By Ryan Mulligan/Chris Arias

From Ryan Mulligan:  

ROH Death Before Dishonor VI Report
Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC 8/2/08
 
The Briscoes defeated Ruckus and Jigsaw (with Julius Smokes) of the
Vulture Squad. The returning Mark Briscoe got a well-deserved "Welcome
back!" chant, as the match got underway. This was a fun, fast-paced,
spot-oriented opener that went about five minutes. Since Ruckus was
involved, there were consequently flips. The VS almost got the win
following the Gin-N-Tonic, but, ultimately, the Briscoes were
victorious following a springboard doomsday device on Jigsaw.
 
Cue Larry Sweeney, who said he'a big fan of the Briscoes' work and
would like them to join Sweet N' Sour Inc. The Briscoes responded by
leaving.
 
Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney, Eddie Edwards and Bobby Dempsey) of
Sweet N'Sour Inc. defeated Delirious. I may be biased because these
two are my two least favorite wrestlers in ROH, but this match failed.
Hero cut a promo prior to it proclaiming himself "The Knockout Kid,"
with his new gimmick being that he's now serious and is no longer
interested in being entertaining. Shades of the former Y2J. The
problem is that Hero's never had an impressive move-set, and so he
winds up delivering "devastating" roaring elbows like they're
Misawa-level. Needless to say, Bobby Dempsey was ten times more over
than anyone else involved here. After less than ten minutes of
less-than-stellar action, Hero pinned Delirious following a roaring
elbow, which Delirious sold like death, needing to be helped to the
back. No buys.
 
Eddie Edwards (with Sweeney, Hero and Dempsey) of Sweet N'Sour Inc.
defeated Roderick Strong. Much better match, of course, with the crowd
slowly but surely warming up to Edwards. Strong killed him with
numerous chops early on and numerous backbreakers towards the finish.
Strong eventually fell prey to yet another roaring elbow from a
cheating Chris Hero, followed by a moonsault from Edwards for the
three-count.
 
Brent Albright defeated Adam Pearce (with Sweeney, Dempsey, Shane
Hagadorn and Sara Del Ray) of Sweet N' Sour Inc. to become the NEW NWA
World Heavyweight Champion. Here's where the show took a major turn
for the better. I can't say these two had a classic battle or
anything, but dear God was Albright over here, and that heat
translated into quite the spectacle. The match was largely wrestled
old-school style, with Pearce busting Albright open and being a killer
heel. The tide turned when, following much inferference from Sn'S,
Roderick Strong returned and kicked a chair right into Sweeney's face
to a monster pop. He then chased Hagadorn to the back. Albright later
went to the top, but was shoved off and through a ringside table in a
brutal spot. Albight eventually got the momentum and unleashed a
series of 5 German suplexes, prior to getting Pearce to tap to the
Crowbar for the title to a TREMENDOUS pop from the crowd. I was up in
the balcony and people were literally jumping up and down and
celebrating. It was like at the level of Rick Steiner's TV Title win
at "Starrcade '88". Awesome stuff.
 
Austin Aries defeated Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher of the Age of the
Fall in a 3-way dance. Despite Necro shoving Jacobs off a ladder
through a table last weekend, the two came out together, but the story
of the match was their gradual disintegration. Jacobs continually
forced Necro to assault Aries, but Necro finally had enough after an
Eddie Guerrero-esque spot from Aries where he hit Necro in the back
with a chair and then tossed it to Jacobs, who became the culprit in
Necro's eyes. This led to Necro punching Jacobs out and leaving the
match, and that led to Aries owning Jacobs with the brainbuster/450
combo. More of a storyline-match than a technically good one, but the
story was good enough to keep it entertaining. Wicked mohawk on
Jacobs, by the way.
 
Intermission
 
Delirious called out Daizee Haze. He finally got the courage to ask
her out, but he was rudely interrupted by "Addicted to Love" Rhett
Titus, who has the best theme song this side of "Biscuits and Gravy."
Titus said that the Haze is used-goods and then proceeded to reveal
her face on the back of his pants. Shades of Rick Rude and Cheryl
Roberts. Hilarious. After he left, Daizee broke Delirious's heart by
saying that she'd just like them to remain friends, which drew massive
heel heat. She even broke out the "It's not you, it's me" routine,
before leaving to boos-aplenty. The long-awaited heel-turn is
complete.
 
