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ROH WRESTLING DVD REVIEWS

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*** Official OWW.com ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
November 25, 2006 - DETHRONED - Edison, New Jersey

The night began with the very familiar anthem of Canada's favorite Luchador, one El Generico - Ole! Ole Ole Oleeee!! There's no better way to get a crowd pumped up than to play that song. It's awesome to see Generico back in ROH and one can't help but imagine a Generico vs. Delirious showdown some time in the future. However we're getting ahead of ourselves; Generico was immediately put to the test against heavyweight Brent Albright. Generico's mask must have been a little tight around the brain because for some reason he wanted to engage himself in a test of strength with the vastly more powerful Albright. Generico eventually submitted to Albright ( 5 / 10 ).

Shane Hagadorn put his Top of Class Trophy on the line against ROH student Bobby Dempsey, who came out cursing out loud - which is not a good gimmick for him. He needs to be more like Bobby Hill from King of the Hill, Cartman from South Park, or Golga from the Human Oddities. I'm not sure if the fans loved Bobby Dempsey or just hated Shane Hagadorn even more. Hagadorn took out a set of brass knucks but the referee took them away. Hagadorn then pulled out a second set of brass knucks and knocked Dempsey out to win and retain the Top of Class Trophy ( 4 / 10 ).

New England native Jason Blade returned to the Ring of Honor to face ROH cult favorite Delirious (billed from the "Edge of Sanity"). This is the first time I've ever bought Jason Blade as a singles wrestler. Delirious defeated Jason Blade by Submission ( 6 / 10 ).

Davey Richards cut a promo talking about wrestling KENTA and then teaming with KENTA against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Davey Richards then vowed to defeat Austin Aries tonight!

Jimmy Jacobs set out to fulfill the wishes of his imaginary girlfriend Lacey by taking out B.J. Whitmer once and for all. I don't even know how long these two have been feuding or how many times they have wrestled but every time they lock it up it's a crazy unpredictable was. They immediately started fighting before the bell and threw the referee out of the ring so they were beating the crap out of each other before the match even started. This struck me as kind of an intense match-up for being so low on the card. Whitmer power-bombed Jacobs back first on the edge of the guard rail - ouch! Jacobs pulled a sharpened railroad spike out of his boot and shredded Whitmer's forehead causing the blood to flow. Jacobs callously took out referee Paul Turner, who was also sporting a crimson mask. Jimmy Jacobs then used Whitmer's blood as face paint. Whitmer made a come-back and started cutting Jimmy's forehead in a unforgiving manner. The referee briefly made it to his feet but Whitmer spiked him down once again! Whitmer then chased Lacey with the bloody spike, and she narrowly escaped having her beautiful face sliced and diced when Jacobs came to her rescue. Both men traded slaps, chops, jabs and punches until they both collapsed from exhaustion. Lacey jumped in the ring and started kicking B.J. Whitmer until Diazee Haze ran out and had a catfight with Lacey. Lacey escaped backstage and Daizee signaled to the back to send help for Whitmer and Jacobs. To be continued..... ( 7.5 / 10 ). The match never even got started but the feud sure did escalate to a whole new level! They're going to have to do it in a Steel Cage or perhaps a monster truck sumo challenge!

Roderick Strong made it his personal mission to get the FIP Heavyweight title over with the ROH crowd (and sell some FIP DVDs in the process). Shingo has been a thorn in the side of the FIP champion lately, having put Strong through a table on two separate occasions. Since the wrestlers make the rules in FIP, Strong decided to make Chairs and Tables legal for this match. After a tough hardcore-style match, Roderick Strong finished off Shingo with a Gibson-driver onto a folded chair ( 7 / 10 ).

