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ROH WRESTLING DVD REVIEWS

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*** Official OWW.com ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
October 29, 2005 - THIS MEANS WAR - Woodbridge, Connecticut

Ring of Honor rolled into Woodbridge, Connecticut to present an action-packed card featuring Roderick Strong finally getting his shot at ROH World Champion American Dragon Bryan Danielson. The DVD opened up with a promo from the picturesque Jade Chung; her recent departure from The Embassy has caused a lot of frustration for Embassy leader Prince Nana. Jade thanked her "savior" Roderick Strong for helping her leave the Embassy and promised to stand with him against The Embassy.

The opening match featured a twist. Coming off a painful Non-title loss to Claudio Castagnoli, Pure Champion Nigel McGuiness tried to weasel his way out of giving Claudio the obligatory rematch for the championship. McGuinness touted that if Claudio didn't "lose" a match against Alex Shelley then he would grant him his shot at the Pure title. The match was a fantastic opener and ended in a 20 minute time limit draw. (*** 3/4) McGuinness praised Shelley for his skills and claimed Castagnoli did not impress him at all. Claudio was quick to point out, however, that he did not "lose" and therefore he would receive his promised title shot in the future. McGuinness responded by attacking Castagnoli with his trademark gimmick, the Iron -- which is one of the coolest gimmicks in wrestling today.

There were some good filler matches including a impressive tryout for Jason Blade & Kid Mikaze facing off against Azrieal & Davey Andrews (***), plus Ricky Reyes continued his path of destruction by annihilating 3rd class graduate Mitch Franklin in 22 seconds (** 1/2). Fans were treated with a great Four Corner Survival match between BJ Whitmer, Nigel McGuinness, Nosawa and the hilarious Kikitaru (formerly known as Ebessan) (*** 1/4).

The action picked up with a dream match of mine, featuring the TNA X-Division Champion AJ Styles and former ROH World Champion Austin Aries (****). They certainly did not disappoint, pulling out an incredible match in front of a sea of rowdy ROH fans - I won't tell you who won the match, but the fans were the real winners in the end.

Up Next was a match with Colt Cabana taking on Rottweiler hired assassin B-Boy. (*** 1/4) B-Boy doesn't make hardly enough appearances in ROH and should be invited back a lot more often. Homicide made his presence felt after the match for a lengthy brawl with his ROH Nemesis to heat up their out of control feud. Homicide puts an end to the mayhem with a screwy-looking Ace Crusher off the ring apron through a Table! I, for one, am looking forward to watching the time when these two lock it up in an ROH ring.

The highlight of the night occurred next; with the unfortunate announcement that Christopher Daniels was not able to make it to the show due to the birth of his son, Joshua. However, a suitable replacement had been found and out came international superstar Curry Man to a thunderous ovation and performed his trademark "Extra Spicy" dance routine. His opponent was Jay Lethal, but it could very well have been Seinfeld standing in the ring because mid-way through the match it turned into comedy central. The crowd was having the time of their lives demanding that Curry Man dance, demanding that Jay Lethal dance (he wasn't thrilled to do so), then demanding the referee dance, then Allison Danger. When the fans started calling out for ring crew members and random fans to join in the dancing, Curry Man used his broken english to beg the fans to let them WRESTLE! They went back to wrestling and it was a damn good match from two very talented performers (*** 3/4).

Jimmy Rave cut a promo on tape all the way from Ghana, West Africa putting down fans for throwing toilet paper at him every time he steps into an ROH ring. Rave then talked about Steel Cage Warfare on 12/3 and suggested Generation Next might need the toilet paper more than him. Awesome promo by Jimmy Rave.

The main event of the night featured the first of several ROH title shots for Generation Next member Roderick Strong. Wrestling was on the marquee on this night as Strong & Dragon put on a clinic showcasing their skills on and off the mat. An intense shoot-style exchange followed by an aggressive Submission by American Dragon to finish this epic 40-minute match sent Roderick Strong to the back with a frustrated expression on his face - feeling cheated and no-doubt looking forward to the inevitable rematch (**** 1/4).

Final Thoughts: There was nothing bad about this show and nothing worth complaining about. That will probably be a continuing theme for future ROH DVD reviews on OnlineWorldofWrestling.com -- During intermission, they were sure to make not that this was the first ROH show in 61 events that Samoa Joe was not booked. -- If you're looking for a good solid show to start your ROH DVD collection I would recommend this one. The Aries/Styles, Curry/Lethal and Dragon/Strong matches are well worth it, if you would like to purchase this or any other ROH DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com - Thank you!



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