Post by Agent Kev on Jun 21, 2007 22:57:58 GMT -5
Bricoes backstage promo starts us off. They talk about losing both the NOAH GHC Jr titles and the ROH titles in their first defenses this year. They say it's time to man up and start pushing each other around.
Delirious vs. Colt Cabana
Delirious is always a great way to start a show as he really gets the fans going. Same with Cabana. Cabana is doing an impersonation of a British wrestler named Big Daddy. Cabana steals Delirious usual move by going crazy when the bell rings and does Delirious's usual shtick. Delirious starts to get pissed and runs around outside the ring throwing stuff into the ring and yelling in Delirious speak. Crowd eats it up. Lots of stalling and playing to the crowd- which the crowd enjoys. Cabana mimics some of Big Daddy's offense to catch Delirious off-guard again. Lots of roll-ups in this match. Really fun opener and the crowd really dug it.
Backstage promo with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards. They talk about their title match tonight with Shingo and Doi. BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs brawl through their promo.
Jetta and Eden Black vs Allison Danger and Sara del Ray
Good for what it was.
Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer are shown brawling in the crowd and the next match starts...
Falls Count Anywhere: BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs
The continue to brawl through the crowd and up and down the staircase to the balcony. Jacobs gets a huge pop with a rana and then does a flying body press from the balcony onto Whitmer that gets a huge pop. They finally get to the ring and Jacobs brings his spike into play and Whitmer gets busted open. Whitmer is bleeding all over the place and Jacobs is showing no mercy. Jacobs nails a reverse rana but then gets his contra code reversed into a SICK jumping inverted piledriver (adrenaline spike). They are trading chops and forearms and Whitmer blisters Jacobs with his chops and then destroys him with a forearm. Crowd is really into this match. Whitmer hits a brainbuster on the ramp to the ring and gets the 1-2-3. Pretty great brawl and fight.
Jimmy Rave is backstage and talks about his feud with Nigel McGuinness and their "Fight Without Honor" match tonight.
Pac vs. Matt Sydal
Pretty great start to this match as they go back and forth with lots of fast paced wrestling. Pac hangs with Sydal early but Sydal controls the pace and tone of the match. Pac gets on offense and unfortunately blows a spot. Sydal takes back control. Sydal goes for a top rope rana but Pac moves and Sydal crotches himself- interesting spot here as it's the first time i've seen this particular spot done. Pac grabs the offense and makes up for the blown spot earlier with some nice athletic moves. Pac then hits a crazy corkscrew press from the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring and Pac runs from one side of the ring to the other and hits a really nice looking twisting moonsault that pops the crowd. Sydal comes back with a SICK Snapmare driver and then a beautiful standing moonsault but only gets 2. Pac hits a nice rana for a near fall and then a Tiger Suplex but can't pin Sydal. Sydal hits a nice rana and then a 450 to finally finish off Pac. Really good match, only downside was the one blown spot and they more than made up that. Sydal looked really good on this UK trip and Pac was definitely very impressive- he's still very green but he shows a lot of fire and has some really nice spots and innovative moves.
Jay Briscoe vs Mark Briscoe
They come to the ring for their singles match together. Jay slaps his younger brother right across the face early and we know that this one is going to be fun. First big spot of the match is hit about 6 minutes in as Mark hits Jay and then goes to bounce off the ropes but Jay has him measured and just destroys him over the rope with a clothesline and they both tumble to the floor where they get up and go toe to toe with each other. Jay seems to be getting the upper hand early but Mark sends him into the unforgiving guardrails. Mark then hits a moonsault off the guardrail. Jay gains a brief advantage but Mark nails him with a suplex on the ramp to the ring. They get back in the ring and Mark continues to control the match hitting various offensive moves until Jay does a reversal and hits a big DDT. Jay controls the offensive now. Good solid match so far about 15 minutes in. They exchange slaps and forearms. Mark goes for a springboard from the apron but instead eats a dropkick and crashes and burns. Jay then hits a sommersault dive over the top. Back in the ring, lots of good strikes and Mark is on fire with a running knee strike, springboard kick and a springboard corkscrew. Jay comes back with a huge front suplex off the top (called a Gordbuster- ode to Arn Anderson- by Lenny Leonard). Lots of back and forth action and Mark eats 2 straight Saito Suplexes. INCREDIBLE spot where the ref backs Mark off of Jay (who is in the ropes). Mark pushes the ref into the ropes and the ref falls onto his hands and knees as Jay is on the ring apron. Mark gets a running start and launches off the refs back and hits a SICK rana on Jay (who was on the ring apron) and takes both of them to the floor. Back in the ring and Jay hits a SICK Jay Driller. The ref does a double count and both guys get up at 9 and go at it toe to toe to the delight of the fans until they collapse. Jay to his feet first and Mark hits a nice Cutthroat Driver. We are about 25 to 30 minutes in and neither guy can answer the 10 count. Fans chant "Briscoe..Briscoe..Briscoe" and many other chants. Ref declares it a draw due to double knockout. Briscoes leave together. Really fun match.
