ROH REBORN: COMPLETION

ROH REBORN: COMPLETION 07/17/04

Doug Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. John Walters vs. Nigel McGuinness
Not compelling all the way through, but the best parts of this were really nice. Namely everything involving Doug Williams & Nigel McGuinness going at it was awesome, especially in the early going when they were first teasing it for a bit, and then their first exchanges already lived up to the build. Fun match! ***

Alex Shelley vs. Doug Williams
The early technical wrasslin' between these two is so charming & compelling to watch. Doug especially busted out some truly neat stuff; one of my favorite moments of the bout was the sequence that lead to him tying Shelley up in that Paradise Lock. Extremely fun action! Shelley was of course coming into this with a bum arm, so that's obviously a big story here with Doug working it over throughout. Loved all of Doug's armwork & Shelley's selling was very good. Shelley on the defense was overall a role that he rocked well, and him finding success by doing a number of his own on Doug's neck was also awesome. All kinds of good focused work over that said bodypart. It's a banger of a match with a compelling in-ring story being told, and the absolutely fantastic finish puts it over the top as a truly great one. ****

Homicide, Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe & Samoa Joe
Billed as a Six Man WAR with all the issues between the teams, this one goes over 30 minutes, so it's a pretty long boy. It's full of some hard-hitting & VERY intense action though, so it kept me entertained for the entirety of it. The Briscoes & The Havana Pitbulls serve in their roles wonderfully, and I thought that especially the Pitbulls - in particular Rocky Romero - delivered some really compelling offense in the form of submissions & kicks. Homicide & Joe are definitely unsurprisingly the clear stars though, with the energy being off the charts whenever they come in & start smashing fools in their nasty, vicious ways. ***1/2

ROH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

ROH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 06/24/04

Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans
This looks like an absolutely LOVELY pairing on paper. And the match does rule; it's pretty much a 10-minute squash with Danielson showcasing his submissions, but man what a blast it is. Bryan twisting & stretching Evans is all some superbly vicious stuff, and much of it is thanks to Evans' willingness to bend & twist his own body in visually stunning ways to make each hold look all the more brutal. And then there's that amazing bump he does off of Bryan's uppercut. If I was a wrestler, I would sure love to face that man, because he truly can make people look like a million bucks in there. What a fun-ass match. Also a shout-out to Evans bringing up Danielson's backyard-gimmick, THE DAGGER. Very amusing. ***1/2

Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana vs. Homicide vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
The final one-on-one showdown between Aries & Danielson covers over half of the match & it's some great stuff. Everything beforehand is rock-solid with stories progressing between participants, but Aries & Danielson take it to another level w/ their battle; I really liked Bryan's work over Aries' back, especially with his bodyslams becoming angrier & angrier as the bout progressed. The finish with the bear-hug sequence ruled too, that vicious finishing submission was a great pay-off to Danielson's focused attack. At 40+ minutes, it's a real lengthy match, but it's a very good one. The action is solid all the way through with the peaks (Danielson vs. Aries) being great. ***3/4

ROH WORLD TITLE CLASSIC

ROH WORLD TITLE CLASSIC 06/12/04


Alex Shelley, Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters & Matt Stryker
Really liked how the babyfaces established the first control period of the match - them isolating Roddy & executing a nice number on his knee ruled. Also really liked how Gen Next came back into things by utilizing their numbers, which is something that ended up being a pretty big story in the match overall, in my eyes. Rave works a big FIP segment, in which he sells his beating very well & Gen Next do a pretty compelling job working him over, utilizing great teamwork & their numbers every time they needed to. I keep mentioning the "numbers", and I wanna say that it was indeed a 3-on-3 bout, so they didn't have more members than the babyface team or anything like that, but they were certainly more willing to come in there & use 2 or 3 men at the same time if needed, and that narrative ended up delivering some pretty big moments in the thing. Very good FIP segment w/ Rave indeed, and I really loved his big flurry before he finally tagged in Matt Stryker for that hot tag. Stryker's hot tag is solid, and the rest of the match is them going at it on the "usual" 2nd gear that matches like this usually kick into in the last third of 'em. It's good stuff, but I did prefer the first 2/3rds w/ the babyfaces looking good doing their thing working over Roddy, and then that big Rave FIP seg. Really loved all of that + the finish is also absolutely great, so this quality trios match truly ended on a high note. ***1/2

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
Going through ROH chronologically, I never would've expected CM Punk & Samoa Joe to be a duo to deliver a 60-damn-minute draw with 99% of it being SUPER compelling & straight-up fantastic. They keep me hooked for the entire duration, with my favorite thing about it being watching CM Punk's strategy unfold; the way he controlled Joe w/ HIS pacing & those headlocks -- it's such fascinating pro-wrestling. Punk sells & tells the story perfectly with his work, including some brilliant moments of his body language & facial expressions. Joe is also absolutely superb with everything he does throughout -- I thought he especially sold brilliantly, as through that, it really feels like Punk's masterful gameplan might pay off. The overall pacing in this is also exceptional; in classic 60-minute-match fashion, the battle of course gets more dramatic as minutes pass, but they don't go overboard with it, as they instead have a few major dramatic moments - namely the Pepsi Plunge one & then the DDT in the closing moments - and both of those named moments are absolutely terrific. There's maybe a few stretches here n' there where I wasn't as interested as I was in the early going or in the closing stages, but it's still at least very good action for the entire 1-hour runtime, with the most compelling stretches (which goes for most of the match) being simply wonderful. There's just nothing phony or hollow about this one. It's the first match of THE trilogy in 00s indy pro-wrestling, and it's a stone cold classic. Can't wait to revisit the other two. ****1/2

Ace Steel & Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries & Jack Evans vs. BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is an Ultimate Endurance match, meaning it's an elimination match with three different gimmick matches inside. First one is a submission match, and I thought that was the best out of the three. It started off pretty cold, but once Jack Evans' back became the big story, I got into it. Evans makes every hold & every backbreaker look more vicious than they normally would look. It's real lovely. The focus on the back by the other participants pays off when they make him tap. It's good stuff! The 2nd fall, which is a Scramble match, is absolutely nothing. Completely hollow 5-minutes or something, I have nothing to say about it. The final fall is between The Prophecy & The Second City Saints; they have feuded for the entirety of 2004 up to this point, so on paper a no holds barred brawl between 'em was a fitting finale to this match. It's by far the longest segment in there, and it drags. There's some good brawling there, yes, and some neat singular moments, but ultimately it just isn't very interesting for the absolute majority of it. Overall this whole match isn't much. It's not completely boring thanks to Jack Evans from the Heavens, but that's where the match peaked. In the first fall of this 3-fall match. The first ~15 mins or so of this near 40 minute match. Having to follow the excellence that was the 1-hour draw between Punk & Joe didn't do the match any favors either, to say the least. **1/4

