ROH HONOR INVADES BOSTON

ROH HONOR INVADES BOSTON 08/24/02

Michael Shane vs. Paul London

They have that famous Street Fight match at the next ROH show, but this is such an awesome match too -- one that doesn't get talked about at all. Michael Shane is such a compelling bastard in this, and London is of course a ROCKING babyface from underneath. All of London's comeback chains are really good, and so is Shane's work on top & cut-offs of those said comebacks. Him pushing London from the top rope into, and THROUGH the barricade was amazing in all of its viciousness. Also I loooooove the finish with him faking that ankle injury, only for him to small package London when he least expected it. ***1/2

American Dragon vs. Donovan Morgan

This goes to a 15-minute time limit draw, and it's some really good stuff. It's all about the battle of Morgan's superior power going against Dragon's technical expertise. That's always a very fun dynamic to work with, and these two definitely create a very nice story & match out of it. Love all of Bryan's work, especially all of that targeted towards Morgan's arm, and Morgan was on his element throwing Bryan around every chance he got. ***1/2

Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe

A pretty damn great showdown between the two brothers, and more-than great ROH debut for the younger one in Mark Briscoe. The early back & forth is really good, and once Jay gets busted open, things kick into a higher gear. Mark goes after the cut with those already-awesome looking punches of his, and Jay sells it greatly. Him getting back into things by briefly going after Mark's knee was very nice too, and it created for some neat moments w/ Mark selling it after delivering some of his bigger moves + him clutching the knee when going for that Moonsault gave Jay enough time to recover & get out of the way to swift the momentum, which I thought lead for a great sequence with Mark ultimately kicking out of that DVD. I think on surface you could call this a spotfest, but it's a damn good one to say the least + there's the storytelling of Mark, the younger of the two bros, wanting to show his older brother, even going as far as making him bleed & not giving him an inch w/ that cut. Definitely my pick for the MOTN honors. ***3/4

AJ Styles vs. Low Ki

Their first ROH meeting was good, but a bit disappointing considering it's AJ Styles vs. Low Ki. It was definitely better than this match though. I have a hard time coming up with anything that I disliked about this, but to put it bluntly, the middle just feels very hollow. I did like the beginning where they do some pretty great work on the mat, and then I did like the last 3-5 minutes of the match -- especially that one fantastic bit where Styles gets FIRED UP by Ki's Kawada Kicks and unleashes a hellacious, aggressive flurry on him, but when it comes to everything between that said beginning & that last 3-5 minute stretch of the match, nothing really registered or clicked with me. Not a bad match at all, but far from the quality I'd want out of this pairing, especially in a setting like this. **3/4