From Bill Treadway:

Best ROH card of the year so far. Everything worked..all seven matches were good with two being Match of the Year candidates..Cornette cut one of his three best promos plus the most anticipated wrestling moment of the year.. Prior to the opening match, the three Pro Wrestling NOAH newcomers were introduced to a solid reaction from the crowd.

1) Davey Richards defeated Jack Evans. Evans and Richards are probably two of the best young workers out there who can work a fast paced, suicidal style of wrestling..Match had no serious blown spots, lots of high spots and good mat wrestling. Richards made Evans tap for the win. ***3/4

2)Next came the most anticipated moment (at least for me and definitely for my godfather)...the return of the MAN himself..Bruno Sammartino! Prior to Bruno being introduced, all the ROH talent came to ringside and stood around the ring. Place went ballistic when he came out..I think even he was surprised by the great reaction. He proceeded to really put over ROH..even throwing a zinger to Vinnie Mac's awful wrestling product, emphasing that ROH is all about WRESTLING. He praised the talent and especially the fans who support ROH..It was very heartfelt and exciting to watch. After Bruno exited the ring and shook hands with the wrestlers and ringside fans, Joe and Takeshi Morishima collided on the way to the back, sparking a fight in the ring. It took all of the locker room to separate Joe and Morishima.

3) Adam Pearce defeated Delirious. Pearce played the total heel. Delirious actually got some offense in and worked a solid match. Finish came when Pearce's new assistant Shane Hagadorn clocked Delirious off the top rope, allowing Pearce to get the win. Normally, I question a screw job finish such as this, but it worked here to elevate Hagadorn to a more relevant role in ROH..They'd make a good tag team. ***

4) Jimmy Jacobs won the 3 way over Christopher Daniels and Colt Cabana. Cabana was hilarious- he blended comedy and wrestling so well this time. One hilarious bit was when Lacey was on the ring apron and Daniels and Cabana took turns almost colliding with her..except Cabana copped a feel. As Lacey freaked out, Cabana did the Drop Dead Fred and got a peek under her skirt..Lacey sold it big time...Match itself was unreal..lots of near falls and suspense as each man took turns trying to pin the other..Jacobs got the pin on Cabana after Daniels collided with Colt and tumbled to the outside..But an interesting thing happened..Lacey started to scream at Jacobs (probably angry at him failing to stop Cabana)..yet earlier in the match, Cabana was getting awfully chummy with Lacey as Daniels and Jacobs were beating each others brains. Wonder if they'll turn Lacey face or Cabana heel? I have a feeling this is only the beginning of a strange and wonderful recurring angle..****

5) Jim Cornette came out with the Briscoes..Cornette got cheers at first but soon turned the crowd against him. First, he had the Briscoes debut new ring gear..of the CONFEDERATE flag. He proceeded to ring out each and every negative cliche about New York but did it with such gusto and style that it came across as a brilliant heel promo. Words can't describe it..I hope it is on the DVD because it is one of the three best promos Cornette has done in his career..He took an informal poll over who in the crowd supported him or Homicide..Most hands were for Homicide but I admit that my hand was raised for Cornette..Anyway, Samoa Joe and Homicide came out and began their brawl. Match was worth ****. They worked a match that was chock full of high spots, brawling, mat wrestling and strong tag team work. Finish came when Homicide got the Cop Killa on one of the Briscoes for the pin.

Intermission time...got my autographed picture of Bruno Sammartino..He is in good shape for a man of 71..Even got to tell him how much my mother, grandmother and grandfather loved him (Bruno was GOD in my house)

6) Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli won the ROH World Tag Team titles from Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Hero and Castagnoli came in through the General Admission stage area rather than the traditional entrance. Aries rib area was seriously taped up. This was one of the best tag team matches I've seen in months..it was a traditional tag team match kicked up a thousand notches. Went about 25 minutes. Hero and Castagnoli did a first rate job playing total heels..double teaming Aries and really working on him as the ref holds back Strong..Lots of suicidal moves..Finish came when Aries went to hit the 360 splash onto Castagnoli but Hero shoved him off the top rope..As Aries went flying outside, they proceeded to double team Strong, get him out of the way and then do the same to Aries, then pinning him to win the titles. ****1/2

