RING OF HONOR RESULTS FROM LAKE GROVE, NY
- 08/05/2006 (8:08:13 am)
- Mike Siciliano
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Ok. Ring of Honor performed tonight before a very impressive crowd, volume wise at Sports Plus in Lake Grove. Let me give you the quick results first.In the Pre Show, Bobby and Derek Dempsey defeated Rhett Titus and Mitch Franklin in a tag team encounter.
Shane Hagadorn defended the Top of the Class Trophy with a victory over Pelle Primeau.
Shane Hagadorn defended the Top of the Class Trophy with a victory over Pelle Primeau.
The opener tonight for the main show saw a non title match when ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson twisted and turned Jack Evans 9 ways to sunday for the victory.
Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels defeated Irish Airborne.
Colt Cabana defeated Claudio Castagnoli.
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong retained the ROH Tag Team Titles by winning Ultimate Endurance over the Rottweilers, the Embassy, and BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce. Fall one was won by Homicide over Sal Rinauro, eliminating the Embassy. Fall two was tap out only, but Whitmer & Pearce were DQ'ed by use of a foreign object on Homicide. Fall three went to the champs with a little help from the returning King of Old School, Steve Corino, who hit Homicide with a beer bottle, allowing Aries & Strong to get the win.
Nigel McGuiness retained the ROH Pure Title over Delirious in a very good showing for the challenger.
The Briscoe Brothers defeated Davey Richards & KENTA.
Samoa Joe pinned AJ Styles.
Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels defeated Irish Airborne.
Colt Cabana defeated Claudio Castagnoli.
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong retained the ROH Tag Team Titles by winning Ultimate Endurance over the Rottweilers, the Embassy, and BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce. Fall one was won by Homicide over Sal Rinauro, eliminating the Embassy. Fall two was tap out only, but Whitmer & Pearce were DQ'ed by use of a foreign object on Homicide. Fall three went to the champs with a little help from the returning King of Old School, Steve Corino, who hit Homicide with a beer bottle, allowing Aries & Strong to get the win.
Nigel McGuiness retained the ROH Pure Title over Delirious in a very good showing for the challenger.
The Briscoe Brothers defeated Davey Richards & KENTA.
Samoa Joe pinned AJ Styles.
Ok. Now, the observations I am going to give you come from the General Admission section, in the back of the auditorium, near the light fixtures, sitting next to a trio of people who WOULD NOT SHUT UP THROUGHOUT THE DAMN SHOW, and they weren't talking wrestling which really set me off, but more on that later. Let's get back to the business at hand.
The preshow can be commented by saying this. That's why they're on the preshow. Shane Hagadorn does know how to play heel to the crowd very well, but all in all, not much in the way of major bits observed, so let's move on to the main show.
Jack Evans opened the match with Danielson by doing a break dancing routine and challenged Dragon to do the same. Dragon appeared to try and begin, then flipped the crowd, looking very arrogant and annoyed in the process. This was my first chance in seeing Jack Evans perform live, and I have to give the kid credit, he can tangle on the mat. I thought he was nothing more than an aerialist through and through, but he did hang with Dragon for a good portion of the match until Dragon got pissed. Dragon twisted Evans like a pretzel in a vicious surfboard maneuver, and then, after doing his usual "I have till 5 referee", for stretching the rules, got angry and slammed Evans 5 straight times when the crowd started an "S.O.S." chant at Danielson.
Evans survived the slam assault, and managed to get some offense on Dragon in the form of a beautiful somersault dive on the floor. He called for a 630 splash, thinking he had the champ in position, but Danielson countered it in to a super plex from the top rope that I swear by the Good Lord above, I thought they were gonna hit the ceiling. Dragon then went in to cattle mutilation, but Evans hit the ropes. Evans did get in a couple of more moves, but Danielson ended the match with a LONG airplane spin, I mean long, I am shocked he wasn't dizzy himself, and then following the spin, locked in a vicious, and I mean SADISTIC STF that literally almost had Evans in a U shape. Made Cena's STFU look like a session in a tanning bed, it was that vicious. Following the match, and the so called handshake, Evans was noticeably ticked off, and flipped Danielson off when he wasn't looking, and there was a good reason why because KENTA's music hit, and the NOAH competitor hit the ring.
KENTA told the champ he would take the title in September in Manhattan. Danielson said there was no guarantee he would be champion, but he guaranteed it. He then said that KENTA would never be able to put the Go To Sleep on him again, and that KENTA should worry about more pressing matters than the ROH World Champion. As Dragon said that, Mark and Jay Briscoe hit the ring and started beating on KENTA. Davey Richards came out, made the save, and claimed that the tag match with the Briscoes later in the show had just become personal.
Next up was the debut of the team of Matt Sydal and the Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels as they took on Irish Airborne. Daniels had the lovely Allison Danger at ringside. Irish Airborne had a terrific showing in this match, showing great tenacity and teamwork throughout. Daniels and Sydal also looked like they had been teaming for months with some of their double team tactics, as evident by the beautiful suicide dive on the floor by Sydal with a little assist by Daniels, when he held the rope down assuring that Sydal wouldn't get his feet caught in the ropes. It's the little things that lead to title victories.
Dave Crist and Matt Sydal engaged in one hell of a nice chop fest, one of many we would see in this night of ROH action. After some offense on Sydal by Irish Airborne, Daniels got the tag and swung the momentum clearly in their favor with a double russian leg sweep on both of them done by himself. I have never seen that done before in my life.