THE BOYS doing APRON BRAINBUSTERS

WWE SMACKDOWN 11/27/20

Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn
This felt a bit rushed & had a storyline-finish, so obviously it isn't the best these two could do, but it was a helluva match regardless. The boys really went out there & did an apron brainbuster, huh? Godddddamn. Loved Bryan's early control with his technical prowres superiority being the main force behind it. Nice armwork throughout, with him going to it early on & then bringing it back in the closing stages when he countered Sami's (presumably) Blue-Thunder Bomb attempt into that very neat armbar takedown. ***1/4

RANDOM REWATCH: Edge, Foley, Lita, Dreamer, FUNK, Beulah

 

WWE ECW ONE NIGHT STAND 2006

Beulah, Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer vs. Edge, Lita & Mick Foley
Foley's pre-match promo is pretty hilarious with his banter being lovely. LONG LIVE THE ALLIANCE. This match is just pure goddamn clunky chaos & it's so damn good! Funk & Foley going at it rules - Funk in general is such a madman here at 61 years of age with awesome punches, old-man hardcore insanity, huge bumps, awesome selling. What a GOAT. And I didn't even mention the "MY EYE" bit, which instantly reminded me of you know what. I love that man. All the barbed wire stuff, including the bats, the board, the FLAMING bat/wood/whatever it was that Funker brought -- it's all such gnarly, brutal, EXTREME stuff, if you will. Like I already mentioned, this thing is just pure uncoordinated-feeling having chaos & violence. It's one of the best matches each person involved here has ever been in. Long Live The Alliance, and long live this match. ****1/2

NXT w/ Kushida/Thatcher, Dunne/Kyle LADDER WAR

 

WWE NXT 11/25/20

Kushida vs. Timothy Thatcher
Loved this so much. An absolutely lovely grappling exhibition with everything looking slick & coming with such a nice sense of urgency. It never feels like they're sitting & waiting for the other one to do something either -- there's a good feel of lil' competition & having to earn what you're going for, whether it's a hold or another position. Some terrific selling in there as well, especially by Thatcher, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest. And of course when they throw in some strikes in there, all of those look great & fit the match well. It's a jolly good time. Really hoping that we get some more Thatcher vs. Kushida goodness eventually, because this truly rocked. ***3/4

Kyle O'Reilly vs. Pete Dunne
This was creative, this was brutal, this was dumb. That's a 3-piece recipe for ladder match success. There's some nice limb-targeting, quite a few very brutal n' dumb spots & some nice little touches that I totally loved. One of them was in the early going when Kyle went to climb the ladder for the first time, Dunne came in & just quickly and bluntly pushed the ladder down; usually they always milk them for at least some amount of time, so just pushing it as quick & bluntly as he could made it feel super neat. The ladder also hit Kyle when it went down, so that's some more brutality for ya. Sure there's some moments that felt pretty unnecessary & pretty silly in there, such as Kyle popping up like one second after being hit with Dunne's finish on the barricade, but even with those & the finish, this really was a big PPV-level effort from the two, and I would say it is one of the best ladder matches of recent years. ***3/4

ROH GENERATION NEXT

 

ROH GENERATION NEXT 05/22/04

Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Jacobs
A nice little midcard exhibition showcase for both guys, especially Nigel. Nigel is charming as usual with his very good technical work over Jacobs, focusing on his arm in particular. Jacobs himself also rules, being the kind-of-an-underdog ball of high energy. ***1/4

BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana
Punk & Cabana are such a well-oiled machine together - watching them isolate Whitmer & do a real sweet tag team number on him ruled. As did Dan Maff's eventual hot tag; he is at his best when wrecking shop in short bursts, and that's pretty much what he got to do here. Both the hot tag & the build-up to it was some good stuff. They eventually brawl all over the crowd, with this being a no dq match & all, and during & after it there's this very nice chaotic feeling to the match, and I really liked that as well. The more "traditional" first half ruled, but so does the frantic second half. Banging match. ***1/2

Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters, Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
At over 41 minutes, this is a real long boy. It's an absolutely phenomenal one, though. They pace it perfectly from start to finish, with the action being good for each step of the way & never going down, as it instead gets hotter & better as the match progresses. It's a very good match all the way through with the peaks of it being superb. It naturally & gradually built into an amazing, show-stealing affair. Everyone involved delivered big time & looked great in the process. ****1/4

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
  Intense build-up to this one, and they start the match accordingly by going at it right away, fighting in a sea of streamers. It's a great, chaotic scene. It doesn't take long for Joe to establish early dominance, and he dishes out punishment in such a lovely fashion & looks cool doing it w/ him sidestepping Homicide's dive attempts n' all. Badass shit. That big dive through the table? Sick. Homicide always puts everything he has into those dives & he did so here, but also went indeed through a table as a bonus. Him bringing out the FORK & going to town on Joe's forehead with it was nasty as hell, and I loved every second of it. Then he continues the violence by throwing a chair HARD right at Joe's face for good measure. The whole match has been superb brutality, and the All Japan-esq section leading to the finish fit right into it, imo -- they started dropping each other on their necks with so many absolutely VICIOUS looking kick-ass bombs, and in-between all that there's Joe slapping the taste out of 'cide's mouth with sweat flying everywhere + 'cide bringing back the fork to repeatedly stab that forehead some more -- it's all such glorious stuff. Definitely the best match they have had up to this point against one another. ****

A pair of Sheamus vs Riddle matches

 

WWE RAW 10/26/20: Matt Riddle vs. Sheamus
This was full of badass physicality. Both guys own such great arsenal of kick-ass moves & they busted out some truly lovely, vicious ones here. The early submission work by Riddle was awesome, and the back-injury towards the end which set up the finish was great. Real tight, physical, sprint-y match. ***3/4

WWE RAW 11/23/20: Riddle vs. Sheamus
Another very good match between these two fellas. They get a lot more time here than they did in their previous meeting, and this really feels like a bigger PPV-version of that said previous match of theirs. Great feel of physicality, with both guys always looking to do some more damage without letting the other guy breathe. Both of them once again showcased their wide array of offense with lots of nice strikes & vicious bombs. Sheamus also looked really good going on the ground w/ Riddle! That heel-hook he busted out seriously popped me. Banger of a match. I liked that October match more, because it felt a bit more tight w/ its sprint nature, but this one also kicked ass. Very good chemistry between the two. ***1/2

ROH ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE III

 

ROH ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE III 05/15/04

Homicide vs. Spanky
Homicide isn't the most compelling guy to watch do a dominant match like this, as while most of his work is really solid, it isn't the most interesting or truly grabbing stuff. It's still a good match though, as he does indeed perform his role in very solid fashion, Spanky rocks the plucky underdog role well & I can always appreciate a well executed gameplan in my rasslin, which is something this match did offer w/ Homicide having a focus on Spanky's neck, softening him up for all of his big signature moves. ***

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
Not as great as their previous meeting, but still a really awesome match in its own right. This had almost the same lay-out on paper as that said previous match of theirs @ Reborn: Stage Two, but with the teams assuming different roles & putting some new touches into things. I thought the highlight of the entire match was pretty easily the Mark FIP segment with him selling well & The Saints doing a real lovely, focused number on his banged up ribs. ***1/2

