ROH IT ALL BEGINS

ROH IT ALL BEGINS

Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe
This is a great showcase for Nigel. He gets to showcase a lot here against the top dog in Joe, and it's awesome. Joe obviously offers plenty of his always-great violent tendencies as well. It's a very good little match! ***1/2

Tap Out Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
The first match in their Best of 5 series. Low Ki & Homicide did a real number on Danielson's arm at Final Battle, so one would expect this match to have a lot of arm-targeting, especially with it being a submission match. And you do get plenty of that! It's Homicide's main target, and he does a very good job working over it throughout. He's not someone you would classify as a "limb-targeting guy" at a first glance, but he brings great focus & nice viciousness into his attack here. Dragon's selling is really good as well & he brings such terrific intensity into his work on the offense - whether it be him taking things to the mat, the knee targeting, going for the airplane spin or blasting 'cide with those glorious uppercuts, Danielson brought it. It is a pretty major upgrade from their previous meeting, which while extremely solid, was very forgettable. This is a great match. ****

ROH World Championship
Austin Aries vs. Colt Cabana
This is just... kind of boring. Nothing wrong with it & nothing bad about it, but it just does absolutely nothing for me. The "classic" kind of a match where it's super inoffensive, but also very forgettable with maybe a good spot or two in there. *3/4