Show was from the Reggie Lewis Field House in Roxbury, MA.
Let me state this for the record: EVERYONE NEEDS TO BUY THIS DVD. This show was unbelievable, especially the last three matches, and in particular, the last match.
Preshow:
- Shane Hagadorn won a Six Man student match.
-Sara Del Ray beat Candace LaRae.
These matches occurred. There was apparently a shooting outside the arena (seriously) when these matches were happening, but I didn't get there early enough to see what exactly happened. It should be noted that Roxbury is kind of a tough neighborhood, and shootings occur often there.
Show starts.
Jack Evans vs. Davey Richards No Contest after the No Remorse Corpse came in to beat on Jack. Davey has dreaded X-Pac heat with the crowd, which was made worse when he's placed against Jack, whom everyone loves. Shockingly, this match consisted largely of Jack doing flips and Davey doing stiff kicks and chops. Didn't go very long when the NRC came in and beat down Jack, which brought out Resilience. Jack didn't shake the hands of the Resilience guys afterwards, cause he's HIS OWN MAN.
Lacey vs. Daizee Haze. *Shrug.* Nothing special about this match, though Lacey does get increasingly hot with every waking second. Lacey won to earn the No. 1 contender spot for the SHIMMER title.
Chris Hero def. Nigel McGuiness in a Pure match. The Sweet N' Sour Stable is the best in wrestling today, and the Tank Toland/Bobby Demsey whackiness is especially brilliant. Sweeney came out and started listing "Commandments" such as "Thou shalt not be British" and "Thou shalt keep thy Limey hands off Sweeney." Match was just starting when all the lights went off and "Project 161" was repeated roughly 20,000 times over the loudspeaker. Dumb. When the lights went back on, Hero told the ref that Nigel had used all three of his rope breaks during the blackout. Genius heel trick! Hero later won via submission after all sorts of heelish tricks from Sweeney. I should also note that I talked to Sweeney after the event and asked him about Alvarez, and he said he'd fight Bryan for the Texarkana title "any time." Gauntlet thrown Chico, gauntlet thrown.
Matt Cross beat Brent Albright, Delirious, Eddie Edwards, Jigsaw & Pelle Primeau. It should be noted that Jigsaw is the third Caucasian-looking (I don't know his background) Luchador on the ROH roster, along with Delirious and Generico. That's whacky. Cross doesn't get talked about a lot, but he does two or three things every match that impress the hell out of you. Delirious was in full-on insane mode tonight, and the crowd loves him. Dunno how the hell he comes across as a trainer though, as his style is so unorthodox. Surprising that Cross won, especially since Albright is getting a title shot tonight in Philly.
Austin Aries & Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong & Rocky Romero. Austin Aries at first looked so happy, like there's a massive, TNA-sized weight off his shoulders. However, he hurt his ankle pretty bad early in the match, and hobbled around on it for a good ten minutes. Roderick Strong looks less and less interested every time I see him. Finish came with a 450 splash from Aries, which must have hurt given that he did it on one leg. Postmatch brawling when Jack Evans made the save and challenged the NRC vs. Jack and "MY CREW." Word.
Bryan Danielson def. Matt Sydal via submission. Sweeney referred to Sydal as the "No. 1 commodity in wrestling." He'll be less of a commodity when he's being squashed by Andrew Martin on Impact or Hacksaw Duggan on Velocity. Danielson was on offense for 95% of this match, putting Sydal in the most painful looking stretches imaginable. Just an absolute wrestling clinic. Danielson was like a wrestling Dr. Mengele, coming up with new and evil ways to torture Sydal's body. Finish was the most awesome finish I've ever seen, as Danielson put Sydal in a triangle choke and then started raining down elbows on his exposed skull. If you're a Danielson fan, you need to buy the DVD for this match alone.
Morishima def. Claudio Castagnoli. One of the best booked championship matches in a long time. Everyone knew that Claudio wasn't walking out as champion, but they somehow still got everyone to believe, if only for a fleeting moment, that he just very well may pull this match out. He couldn't lift Morishima at the beginning of the match, but as the match went on, Claudio was getting Morishima into more and more lift spots, causing the crowd to go nuts. He even got Morishima in his underhand airplane spin move-thingy, which was beyond great. Crowd was SO into this match. After some verrrrrrrry close calls, Morishima eventually came back and won with his Backdrop Drivaaaahhh. This match ruled.
Kevin Steen/El Generico def. Briscoes in an unsanctioned "Boston Street Fight." It's hard to explain how amazing this match was because so much happened, but you seriously MUST buy this DVD, if only for the greatness of this match alone. It was honestly Match of the Year material, if not the definite Match of the Year. The key was the fact that the Briscoes have zero regard for their own personal well-being, which is absolutely PERFECT for a no-rules street fight. About three tables, 50 chairs and a ladder were all broken in this match due to the force of human beings being slammed upon them. The Briscoes especially took a lot of unprotected chair shots to the head, which, I know, is just utterly shocking. There's a distinct possibility that we may see a Briscoe Brother (probably Mark) die in the ring at some point. Steen and Generico were also VERY impressive, especially Steen, who gets better every time I see him. Finish saw Steen hit a package piledriver on Jay Briscoe onto a ladder. Everyone walked out of this match saying it was the best match they'd ever seen live. Steen then challenged the World Champion for the Oct 5th return show. Steen's great on the mic.
You know the Holocaust? This show was the exact opposite. It RULED. Buy the DVD kids and thank me later. {plug}
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