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