Then it was time for the match for which this entire DVD was dedicated. The Kings of Wrestling, who are considered unwanted outsiders, have held the ROH World Tag Team titles for over two months which has created a lot of heat with the ROH roster wanting to bring the ROH belts back around the waists of some ROH talent. Fortunately for them, Claudio Castagnoli's signing with WWE forced bookers towards a quicker title change than originally planned. It amazes me how the fans cheer for the Kings of Wrestling at first, but it takes only a few seconds for Hero and Castagnoli to turn the cheers into jeers. So I guess it's no secret, the title of the DVD says it all... the "Kings" were finally dethroned by two of ROH's elite wrestlers, Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal (accompanied by the lovely Allison Danger). Of course the live crowd wasn't aware of the title of the DVD, so they blew the roof off the building when Matt Sydal pinned Claudio Castagnoli after a spectacular "had to be seen" finish to become the NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions ( 8.5 / 10 )!! As per the tradition, the new champions gave a speech for the ROH fans. Daniels said that the belts were back in the hands of people who respect what they stand for. The Fallen Angel then issued a open challenge to any team any time to come after the ROH World Tag Team titles.

The great Jimmy Rave returned to Edison, New Jersey with his really cool new entrance music. I think it's from the Kill Bill movies but I might be wrong about that. If somebody knows what it is please email me. The slow developing feud between Jimmy Rave and Nigel McGuinness finally got lit on fire with this competitive one-on-one match which was unofficially fought under pure wrestling rules. I expected some rules to eventually be broken but the match ended with a clean slate as McGuinness put Rave away with a Lariat ( 7.5 / 10 ). After the match, Nigel wanted to shake hands to show his respect for Rave. Rave turned to leave but Nigel got on the microphone and apologized for calling Rave a joke and said he now respects him and asked again for a hand-shake. Jimmy Rave accepted Nigel's gesture and politely waved to the crowd in an honest attempt to get respect from the fans. Nigel made the mistake of the century when he picked up a roll of toilet paper (which is banned now) and through it at Rave as a prank. Rave slapped McGuinness across the face and they exchanged some extremely heated words in the middle of the ring. This came off really well and actually looked like it was unscripted. Christopher Daniels came out and made sure cooler heads prevailed. Rave stormed backstage and grabbed his bags and walked out of the building as Christopher Daniels ran after him to try to talk things out.

Davey Richards continued his ascent up the ROH ladder by challenging former ROH World champion Austin Aries. This is what I would definitely call "my kind of match." After almost twenty minutes of hard-hitting action between these two explosive ROH stars the finish saw Austin Aries tap out to an arm-bar submission, giving Davey Richards a very impressive victory ( 8 / 10 ).

Lacey cut a promo and said she doesn't care if Jimmy Jacobs is in the hospital and that she is going to have to spend some of Lacey's Angel's money on somebody bigger and better to get the job done. Lacey warned Colt Cabana that what happened to B.J. Whitmer tonight was 1/10th of what is going to happen to him. Lacey finished by saying she was coming after Daizee Haze.

Hey fans, do you like chaotic violence? The main event was a Falls Count Anywhere Elimination Street Fight featuring the Briscoe Brothers attempting to carry out Jim Cornette's wishes even though Cornette was fired from ROH. The Briscoes took on the "Notorious 187" Homicide and Samoa Joe in a match that started out fast and furious with a lot of wild action in front of a standing-room-only audience. One funny spot had Samoa Joe finding a hockey stick and helmet and body-checking one of the Briscoes against the wall. The Briscoes took a vicious beating for the first ten minutes before Mark Briscoe nailed a breath-taking Shooting Star Press off of the structure above the gorilla position. The Briscoes went on the offense for several minutes before Homicide hit Mark Briscoe with the Cop-killa and Joe hit the Muscle-buster on Jay Briscoe thus eliminating both Briscoes at the same time ( 9 / 10 ). Very unique finish which has never been done before to my knowledge. Homicide cut a promo about Final Battle and then Joe reminded Homicide that after he wins the ROH World title that he'll have to deal with him

Final Thoughts: You can really tell ROH is in a rebuilding phase. They are recycling the roster and breeding some new talent to take part in future main events. There are a lot of non-regulars popping up on each show trying to earn a spot on the ROH roster. While all of that is happening on the under-card, the main events are still as hot as ever and continue to consistently awesome.

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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