*These matches are all available to watch for
free (if you’re a Ringside Member) on their respective shows in the VOD Section
of rohwrestling.com*
1.) ROH – It
All Begins (1/15/05) – Best-of-Five Series: Match #1 – Tap Out Match –
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (with Julius Smokes): ***3/4
During the first part of 2005, Bryan Danielson
& Homicide (who I believe started a feud in the latter half of 2004)
engaged in a Best-of-Five Series. In this series, the winner of each match
would pick the stipulation for the next match in the series. This first match
is a Tap Out (Submission) Match. They actually started with a big brawl in the
crowd, and actually had to cut away until they could restore order. The match
itself, once it got going, was actually really good. Both men tried working
over limbs in order to get a submission. Homicide worked a lot better in this
environment than I anticipated. He actually held his own against The American
Dragon. Julius Smokes tries to interfere, but Danielson takes him out. This
distraction, however, allows Homicide to take advantage, and he actually gets
Danielson to tap out and take an early lead in the series. A really good match.
After the match, The Rottweilers assault
Danielson. Homicide says he’ll finish him tonight, and pulls out some brass
knuckles, but Danielson fights back and knocks out Homicide with the Brass
Knuckles. Danielson then calls for a Taped Fist Match (which is weird, since he
lost the match, which means Homicide technically picks the next match).
2.) ROH – Stalemate
(4/16/05) - Double Stakes Four-Corner Survival – Alex Shelley vs. Colt Cabana
vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe: ***3/4
Now this match has an interesting stipulation.
It’s broken up into two falls. The first fall will be for a shot at the ROH
Pure Title. Once that first pinfall/submission occurs, the winner of that fall,
and the person who they defeated to win that fall, will be eliminated, and the
other two who weren’t involved in that decision will then fight for a shot at
the ROH World Title. I really enjoyed this match. We got some interesting
interactions, and all four guys got a chance to shine here. Samoa Joe would
eliminate Cabana to earn himself a shot at the ROH Pure Title, which meant that
McGuinness & Shelley would fight for a shot at the ROH World Title. Shelley
would eventually get the win, and both he & Samoa Joe would go on to get
their respective title shots at Manhattan
Mayhem a month later.
3.) ROH – The
Battle Of St. Paul (4/27/07) – ROH World Tag Team Titles – Ultimate
Endurance Match – The Briscoes vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Gran Akuma
& Hallowicked vs. Mitch Franklin & Pelle Primeau: ***1/2
For those who may not remember, an Ultimate
Endurance Match is an Elimination Match where the stipulation changes when a
team is eliminated. The first fall is a Submission Match. The second fall is
contested under scramble rules (meaning tags aren’t necessary, and exiting the
ring can count as a tag), and the third fall is a traditional tag team match.
The Briscoes are defending against two teams of CHIKARA regulars, and a team of
two students from the ROH Dojo. I actually really enjoyed this. It started a
little slow, but once the first fall was out of the way, it picked up and got
better. Franklin & Primeau were out first. Gran Akuma & Hallowicked
(what a strange pairing) were eliminated in the second fall, and finally, The
Briscoes defeated Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush in the final fall to win the
match and retain their ROH World Tag Team Titles. A really fun match, in my
opinion. If you like these kinds of scramble matches, and you like the CHIKARA
guys involved, then I think you’ll like this as well.
4.) ROH – Transform
(1/12/08) – Jigsaw (with Julius Smokes) vs. Roderick Strong: **3/4
Speaking of Jigsaw, here we have another match
of his from early-2008 as he takes on Roderick Strong. By this point, “faction
warfare” was well under way. Strong was the leader of the No Remorse Corps,
while Jigsaw was part of The Vulture Squad. Honestly, I was excited for this
match coming in, but I came out of it disappointed. The action was fine, but
things never really picked up. It was one of those matches that felt a lot
longer than it actually was, and it wrestling, that’s not good. Strong would
eventually score the win in a relatively average match.
5.) ROH – Eliminating
The Competition (2/27/09) – Bryan
Danielson vs. Delirious (with Jimmy Jacobs): ***1/2
This was during the period where Delirious had
been a member of The Age of the Fall for a few months, but tensions between
himself & Jimmy Jacobs were growing. Here, Delirious is taking on Bryan
Danielson. These two had a really good series of matches in 2006 when Danielson
was the ROH World Champion. I thought this was really good. I won’t say it was
on the same level as those 2006 matches, but it was still very good. Towards
the end of the match, Delirious would get into an argument with Jacobs, which
led to Danielson getting the win.
After the match, Delirious & Jacobs get into
an argument, and Delirious shoves Jacobs. It looks like they’re really going to
come to blows, but Jacobs hugs Delirious, calming things down.
That's it for this edition of the Random Match Reviews Series! I'll be looking to do more of these in the near future, centered around Ring of Honor, since there are a number of shows in the VOD section of their website that I want to see matches from. If you're a fan of ROH, there will definitely be more to come!
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