Post by Agent Kev on Jan 26, 2008 23:14:24 GMT -5
Survival of the Fittest 2007- Las Vegas, NV 10/19/07 (DVD)
We start off live on the strip with the No Remorse Corps. They talk about Survival of the Fittest. They talk about how they took out the Resilience. And they talk about going out on the town tonight.
Next is a highlight package from previous Survival of the Fittest matches. Showing Danielson winning in 2004, Strong in 2005 and Delirious in 2006.
We are back with the No Remorse Corps and Rocky and Roderick are having some fun with Davey Richards as he is trying to pick up chicks. Rocky does his Azucar dance and gets a peck on the cheek.
The ring announcers says that there is a tradition in ROH that every time a new ROH World Champion is crowned they start the next show by introducing the champ. The ring announcer introduces Nigel McGuinness. Nigel cuts a promo. Roderick Strong, the FIP Champion, comes out to the ring. Roderick cuts a promo about all the people he's beat and how his belt is the most prestigious in wrestling today. Counts out the people he's beaten and includes Brent Albrights name. This brings out Albright (w/Shane Hagadorn) since Albright and Strong are facing off in Round 1. Albright tells Nigel to shine the belt up real nice and get it ready for him. Albright tells Strong to do their match right now. McGuinness bows out and says he will see the winner in the finals.
Qualifying Match: Brent Albright vs. Roderick Strong
This was a decent opener. Not much else to say here.
Delirious is on the strip! And he's cutting promo.
Qualifying Match: Chris Hero vs. Karl Anderson
This is the first time I've seen Karl Anderson and he seems like a decent hand. Hero is great as usual and this is another decent to good match. I liked this one a little bit better than Albright/Strong.
Backstage Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero gloat over their victory. Hero calls himself the "fittest" in Ring of Honor.
Qualifying Match: Rocky Romero vs. TJ Perkins
2 of the Habana Brothers going to battle. This should be pretty good just based on familiarity of these opponents. This was pretty much what I thought it would be... a good solid match.
Qualifying Match: Delirious vs. Austin Aries
The announcers put over Aries being in the finals of SOTF the first 3 years but being unable to win. This was pretty solid but lost a little momentum as it could have been shorter.
Post-Match Austin Aries cuts a backstage promo.
Qualifying Match: Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli
This one starts out hot with some pure old fashioned HATE. Nice to see that after some good, solid matches but with no real reason to get behind guys. These guys don't like each other and that works for me. This wasn't a great match but they kept it short and worked a good match. Probably my favorite so far tonight.
Post-Match Claudio cuts a backstage promo.
Qualifying Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! Danielson goes after the leg pretty early trying to get Nigel to submit before the 20 minute time limit. Nigel turns the table on Danielson and works over his arm. They trade some submissions. Danielson really sells great for some of Nigel's submissions. Both guys are selling their injuries pretty well and just working a good, solid match. Nigel fights back with forearms and a lariot but can't get much on them as his knee is in bad shape. Danielson really goes after Nigel's leg as he feels the time limit coming up. Nigel sells it. Danielson went for the elbows to the face but McGuinness got to the ropes. Ends kind of anti-climatically as Nigel had regained a brief advantage and was going to hit a Tower of London but the bell rang. Nigel gets on the mic and says he wants five more minutes. Danielson asks the fans if they want five more minutes and then they start back up. Nigel quickly hooks in an arm submission and Danielson taps but the ref never rung the bell to start the match back up. The announcers put over that Nigel was still looking for his first win over Danielson. Danielson goes to the back and says Nigel couldn't beat him in the 20 minute time limit. This was real good. Not an epic match or anything but a really solid 20 minute match with a good story. Not the best ending but I think the ending works in terms of overall storyline.
Qualifying Match: Human Tornado vs. Shane Hagadorn vs. Tony Kozina
This was added as a qualifying match after Danielson and McGuinness were eliminated. This was short and thus it worked for me. Tornado was over with the fans in his ROH debut.
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher
This one starts out quickly outside the ring and it looks like we are going to be in for a brawl as they are already brawling through the crowd. Overall, this one just never really got going for me. The end result with Age of the Fall going over in a non-title match made sense though.
