ROH ROAD TO THE TITLE

ROH ROAD TO THE TITLE 06/22/02

Paul London vs. Spanky

The future Londrick explodes! Totally loved this. It's an all-action sub-10 minute sprint with no downtime whatsoever. They go at a fast pace right from the get go, and it never lets up. Everything looks really good, crisp & pretty vicious + also comes with a nice sense of urgency. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn

This is, for the most part, generic early 2000s workrate stuff, aka not the most compelling way it could've gone, BUT since it's Styles & Lynn, it's pretty good for sure & at least somewhat interesting. Gotta say that the match did drag by the end though -- could've easily shaved a few minutes off & it would've been a better, tighter package. Shout-out to AJ briefly attacking Lynn's arm, which was a nice twist, and I do wish it would've lasted longer & been more of a major thing in the match, as it was easily the most interesting portion of the thing. **3/4

American Dragon vs. Doug Williams

Very matwork & submission heavy, which was to be expected from this pairing. It's some very good stuff -- the dynamic of young American Dragon having to fight from underneath against the veteran Doug Williams & his many tricks was pretty charming. Good sense of competition, fun dynamic, great work by both men involved, a very good match! ***1/2

Amazing Red vs. Low Ki

THE Matrix sequence that we see in the opening minutes is still pretty insane. Rest of the match is just great w/ Ki mostly being on top, roughing Red up, while Red busts out some hope spots & comeback bursts. It's such a natural dynamic between the two, because Ki was (& still is) such an ass-kicker, and Red looked small even compared to him. Some highlights for me were Ki just murdering Red with that rolling kick to stop his hot-streak, Red countering Ki's Tidal Wave attempt with an explosive dropkick, Ki stopping Red's dive-to-the-outside attempt with a KNEE to the head, Ki just aggressively smashing Red into the corner, making him spill to the outside, and of course then that finish w/ that sick SUPER Ki Krusher. Ki is at his best when he is eating his opponents lunch, and that's what he did here, for the most part. And the parts where he didn't do that are also great, so it's definitely a superb match all in all. Easy MOTN. ****

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

It definitely goes on for too long, which makes it three AJ Styles ROH matches in a row to do that up to this point, but there's some greatness in there, so I would call it a good match overall. Very solid & good matwork in the beginning, and the match really picks up once AJ gets busted open & Daniels goes after that cut relentlessly. The bomb-section or the finishing gear wasn't anything very memorable, but these two sure make every move look impactful & mean, so it's not bad stuff by any means. A good match & a really good Chris Daniels performance. ***