Just went to the Friday night (6/8) Ring of Honor show in Roxbury Crossing, Masssachusetts. The show was overall very good, and I would highly recommend that ROH fans pick up the DVD when it comes out. Here are some results/observations:
- BJ Whitmer no contest vs. Brent Albright - Match was fine, pretty much what you'd expect from these two, until Whitmer, out of NOWHERE, headbutts the ref and starts flipping the fuck out. There was nothing in the match that precipitated this event, and in no way were they building to this, it just randomly happened. Whitmer started flipping over tables, throwing chairs and yelling while everyone (including Albright) pretty much disappeared. Random and whacky, and probably the first time ever that Whitmer has done something memorable.
- Daizee Haze came out. Fans started chanting "How's your head," as the last time ROH was in Boston, Daizee suffered a tremendous bump on her head which resulted in the biggest knot I've ever seen. Daizee called out Lacey, and Jimmy Jacobs came out, cane and all. Daizee started beating on Jacobs, leading to Lacey attacking her from behind and leaving her for dead. Daizee and Lacey will apparently be fighting on Saturday in Philly. Also, Lacey looked unbelievably hot, and could be a dead ringer for Amanda Bynes at this point.
- Bryan Danielson def. Jimmy Rave - Very technical wrestling match, which I didn't think was possible from Jimmy Rave. Danielson was ridiculously over with the crowd, while Rave...well, not so much. Rave must have taken a hard shot to the mouth early, because he was visibly spitting blood the entire match. Danielson's shoulder seems completely healed, and he wasn't favoring it at all. The AWESOME ending came on a ref stoppage due to elbows, which is much, much cooler to see live than on tape. Danielson needs to win every match this way.
- Kevin Steen def Mark Briscoe - Briscoe was hugely over with the crowd, and an argument could be made that the Briscoes are the most over guys in the company right now. Steen was hated at first, but slowly began to earn the respect of the audience. He's a lot like Hugh Morrus/Bill DeMott; just a very agile big guy who can pull off some impressive moves. Steen ended up winning with his package pile driver, and was about to commence the post-match chair beatdown when Jay Briscoe made the save. Jay then cut a promo stating that he'd be world champion, and then called for a "Boston Street Fight" (tables, chairs, weapons) for the August 10 show in Roxbury, which will be Night 1 of Death Before Dishonor V.
-Claudio Castagnoli def. Mike Quackenbush, Chris Hero and Nigel McGuiness in a Four Corners match for the right to challenge for the world championship on August 10. Hero came out with his crew of Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland and the fat blonde trainee kid with the perm. (Bobby Demsey?) They're a wonderfully whacky stable, and Tank spent the entire match getting the fat trainee kid, who was wearing a foil weight loss suit, to perform exercises. Claudio's entrance was also awesome, both with his buisness suit and briefcase, as well as his velour tights with Swiss flags all over them. Size-wise, Claudio looked like a man among boys out there, and you can really tell why the WWE would want him more than any other ROH guy. Early heat in the match was on Quackenbush, who may have been the most impressive wrestler I saw all night. Even against bigger guys like Hero and Claudio, the VERY small Quack not only holds his own and looks credible, but he also is able to pull off an amazing array of moves. There was weird chemistry between Claudio and Hero, as Claudio was shouting at Hero's crew, but was working well with Hero in the ring. Lots of great stuff from all four guys, especially Nigel. Finish came when Claudio pinned Quack with a running European uppercut, which absolutely NO ONE expected. Should be a very good match in August between (I assume) Morishima and Claudio.
-Eddie Edwards def. Pelle Primeau - Edwards was over, as he's from Boston and has wrestled indies around here for years. Pelle Primeau came out with the "Top of the Class" trophy, which was almost bigger than him. Overall decent, short match, with Edwards winning with a cradle.
-Matt Sydal def. El Generico - The crowd was probably more into this match than any other on the card. The El Generico character is great, and I probably heard the word "Ole!" roughly 1,000 times during the match. However, Sydal was also huge with the crowd, and dueling "Ole!" and "Sydal!" chants were extremely fun. It also didn't hurt that both guys' styles matched up very well with each other, resulting in one hell of a match. Sydal won with a rana reversal.
-Matt Cross, Erick Stevens and Delirious def. Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romero - Not nearly as good of a match as one might expect from this group. Early heat was on Stevens, who is entirely forgettable save for his mohawk. Roderick Strong actually wasn't that impressive either, both work-wise and physique-wise. He seems to have put on weight, has lost a lot of his muscle definition, and his normally-great work was only okay in this match. Conversely, Davey Richards impressed me - his kicks are terrifying. If Richards was a foot taller, he's be at the top of most WWE cards - he's that good of a worker and he has the largest legs I've ever seen. The match featured a lot of sloppy execution and communication breakdowns. Lots of whacky flips from Matt Cross, who is another guy that would be a star if he wasn't so short. Finish saw Delirious pin Roderick, furthering their FIP feud.
-Takeshi Morishima def Jay Briscoe - Morishima is a BEAST, and Gabe is doing a great job of building this guy up as an unbeatable monster. I had seen Morishima in the hall earlier in the night standing next to Quackenbush, and the size difference was downright comical. Jay Briscoe, as usual, had zero regard for his own well being, including one painful looking botched flip out of the ring where he hit his calves on the guardrail, like AJ Styles a few months back against Christian. The crowd thought Jay was pretty much dead after this bump, but he kept going, none the worse for wear. The match was back-and-forth for a while, with Jay mounting some offense, and then Morishima just overpowering him. At the end, Morishima went into "unstoppable psycho killer" mode, roaring at Briscoe after every shot and then obliterating him with power moves. Morishima hit his backdrop driver for the win, and almost immediately Kevin Steen came out to beat on Briscoe. This prompted Mark Briscoe and then El Generico, and all four brawled into the crowd and in the atrium as the show ended.
Overall a VERY good show. I was worried how ROH would recover from the loss of their TNA guys, but it seems that a new group of wrestlers have filled those slots admirably. It's also encouraging that they've locked up most of this current crop to long-term contracts, leading to fleshed-out storylines and no fear of guys leaving. The future looks bright for Ring of Honor. {plug}
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