ROH REBORN: STAGE TWO

 

ROH REBORN: STAGE TWO 04/24/04

Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Rocky Romero
This was a simply magnificent four corner survival. Everyone involved delivered a show-stealing effort - it truly felt like I was watching four hungry young guys go out there & make a little statement. Aries was the most over man at the start of the match & he looked really good with everything he did, I absolutely loved the pure intensity & aggression Rocky brought into the thing, and then there's Nigel McGuinness. Goddamn I love that man. Maybe my favorite moment of the entire match was when there's one very vocal fella in the crowd making noise that gets rest of the crowd to focus on him & get distracted from whats going on inside the ring, then Nigel busts out this amazing sequence w/ a bit of some WoS-like charm, and the crowd explodes into a standing ovation. He's probably my pick for the star of the match honors, even though everybody indeed looked great -- and that brings me to Jimmy Rave, who didn't get too much time to "shine", as in he didn't get as much time as the others to showcase his signature offense, but he still looked absolutely tremendous getting his lunch eaten & shit kicked out of him throughout. Played his role perfectly. Loooved Romero & Aries destroying his arm, his selling was on point, and Nigel coming in & smartly getting the victory by targeting that arm some more ruled. Such a great match! ****

Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
Homicide had some lengthy matches against AJ Styles & CM Punk earlier on in 2003, and comparing this one - another lengthy match - to them, this is so much better it's not even funny. Goes on for about half an hour, and the wrestling is really good for the entire duration with both guys employing nice strategies; Homicide softens Bryan's neck throughout to prepare him for his finish, and Dragon answers to that by beautifully & viciously manipulating 'cide's hand after he banged it against the guardrail. It's a very good match, even with extremely long matches like this certainly NOT being Homicide's strongest suit, but he looked real good in there against an opponent who knows how to make each moment of a long match like this compelling. ***1/2

Matt Stryker vs. Samoa Joe
Joe has a big tape around his face, and it is quickly revealed that his cheek is all burned up due to the FIREBALL busted out by Homicide the night before. Gnarly. This was a good match, on par & maybe even slightly better than that said match against 'cide that Joe had. The early technical work is fun, and once Joe says screw that & starts just beating Stryker up it gets even more fun. Joe is a joy to watch do his thing, and Stryker takes the beating well, as well as gets some nice nearfalls & a nice little sequence of things happening leading up to his Strykerlock. ***

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
 I thought that the first 2/3rds of this were some really great, extremely fun-to-watch stuff. The Chicago crowd gave this an amazing atmosphere w/ them obviously being fully behind The Saints, which gave us a real nice traditional babyface team vs. heel team dynamic. Punk & Cabana get a fantastic shine to start things off, and I loved it all -- the nice lil' touches of comedy with them embarrassing Briscoes were oh so good, and the fact that the crowd ate it all up made it even more sweeter. It really felt like it was the perfect stuff to do on this night. It just all came off as SO spirited because of the atmosphere. Loved Punk's FIP segment as well w/ the Briscoes doing a very good, compelling job of cutting the ring in half & isolating him + even utilizing some old-school heel tactics while doing it. Cabana's eventual hot tag rules, and after that they kick the thing into its 2nd, finishing gear w/ them essentially saying fuck the tag rules, as most of the action for the rest of the match is with all four men inside the ring. Usually stuff like that doesn't really annoy or disturb me at all, because I'm so used to it I guess, but this felt like such a traditional tag bout before that section, so it did bother me a little bit. It was still good action though, but I preferred the lead-up to it. It's a great match overall with a fantastic start, great middle, and a solid last third. Then you add in the absolutely terrific atmosphere and you got yourself a real banging tag outing. ****

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2020

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2020

Men's Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Match
Owens had a really nice run in the match before getting eliminated by AJ. Otis was also really good throughout & was pretty easily the all around MVP of the thing; his BEEFY showdown vs. Keith Lee was neat & the hot tag he delivered where he threw people around with them sweet suplexes & beheaded one fool with a lariat - it was awesome stuff. This was a good match I thought, but it definitely falls into the "just one of the Survivor Series tag matches" category, as it wasn't very memorable or anything. ***

Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
Off the top of my head I can't think of a better Street Profits match that I've watched. This had a charming dynamic of two babyface teams going at it, with Kofi & Xavier kind of assuming the role of vets protecting their spots. I thought the early stuff with Kofi going against Montez ruled & had a couple of really nice moments. The New Day lads isolating Ford & doing a number on his mid-section also ruled -- not many times have they come off as so focused, but watching them execute their attack here w/ such a great focus indeed was truly a joy. The multiple Boom Drops by Kofi, Woods' big gutbuster etc, such good stuff! Ford's selling was also solid; he did his badass dives, but also always remembered to sell the big pain caused by the assault on his mid-section. Dawkins' hot tag was also pretty damn great. Everything about this was at least good in all honesty. Just some real fine tag team wrestling. ***1/2

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn is always good at being thrown around, and I enjoy his heel shtick, but this wasn't much to write home about. Kind of a prolonged squash with Lashley not being interesting being the man to squash the chickenshit-heel. There was still some bits that I enjoyed, so a gentleman's **

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
This had some general awkwardness, especially with Asuka just standing still quite a few times seemingly waiting for Sasha to do her move/transition, and it just looked dumb, straight up. Other than those, this was a real solid match. Liked the mat-heavy start, and later on I really liked Asuka's Ankle Lock sequence, followed by her lovely kicks. It's not their best match, but I think it's for sure better than the last one between 'em that I watched, which was the SummerSlam match. ***

Women's Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Match
EXTREMELY paint-by-the-numbers SurSer tag match. There was really nothing very interesting or compelling about this, maybe other than the start of Bianca's run 1-on-3, but even that wasn't all that good overall. *1/4

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
I was actually pretty hyped for this one, because while I'm not the biggest fan of either man, I think WWE has handled both of these guys super well this year, and this match-up actually feels like it's on some Batista vs. John Cena shit, you know? Sadly the match wasn't good at all. 20+ minutes of slow & plodding action with no interesting hook or catch to it whatsoever, and then they suddenly start doing tablespots & a shitload of nearfalls. The match got a bit more interesting once they kicked it into that finishing gear, but yeah, it still was your generic big match big movez & nearfalls for 'em. And what came before it was soooo dull & boring. There was one legit very neat moment in there though with Drew countering Reigns' Spear attempt into an Armbar, but that's about it. *1/2

ROH REBORN: STAGE ONE

ROH REBORN: STAGE ONE 04/23/04

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero
It's the ROH debut of the Havana Pitbulls, and they get to look extremely credible here by pushing the tag champs to the absolute limit. I thought the match, while at times felt a bit all over the place with its structure, it was really fun & good w/ especially young Rocky Romero offering lots of interesting, intense offense. The "all over the place" description isn't all negative either, because at times that helped give the match a nice little intense, bit of a chaotic feel, which fit the work of Reyes & Romero extremely well. It's a good one. ***

