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ROH WRESTLING DVD REVIEWS

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*** Official OWW.com ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
June 3, 2006 - DESTINY - East Windsor, CT

I have waited with great anticipation for the ROH debut of independent wrestling sensation Davey Richards. Just two months before this show, Richards was holding up the trophy as the winner of the very prestigious ECWA Super 8 Tournament held in Delaware. Richards began a whirl-wind tour appearing in many of the top independent promotions around the country. Davey Richards' debut in ROH was the culmination of a wonderful success story and immediately solidified his status as a top prospect in professional wrestling. The fans seemed familiar with his work, and shared my anticipation. Davey Richards defeated Jimmy Rave in a very good opening match and it looks like Davey will be an ROH regular from this point on ( 8 / 10 ). Jimmy Rave wants a rematch!

The next match was a surprisingly good bout for the Top of Class Trophy. The much-improved Shane Hagadorn made Derrick Dempsey tap out to claim the Trophy for himself. Hagadorn shook Dempsey's hand after the match but blew off the other ROH students who came out to applaud their efforts. I'm very impressed with Shane Hagadorn's progress, and I hope he continues to improve his skills ( 5 / 10 ).

God bless SHIMMER Women's Athletes and God bless Dave Prazak. Women's wrestling still exists in the World, and if you don't believe me then you owe it to yourself to check out some SHIMMER DVDs immediately. Two of the top Women's wrestlers in the World clashed on this show when California's Sara Del Rey (who was undefeated in SHIMMER) faced The Embassy's Daizee Haze (who has been in all the SHIMMER main events to date). This was a perfect example of why SHIMMER is so great, and if you can't take my word for it then you can take the word of ROH World Champion American Dragon, who trained Sara Del Rey. He showed up after the match to give his support and praise to SHIMMER and his prot�g� the "American Angel" Sara Del Rey ( 7.5 / 10 ).

Tonight's Four Corner Survival match featured Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce, Delirious and Jason Blade. Delirious was his usual whacked out self, and Jason Blade was severely out of his league. There was a lot of tension between the two Chicago boys, as Colt Cabana and Adam Pearce engaged in some heated moments during this match. Cabana got the victory after making Jason Blade tap out and secured a future title shot against whoever the ROH World Champion is when that time comes ( 6.5 / 10 ).

Lacey, looking insanely hot, cut a backstage promo resenting the fact that American Dragon called Sara Del Rey the best women's wrestler in the World. Lacey also told Jimmy Jacobs that when he got back he better start winning some titles for her! It doesn't matter what Lacey does or says, having her on an ROH DVD is always a pefect ( 10 / 10 )

BJ Whitmer came to the ring and grabbed the microphone to explain his revelation. Whitmer admitted that the recent war with CZW had taught him what the word "hate" really means, and they he realized he didn't truly hate Christopher Daniels, nor did he truly hate Allison Danger (crowd goes "awwwwww!"). BJ Whitmer shook the Fallen Angel's hand and they agreed to have a good old fashioned wrestling match. So they had a spirited wrestling match and I was expecting a heel turn at some point but Daniels scored the clean victory over Whitmer after an Angel's Wings and a Best Moonsault Ever ( 7.5 / 10 ). After the match, Chris Daniels said ROH was lucky to have Whitmer carrying the banner going to war with CZW. Daniels offered Whitmer a rematch any time, but more importantly offered to be a tag partner against CZW. Daniels and Whitmer flashed the Prophecy sign to each other, followed by Allison Danger apologizing to Whitmer for the past and they hugged (and Whitmer pinched). Prophecy reunion??

Dragon Gate's Shingo Takagi defeated Rottweiler Ricky Reyes in a brutally stiff cringe-fest. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch! ( 6 / 10 ).

For the ROH World title match, Samoa Joe showed up in street clothes as the special guest ring announcer. Samoa Joe told Homicide that he appreciated Homicide helping ROH in the war against CZW. Samoa Joe introduced Homicide with a lot of hype and then introduced American Dragon as the "temporary ROH World Champion" and the "Palest Wrestler in the World." When the match finally began there was a ten minute feeling out period where Homicide and Dragon tested each others skills with some fairly honest competition. It eventually broke down into a big fight at ringside exchanging blows just feet from the extremely lucky front row audience. The rest of the match was very hot and heavy and the crowd was into it one hundred percent. If I didn't already know the outcome of this match, I would have truly believed Homicide would have become ROH World Champion. Unfortunately, a controversial finish left a very angry Homicide with the loser's share of the purse (so to speak). The referee stopped the match after Dragon repeatedly smashed Homicide with elbow-shots to the head, a tactic that Dragon has used to put away many of his opponents in the past. Adam Pearce came out and said Homicide never tapped or gave up but Jim Cornette ruled that the referees decision stands. Homicide became incensed and attacked referee Todd Sinclair and then yelled "F%#& You Ring of Honor!!" and exited through the crowd. It seems ROH is without one of its soldiers as the ROH vs CZW inter-promotional war wages on ( 9 / 10 ).

During the chaos, American Dragon snuck into the ring and attacked Samoa Joe's injured knee and left to celebrate his victory. Dragon continues to proclaim himself as the "Best Wrestler in The World!"

The main event was a rematch from the last show, as Austin Aries and Roderick Strong once again defended their ROH Tag Team championships against The Briscoe Brothers. In my review of "Ring of Homicide," I expressed my disappointment for that particular match due to its lack of explosiveness which has become a staple in the repertoire of both teams. This match, on the other hand, delivered the goods and ended up being an excitement-filled tag team bout which ended with Generation Next retaining their belts for the second time ( 8.5 / 10 ). The drama continued after the match, as Austin Aries officially disbanded Generation Next and said it was just he and Roderick from now on.

Final Thoughts: Watch out for Davey Richards. If anybody was born to be in ROH, it's definitely him. If you would like to purchase this or any other ROH DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com ---- if you need some convincing, you can check out streaming video of various ROH matches for free at www.ROHVideos.com



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