Backstage Nigel promo where he talks about coming up short and failing to get the big win. Says tonight is about repaying Jimmy Rave and about kicking his ass and getting that big win for the fans of Liverpool.
ROH Tag-Title Match: Shingo and Naruki Doi (c) vs. Roderick Strong and Davey Richards
Really fun match. Not at the level of the tag-title match on the previous night but it was fun and the crowd was into it.
Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness
The announcers put over Nigel wrestling tonight despite pulling his groin last night and also put over the fact that Nigel has tapped out on more than one occasion to Rave's heel hook. Needless to say that Rave goes to work early on the leg but doesn't get too far as they do a lot of back and forth. Nigel brings the hardcore as he uses the guardrail to work over Rave on the outside and Rave gets busted open and then the action spills back into the ring. Rave starts to come back with a running knee and then a nice spinning neckbreaker and Nigel seems to have re-aggravated his groin. Rave is unable to keep the advantage and Nigel hits a nice Tower of London for a nearfall. Nigel then hits a SICK lariat (where Rave is straddled on the ropes and Nigel comes off the turnbuckle but can only get two. Both guys hitting their big moves but unable to get the win. Rave dumps Nigel on the guardrail outside, which bends but doesn't break. They get back to the ring and Rave superkicks Nigel and then charges at him but Nigel backdrops Rave to the outside through the guardrail (crowd chants "You Killed Jimmy"). Sick looking move that had a surprise element to it. The guardrail (which was straight) is now bent over in a L shape. Nigel then hits a Tower of London where he drives Rave face first into a chair but Rave somehow kicks out. Nigel goes for a short-arm lariat but somehow Rave slips under and puts Nigel in the heel hook but he reaches the ropes. Unfortunately for him the ropes cannot save him in this match so he uses the ropes to battle up and break the move but the ref is knocked down in the process. Nigel climbs over the ropes grabs Rave and hits a Tower of London on him to the outside on top of the guardrail again and a new ref coming down. A new ref is in but Rave kicks out again due to the time it took to cover him- the first ref is busted open. They exchange slaps and Rave hits a spear and then Nigel destroys Rave with a fantastic rebound lariat (I think this is the one that unfortunately broke Jimmy's jaw). Great match, took a while to get going but great stretch run. Crowd pops pretty big for the Nigel win.
Bryan Danielson video is shown next hyping his upcoming return.
Homicide w/Julius Smokes vs. Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe's last match in ROH. He gets a great reception from the fans. Fitting that his last match is with Homicide, who was arguably his top nemesis and definitely his top nemesis that is on the current roster. Huge "Thank You Joe" chant starts before the match begins. Joe leaves the match after a couple of minutes and goes out in the crowd for a beer. Homicide gets on the mic and is pissed and wants Joe back in the ring. Good match, it's really tough because they've fought so many times and usually with much more on the line besides just bragging rights and they just fought in January. Plus, following Nigel/Rave and Briscoe/Briscoe before that is just a real tough act to follow. Homicide gets dirty towards the end of the match as he is doing anything it takes to win. Smokes interferes but gets tossed by Joe. Cide then nails Joe with the ring bell but only gets a 2. Joe hits a Muscle Buster for 2 but then Smokes pulls the ref out of the ring. Joe then takes out Smokes with an Ole kick and goes for another but as he's running on the outside Homicide hits a great Tope Con Hilo- Great move, I kind saw it coming but it was pretty great none-the-less. Cide back in the ring hits a lariat but only gets 2. Cide then puts Joe on the turnbuckle and seems to be going for an ace crusher but Joe gets Cide up and nails him with a Muscle Buster from the second rope for the win. Match really picked up during the last five minutes and ended better than I thought it would. Fans chant "Thank You Joe" at the end of the match and then "Joe...Joe...Joe" after he is announced as the winner. Post match Joe cuts a promo.
Next is a great re-cap video of Samoa Joe's time in ROH.