7) Marufuji retained the GHC World title against Nigel McGuinness in about 24 minutes. Vince McMahon once said that McGuinness needed to learn how to work. YEAH RIGHT. McGuinness proved that he is a superb wrestler and could hold his own against Marufuji. I know I've used suicidal three times already, but this match took the cake. Marufuji had the balls to do his finisher off the top rope to McGuinness TO OUTSIDE THE RING. McGuinness sold it big time. Later on, McGuinness crotcheted Marufuji on the top rope and then delivered the most devestating off the top rope lariat I have ever seen. It looked like he decapitated him. Finish came after Marufuji delivered an off the top rope dropkick to an upside down McGuinness and then delivered his finisher for the win. ****1/4

8) Bryan Danielson retained the ROH World title defeating KENTA in about 35-40 minutes. Match started slow for about five minutes and then kicked into high gear and never let up. I think this is a serious contender for Match of the Year. Everything worked just right and then some. They did a great job making KENTA look like a real threat to taking the title. He worked on Danielson's injured shoulder a great deal, gave him an Ace Crusher, the Go to Sleep twice and tried several armbar submissions. Danielson managed to escape submissions and pinfalls in the nick of time. Danielson also threw the book at KENTA, giving him two Cattle Mutilations with KENTA escaping. He hammered KENTA in the head repeatedly to soften him up before applying a final Cattle Mutilation that proved to be the last straw for KENTA. This was a ***** match and anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong..

ROH Recap
9-16-2006
New York, NY
by Matt Feuerstein

ROH made its debut at the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center tonight, and the show has to be seen as a huge success. The was a line outside that stretched down the block and around two corners, to the point that pedestrians were coming over and asking what was going on. That alone was good pub for the company.

The place was either sold out or close to it, with at least 1050-1100 in the building.

1. Davey Richards d. Jack Evans via submission. Really hot 8 minute opener with Evans hitting numerous highspots. Richards won with his leg over the neck submission (ala Brock Lesnar in late 03).

2. Several members of the ROH roster, along with Morishima, Sugiura and Yone from NOAH surrounded the ring to welcome Bruno Sammartino. Bruno got a great reaction, including a "welcome home" chant. Bruno said he hadn't been pleased by what he'd seen in wrestling since his retirement, but he was sent some ROH DVDs and was very impressed. He praised the wrestlers and the fans.

After Bruno left, Takeshi Morishima and Samoa Joe got into a shoving match in the aisleway. Joe got into the ring and challenged Morishima to come after him, and the two had a pull-apart brawl in the ring to a huge reaction.

3. Adam Pearce d. Delrious after Shane Hagadorn interfered. This was a pretty basic, but enjoyable match. The highspot was Delirious hitting 60 consecutive clotheslines in the corner. After the match Pearece (the ROH Lt. Commissioner) named Hagadorn his new assistant, or "man servant".

4. Jimmy Jacobs d. Colt Cabana and Christopher Daniels by pinning Cabana after the Contra Code. The story here is that Jacobs is in love with his manager, Lacey, but she's in a relationship with Cabana, so he's heartbroken and desponded. Lacey instructed Jacobs to work together with Cabana and not attack him, so he kept attempting to do double team moves on Daniels. Cabana would always do something to cause the doubleteams to backfire on Jacobs. This definitely wasn't the action-packed match that the 3 could have, but it was a fun angle-based match. The end came was Jacobs finally had enough, kicked Cabana low, and hit the contra code. Lacey scolded Jacobs after the match.

5. Jim Cornette and the Briscoes came out for a promo. Cornette started the promo diplomatically, saying that he loved ROH and the fans, and his only problem was with Homicide. Then, when the majority of the crowd sided with Homicide, Cornette went off on a tirade about New York City, and started making derogatory comments (borderline racist) towards immigrants and NYC dwellers, and said that he only liked people who were born in the Southern US (as the Briscoes held up their confederate flag bandanas). Cornette then announced that he had promised Homicide a title shot, so he'll get one in December when ROH returns to NYC. The only condition is that Homicide has to win his tag match against the Briscoes tonight. At this point, Joe and Homicide's music interrupted Cornette.