Bryan Danielson vs. CM Punk
This is actually their first ever 1-on-1 meeting, which makes it quite noteworthy on paper. It's a really good match! At 26 minutes, it definitely goes on for a bit too long & there's periods where it isn't as compelling as you'd like, but for the absolute majority of it, the wrestling is lovely. Danielson seeing a target in Punk's mid-section, going to work over it & then getting the win with the abdominal stretch was awesome. Also have to say that knowing what happens years later, the dueling "YES! NO!" chant when they're battling on the top rope towards the end always pops me. ***1/2

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
Didn't reach the greatness of their Do Or Die title bout, but it's still Joe & 'cide doing their thing, so it's obviously good. Both guys, especially Joe, deliver some vvverrry nice offense throughout, and I dig the fireball ending, giving Homicide's character some new direction. ***

ROH AT OUR BEST

 

ROH AT OUR BEST 03/13/04

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
This is a rematch between the two coming off of the Pure Title tournament finals where AJ came out victorious, but the match had some controversial reffing against Punk. So here the special guest referee is none other than RICKY STEAMBOAT to hopefully make things right. Spoiler alert: he didn't, because in the end, Punk got screwed again. BUT what it did lead to, was an absolutely lovely post-match segment with Punk confronting Steamboat about it -- all ending up with Steamboat kicking his ass vintage Steamboat style. That was some truly epic shit. The match itself was real solid & on par w/ that previous meeting of theirs. It maybe went a bit too long, as it felt like Punk & Styles simply didn't have much of a truly compelling hook to this thing for some periods of time - it was still solid the entire way through, but it never felt must-see or made me go "wow, this is pretty damn great", you know? It really is one of those rock-solid, perfectly good matches between two names who you think could produce something more memorable given who they are. Their first ROH 1-on-1 match remains their best one against one another, but this completes a solid trilogy. ***1/4

Jay Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
Jay Briscoe's crimson mask is one of the most stunning blood-related visuals that I've ever seen in pro-wrestling. It's what I thought when I first watched this match yeaaaaars ago, and it still strikes me on that same level. It's amazing & truly helps this already-totally-great match kick things up to another notch -- the Briscoes vs. Joe feud comes to its conclusion beautifully with Joe dishing out amazingly compelling punishment throughout + Jay taking it all like a champ and also delivering big time with all of times he is on the offense himself. Him hitting the Jay Driller towards the end was such a fantastic moment. To put it simply, both parties involved were absolutely on point w/ their roles in this match. It's constant, superb violence, and the big spots, such as the cutter from the top, Joe's backdrop driver from the top & that match-ending super Muscle Buster -- it's all holy-shit worthy & simply amazing stuff. This is an essential watch for anybody looking to get into prime ROH, as it really is a bona fide classic for the company. ****1/2

ROH 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW

ROH 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW 02/14/04

CM Punk vs. John Walters
Punk mocking Daniels' entrance was very fun, and the match itself is rock solid. Some nice, "usual" bodypart-targeting by both men, and both of them also sell pretty good. ***

AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave
AJ Styles had taken Jimmy Rave under his wing & he had been trying to motivate him to find that killer instinct within him to succeed. Styles actually requested for Rave to be his opponent here. The match plays out excellently into that storyline between 'em, with it having a lovely little young boy dynamic; Styles is pretty dominant throughout with his viciously excellent looking offense, but Rave gets some very nice chains of offense in himself, and in the end he finds that killer instinct by going after the knee AJ seemingly hurt. I really, really enjoyed this one. Clocking in at under 8 minutes I thought they told their charming story very well bell-to-bell. ***1/2

CM Punk vs. Doug Williams
This is just really good wrestling throughout, with things kicking up a notch once Punk goes after Doug's knee. He's like a shark smelling blood attacking it, and that finish where it came to play was SO awesome. Seriously love, love, LOVE the crap out of that finish - everything leading up to it was already awesome, but that is the cherry on top of the cake. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Matt Stryker
Jimmy Rave assaulted AJ's knee at the closing minutes of their tournament match earlier on in the night, and it didn't take long for that same knee to become the main target of Matt Stryker's onslaught in this bout. I thought that Stryker did a really good job being the aggressor here; his work on that said knee was focused n' vicious, and when he wasn't attacking it, he was doing other awesome stuff like smashing AJ's head into the barricade on the outside. AJ sold really well throughout too, even if his match-finishing springboard maneuver was maybe a bit too clean given the amount of pain he was supposed to be in, but it still worked, as it felt like everything kinda just fell into the perfect place for him to hit that move. A really good match and real good performances by both as well, especially Stryker. ***1/2

BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff vs. Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe
Whitmer & Maff are of course stablemates in The Prophecy, so they really are teaming up throughout this 4-way dance, which causes Joe & Ki to form kind of an alliance to combat against that. It's good stuff; BJ's & Maff's heat seg on Joe towards the end was really good I thought, but the ultimate highlights of this one, unsurprisingly, are the exchanges between Joe & Ki -- the one true sequence they had very late in the match where they just slap, knee & kick the shit out of one another was pure joy. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
This is a good match, but not as good as their match at The Tradition Continues, aaand they both also had better matches on this same night; Punk against Doug Williams + AJ against Rave & Stryker. It's still very good though - a nice tournament finals bout, which also sets up the rematch between them nicely with the controversy~! ***1/4

ROH THE LAST STAND

ROH THE LAST STAND 01/29/04

CM Punk vs. Homicide
Much like Homicide's extremely disappointing match against AJ Styles a few weeks prior, this was needlessly long & came without a true hook or catch to keep you (or at least I) interested. Seriously 95% of this was painfully uninteresting. *3/4

ROH THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN

 

ROH THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN 01/10/04

AJ Styles vs. Homicide
When talking about ROH WOTY contenders for 2003, Styles was #3 in my eyes (Joe = number 2) & Homicide was THE wrestler of the year for the company, so safe to say that on paper this match-up looked quite promising. It sadly wasn't very compelling at all though -- there were a few good moments, especially towards the end as the match got more & more vicious as it went on, but ultimately the 20+ minutes they went dragged like a mofo. Solid psychology with the bodypart targeting & all, but yeah, the work here just didn't capture my interest much at all for the vast majority of the bout. **

Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is on par with Joe's match alongside AJ Styles against The Briscoes. The thing rules, to put it simply. Bryan & Joe are all kinds of awesome when they're working over the Briscoe Bros, wrenching their arms, stretching them boys out & blasting them with vicious strikes. Briscoes are great as well with especially their heat segment on Bryan being absolutely lovely. ***3/4

Ace Steel, CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer, Christopher Daniels & Dan Maff
The heel-face roles in this are a bit confusing given the whole backstory leading up to the match, but everybody plays their roles in solid fashion regardless. It's a solid match too, but really nothing to write home about; goes on for a long time, and other than Dan Maff's very nice FIP segment, there really isn't anything noteworthy about it. The pure post-match chaos after the bell rings is unironically more memorable & better than the actual match in all honesty. **1/2

ROH FINAL BATTLE 2003

 