Verdict:
Definitely the best (and my favorite) ROH show so far in 2007. I thought Rave/McGuinnes and Briscoe/Briscoe were both fantastic and definitely both in the Top 10 of ROH matches this year if not in the Top 5. Joe/Cide was really solid, Pac/Sydal was really fun and just a step away from being really good. Shingo/Doi vs No Remorse Corpse was good. Delirious vs Cabana was good for what it was. Jacobs/Whitmer was a pretty great brawl/fight. Nothing really to complain about on this show, just a really fun solid night of wrestling. Highly Recommended.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Fifth Year Festival: Finale- Liverpool, UK 3/4/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool- Liverpool, UK 3/3/07
3. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
4. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
5. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
6. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
7. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
8. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
Delirious vs. Colt Cabana
Delirious is always a great way to start a show as he really gets the fans going. Same with Cabana. Cabana is doing an impersonation of a British wrestler named Big Daddy. Cabana steals Delirious usual move by going crazy when the bell rings and does Delirious's usual shtick. Delirious starts to get pissed and runs around outside the ring throwing stuff into the ring and yelling in Delirious speak. Crowd eats it up. Lots of stalling and playing to the crowd- which the crowd enjoys. Cabana mimics some of Big Daddy's offense to catch Delirious off-guard again. Lots of roll-ups in this match. Really fun opener and the crowd really dug it.
Backstage promo with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards. They talk about their title match tonight with Shingo and Doi. BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs brawl through their promo.
Jetta and Eden Black vs Allison Danger and Sara del Ray
Good for what it was.
Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer are shown brawling in the crowd and the next match starts...
Falls Count Anywhere: BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs
The continue to brawl through the crowd and up and down the staircase to the balcony. Jacobs gets a huge pop with a rana and then does a flying body press from the balcony onto Whitmer that gets a huge pop. They finally get to the ring and Jacobs brings his spike into play and Whitmer gets busted open. Whitmer is bleeding all over the place and Jacobs is showing no mercy. Jacobs nails a reverse rana but then gets his contra code reversed into a SICK jumping inverted piledriver (adrenaline spike). They are trading chops and forearms and Whitmer blisters Jacobs with his chops and then destroys him with a forearm. Crowd is really into this match. Whitmer hits a brainbuster on the ramp to the ring and gets the 1-2-3. Pretty great brawl and fight.
Jimmy Rave is backstage and talks about his feud with Nigel McGuinness and their "Fight Without Honor" match tonight.
Pac vs. Matt Sydal
Pretty great start to this match as they go back and forth with lots of fast paced wrestling. Pac hangs with Sydal early but Sydal controls the pace and tone of the match. Pac gets on offense and unfortunately blows a spot. Sydal takes back control. Sydal goes for a top rope rana but Pac moves and Sydal crotches himself- interesting spot here as it's the first time i've seen this particular spot done. Pac grabs the offense and makes up for the blown spot earlier with some nice athletic moves. Pac then hits a crazy corkscrew press from the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring and Pac runs from one side of the ring to the other and hits a really nice looking twisting moonsault that pops the crowd. Sydal comes back with a SICK Snapmare driver and then a beautiful standing moonsault but only gets 2. Pac hits a nice rana for a near fall and then a Tiger Suplex but can't pin Sydal. Sydal hits a nice rana and then a 450 to finally finish off Pac. Really good match, only downside was the one blown spot and they more than made up that. Sydal looked really good on this UK trip and Pac was definitely very impressive- he's still very green but he shows a lot of fire and has some really nice spots and innovative moves.
Jay Briscoe vs Mark Briscoe
They come to the ring for their singles match together. Jay slaps his younger brother right across the face early and we know that this one is going to be fun. First big spot of the match is hit about 6 minutes in as Mark hits Jay and then goes to bounce off the ropes but Jay has him measured and just destroys him over the rope with a clothesline and they both tumble to the floor where they get up and go toe to toe with each other. Jay seems to be getting the upper hand early but Mark sends him into the unforgiving guardrails. Mark then hits a moonsault off the guardrail. Jay gains a brief advantage but Mark nails him with a suplex on the ramp to the ring. They get back in the ring and Mark continues to control the match hitting various offensive moves until Jay does a reversal and hits a big DDT. Jay controls the offensive now. Good solid match so far about 15 minutes in. They exchange slaps and forearms. Mark goes for a springboard from the apron but instead eats a dropkick and crashes and burns. Jay then hits a sommersault dive over the top. Back in the ring, lots of good strikes and Mark is on fire with a running knee strike, springboard kick and a springboard corkscrew. Jay comes back with a huge front suplex off the top (called a Gordbuster- ode to Arn Anderson- by Lenny Leonard). Lots of back and forth action and Mark eats 2 straight Saito Suplexes. INCREDIBLE spot where the ref backs Mark off of Jay (who is in the ropes). Mark pushes the ref into the ropes and the ref falls onto his hands and knees as Jay is on the ring apron. Mark gets a running start and launches off the refs back and hits a SICK rana on Jay (who was on the ring apron) and takes both of them to the floor. Back in the ring and Jay hits a SICK Jay Driller. The ref does a double count and both guys get up at 9 and go at it toe to toe to the delight of the fans until they collapse. Jay to his feet first and Mark hits a nice Cutthroat Driver. We are about 25 to 30 minutes in and neither guy can answer the 10 count. Fans chant "Briscoe..Briscoe..Briscoe" and many other chants. Ref declares it a draw due to double knockout. Briscoes leave together. Really fun match.