Survival of the Fittest 2007 Final Elimination Match: Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries vs Human Tornado vs Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Rocky Romero
Hero starts the match on the stage doing squats while the other guys are wrestling. Tornado gets some good spots in early and looks real good but as he is celebrating Chris Hero comes in and sneak attacks him and hits a Hero's welcome to eliminate him! Hero then goes back to the entrance ramp and keeps his distance from the ring as Claudio, Strong, Romero and Aries mix it up. Strong and Romero make this a tag-match as Chris Hero watches from a chair on the stage as he gets a shoulder massage from Larry Sweeney while drawing heat from the crowd. Aries and Romero go at it, Aries gets an advantage hits a brainbuster and then hits a 450 on Romero. As Aries goes to hit the 450 Hero tags him and then gets into the ring and picks up Aries and powerbombs him onto Romero. Hero then pins Romero and tags Roderick in. Hero blind tags Roderick and Aries doesn't see him. Hero goes for a backslide but only gets two but ends up hitting a small package for a 3 count. Roderick, Claudio and Hero are left now. Roderick seems to have a beef with Hero but Sweeney gets up on the apron and takes out his wallet and gives Roderick $500. Roderick shakes hands with Hero and puts the money in his knee pad and then both men attack Claudio and then work him over in tag-team fashion. Hero blind tags Claudio. Roderick hits a Gibson Driver on Claudio and then Hero grabs Roderick from behind and hits the Hero's Welcome for the 3 count. Hero then gets the money from Roderick's knee pad and gives it back to Sweeney. Now it's down to Hero and Claudio. Hero goes for a quick pin but Claudio kicks out. Claudio and Hero do a lot of back and forth with both guys getting near falls- Claudio hits the Ricola bomb for a near fall. Hero eventually clamps on the Hero's clutch and Claudio passes out giving Hero the victory. Hero then does snow angels in the ring. Really fun match as Hero was a real Tour de Force eliminated every other opponent- mostly after other people inflicted most of the damage.
They end the show with Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero on the Vegas Strip. They chant "Chris Is Awesome" during their promo. Great stuff from Hero and Sweeney.
Verdict:
This was a middle of the road show with a really fun Main Event due to Hero's Tour de Force performance. Danielson/Nigel was real good but other than that there aren't really any matches that you need to see besides the Main Event. That being said, I liked this years SOTF more than the last two years.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Driven- Chicago Ridge, IL 6/23/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Finale- Liverpool, UK 3/4/07
3. Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool- Liverpool, UK 3/3/07
4. Respect Is Earned- New York, NY 5/12/07
5. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
6. Manhattan Mayhem II- New York, NY 8/25/07
7. Good Times, Great Memories- Chicago Ridge, IL 4/28/07
8. Supercard of Honor II- Detroit, MI 3/31/07
9. Death Before Dishonor V Night 1- Boston, MA 8/10/07
10. Death Before Dishonor V Night 2- Philadelphia PA 8/11/07
11. Live In Tokyo- Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07
12. All Star Extravaganza III- Detroit, MI 3/30/07
13. A Fight At The Roxbury- Boston, MA 6/8/07
14. Domination- Philadelphia, PA 6/9/07
15. United We Stand- Dayton, OH 6/22/07
16. Fighting Spirit- Edison, NJ 4/14/07
17. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
18. Survival of the Fittest 2007- Las Vegas, NV 10/19/07
19. Honor Nation- Boston, MA 10/5/07
20. Race To The Top Tournament Night 2- Edison, NJ 7/28/07
21. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
22. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
23. Caged Rage- Hartford, CT 8/24/07
24. Race To The Top Tournament Night 1- Deer Park, NY 7/27/07
25. Live In Osaka- Osaka, Japan 7/17/07
26. The Battle Of St. Paul- St. Paul, MN 4/27/07
27. This Means War II- Long Island, NY 4/13/07
28. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
29. Motor City Madness 2007- Detroit, MI 9/14/07
30. Reborn Again- Hartford, CT 5/11/07
31. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
We start off live on the strip with the No Remorse Corps. They talk about Survival of the Fittest. They talk about how they took out the Resilience. And they talk about going out on the town tonight.