ROH FINAL BATTLE 12/27/03


Bryan Danielson vs. Jay Briscoe
Such an awesome opener. Starts off with some very nice, charming technical wrestling that covers the first half of it. Then they eventually start unloading the more heavy offense & things get more intense, and it's equally awesome. ***1/2

John Walters vs. Xavier
Comparing this to the very good battle Homicide & Trent Acid had of the same match type earlier on the year, this is a level above. There's A LOT of truly insane spots, such as the springboard 450 to the outside through the table, Xavier's Arabian Press onto Walters who was laying on the ladder, Kiss-Your-X-Goodbye from the top rope & of course also that absolutely BRUTAL finish -- but even more importantly, on top of all that, I felt like these two here captured the true essence of a Fight Without Honor, which could be summed up to the one word of "dislike". That's where I think it edges out 'cide vs. Acid, which also had some great, vicious spots/moments, but this one felt simply more heated. ****

Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
A very, very basic dominant Joe performance/match. He indeed dominates almost all of it, with Mark getting a few hope spots & comeback chains in. Other than Joe's always-awesome slaps & knees-to-the-head, it's really nothing worth noting. **

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Tomoaki Honma
The first half (or so) wasn't very interesting, but once they kicked it up a notch & hit that 2nd gear, this got really good and remained very exciting till the end. The finish with Punk spiking Honma on his head with the Pepsi Plunge looked devastating. It's a pretty good match! Nothing must see, but it's a pretty fun watch for sure. **3/4

ROH WAR OF THE WIRE

 

ROH WAR OF THE WIRE 11/29/03


AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
This is as hard hitting as one would expect and has some neat, interesting bits of storytelling with AJ having to counter Joe's big size advantage. Joe is on top for a lot of the match, and it's of course some pretty great stuff with his arsenal looking brutal as always & AJ bumping like AJ does for it. That's already a winning combination, but then you add in AJ's explosive, vicious n' excellent comebacks, and you got a real kick-ass bout. Going back to that interesting storytelling mention, I also really liked the whole little narrative they did with AJ busting out big power moves on Joe, which ultimately caused him to essentially gas himself out. ***3/4

Homicide vs. Steve Corino
It's a No Ropes Barbed Wire match to end this feud. When you talk about pure nastiness & sheer violence, this probably ups their previous match. There's some stuff here that's legitimately pretty hard to watch, and I mean that in the best way possible. I don't think it's as good overall as that said Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies match-up of theirs though, but it's not far off. One slight negative that bothered me was Homicide going for multiple flash roll-ups in the beginning; it didn't fit the match, and it ESPECIALLY didn't fit Homicide of all people at all. Other than that, this was him & Corino doing pro-wrestling grudge match violence brilliantly, once again. ****1/4

ROH THE CONCLUSION

ROH THE CONCLUSION 11/28/03


Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Rave
This is an awesome little match. The early back & forth is really good, and so is Rave taking over by targeting Daniels' arm. Daniels' initial selling is on point, and him taking the control back by going after Rave's back ruled -- the whole heat seg he did on it was great stuff w/ his full focus being on that one bodypart. Then add the always charming young boy vs. an established cocky superstar of the company dynamic to the thing, and you got yourself a big hit. ***1/2

AJ Styles & Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is probably the best 2-on-2 tag team match ROH had held up to this point in time. It's just full of super exciting tag team sequences & overall kick-ass action -- Joe & Styles wrecking shit n' cleaning house together was so much fun, and The Briscoes were awesome as well, matching the viciousness & straight-up awesomeness of their opponents throughout. Them working better as an unit with the little things and capitalizing on the one miscommunication AJ & Joe made in the end was the most obvious narrative to go with it, and it worked super well, I thought. This match was such a super good time. ***3/4

CM Punk vs. Raven
This is their final match in ROH -- the CONCLUSION, if you will. And it honestly is sadly pretty disappointing. It's the worst of their ROH meetings. There's plenty of violence & blood, but the vast majority of it just doesn't translate well. I thought Punk lowkey came off as the babyface when he was taking a slow beating from Raven. And I thought Raven was missing the fire that made some of the previous entries in this feud extremely good -- he just offered a totally nothing-of-note performance. It's not a bad match, but so, so forgettable & disappointing when you consider the other awesome matches they had against one another, tag & singles. **1/2

AEW BUNKHOUSE TAG

 

AEW Dynamite 11/11/20

The Blade & Butcher vs. Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall
They truly did the gimmick justice here. This was fantastic grudge-match violence mixed with perfect touches of lil' fun -- very much exactly what I wanted out of it. Dustin & QT wearing kneepads over their jeans, every participant wearing white to show off those eventual bloodstains, haystacks flyin', fire extinguishers, handcuffs, BLOOD, epic ladder & plywood spots, super satisfying babyface ending to the match. QT Marshall absolutely killed it. What a BLAST. ****

ROH MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES

 

ROH MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES 11/01/03

BJ Whitmer vs. Homicide
This is billed as a "fighting spirit challenge", and they sure wrestle the match accordingly to the billing. It's a very good exhibition with both guys bringing some nasty, brutal offense into it -- 'cide with his usual badass array of punches, chops, boots & more, and then BJ with his vicious suplexes, solid strikes & a nice powerbomb. I do think the Cop Killa kickout was very unnecessary, and the match drags after that, but at least they executed it nicely with Homicide being so sure it's gonna get him the victory, resulting in him taking too much time before actually going for the pin, which ultimately resulted in that kickout. Good match. ***1/4

The Backseat Boyz vs. Special K vs. The Carnage Crew vs. The SAT vs. Jack Evans & Teddy Hart
This match is just fucking ridiculous. It's a pretty infamous match in Ring of Honor's lore, mostly due to the post-match, but it's also EASILY the silliest & most ridiculous match they have held up to this point. And I loved it. It's pure chaos & carnage for every single passing second of it -- a full-on brawl with fists flying & wrestlers being thrown into the steel cage walls, and then there's so many absolutely RIDICULOUS, if I may repeat myself, highflying spots from the top of the cage, mostly involving dem boys Teddy Hart & especially Jack Evans. It is 100% worth a watch, even if there's a good chance that you would hate it, because it's such a ridiculous (word of the day) kind-of-shitty spectacle. I wouldn't call it a full-on "it's so bad, it's good" kind of deal, because it really rules in a good way for most of it, but some of the absolutely nutty flying spots sure work with that saying. Madness. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Bryan Danielson
This is Dragon's first appearance in ROH since his MOTYC vs. Paul London. So what does he do in his first match back? Has another classic for the company. GOAT shit only. And it's against a man he had one of the finest matches of 2002 against. So their first match already was an amazing contest, and their 2nd match here is just as good. They bring that now-signature Danielson vs. Styles strategic pro-wrestling aggression & competitiveness into it. You know right from the first time they touch that it's gonna be a good one, as they quickly move into some grappling, which indeed comes with a nice sense, look & feel of aggression & violence. Extremely intense, just the way you would expect from the two. Eventually Bryan sees a target in AJ's shoulder/arm as he ties him up on the ropes; Bryan's work on the arm is SUPERB in all of its vicious glory. AJ also bumps & sells for it big time, which makes it all feel & look all the more brutal n' amazing. Styles eventually finds an opening by dumping Bryan on the outside legs first, which results in him returning the favor from the arm-destruction that Danielson did on him by going after his knee. AJ is also brutal as hell targeting it; he is dumping Bryan knee-first into the post n' guardrail, which actually also cuts the knee open, really putting over the brutality of it all. The dueling bodypart-targeting story that is going on is wonderful to watch unfold, and the pure sense of competition is so grabbing throughout. Absolutely adore the whole finishing sequence too, especially everything leading up to that one-armed Styles Clash -- so much struggle in display, but that could be said about the whole match, because they brought that in spades. Absolutely WONDERFUL stuff all in all. Everything they did felt like it had purpose, and everything they did felt earned. If I had to choose which is a better match between 'em, this or the first one @ All-Star Extravaganza, it wouldn't be an easy one, because they really are just as good. ****1/2

