Post by Agent Kev on Jun 10, 2007 0:20:38 GMT -5
We start off with Austin Aries backstage telling 3 wrestlers that he will be watching their matches tonight to see if they can make an impression.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Brent Albright
Pre-Match angle of sorts goes down when Claudio tells Albright that he knows Larry Sweeney is paying him to take him out and that he is willing to double Albright's money. That brings out Larry Sweeney who tells Albright that he is contractually obligated to wrestle Claudio. Albright tells Sweeney he doesn't like his tone but that he is a man of his word. Sweeney stays at ringside in Albright's corner for the match.
Overall a solid match although the opening segment (including the match) ends up going 20 minutes which IMO felt a little too long. Match was back and forth with Albright winning when Claudio got distracted by Sweeney and then ate a half nelson suplex from Albright.
Allison Danger & Sara Del Ray vs. MsChif & Serena
Surprisingly good tag-match. Del Ray looks really good and everyone else does their part.
Colt Cabana cuts a promo from his hotel room and hypes his fued with Jimmy Jacobs and their Windy City Death Match tonight.
Shingo vs. Matt Cross vs. CJ Otis vs. Trik Davis (Four Corner Survival Match)
This was adequate mainly due to Shingo being a stud. Matt Cross looks pretty decent, he has definitely improved over the last couple of years as his spots don't look as contrived as they use to and he has added a really cool looking fake dive into his arsenal. I could definitely see him being a good tag-partner and spot guy like Jack Evans was for GenNext. Trik Davis looked the same as he has in all of his ROH appearances- decent, but very tentative. CJ Otis (put over on commentary as a Sabu trainee) hit all of his spots pretty well and has a good look but showed zero ring presence in this match.
Post-Match Austin Aries comes out and congratulates Cross on his win and asks him to be his tag-partner for tonight. Cross accepts and then Roderick Strong and Davey Richards hit the ring and briefly brawl with Aries and Cross but are deposited to the outside of the ring. Delirious comes out of nowhere and chases Strong through the crowd.
Jimmy Rave vs. BJ Whitmer
This was a solid undercard match. Nothing great about it but nothing really bad either.
Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH World Tag Team Title Match)
This was a good match with a ton of action. They started out really fast with everyone going at each other but soon settled down when the Briscoes temporarily isolated Daniels. This led to the Sydal hot tag and then to Sydal/Daniels isolating Jay and working him over. Crowd started to get behind the Briscoes about mid-way through when Sydal and Daniels used some old school heel tactics to gain an advantage. Good finishing sequence with Daniels and Sydal reversing a Doomsday Device Springboard clothesline when Sydal hit a rana and Daniels grabbed a springboarding Briscoe and nailed him with a Death Valley Driver. Good false finish when Sydal and Daniels hit their top rope assisted Angels Wings but the pin was broken up and it provided the biggest pop of the match. Finish came when Mark hit Cut Throat Drivers on both opponents. Jay then hit a top rope legdrop and Mark followed it up with a top rope SSP for the win and new tag-champs.
Post-Match Rebecca Bayless interviews Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs backstage. Lacey tells Jimmy that tonight is not about winning and losing it's about taking care of Cabana. Jacobs responds by acting awesomely bizarre.
Austin Aries & Matt Cross vs. Roderick Strong & Davey Richards
This was a pretty decent little match with a good storyline going in. I liked Strong as a heel a lot here and thought that Aries did a good job in anchoring his team. Cross hit a SICK dive on Strong at the end of the match to allow Aries to put away Richards.
Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs (Windy City Death Match)
Pre-Match hype video is shown chronicling the Cabana/Jacobs feud history.
I liked this a lot. Just totally different than anything else on the card and just a good solid brawl. Went a little too long and the Brent Albright/BJ Whitmer run-ins could have been done without but overall solid stuff. Lots of blood.
Takeshi Morishima & Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide
Overall this was a solid Main Event. Morishima pretty much dominated Homicide whenever they were in the ring together and I really dug the Joe/Nigel and Joe/Morishima match-ups. Surprising finish with Nigel going over Joe with a rebound clothesline and the fans totally no-selling it with disbelief that Joe lost in his US farewell match for ROH.
Post-match Nigel gets on the mic and says that since he scored the pinfall for his team that he is challenging Morishima for a title shot when Morishima returns to the States. He then puts Joe over and Joe then cuts his farewell speech.
Verdict:
Overall a decent to good show with a pretty solid line-up up and down the card but missing that one great match to put it over the top.