Backstage Nigel promo where he talks about coming up short and failing to get the big win. Says tonight is about repaying Jimmy Rave and about kicking his ass and getting that big win for the fans of Liverpool.
ROH Tag-Title Match: Shingo and Naruki Doi (c) vs. Roderick Strong and Davey Richards
Really fun match. Not at the level of the tag-title match on the previous night but it was fun and the crowd was into it.
Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness
The announcers put over Nigel wrestling tonight despite pulling his groin last night and also put over the fact that Nigel has tapped out on more than one occasion to Rave's heel hook. Needless to say that Rave goes to work early on the leg but doesn't get too far as they do a lot of back and forth. Nigel brings the hardcore as he uses the guardrail to work over Rave on the outside and Rave gets busted open and then the action spills back into the ring. Rave starts to come back with a running knee and then a nice spinning neckbreaker and Nigel seems to have re-aggravated his groin. Rave is unable to keep the advantage and Nigel hits a nice Tower of London for a nearfall. Nigel then hits a SICK lariat (where Rave is straddled on the ropes and Nigel comes off the turnbuckle but can only get two. Both guys hitting their big moves but unable to get the win. Rave dumps Nigel on the guardrail outside, which bends but doesn't break. They get back to the ring and Rave superkicks Nigel and then charges at him but Nigel backdrops Rave to the outside through the guardrail (crowd chants "You Killed Jimmy"). Sick looking move that had a surprise element to it. The guardrail (which was straight) is now bent over in a L shape. Nigel then hits a Tower of London where he drives Rave face first into a chair but Rave somehow kicks out. Nigel goes for a short-arm lariat but somehow Rave slips under and puts Nigel in the heel hook but he reaches the ropes. Unfortunately for him the ropes cannot save him in this match so he uses the ropes to battle up and break the move but the ref is knocked down in the process. Nigel climbs over the ropes grabs Rave and hits a Tower of London on him to the outside on top of the guardrail again and a new ref coming down. A new ref is in but Rave kicks out again due to the time it took to cover him- the first ref is busted open. They exchange slaps and Rave hits a spear and then Nigel destroys Rave with a fantastic rebound lariat (I think this is the one that unfortunately broke Jimmy's jaw). Great match, took a while to get going but great stretch run. Crowd pops pretty big for the Nigel win.
Bryan Danielson video is shown next hyping his upcoming return.
Homicide w/Julius Smokes vs. Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe's last match in ROH. He gets a great reception from the fans. Fitting that his last match is with Homicide, who was arguably his top nemesis and definitely his top nemesis that is on the current roster. Huge "Thank You Joe" chant starts before the match begins. Joe leaves the match after a couple of minutes and goes out in the crowd for a beer. Homicide gets on the mic and is pissed and wants Joe back in the ring. Good match, it's really tough because they've fought so many times and usually with much more on the line besides just bragging rights and they just fought in January. Plus, following Nigel/Rave and Briscoe/Briscoe before that is just a real tough act to follow. Homicide gets dirty towards the end of the match as he is doing anything it takes to win. Smokes interferes but gets tossed by Joe. Cide then nails Joe with the ring bell but only gets a 2. Joe hits a Muscle Buster for 2 but then Smokes pulls the ref out of the ring. Joe then takes out Smokes with an Ole kick and goes for another but as he's running on the outside Homicide hits a great Tope Con Hilo- Great move, I kind saw it coming but it was pretty great none-the-less. Cide back in the ring hits a lariat but only gets 2. Cide then puts Joe on the turnbuckle and seems to be going for an ace crusher but Joe gets Cide up and nails him with a Muscle Buster from the second rope for the win. Match really picked up during the last five minutes and ended better than I thought it would. Fans chant "Thank You Joe" at the end of the match and then "Joe...Joe...Joe" after he is announced as the winner. Post match Joe cuts a promo.
Next is a great re-cap video of Samoa Joe's time in ROH.
Verdict:
Definitely the best (and my favorite) ROH show so far in 2007. I thought Rave/McGuinnes and Briscoe/Briscoe were both fantastic and definitely both in the Top 10 of ROH matches this year if not in the Top 5. Joe/Cide was really solid, Pac/Sydal was really fun and just a step away from being really good. Shingo/Doi vs No Remorse Corpse was good. Delirious vs Cabana was good for what it was. Jacobs/Whitmer was a pretty great brawl/fight. Nothing really to complain about on this show, just a really fun solid night of wrestling. Highly Recommended.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Fifth Year Festival: Finale- Liverpool, UK 3/4/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool- Liverpool, UK 3/3/07
3. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
4. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
5. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
6. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
7. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
8. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
