*** ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
October 5, 2007 – Boston, Massachusetts
HONOR NATION
TAG TEAM MATCH
HANGMEN 3 (Adam Pearce & Brent Albright) vs. The Resilience (Erick Stevens & Matt Cross): HANGMEN leader Adam Pearce led his partners Brent Albright and B.J. Whitmer to the ring, accompanied by their faction man-servant Shane Hagadorn. The team is officially calling themselves the HANGMEN 3, just four months after the Chris Benoit tragedy – which I find tasteless, even if it is an unfortunate coincidence. Adam Pearce is playing the “master manipulator” of the group, and seems to have a strange power over his associates. The Resilience demonstrated some really exciting offense, but the powerful and scheming team of Pearce and Albright was too much. The HANGMEN 3 celebrated their victory, and bleach-blond B.J. Whitmer called out Delirious.
MATCH
B.J. Whitmer vs. Delirious: Delirious hit the ring with a purpose, to extract revenge on the HANGMEN 3 for stapling the green lizard mask to his face not too long ago. Adam Pearce, Brent Albright, and Shane Hagadorn remained at ringside to give B.J. Whitmer an unfair advantage. The advantage was far too great for Delirious to overcome, and he was not able to accomplish his mission.
IN THE RING
The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black w/Lacey) + Jay Briscoe: The Age of the Fall hit the ring with all the chaos that usually follows them around. Jimmy Jacobs said that the Age of the Fall was not about pro-wrestling or Ring of Honor. Jacobs said it was about a revolution, an army changing the face our society. Jacobs said their goal is to target the Briscoes to get the tag belts, and the power that comes along with it. Jacobs warned the Briscoes that they had an army planted throughout the building. Jay Briscoe finally hit the ring for a wild and crazy brawl which spilled out the side door into the back halls of the arena. Jay was without brother Mark, because Mark was out of action with his 319th career-threatening injury.
4-CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH
Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico vs. Tyler Black vs. Hallowicked: With Tyler Black out of the picture, this 4-Corner Survival turned into a Triple Threat match. Nigel McGuinness seems to be walking around in circles not knowing what direction he wants to go. It feels like he is on the cusp of an epiphany or something. Nigel McGuinness scored the victory over the two bizarre masked men to gain some momentum going into his World title match the following night.
GRUDGE MATCH
Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli: Chris Hero was accompanied to the ring by his usual entourage, the Sweet & Sour army made up of Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland, Bobby Dempsey, and the oh-so beautiful Sara Del Rey. Claudio Castagnoli brought Daizee Haze to the ring with him to keep an eye on the dangerous Death Rey, who has made it a habit to interfere in most of Chris Hero’s matches. The Haze looks extremely hot wearing Double C’s over-sized sport jacket. These two former partners turned bitter enemies put on a fine technical match with very limited shenanigans from the people on the outside – although that didn’t stop the people on the outside from causing a commotion throughout the contest. Castagnoli scored the victory to earn bragging rights over his former Kings of Wrestling partner.
ANYTHING GOES MATCH
Necro Butcher vs. Jay Briscoe: At the conclusion of the previous match, announcer Dave Prazak announced that there was something going on backstage. Suddenly we saw Jay Briscoe and Necro Butcher (wearing a blood-stained white shirt) appeared in the arena engaged in an intense brawl. After about fifteen minutes of brutal fighting, and the disturbing deformation of Necro’s elbow, they landed in the ring and the bell rang to signal the “start” of their scheduled Anything Goes match. The carnage escalated as the fans expressed their desire for blood. Late in the match, Jimmy Jacobs showed up to interfere on behalf of his Age of the Fall stable-mate. The crippled Mark Briscoe forced his way to ringside and tossed his big brother a crutch to use on Jimmy Jacobs. Tyler Black showed up and cracked Mark Briscoe with a chair! Inside the ring, Necro Side-slammed Jay on top of a couple of chairs and pinned him to win the battle. The Age of the Fall abducted Mark Briscoe and carried him backstage to some unknown location.
TAG TEAM SQUASH MATCH
The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black) vs. Mitch Franklin & Ernie Osiris: This was a rare squash match with Jacobs and Black eating the two ROH students alive and beginning their rise up the ranks of the tag team division towards their desired ROH World Tag Team title shot. No sign of Mark Briscoe. Jay Briscoe hit the ring after the match, but the Age of the Fall quickly escaped without feeling the wrath of Briscoe.
BEST OF THREE SERIES (MATCH #1)
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries: Along with Whitmer and the Briscoes, I believe Dragon and Aries are two of the longest standing members of the ROH roster. They are unquestionably the most successful in the singles division, having each captured the ROH World title and defended it with pride and honor. This three match series was set up to award ultimate bragging rights and find out who the “true ace” of Ring of Honor was. Danielson had put his eye injury and his feud with Takeshi Morishima behind him and now wants to go back to the basics of good old fashioned professional wrestling matches. I always find it amazing when Bryan Danielson wrestles forty minute matches and doesn’t even break a sweat. He’s either in very good physical condition or he spreads antiperspirant all over his body before the matches. This match was just phenomenal, what else can I say. The fans were on their feet as Austin Aries forced American Dragon to tap out – and the fans erupted with joy over seeing the finish of one of the year’s best wrestling matches.
TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE
The Vulture Squad (Jack Evans & Ruckus & Jigsaw) vs. The No Remorse Corps (Roderick Strong & Davey Richards & Rocky Romero): It took some time for Jack Evans to get his group together, but now that the Vulture Squad has been formed, they are ready to go head-on with the No Remorse Corps. Ruckus is a great addition to the roster, and it’s great to see Jigsaw getting some attention – they called him the “final piece of the puzzle.” This was the perfect follow-up to the technical Aries-Danielson match, with high-speed action frosted with some thrilling high-spots. The Vulture Squad specializes in the high-spot, and the team of Evans, Ruckus, and Jigsaw prevailed over the No Remorse Corps.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH
Takeshi Morishima (Champion) vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen: Kinda strange to see two heels battling for the ROH World title in a main event – but that’s Ring of Honor for ya. Mr. Wrestling found himself in the unfamiliar position of being the smaller man in the match. Kevin Steen fought an extremely strong match against the World champion, but was taken down with a Backdrop-driver. Takeshi Morishima once again retains the ROH World title. El Generico came out to console his tag team partner (Steen) and let him know that he fought a good battle, but Steen wasn’t interested in getting a pat on the back. Steen shoved Generico aside, proclaiming “I don’t need you; I need you like I need herpes!” Classy.
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