Naomichi Marufuji defeated Go Shiosaki of Sweet N' Sour Inc. in an
awesome match. Despite being a heel due to who he aligns himself with,
Go worked as a face here, encouraging the crowd at numerous points to
rally behind him. Among the many highlights of the match were Marufuji
giving Go a brainbuster from the floor to the apron. Seriously. He
also nearly ended Go's life with a Shiranui off the apron to the
floor. Go connected with the Go Flasher, but Marufuji eventually
defeated him with the Pole Shift. Great match.
 
Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated the Motor City Machine Guns Alex
Shelley and Chris Sabin in another awesome match. I don't think it
lived up to the hype, but realistically it probably couldn't have. The
Guns began the match as faces, but the crowd eventually turned on
them, chanting "Fuck TNA!" In the least tasteful spot of the night,
Steen and Shelley traded spit and snot-rockets. The Guns worked over
Generico for much of the match, utilizing their innovative double-team
moves, but Steen eventually got the tag and went nuts on them. I
should note that the match was billed as "Scramble Rules," but that
tags were required throughout anyway. Whatever. The finish came when
Generico annihilated Shelley with the BRAINBUSTA~! and Steen made
Sabin tap to the sharpshooter.
 
ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Tyler
Black and Bryan Danielson in a four-way elimination match to retain
the title. I was there for the Danielson/Aries/Morishima/Hero four-way
back in December, and this match was somehow even better. Nigel has
perfected the art of the dick-heel, as he constantly tagged in and out
when most convenient. For some reason, the fans were totally
anti-Claudio throughout, and once he was eliminated by Dragon, he made
them pay for it by turning heel in most impressive fashion. He killed
Dragon with a Ricola Bomb and stomped a chair on his head. Security
and pre-show wrestlers tried to stop him, but he threw one of them
across the ring and continued his assault. Nigel clapped for all of
this, and finished Dragon off shortly thereafter with a lariat. This
left Nigel and Black, and they did their best to recreate the vibe of
the main event of the "Take No Prisoners" ppv, with Black refusing to
be pinned following numerous lariats, a Tower of London, etc. Nigel
eventually got the win following two brutal, successive lariats. The
crowd responded by throwing garbage in the ring. Nigel said that he's
now beaten everyone and nobody can stop him. At this point he spotted
Marufuji, who had come out to watch Nigel and Black, and the crowd
chanted "Marufuji!" as the show ended. This was the best match of the
night, with tremendous heat throughout, particularly in the form of
face-heat for Black in the final stretch. Black once again looked like
a star, with his standing flips on dropkicks gone awry and his Phoenix
splashes. It seems weird though that the Age of the Fall is comprised
of a killer heel, a guy who often works babyface and a tweener.
 
All in all, this was a MUCH better show than the last Hammerstein
show, and definitely the best NYC ROH show in a long time. Besides the
Hero/Delirious failure, pretty much everything else delivered, with a
huge surprise in the form of a thoroughly captivating Albright/Pearce
match and three awesome matches in a row to end the show. For all of
the complaints leveled at ROH, from time to time they're still able to
put on amazing shows like this one to remind people just what they're
capable of.
 

By Chris Arias

Briscoes Def Vulture Squad by Springboard Doomsday

Sweeney wants the Briscoes to join him, they refuse.

Chris Hero Def Delirious by Roaring Elbow

Eddy Edwards over Roderick Strong after Hero interfered

Brent Albright Def Adam Pearce clean with The Crowbar to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Austin Aries Def Jimmy Jacobs by 450 splash after Necro turns on Jacobs and wails him with a chair.

~*~INTERMISSION~*~

Rhett Titus comes out wearing Rick Rude style pants with Daizee's face on the back, and harrasses Haze. Haze yells at him to get out. Delirious asks Daizee out on a date, DAIZEE SAYS THEY SHOULD JUST BE FRIENDS~! Crowd boos Daizee heavily.

Naomichi Marufuji Def. Go Shiozaki with some new finisher.

Kevin Steen and El Generico def MCMG when Steen made Shelly submit by Sharpshooter.

ROH World Title Match

Marufuji is standing at ringside watching this match. Dragon eliminates Claudio first, Claudio freaks out and just destroys Danielson. Tyler picks up the scraps and eliminates Danielson. Nigel, still healthy, takes out Black. Crowd livid, starts throwing trash into the ring and the crowd starts chanting for Marufuji. {plug}