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN 10/25/03


Christopher Daniels vs. John Walters
This was looking to become a full-on Chris Daniels 03 classic akin his matches vs. Doug Williams & Xavier, but in the last third (or so), they decide to pretty much say "fuck you" to the whole story of Walters' working over Daniels' leg vs. Daniels doing a number on Walters' back. Daniels in particular disappointed me a lot when it came down to that, as he was doing his moonsaults as clean as ever & running full speed -- I think it's especially disappointing when you know that he could also sell extremely well if needed. OH WELL & all that. I still enjoyed this tremendously, because the hold-for-hold back n' forth technical rasslin' in the beginning was really good, and then the mentioned bodypart-targeting story that happened was really great. More selling and this could've & probably would've been one of the years highlights. ***3/4

CM Punk vs. Steve Corino
This is SUCH a blast right from the introductions to the post-match promos by both men. It's two huge personalities going at it, and they play off of each other wonderfully throughout. The "actual wrestling" part of the match rules too, with them blasting each other with some fantastic looking punches, forearms, chops & kicks. Corino faking that ear injury in a nice ode to his fantastic fight vs. Homicide was awesome, and the flurry he went on after revealing that he wasn't actually hurt was some truly great stuff. And yeah, then there's indeed the joyous pre-match w/ their ridiculous introductions + the post-match with them bonding over Corino swerving the crowd & Punk giving them a usual Punk-like jawing on the mic. A real lovely piece of business as an overall package. ***3/4

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
This doesn't reach the level of their ass-kicking match at Do Or Die, but it's a pretty badass match in its own right. There's some minutes in the match that feel kind of "dead" & don't keep you (or at least me) hooked, but then they redeem themselves with some awesome violence like a lil' slapfest or the finish w/ Homicide choking Joe out. Definitely worth a watch if you love these two motherfuckers like I do. ***1/4

ROH TRADITION CONTINUES

ROH TRADITION CONTINUES 10/16/03

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
A really good match. The opening work on the mat is really tight, aggressive feeling & looking - really liked all of it. Eventually Punk sees a target in AJ's back, so he starts softening him up by going after it. Punk's work over the back is real good throughout, and there's some superb moments revolving around that, such as Punk catching AJ on his top rope attack & turning it into a crushing backbreaker. All of AJ's comebacks now that Punk is in firm control are great too with him bringing the big time energy & hard hits. That finish w/ him countering Punk's Shining Wizard attempt straight into the Styles Clash was very neat, too. ***1/2

Homicide vs. John Walters vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Xavier
An overly long, super generic spotfest of sorts. Even the bigger spots aren't any exciting in all honesty, save for maybe one or two by John Walters, so this really isn't a match worth watching at all. *

Jay Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
This was a pretty basic, yet extremely solid underdog tale with the dominant champion taking on a young challenger. At first Joe isn't treating Jay as a real threat, instead he is just toying with him while beating him down, and it's good stuff. Jay's eventual big comeback run is also good stuff, with him being full of fire to start it off & I feel like it lasted just about the correct time w/ Joe then ending it in badass fashion with that big uranage on the corner. From then on Joe is more in control, but Jay still gets some pretty awesome comeback bits + big kickouts and nearfalls to his own name, too. It's not the best match they've had, but it was a good one & kind of set the wheels in motion for what was about to come between 'em very nicely. ***

AEW FULL GEAR 2020

AEW FULL GEAR 2020

Adam Page vs. Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega’s new entrance with Justin Roberts’ epic introduction & those dancing girls w/ brooms is hysterical & epic. I love it. The match itself was kind of disappointing. It did feel like a tournament ending workrate exhibition -- there was a few nice moments, as they undeniably brought some great looking offense into the thing (what stood out the most was those powerbombs Hangman busted out), but I largely didn’t care for the majority of the match. It certainly wasn’t bad by any means, but most of it didn’t register to my eyes. It never got too cute or silly though, which is something it easily could’ve done, and that’s a big positive. **1/2

John Silver vs. Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy does his shtick & John Silver compliments it well with his reactions. That's the story of the match, and it def served its purpose here. Silver angrily yelling at OC while OC does his leg kicks was legit pretty funny. Silver also had some nice moments on the offense, in particular with the kicks of his own. Solid little match! **

Cody vs. Darby Allin
Darby showing up to Cody right from the get go with his superior quickness was very nice, and Cody taking control by brutally dumping him outside arm-first was a fantastic way to transition into his heat seg. Cody's work over the arm was all kinds of awesome with big focus & the confidence he showed throughout doing it was great. Really felt like it was a big gameplan coming to fruition & the wrestler doing it was executing it excellently. Those straight up bully-like moments with him running his mouth & doing some taunts were all awesome as well. And of course Darby is superb doing the selling -- his arm was total dead-weight throughout, and I loved stuff like him trying to lock in the choke from behind, but only being able to do it with one arm, ultimately leading to that failing. Also gotta mention that Super Cross Rhodes from the top, which was a legitimately insanely fantastic highspot. Everything about this was simply great... Up until the finish. I didn't like the finish at all. Everything they did in the match & even in the post-match, it all called for a better, more decisive, more "epic" finish. The result is awesome, but damn that finish leaves a lil' sour taste in my mouth after such an otherwise brilliant match. ***3/4

Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose
Nyla Rose really brought things down here. Her work on the offense was weak & boring, and even her selling looked rough throughout. Lots of sloppiness it seemed. It wasn't a bad match though, as Shida brought quite a few nice moments into it between her solid selling of the knee & fiery work on the offense, especially with those knee strikes. **

Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
This was every bit of the epic it was always destined to be. Felt like pure fireworks from start to finish, with just about every moment of the match being badass. Lots of the stand-out great moments involved Matt's bum ankle, as well as Harwood's hand. I thought Matt's selling was pretty damn great throughout; even when he was doing his stuff on the offense, he always let us know that he was in big time pain + he had to really dig down deep to execute those moves & it always came at the cost of him further hurting the bodypart. That finish with him hitting the Superkick with it was superb & the whole sequence leading to it had the perfect amount of drama. I also really liked all the shoutouts to other great tag teams like the Hart Foundation, DIY, The Hardyz, Steiners -- it's something that easily could've felt very unnecessary & straight-up masturbatory (hello Edge vs Orton), but here them doing those moves just felt _natural_ & like it all belonged. Really loved everything about this tbh. They told their tale brilliantly & each man involved delivered superb performances. A special shout-out to Cash who was flying everywhere, going crazy & eating shit many times doing so lol. Brilliant tag team match. Certainly a one to be remembered. ****1/2

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
Had some neat moments, but as an overall package, this was pretty meh. Served its purpose as the breather after the tag team title match. The highlight of the thing was probably the soundtrack.