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. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
5. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
6. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
Claudio Castagnoli vs Brent Albright
Pre-Match angle of sorts goes down when Claudio tells Albright that he knows Larry Sweeney is paying him to take him out and that he is willing to double Albright's money. That brings out Larry Sweeney who tells Albright that he is contractually obligated to wrestle Claudio. Albright tells Sweeney he doesn't like his tone but that he is a man of his word. Sweeney stays at ringside in Albright's corner for the match.
Overall a solid match although the opening segment (including the match) ends up going 20 minutes which IMO felt a little too long. Match was back and forth with Albright winning when Claudio got distracted by Sweeney and then ate a half nelson suplex from Albright.
Allison Danger & Sara Del Ray vs. MsChif & Serena
Surprisingly good tag-match. Del Ray looks really good and everyone else does their part.
Colt Cabana cuts a promo from his hotel room and hypes his fued with Jimmy Jacobs and their Windy City Death Match tonight.
Shingo vs. Matt Cross vs. CJ Otis vs. Trik Davis (Four Corner Survival Match)
This was adequate mainly due to Shingo being a stud. Matt Cross looks pretty decent, he has definitely improved over the last couple of years as his spots don't look as contrived as they use to and he has added a really cool looking fake dive into his arsenal. I could definitely see him being a good tag-partner and spot guy like Jack Evans was for GenNext. Trik Davis looked the same as he has in all of his ROH appearances- decent, but very tentative. CJ Otis (put over on commentary as a Sabu trainee) hit all of his spots pretty well and has a good look but showed zero ring presence in this match.
Post-Match Austin Aries comes out and congratulates Cross on his win and asks him to be his tag-partner for tonight. Cross accepts and then Roderick Strong and Davey Richards hit the ring and briefly brawl with Aries and Cross but are deposited to the outside of the ring. Delirious comes out of nowhere and chases Strong through the crowd.
Jimmy Rave vs. BJ Whitmer
This was a solid undercard match. Nothing great about it but nothing really bad either.
Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH World Tag Team Title Match)
This was a good match with a ton of action. They started out really fast with everyone going at each other but soon settled down when the Briscoes temporarily isolated Daniels. This led to the Sydal hot tag and then to Sydal/Daniels isolating Jay and working him over. Crowd started to get behind the Briscoes about mid-way through when Sydal and Daniels used some old school heel tactics to gain an advantage. Good finishing sequence with Daniels and Sydal reversing a Doomsday Device Springboard clothesline when Sydal hit a rana and Daniels grabbed a springboarding Briscoe and nailed him with a Death Valley Driver. Good false finish when Sydal and Daniels hit their top rope assisted Angels Wings but the pin was broken up and it provided the biggest pop of the match. Finish came when Mark hit Cut Throat Drivers on both opponents. Jay then hit a top rope legdrop and Mark followed it up with a top rope SSP for the win and new tag-champs.
Post-Match Rebecca Bayless interviews Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs backstage. Lacey tells Jimmy that tonight is not about winning and losing it's about taking care of Cabana. Jacobs responds by acting awesomely bizarre.
Austin Aries & Matt Cross vs. Roderick Strong & Davey Richards
This was a pretty decent little match with a good storyline going in. I liked Strong as a heel a lot here and thought that Aries did a good job in anchoring his team. Cross hit a SICK dive on Strong at the end of the match to allow Aries to put away Richards.
Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs (Windy City Death Match)
Pre-Match hype video is shown chronicling the Cabana/Jacobs feud history.
I liked this a lot. Just totally different than anything else on the card and just a good solid brawl. Went a little too long and the Brent Albright/BJ Whitmer run-ins could have been done without but overall solid stuff. Lots of blood.
Takeshi Morishima & Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide
Overall this was a solid Main Event. Morishima pretty much dominated Homicide whenever they were in the ring together and I really dug the Joe/Nigel and Joe/Morishima match-ups. Surprising finish with Nigel going over Joe with a rebound clothesline and the fans totally no-selling it with disbelief that Joe lost in his US farewell match for ROH.
Post-match Nigel gets on the mic and says that since he scored the pinfall for his team that he is challenging Morishima for a title shot when Morishima returns to the States. He then puts Joe over and Joe then cuts his farewell speech.
Verdict:
Overall a decent to good show with a pretty solid line-up up and down the card but missing that one great match to put it over the top.
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. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
5. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
6. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
