ROH New Horizons Review

Ring of Honor returns to Detroit...this time on PPV!

*This show is available to watch for free (Ringside Members) at rohwrestling.com*

**Another side note, rohwrestling.com DOES NOT include the bonus matches from this show (which include the Honor Rumble) so I will only be reviewing the PPV**

ROH New Horizons

Detroit, Michigan 7/26/08

The show starts off with the Age of the Fall, who are the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions. They say they have the power to open the show, but they will not be defending the World Tag Team Titles tonight, saying there are no challengers. The Briscoes then come to the ring and chase off the champions. They then challenge them to a match but the Age of the Fall walk off, but not before the run into Austin Aries, who fights then to the back. Back in the ring the Briscoes are ready for a fight, so they're going to get one.

1.) The Briscoes vs. Silas Young & Mitch Franklin: *1/2

Really nothing more than a squash for the Briscoes to reintroduce them on ROH PPV. If I recall they are still undefeated on PPV at this point.

2.) Four-Corner Survival – Delirious vs. Ruckus vs. Erick Stevens vs. Shane Hagadorn: **1/2

There wasn't a lot of time given to this match, but for what it was it was decent.

Austin Aries comes out next (not in a happy mood) and talks about what's going on with his feud with Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs comes out but Black attacks Aries from behind. He fights back but MsChif comes out & low blows Aries, eventually allowing Jacobs to spike Austin Aries.

Kevin Steen then comes out, saying that when El Generico comes back, they will be getting the World Tag Team Title shot that they've earned & deserve. Steen says he has no problems continuing to earn his shot & Jacobs decides to accommodate him by having Necro Butcher attack Steen from behind, leading to...

3.) No DQ – Kevin Steen vs. Necro Butcher: **1/4

These two have had good matches before, but I feel like this was a step down from those previous encounters. It wasn't as long either, but it was still ok.

4.) Roderick Strong & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Chris Hero & Go Shiozaki: ***

After being opponents the night before in Canada, Strong & Marufuji are now partners as they are teaming up against Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. Before the match, Sweeney offers Marufuji a spot in his group. Marufuji responds by flipping him off. Sweeney is offended by this and attempts to pull his team off the PPV and call off the match, but Lance Storm (who was attacked by Hero in Canada the night before) comes out to stop them, basically telling Sweeney's team to get in the ring & fight. The match was good but I expected it to be a little better than it turned out to be.

After the match Lance Storm raises the hands of Strong & Marufuji but they are attacked by Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. Storm is able to lock in the Half-Boston Crab on Larry Sweeney, but is knocked out by a Rolling Elbow from Chris Hero.

5.) ROH World Title – Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli: ****

This was another great World Title Match from McGuinness. Come to think of it, Claudio & Nigel seem to have good chemistry together, and this one's no different. 

6.) Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black: ****1/2

These two have had several matches before, but this one was definitely their best. Just a really great match. The buckle bomb breaking the top rope/turnbuckle was a crazy spot. Just a great match overall. 

After the match, Austin Aries & Jimmy Jacobs get into an elongated brawl. Eventually they start to climb a ladder somewhere in the crowd. Necro Butcher comes out and but gets confused when both Jacobs & Aries try to win him over. Necro eventually decides he will have none of it and pushes thenm both off the ladder through some tables.

Overall: 7.75/10

The first half of this show was really dull, with all the matches being ok overall. The World Title Match & the Danielson/Black match really carried & saved this show from being a bad PPV. Those two matches are definitely worth seeing.