Chris Jericho vs. MJF
Wasn't interesting at all except for two moments or so. The moments that I am referring to here are MJF countering Jericho's Judas Effect attempt into his Fujiwara Armbar finish, and then that actual finish of the match w/ him pulling an Eddie. At best this could've been an ego-fueled clash of two huge personalities, but this wasn't it. *3/4

Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley
The fact that this is a pro-wrestling PPV main event in 2020 rules so much. And they more than delivered, even with my hopeful expectations being super high. Right from the get go it feels & looks like a total dogfight, and that's how it went for pretty much all of it. It's a perfectly done rugged street fight between two bad, nasty motherfuckers. There's a constant "fight feel" with nothing looking too cute & them really grinding down each other to try and get that W. So many badass moments throughout w/ them laying it in any chance they got to do so, eye-gouging, those backdrop drivers by Eddie, him eventually going low, etc. And the barbed wire & alcohol gimmicks were aaaaawesome. As were the tacks. Even so many little moments like Eddie going "BRYCE, BRYCE, DID HE QUIT?" before going forward with what he had planned, was such great, great stuff. Now I could've done without Moxley's talking before he locked in that barbed wire assisted Bulldog Choke for the finish, but even that worked pretty well in the context of the match & the build. And it really was the perfect finish to this match -- a tough, dramatic, bitter end fitting of The Mad King. This really was exactly how a match between Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley should look like. One of the true highlights of 2020. ****1/2

ROH GLORY BY HONOR II

ROH GLORY BY HONOR II 09/20/03


CM Punk vs. Terry Funk
The fact that this is a match that happened in 03 is a blessed thing. It's a good match too! Terry looked very good with everything he did and Punk sold tremendously for him. And talking bout selling, the selling of his own when the knee became the focal point of Punk's attack, Funker was simply on point. He sold that damage to perfection, which shouldn't surprise anyone. Fun little match. ***1/4

Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe
This felt like a sprint for most of it, and of course it's good stuff. I do think the match feels a bit disappointing considering who are the two wrestlers in it though, and the fact that the backstory was there for something bigger & better, but it's still a good match so. Like I said, it does feel like a sprint with the pace they go at right from the get go, and both Joe & Daniels sure look good there w/ their great signature offense, but I do also think that some of it doesn't register so well though, as it feels like they are indeed just hitting moves, but HEY, at least those moves look great. And the match gets better as it goes on too w/ the urgency levels rising, especially in the last 5-or so minutes when the action is red hot. That Angel's Wings nearfall was simply tremendous. ***1/4

ROH BEATING THE ODDS

ROH BEATING THE ODDS 09/06/03


Homicide vs. Trent Acid
I think this smokes their Wrestlerave match tbh. And that match already ruled & had quite a few insane moments, but this is totally great & super consistent with its action (which is something I thought the Wrestlerave match wasn't). It feels very sprint-y with how fast they go right from the get go, and that adds a lot to the overall intensity & the feeling of the dislike they have for one another. Acid & 'cide both bring some truly fantastic offense w/ their own signature touches into the thing, and it's just awesome to watch them beat each other up, to put it bluntly. The blood added quite a bit too, and the ways they both got cut? Naaaaasty stuff. Superb match. ****

AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
Good match. Was a fun looking line-up on paper, and they definitely delivered a fun outing. I enjoyed the Jay-in-peril segment -- solid stuff all around w/ Jay looking good selling his ass off out there & the other 3 looking good showcasing their offense on the lad. My favorite bit of the whole match was everything after AJ slipped on his springboard 450 attempt though; immediately afterwards it seemed like he kicked his intensity & aggression up a notch, which made everyone else also follow suit & it created for some really fun exchanges. ***

CM Punk vs. Raven
Another quality entry in this feud. Not as good as their previous singles meeting, but pretty close. It didn't take long for the blood to start flyin' as they introduced weapons very quickly into the thing; Punk cuffing Raven into the ropes was fun, and Raven's eventual one-handed comeback was pretty epic. Between that & his lariat-flurry in their previous match, I am digging the old school fire he is showing in these matches vs. Punker. ***1/4

ROH BITTER FRIENDS, STIFFER ENEMIES

 

ROH BITTER FRIENDS, STIFFER ENEMIES 08/16/03


Christopher Daniels vs. Xavier
5 months earlier Xavier lost the ROH Title to Samoa Joe, and this is his first match in the company since that. He is going up against his Prophecy pal in Christopher Daniels, so this already has a pretty intriguing dynamic from the start. As the match starts & goes on, it plays out kind of like you would expect it to go between two stablemates; it's some really good, charming back & forth that comes with a nice feeling of caution. Def kept me hooked throughout, and then Xavier unloads the first punch of the match, which shocks Daniels, who of course then returns the favor. From that point it's truly ON, with them upping the intensity & one-upmanship -- one of the best moments of the entire matches came right after they traded those punches, as they try to trick one another into thinking it's a "clean" fight again without punches, but it turns out they both tried to double-cross each other, resulting in a full-on SCRAP with fists flying. That whole sequence truly captured the essence of this heel vs. heel match-up. Eventually Daniels finds a target in Xavier's mid-section, and he truly doesn't forget about that target for the entirety of the thing, as it becomes the focal point of his onslaught. Daniels' work over the ribs is fantastic throughout & Xavier's selling is really good. Xavier finding an opening & noticing Daniels banging his neck on the barricade, which then resulted in him fully attacking that said neck was a great, compelling gameplan to counter Daniels' hellacious beating of his ribs, too -- Xavier's work over it is also great, and Daniels' selling is very good as well. A full-on ribs vs. neck story this turns into, and it rules so much. There's lots of great, perfectly dramatic moments involving those said targeted bodyparts of the two, and the wrestling is just super compelling each step of the way. It all really blew me away. Now Xavier had some really good matches vs. the likes of Paul London & Low Ki before this in his ROH career - all those matches had some overbooking which either hurt or helped them though, but then comes THIS? Those said matches vs. London & Ki were indeed really good, but THIS? What. a. gem. I think it's very comparable to Daniels' fantastic match vs. Doug Williams from Night of Champions earlier on in the year, but I would probably put this even above it, because of the super charming heel vs. heel dynamic & the way they tell their story with it. Absolutely tremendous match in every way possible. Xavier & Daniels wrestled their asses off, straight up. ****1/2

