal/Aries, Morishima/Whitmer and Joe/Richards are all decent to good but don't really stand out. The crowd really detracted from this show as well as they just didn't seem to be into anything until the Six Man Mayhem- sometimes a hot crowd can make a decent show a very good show but this didn't happen here. Overall, a decent show but not at the level of a normal ROH show.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
3. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
4. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
5. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright w/Lacey vs Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness
McGuinness is isolated immediately and is controlled for the first 5 or so minutes. Cabana gets the hot tag and lukewarm crowd starts to get going a little. Back and forth decent match. Crowd popped for the finish but was pretty quiet until then.
BJ Whitmer backstage promo is up next. Whitmer hypes up his title shot tonight against Morishima and talks about how he earned the title match and says he's gonna have the biggest party of 2007 tonight in Dayton when he wins the ROH title.
Sterling Keenan vs Jimmy Rave
Based on intros this one looks to be a heel vs heel match-up as Keenan came down with a very smug attitude/persona. I just can't seem to get into Keenan. He's not particularly bad but he's just kind of there. This one kind of felt like a competitive TV match. Definitely think Keenan got in too much offense in this one but it's not like it hurts Rave at all as he gets Keenan to tap fairly quickly once he clamps on the heel hook.
Post-match Nigel hits the ring and he and Rave brawl through the crowd.
Lacey w/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Daizee Haze
I'm not a big fan of women's wrestling. This seemed okay for what it was. Best part of the match is when they cut to the crowd and Delirious is sitting in the middle of them watching the match. Jacobs hits a spear on Daizee for the win.
Rebecca Bayless goes into the crowd to interview Delirious (who is out of action this week due to Roderick Strongs beat down at the last show). Delirious remains silent.
Austin Aries cuts a backstage promo on Roderick Strong. Aries then hypes his match tonight against Matt Sydal.
Jay Briscoe vs Homicide vs Christopher Daniels w/Allison Danger
This was a solid match. They linked all three of these guys back to the very first ROH show and explained why they were fighting on the 5th Year Anniversary Shows.
Open The Brave Gate Title Match: Matt Sydal (c) vs. Austin Aries
This is the first time a Dragon Gate title was defended in the US so that's pretty cool. Oh yeah and these two guys use to be stable mates. Decent match with the right result. Nice to see Sydal getting a real push with the tag-belts and now a victory over Aries (even though he was somewhat still nursing an injury).
Roderick Strong hits the ring post match with Davey Richards and they attack Aries. Delirious to the ring! Delirious then cuts a promo in his native tongue.
Cut to Rebecca Bayless at Intermission. She is with Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs. Lacey tells Jimmy she wants him to kill Cabana and Jimmy is smitten.
Tank Toland w/Larry Sweeney vs and Mitch Franklin
Sweeney comes out with Toland and Franklin and Sweeney announces Toland as Chris Hero's personal trainer and then tells Mitch Franklin that Toland is gonna destroy him. Toland basically kills Franklin and makes an example out of him just like Sweeney said he would. Toland then does push ups over Franklin. Pretty decent short segment.
Six Man Mayhem- Pelle Primeau vs Matt Cross vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Shingo vs Mark Briscoe vs Roderick Strong
This was far and away the best and most exciting match of the show so far. Non-stop action and the match continued to build throughout. Pelle Primeau took a ton of offense in this one and got a huge "Pelle Primeau" chant at the end of the match (no one else got individual chants except for Matt Cross who got a smaller "M-Dogg 20" chant as he was leaving. Although there were "ROH" and "This Is Awesome" chants). This match made Pelle Primeau. Great performances from everyone else and towards the end Austin Aries comes down and chases Strong out of the match. Shingo looked awesome and Matt Cross looked pretty good except for blowing a post at the beginning of the match. This match should have happened earlier as it really woke up the crowd.
Davey Richards vs Samoa Joe
Crowd chants "Please Don't Go" to Joe before the match starts. Decent match. Joe hits Richards with a sick muscle buster on the apron and then rolls him into the ring to put him away in a great finish. Crowd chants "Thank You Joe". Richards refuses to shake Joe's hand and Joe gets on the mic and says "that proves appoint. If you smack your bitch around enough she's bound to disappoint you". Joe then goes into his farewell speech.
ROH Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs BJ Whitmer
Morishima hits the ring and they brawl immediately before the ring introductions. Morishima pretty much dominates this match with Whitmer surviving and making short comebacks. Whitmer hits an exploder for a near fall but comes up short. He goes for a wrist-clutch but is denied and instead eats a sidewalk slam. Morishima then hits a sick Uranage slam but BJ comes back with a belly-to-back and a lariat for another 2 count. Morishima then kills Whitmer with a backdrop driver for 2 and then hits a stiff clothesline for 2. Morishima then puts his thumbs down and nails another backdrop driver this time for the three count. Pretty good match.
Backstage the Briscoe Brothers cut a promo about their tag-title match on the next show.
Austin Aries then cuts a promo about Roderick Strong and about looking for new talent.
Verdict:
Overall this show just didn't have a good flow and really didn't have that great match or very good match to put it over. My favorite match on the show was the Six Man Mayhem- which was a ton of fun. Sydal/Aries, Morishima/Whitmer and Joe/Richards are all decent to good but don't really stand out. The crowd really detracted from this show as well as they just didn't seem to be into anything until the Six Man Mayhem- sometimes a hot crowd can make a decent show a very good show but this didn't happen here. Overall, a decent show but not at the level of a normal ROH show.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
3. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
4. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
5. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
