The Christopher Street Connection beat the Heartbreak Express- The Express are from FIP and did some good mic work before the match.
Vordell Walker pinned Cheech- Walker looked really good and got a 'Please come back chant'
Ricky Landell and Alex Law (Steve Corino's students)defeated Davey Andrews and Anthony Franco ( CM Punk's students).- Match was decent but one of Punk's students yelled 'you wanna see a snap suplex?' then botched the move. Crowd didn't give it a chance after that which wasn't really fair.
Fast Eddie Vegas (with Dave Prazak) defeated El Generico, Josh Daniels and Arik Cannon- El Generico was the star of this match and was crazy over. Everyone here looked really good and put on a really nice match.
B-Boy beat Kevin Steen. Steen and B-Boy both looked really good and ROH would be wise to add both to regular shows in the future.
FIP TITLE:Homicide (with Rocky Romero) defeated Antonio Banks.- Banks tried to cut a babyface promo before the match and again the crowd didn't give him a chance which pissed me off. Banks has a great look and is someone I can see the WWE having intrest in. Both guys tried but it just didn't click really. After the match Punk ran out and stole the FIP title.
ROH Third Anniversary Results
Before the show started all of the Faces came out in the ring. Punk got on the mic and said that with the fans always giving them a standing ovation it was time for them to return the favor. This was a really special scene having all of the guys in the ring facing the crowd and paying their respects for us. It also made the night seem ever more special then the card already looked.
Steve Corino pinned Roderick Strong- Corino was all business tonight saying to forget the ring intros and get straight to the match. For a guy with a broken hand Corino wrestled a great match tonight. It started as a hate filled brawl with both guys really looking like they disliked each other and the match meant something. Strong worked Corino's leg over for most of the bout but Corino picked up the win with a clothesline after Corino's students interfered. After the match Corino put Strong over but Strong didn't shake Corino's hand.
Jay Lethal pinned Jimmy Rave to earn a ROH Pure championship match. Really solid match only helped by the fact that Lethal was crazy over and his parents arriving halfway through the match. Having them cheering their son from the stands made for a really nice visual. After the match John Walters with his new look demanded to have the Pure title match right there.
John Walters pinned Jay Lethal while using the ropes but Lethal had already used his 3 rope breaks making it legal. The crowd really wanted Lethal to win here.
Alex Shelley forced Jimmy Jacobs to tap out. Another really solid match if not better then that. These guys work really well together and they should since they wrestle so often but it was a really nice match. After the match Shelley put Jacobs over but Jacobs turned on Shelley and beat him up pretty good.
Billy Ken Kid pinned Ebessan with a 450 splash- This was my first time seeing either one of them and the reports on Ebessan are true he is the funniest thing in wrestling! This was a really good comedy match and had most of the crowd in stitches.
Spanky pinned CM Punk in another really good match in a long line of them tonight. After the match Nana came out and offered Spanky a spot in the Embassy but he turned them down. Then they made the mistake of dissing Punk as he cleaned house on them and sprayed the air freshener all over Nana. After all this while walking to the back some fan yelled something to Punk who then grabbed the house mic and went to town on the fan for 'trying to put himself over on the hard work of all the boys in the back'. This was exactly what I was thinking the whole night. There is a difference between taunting a heel and trying to make yourself the show. The vast majority of ROH fans were there to have a good time but there were say 5% of the fans who wanted nothing but to make smarky comments all night. I am glad Punk bitched this fan out and after he did the crowd cheered like crazy.
Danny Maff and BJ Whitmer defeated the Havana Pitbulls to win the ROH Tag Team- I hate to sound like a broken record but this was another really solid match as all four guys worked really hard. Maff especially you could see that he really wanted to win the belts. Maff and Whitmer beat the hell out of Smokes too! After the match Alison Danger came out and said that the match was a non title match because she had control of Maff and Whitmer still. However instead of the swerve finish ROH swerved a swerve as Maff and Whitmer beat the crap out of Danger and kept the belts so I am pretty sure they are champs.
Gary Michael Cappetta came out and announced ROH on 4/2 there will be a one night 8 man tournament 'sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance' with the winner heading to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the Best of Super Junior tourney. Not sure what all of this will shake out to be but it sounds awesome!
Mick Foley came out for his mystery wrestler challenge. Foley said the original plan was for him to announce for a former WWE tag team champion and Hardcore champion to fight Joe and announce TEST! However then Foley would return to the ring and actually fight Joe but Foley said that he wasn't in good enough shape to wrestle anymore and after the show in Boston he had to cancel this plan and plans to wrestle Flair at Mania. So Foley announces that he has personal scouted a great wrester to take his place and he introduces Vordell Walker. Joe made quick work of Walker after only a few minutes. Foley then said he had a backup plan and introduced the man who was going to take over the Cacuts Jack legacy 'Ebactus Jack'. It was Ebessan with Cactus Jack clothes on. This was one of the funniest things I have seen in wrestling in years. Ebessan had Foley down perfectly and he controlled Joe for most of the match. The best part of the match was Foley laid Joe out on the outside and he told Ebessan to drop the Elbow from the top turnbuckle. Each time Ebessan would go up, think it over and move down a little bit. Finally he only did it to him while he was on the floor and the whole crowd chanted 'Holy Shit' In the end Joe won the match and him and Foley started to brawl on the outside. Joe was kicking Foley's ass until Austin Aries attacked Joe with a chair to set up the rematch. Foley then got on the mic and said he would be making a call for Aries hinting at the WWE.