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
It's a pairing that would later on become THE pairing. According to cagematch, this is actually their first ever meeting in the ring anywhere, so that's pretty cool. It's a good match. They do a little number with Punk trying to weaken Joe's banged up arm, and Joe going after Punk's knee - which comes into play in the finish too, which is always appreciated. ***1/4

Homicide vs. Steve Corino
A ROH classic worthy of its reputation. It's always as nasty as ever; Homicide & Corino just completely brutalize one another in the most vicious, stunning ways they could here, and it's some compelling stuff, to say the least. Corino's epic introduction, THE SLAP, 'cide cutting Corino's arm with barbed wire & then continuing to destroy it with a FORK & by biting it, Corino smashing Homicide's head on the barricade & cutting him open, digging his fingers & barbed wire in that cut, Homicide's fucking dive where his back eats shit on the rail on his way flying to the crowd, that dramatic, blood-filled 2nd gear they kick the thing into once the finish is coming nearer & nearer. Everything always holds up. It's a masterpiece of its genre -- the big moments in the match are visually stunning & super memorable + the action really never gets boring for one second. One minute they are doing a number on one another with weapons, and one minute they are punching & booting their heads in. It's all oh-so-good. Hate-filled pro-wrestling grudge match violence done brilliantly. ****1/2

ROH WRATH OF THE RACKET

ROH WRATH OF THE RACKET 08/09/03


BJ Whitmer vs. Samoa Joe
Not a bad match by any means, but pretty disappointing. Early on this match showed nice potential with them feeling each other out & getting more intense by the minute, but eventually this kind of drifted into mediocre-levels w/ BJ offering nothing of note. Watching Joe do his thing is always enjoyable, and it's what made this match at least somewhat interesting by the end, but it isn't all that much when his opponent isn't doing anything interesting. **1/2

AJ Styles & Homicide vs. Christopher Daniels & Dan Maff
Nothing blow away or truly standout about this, but it's a really solid match from start to finish. Good beginning section w/ the babyfaces getting a nice shine (those stereo dives they hit at the start = so good), solid Homicide FIP segment w/ the Prophecy lads doing some pretty good work over him, complete with some Cornette shenanigans, and then a good AJ hot tag & a rock-solid 2nd, finishing gear. The kind of a match that you can call rock-solid, but ultimately it's something that you won't remember in a few days. **3/4

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 07/19/03


BJ Whitmer vs. Colt Cabana vs. Dan Maff vs. Homicide
This is a simply WONDERFUL 4-way dance with each competitor firing on all cylinders. Everybody has multiple shining moments & they all simply look constantly good in there as the action keeps on getting hotter & hotter as each moment passes. Just when you think that the energy might be going down a little, BOOM -- here is one of them busting out some more hype shit. ***3/4

CM Punk vs. Raven
This is a really good match, and as an overall package w/ Punk's pre-match promo & the whole post-match included, it's a pretty memorable one as well. I thought they made good usage of the Dog Collar gimmick with the chain coming into play in many of the momentum swifts, and both Punk & Raven offered rock-solid performances in their respective roles. Punk sold extremely well when Raven was kicking his ass all over the place, and Raven looked good doing the said ass-kicking; the clothesline frenzy he went on after Punk's control period pretty late in the match was the highlight of the thing in my eyes. That was some really good shit, as was the match as a whole. Sure Raven's initial shine maybe went on for a bit too long, but I thought Punk's selling made up for it, and the energy & the heat between 'em never left during it, so it's fine. Punk also looked great when controlling things; I especially loved when he picked up the microphone to talk some shit to Raven while beating him down, truly shining as the proud, cocky youngster heel that he was. A pretty damn great performance from him overall I thought, pre- & post-match included. ***1/2

Paul London vs. Samoa Joe
This wasn't as dramatic and epic as it could've & really should've been given all the circumstances around it, but it's still a helluva match. It's two of the best wrestlers of 2003 going at it, and when you put it that way, it probably didn't reach its full potential as I already implied, but it still rules. London & Joe seemed to have a natural chemistry, with London using his quickness to get some flow going in his output, and then Joe of course looked like a killer with his always lovely offense, which London also sells tremendously. Really good underdog dynamic throughout. The post-match with London saying farewell to ROH is really special as well, making this a really sweet deal all around. ***1/2

ROH WRESTLERAVE '03

 

ROH WRESTLERAVE '03 06/28/03


Dan Maff vs. Samoa Joe
This was a helluva big boi sprint. They go around 10 minutes, and they fill that time with some truly enjoyable action with them brutalizing one another by striking each other real hard & dumping one another on their necks. Such good shit! ***1/4

Christopher Daniels & Raven vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana
Yet another extremely solid addition to the Punk vs. Raven rivalry. Maybe a bit below the match w/ Whitmer, but yeah, this was still really good. Seeing Daniels work as a babyface felt very weird to say the least, but he truly rocked that role w/ some great work on the offense at first, and then later on as a rock-solid FIP. ***1/4

Homicide vs. Trent Acid
This is a FIGHT WITHOUR HONOR, and Homicide & Trent take that stipulation to the heart by going pretty bonkers in the thing. Lots of brutal punishment thrown towards one another throughout, with the most memorable spot being that Ace Crusher from 'cide to the floor through the table. Gawd damn. ***1/2

ROH NIGHT OF THE GRUDGES

ROH NIGHT OF THE GRUDGES 06/14/03


BJ Whitmer & Raven vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana
This is a real lovely piece of business. It's a heated fight with the main focus of it obviously being the continuation of the feud between CM Punk & Raven, and it makes some awesome action, to say the least. It feels heated right from the get go & never lets up -- everything especially after Punk & Raven introduce the chairs into the match is some truly quality stuff. Cabana & Whitmer also more than play their roles well in this thing, making every interaction in the match at least good, and for most of the time VERY good. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Paul London
I would probably rank the 2/3 falls match against Danielson as London's #1 match, but at the same time this probably is his most captivating individual performance. His mind games in the early stages of the match with the constant handshake offers & sly looks was very interesting to follow, and the action was just as good, and even better than you would expect from these two. It was smooth, crisp, nasty & violent -- simply some beautiful pro-wrestling, man. Beautiful pro-wrestling. Eventually London sees a target in AJ's leg, and that is when his full-on mean streak & killer instinct kicked in, and my GOODNESS the match kicks up a notch after that. It already was phenomenal, but once the leg becomes the main story of the match, that's when you, or at least I, realize that I am watching a classic unfold. The ways London goes to that leg any chance he gets is so great & as compelling to watch as one could ask -- there's so many great moments revolving around the legwork throughout. AJ totally rocks his role fighting in peril from underneath too -- he's the lovely, aggressive, scrappy pitbull that he was around this time, and it compliments London's work here perfectly. A better finish and this would be a bona fide 5-star one, but even with the lame double pin that kinda came out of nowhere, it's still totally a classic & one of my personal favorite matches. ****3/4