Next is a highlight package from previous Survival of the Fittest matches. Showing Danielson winning in 2004, Strong in 2005 and Delirious in 2006.
We are back with the No Remorse Corps and Rocky and Roderick are having some fun with Davey Richards as he is trying to pick up chicks. Rocky does his Azucar dance and gets a peck on the cheek.
The ring announcers says that there is a tradition in ROH that every time a new ROH World Champion is crowned they start the next show by introducing the champ. The ring announcer introduces Nigel McGuinness. Nigel cuts a promo. Roderick Strong, the FIP Champion, comes out to the ring. Roderick cuts a promo about all the people he's beat and how his belt is the most prestigious in wrestling today. Counts out the people he's beaten and includes Brent Albrights name. This brings out Albright (w/Shane Hagadorn) since Albright and Strong are facing off in Round 1. Albright tells Nigel to shine the belt up real nice and get it ready for him. Albright tells Strong to do their match right now. McGuinness bows out and says he will see the winner in the finals.
Qualifying Match: Brent Albright vs. Roderick Strong
This was a decent opener. Not much else to say here.
Delirious is on the strip! And he's cutting promo.
Qualifying Match: Chris Hero vs. Karl Anderson
This is the first time I've seen Karl Anderson and he seems like a decent hand. Hero is great as usual and this is another decent to good match. I liked this one a little bit better than Albright/Strong.
Backstage Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero gloat over their victory. Hero calls himself the "fittest" in Ring of Honor.
Qualifying Match: Rocky Romero vs. TJ Perkins
2 of the Habana Brothers going to battle. This should be pretty good just based on familiarity of these opponents. This was pretty much what I thought it would be... a good solid match.
Qualifying Match: Delirious vs. Austin Aries
The announcers put over Aries being in the finals of SOTF the first 3 years but being unable to win. This was pretty solid but lost a little momentum as it could have been shorter.
Post-Match Austin Aries cuts a backstage promo.
Qualifying Match: Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli
This one starts out hot with some pure old fashioned HATE. Nice to see that after some good, solid matches but with no real reason to get behind guys. These guys don't like each other and that works for me. This wasn't a great match but they kept it short and worked a good match. Probably my favorite so far tonight.
Post-Match Claudio cuts a backstage promo.
Qualifying Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! Danielson goes after the leg pretty early trying to get Nigel to submit before the 20 minute time limit. Nigel turns the table on Danielson and works over his arm. They trade some submissions. Danielson really sells great for some of Nigel's submissions. Both guys are selling their injuries pretty well and just working a good, solid match. Nigel fights back with forearms and a lariot but can't get much on them as his knee is in bad shape. Danielson really goes after Nigel's leg as he feels the time limit coming up. Nigel sells it. Danielson went for the elbows to the face but McGuinness got to the ropes. Ends kind of anti-climatically as Nigel had regained a brief advantage and was going to hit a Tower of London but the bell rang. Nigel gets on the mic and says he wants five more minutes. Danielson asks the fans if they want five more minutes and then they start back up. Nigel quickly hooks in an arm submission and Danielson taps but the ref never rung the bell to start the match back up. The announcers put over that Nigel was still looking for his first win over Danielson. Danielson goes to the back and says Nigel couldn't beat him in the 20 minute time limit. This was real good. Not an epic match or anything but a really solid 20 minute match with a good story. Not the best ending but I think the ending works in terms of overall storyline.
Qualifying Match: Human Tornado vs. Shane Hagadorn vs. Tony Kozina
This was added as a qualifying match after Danielson and McGuinness were eliminated. This was short and thus it worked for me. Tornado was over with the fans in his ROH debut.
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher
This one starts out quickly outside the ring and it looks like we are going to be in for a brawl as they are already brawling through the crowd. Overall, this one just never really got going for me. The end result with Age of the Fall going over in a non-title match made sense though.
