ROH Man Up! Review

The Briscoes go to war against Kevin Steen & El Generico with the World Tag Team Titles literally up for grabs

ROH Man Up

Chicago Ridge, Illinois 9/15/07

*This DVD was purchased & downloaded from the old rohvideos.com site*

PPV

Before the match, a masked man jumps the guard rail and starts shouting about The Age of the Fall before being tackled by security.

1.) Four Corner Survival: Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Chris Hero (with Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.): ***1/2

This is a very interesting Four-Corner Survival as their were many different elements in play. After all the dust settled, it was definitely a great way to kick off this PPV. Great way to get the crowd excited for what was to come.

2.) Best-of-Three Series: Matt Cross (with the Resilience) vs. Rocky Romero (with The No Remorse Corps.): **1/2

Here we get the first of the Best-of-Three Series between The No Remorse Corps. & The Resilience. First up are Matt Cross & Rocky Romero. Not the best match, but very decent and a good way to start off the series. This was the worst match on the PPV, and considering it was pretty decent, that's saying something. NRC get the first win to take a 1-0 lead.

3.) Best-of-Three Series: Austin Aries (with the Resilience) vs. Davey Richards (with The No Remorse Corps.): ***1/2

Aries is up next and it looks like Strong was going to get in but he fakes Aries out & Richards heads into battle. Another good match on this PPV. Aries gets the much-needed win to tie series 1-1, leaving the next match to decide things.

4.) Best-of-Three Series: Erick Stevens (with the Resilience) vs. Roderick Strong (with The No Remorse Corps.): ***1/2

Here we get the third match in the Resilience/NRC series....and another great match on this PPV. I think the Strong/Stevens feud is a little under-discussed when it comes to great ROH feuds. These two always had great matches against each other, and this match is no different.

5.) ROH World Title - Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima: ***1/2

Danielson is sporting an eye patch as the result of the injury suffered at the hands of Morishima during their World Title Match at Manhattan Mayhem II. While this was not as good as that match, this was still very good. Morishima would later go after the eye after promising beforehand that he would not, which leads to Danielson's defeat.

6.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Ladder War - The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: ****3/4

WOW......just.........WOW. What else is to say about this match that hasn't already been said. This was just an awesome contest and a great way to end the feud between these two teams. The match displayed a whole new level of violence and set the standard for all future ROH Ladder Wars that followed. In the end, this will probably remain the best Ladder War and if anything...THIS MATCH was Match of the Year 2007. Bar None.

Of course everyone knows what happened next. The Debut of the Age of the Fall. Probably one of the most impactful debuts in ROH History.

Bonus

1.) Top of the Class Trophy - Mitch Franklin vs. Alex Payne: *1/2

Nothing much here. Just your average Top of the Class Trophy Match.

2.) Daizee Haze & Awesome Kong vs. Lacey & Sara Del Rey: ***

This was a good women's tag match with four great women's wrestlers. No complaints here.

3.) The YYR (Kenny King & Chasyn Rance) vs. The Hangman 3 (BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright with Shane Hagadorn): *1/2

Much like the first match, nothing much here. Just a squash for The Hangman 3.

4.) Jack Evans vs. Tyler Black: DUD

This barely got started before the rest of the Age of the Fall come out. This brings out Irish Airborne to even the odds...

5.) Jack Evans & Irish Airborne vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Necro Butcher): ***1/4

For a match that ended up getting thrown out, it was turning out to be decent. Obviously the main purpose was to put over the new faction. What I don't quite get is why Age of the Fall wrestled here at all. They really didn't need to.

6.) Delirious vs. Matt Sydal (with Larry Sweeney): ***3/4

Sweeney sold his contract "up the river" to Vince (McMahon) so this is Sydal's last ROH match, and he's facing the man he fought in his first ROH Match....Delirious!! This was probably the best match Sydal & Delirious have ever had against each other. Very Good. Sydal shows respect towards Delirious after the match & the crowd applauds him.

Overall: 9.5/10

There are no debates for me.....this shows gets my vote for ROH Show of the Year & The Match of the Year 2007. The PPV itself was great (with the worst match being **1/2 and everything else being ***1/2 or higher). It contained one of the greatest matches & greatest moments/debuts in ROH History. That on it's own is enough reason to get this. The bonus stuff is good also, with another classic Delirious/Sydal encounter. Overall........One of the Best ROH Shows Ever. This is a must own.