6. Homicide and Samoa Joe d. Jay and Mark Briscoe when Homicide hit Jay with the Cop Killa. They started out the match hot as Cide and Joe both hit dives on the Briscoes. They exchanged big spots and hot tags, with neither team getting the advantage for too long. After a big finishing sequence, Cide finally hit the cop killa on Jay and won, to a huge reaction. Very good match.

Intermission

7. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) d. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong to win the ROH Tag Team Titles, ending Aries and Strong's 9 month reign. Hero and Claudio spent much of the match playing to the crowd and heeling it up, but there was a large section of the crowd that were in their corner. Hero and Claudio dominated the match a lot more than I would've expected, working over Aries' injured ribs. The end came when Claudio hit Aries in the ribs with his briefcase. They then hit a doubleteam Hero's welcome onto Strong, knocking him out of the ring, and pinned Aries after a double team slam. This got a big reaction, as Aries and Strong have been champs for a long time. Another very good match.

8. Naomichi Marufuji d. Nigel McGuinness after a top rope shiranui to retain the GHC World Championship. This was the first ever defense of the GHC title in the United States, and Marufuji's first-ever defense, and he made it count. This match was out of this world. They started out exchanging mat holds, with Marufuji working over McGuinness' leg. About halfway through, they really picked up the intensity, hitting one big move after another. Marufuji at one point hit a Shiranui from the apron to the floor. McGuinness draped Marufuji on the top rope and hit a huge lariat for a big nearfall. McGuinness hit a Tower of London for another big nearfall. Marufuji hit Nigel with a Shiranui. Nigel then hit his pendulum lariat for a nearfall. Nigel hit a Tower of London from the top rope onto the ring apron, and the two were out of the ring for the count. Nigel made it in first, and Marufuji made it in right before the 20 count. Marufuji hit Nigel with his corner to corner dropkick, and then the top rope Shiranui for the pin. Both guys got a huge ovation. This was one of the best GHC title matches of the year. Honestly, it was one of the best matches of the year period.

9. Bryan Danielson d. KENTA to retain the ROH World Title. This was another phenomenal match. Danielson came into the match with a shoulder injury, and they played into that throughout the match. It was a really a remarkable performance by the injured Danielson. Both guys went completely all out, hitting pretty much everything. KENTA used his stiff kicks to Danielsons shoulders, and should submissions early to counter Danielson's mat wrestling. Danielson did a huge dive from the top rope into the crowd onto KENTA. Danielson got the crossface chickenwing on KENTA but KENTA made the ropes. Danielson went for his top rope headbutt, but KENTA got his feet up. KENTA then went for his springboard dropkick, but Danielson counted with a dropkick of his own. Danielson got on the cattle mutilation but KENTA made the ropes. They had a huge exchange midring where KENTA hit big boots and Danielson countered with headbutts. KENTA got on another cross armbreaker to a big pop, but Danielson made the ropes. Danielson went up for another headbutt, but KENTA leaped to the top rope. Danielson blocked KENTA's top rope falcon arrow and knocked him off the ropes. Danielson then dove off, but KENTA actually caught him on his shoulders and hit the Go 2 Sleep. Danielson actually kicked out. KENTA then hit busaiku knee on Danielson, and then hit it again to the back of Danielson's head. KENTA charged again, but Danielson moved and rolled up KENTA for a big nearfall. Danielson got the cattle mutilation on KENTA, but KENTA rolled over him for a cover, which got another big nearfall. Danielson then went for his elbows to the head which had one him several matches. KENTA escaped, and got Danielson up for another Go 2 Sleep, but Danielson fought out. Danielson hit a tiger suplex for a nearfall. He got on the cattle mutilation again, and KENTA kept fighting out. Finally, Danielson got the hold on mid ring and KENTA tapped. Both guys got another huge ovation, as this may have been Danielson's best title defense and another Match of the Year contended. "Best in the World", "Thank You Kenta" "Match of the Year" and "ROH" were among the chants after the match. Danielson has now hit the 1 year mark in his title reign, as he defeated James Gibson on September 17, 2005.

This was one of the best ROH shows ever. There were no bad matches, and the last four matches (especially the last two) were off the charts. They really made the most of their big Manhattan Center debut. Everything just clicked perfectly.