Survival of the Fittest 2007 Final Elimination Match: Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries vs Human Tornado vs Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Rocky Romero
Hero starts the match on the stage doing squats while the other guys are wrestling. Tornado gets some good spots in early and looks real good but as he is celebrating Chris Hero comes in and sneak attacks him and hits a Hero's welcome to eliminate him! Hero then goes back to the entrance ramp and keeps his distance from the ring as Claudio, Strong, Romero and Aries mix it up. Strong and Romero make this a tag-match as Chris Hero watches from a chair on the stage as he gets a shoulder massage from Larry Sweeney while drawing heat from the crowd. Aries and Romero go at it, Aries gets an advantage hits a brainbuster and then hits a 450 on Romero. As Aries goes to hit the 450 Hero tags him and then gets into the ring and picks up Aries and powerbombs him onto Romero. Hero then pins Romero and tags Roderick in. Hero blind tags Roderick and Aries doesn't see him. Hero goes for a backslide but only gets two but ends up hitting a small package for a 3 count. Roderick, Claudio and Hero are left now. Roderick seems to have a beef with Hero but Sweeney gets up on the apron and takes out his wallet and gives Roderick $500. Roderick shakes hands with Hero and puts the money in his knee pad and then both men attack Claudio and then work him over in tag-team fashion. Hero blind tags Claudio. Roderick hits a Gibson Driver on Claudio and then Hero grabs Roderick from behind and hits the Hero's Welcome for the 3 count. Hero then gets the money from Roderick's knee pad and gives it back to Sweeney. Now it's down to Hero and Claudio. Hero goes for a quick pin but Claudio kicks out. Claudio and Hero do a lot of back and forth with both guys getting near falls- Claudio hits the Ricola bomb for a near fall. Hero eventually clamps on the Hero's clutch and Claudio passes out giving Hero the victory. Hero then does snow angels in the ring. Really fun match as Hero was a real Tour de Force eliminated every other opponent- mostly after other people inflicted most of the damage.
They end the show with Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero on the Vegas Strip. They chant "Chris Is Awesome" during their promo. Great stuff from Hero and Sweeney.
Verdict:
This was a middle of the road show with a really fun Main Event due to Hero's Tour de Force performance. Danielson/Nigel was real good but other than that there aren't really any matches that you need to see besides the Main Event. That being said, I liked this years SOTF more than the last two years.
2007 Show Rankings:
1. Driven- Chicago Ridge, IL 6/23/07
2. Fifth Year Festival: Finale- Liverpool, UK 3/4/07
3. Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool- Liverpool, UK 3/3/07
4. Respect Is Earned- New York, NY 5/12/07
5. Fifth Year Festival: NYC- New York, NY 2/16/07
6. Manhattan Mayhem II- New York, NY 8/25/07
7. Good Times, Great Memories- Chicago Ridge, IL 4/28/07
8. Supercard of Honor II- Detroit, MI 3/31/07
9. Death Before Dishonor V Night 1- Boston, MA 8/10/07
10. Death Before Dishonor V Night 2- Philadelphia PA 8/11/07
11. Live In Tokyo- Tokyo, Japan 7/16/07
12. All Star Extravaganza III- Detroit, MI 3/30/07
13. A Fight At The Roxbury- Boston, MA 6/8/07
14. Domination- Philadelphia, PA 6/9/07
15. United We Stand- Dayton, OH 6/22/07
16. Fighting Spirit- Edison, NJ 4/14/07
17. Fifth Year Festival: Philly- Philadelphia, PA 2/17/07
18. Survival of the Fittest 2007- Las Vegas, NV 10/19/07
19. Honor Nation- Boston, MA 10/5/07
20. Race To The Top Tournament Night 2- Edison, NJ 7/28/07
21. Battle of the Icons- Edison, NJ 1/27/07
22. Fifth Year Festival: Chicago- Chicago, IL 2/24/07
23. Caged Rage- Hartford, CT 8/24/07
24. Race To The Top Tournament Night 1- Deer Park, NY 7/27/07
25. Live In Osaka- Osaka, Japan 7/17/07
26. The Battle Of St. Paul- St. Paul, MN 4/27/07
27. This Means War II- Long Island, NY 4/13/07
28. Dedicated- Braintree, MA 1/26/07
29. Motor City Madness 2007- Detroit, MI 9/14/07
30. Reborn Again- Hartford, CT 5/11/07
31. Fifth Year Festival: Dayton- Dayton, OH 2/23/07