Homicide defeated Bryan Danielson in a taped fist match- Really good work here as they were stiffing the shit out of each other with the punches or at least made it look like it. They brawled all around the arena including a suplex onto a stack of chairs. Homicide then got a fork and went to work on Danielson's face. Really great brawl. Homicide picked up the win after Julius Smokes taped brass knuckles to Homicide's fist. Homicide is now up 2-0 in the series making it must win here on out for Danielson.
ROH Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Colt Cabana in a Steel Cage match- This was a fantastic match as both guys were on the top of their game. Cabana was especially great playing a serious role for once it was something to see similar to Jim Carey taking on serious roles and seeing how he would do. In Cabana's case he hit it out of the park. Cabana juiced and I give credit to both guys for making me think for a second that Cabana was actually going to win and forget that this was a world title going on second to last. Finish was Cabana climbing out of the cage with Aries laying down in the ring.In an amazing finish Aries realizing that his title was about to be lost did a tope out the cage door to the floor just before Cabana hit the floor. Cabana was really over and Aries shook his hand after the match. This was the best match on a show filled with a ton of really good wrestling.
Dunn and Marcos beat The Carnage Crew, Roderick Strong & Jack Evans, Izzy & Deranged, and Azrieal & Dixie- This was pure mayhem. This was a spot fest but thank god Evans didn't do anything too crazy. Strong looked to hurt his leg on a Carnage Plex and had to be taken to the back. This was a bit rushed as I think they were pressed for time. The finish came when Marcos hit the Stage Dive off Dunn's shoulders while standing atop the cage, putting Devito through a table for the pin. Due to the stips The Carnage Crew are out of ROH for 90 days. This was a good spot fest but was too short and not one of the stronger Scramble Cages.
Overall this was a tremendous day of wrestling with everyone working really hard to make each match matter. Nothing other then the Title match stood out as great wrestling but nothing was less then good in terms of ring work. Just an awesome day of wrestling and thanks to ROH for making it to 3 years and being a true wrestling alternative.
No I'm pretty sure he was just wearing his singlet. But after like 7 hours of wrestling on Saturday I can't say for sure that he wasn't. In other news ROH announced that Steen was on the "Do" side of the "Do or Die" card even though he lost. This is great news since I will be able to see more of him.
It sounds like a pretty good show with a strong undercard, and the two cage matches seemed to deliver. I'll be in Chicago Ridge next Saturday for the third show.
They really shouldn't have done two straight matches to close (Punk/Rave, Joe/Aries) with the theme was to bring the heel up to another face's percieved level, but only had the heel (cheat for 90% of the match) or (win by a fluke) which didn't really raise either guy's level.
This show would've been better (and perhaps the last pargraph) if I wasn't mindblowingly tired and incoherent as a result - pity the person I tried to have a conversation with - but I don't think I blame Gabe for that one.
Best part might have been Good Times, Great Memories. Or it might have been the unadvertised pre-show that i missed because it was unadvertised. It was not the Falls Count Anywhere match, which will probably be fine on DVD but was a fine demonstration about why one should not have this sort of match at an indy show. It's much more an arena type match.
I enjoyed the FCA match, but I'm tall and willing to run around the arena behind the action. If I had been seated and/or short, I would not have liked it as much.
The Aries/Joe match felt clipped, like it was building and building and then all of a sudden it was over with what seemed to be quite an uninteresting ending.
Guess someone figured it was time to not let Punk be the conquering hometown hero, since he jobbed twice and was helped out tonight. Great night for Cabana though, helping Heenan, chasing off GenNext and getting to do the post-main speech to the crowd.
I think I would have liked it less if it weren't for the smart asses next to me who kept me laughing through the really not good Gibson/Puma match (SNAP MARE!)
With the amount of interest from the crowd, perhaps they should have gone with Jacobs/Spanky second from top.
It felt like they were trying not to do the same show they had done for Chicago every other time (Saints have big night, lots of seriousness). This time there was a lot of comedy, lots of goofiness until the last few matches, and the heels going over big at the end.
I'm an easy to please consumer. If I feel I got my money's worth, I'll come back. I got my $12 back plus a lot. Hell, watching Cornette channel all the nights I spent at the UIC pavillion watching Tommy Young push him around was worth it alone.
I gotta agree with cubsfan as Aries/Joe was waaay underwhelming. In fact, the whole night was kinda underwhelming. There wasn't a bad match all night, mind you, but nothing blew me away. Well except that Marcos and Dunn really should be working everywhere, because they are just insanely fun and goofy. And Danielson's beard frightens and confuses me.
I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hara-kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!
I hate Danielson's beard. It makes him look like a small big man, like a medium sized guy trying to look like a monster. I am a big fan of his work though, he was the highlight to me in the tag match in Dayton.
Originally posted by ColeKingslyI hate Danielson's beard. It makes him look like a small big man, like a medium sized guy trying to look like a monster. I am a big fan of his work though, he was the highlight to me in the tag match in Dayton.
Cole
With the black trunks and the bald head and beard he has morphed into MINI-GOLDBERG! If Julius Smokes would have called him "whisker biscuit" at some point during the FCA match it would have automagically become the greatest ROH card ever.