Sydal and Daniels were able to get out of Irish Airborne's attempted finisher, and won the match with a beautiful looking somersault by Sydal, followed by the BME by Daniels. I don't know which Crist got pinned, I can tell you though, I was impressed by both teams.
CZW stalwart Claudio Castagnoli, still under ROH contract met Colt Cabana in the next match. Cabana said the past was the past before the match, and if Claudio is in ROH, he is a great wrestler, and that's what he wants, a great wrestling match. I wish he had it. It was a lot of comedic moves by Cabana at the start of the contest, and then things got serious. A ton of near falls by both men throughout, kept the momentum from clearly going to one side or the other.
Castagnoli's european uppercuts are deadly, as Cabana can attest, when one of them sent the classic one clear out of the ring. Cabana showed some nice agility hitting a handspring plancha on Claudio, and won the match with a very nice roll up, a complicated one, I don't know how to call it, but it wasn't a small package, more like a crucifix type pinfall attempt, which got the three count. Claudio ran after the referee in disbelief as Cabana celebrated, wondering where his handshake went.
Ring of Honor returns to Sports Plus on Long Island on Friday, November 24th, Thanksgiving weekend.
Ugh. (that date stinks. What happened to the saturday shows on Long Island?)
Ultimate Endurance was up next. The amount of toilet paper thrown at Rave & Rinauro was hilarious. Someone's gonna get hurt though, because those guys look really pissed every time it happens. As a matter of fact, one TP hit Rave right in the kisser.
As the champs come out, Aries grabs a mike, and they are noticeably (I figured this out after the match), without their belts. Before the champs can talk, Homicide attacks Adam Pearce, and the match is on.
Aries and Whitmer ended up during the contest on the outside during the first fall, which is when a tremendous series of events took place. First, Sal Rinauro hit a plancha over the top on Aries & Whitmer with a nice little twist to it. Then Strong somersaulted on to the group. Next Pearce went up top, but Homicide pushed him off on to the waiting mass of humanity. Homicide then somersaulted on to the pile. In the meantime, Reyes takes out Rave, and is about to join the fracas on the outside when Nana trips him up. Smokes runs after Nana and Nana takes off like a shot up the ramp. Smokes comes back to ringside. Rinauro is taking a beating in the ring, Rave sets him up to tag out, but Homicide intercepts, and clotheslines Rinauro's head off. Rave is furious, walks off, as Rinauro is pinned, 1, 2, 3. Embassy is gone.
The second fall didn't take that long, as Pearce ended up using a foreign object on Homicide, forcing Pearce & Whitmer to be DQ'ed. Don't ask me how a tap out only fall can result in a DQ, but hey, I'm not a ROH official.
Aries & Strong then go after Homicide & Reyes as the third fall is for the belts. Strong put Reyes in a Davey Boy Smith like stall suplex which looked like it went for almost 30 seconds. Throughout the match, and more especially after the 2nd fall, Homicide did not look 100%, but then when you're hit in the head with what I believe to be brass knux, I guess you wouldn't be. Homicide however almost sets up Strong for the pin with the three amigos following a nasty DDT off the 2nd rope. However, the frog splash was missed, and Strong tagged out. Aries set up Homicide with a vicious drop kick in the corner, but it doesn't get the job done. Homicide tries to set up Aries for a major move, I believe a super plex, but Steve Corino returns to ROH and hits Homicide in the head again with what appeared to be a glass bottle, and from that, and a double powerbomb, Homicide's quest for ROH gold is snuffed once more. Aries & Strong win Ultimate Endurance I.
Aries then gets on the mike, says the belts have been stolen, and they suspect the Briscoes. He threatens the Briscoes to return the belts before the start of the match tomorrow night.
After intermission was supposed to be a match with ROH students. Alex Payne is introduced, but Steve Corino walks out. Payne challenges him, forcing Corino to beat the kid senseless, and then scream at him, "Do you know who I am?"
Corino then rips on the fan in the front row in the Green Lantern outfit, which I will get to at the end of my recap.
Corino says he didn't want to come back, but he's back because Cornette called him about someone calling him out. He then calls, "Where is Homocide?" Homicide soon comes flying out, and they brawl, but Adam Pearce comes out, and joins the fracas with Corino. BJ Whitmer comes out, and asks Pearce why after what Homicide did to win the war with CZW. Pearce says, If Cornette ordered it, it's gonna get done. Homicide comes up behind Pearce and knocks him silly with a foreign object. He then goes at Corino again, and they brawl some more. Homicide grabs a chair, which forces Corino to back up. Homicide gets on the mike, rips Cornette, and Corino retreats, screaming "Never call me out."
The Pure title was on the line next as Delirious challenged Nigel McGuiness. Delirious nearly had this one won, all the crowd thought the black and green weird dude was going to come out with the pure title. McGuiness did eventually win the contest. Delirious used up his 3 rope breaks really early in the contest, but then got on track, and cornered McGuiness, hitting him 50 times in a row, counted by the crowd, with a forearm to the chest. McGuiness crumbled like a sack of wet potatoes.
Some more near falls, and then the duo hit the floor. Nigel beats on Delirious near the rampway, and then waits for him to stagger back toward the ring where he nails him with a clothesline, hoping for a count out win, but Delirious makes it back in at 19. This then lead to a myriad of near falls by both men, with Nigel nearly tapping out on two different occasions, and Delirious nearly being counted out on more than his fair share. Nigel wins the match, sending a message to the World Champion, with cattle mutilation. Delirious's foot was on the rope, but the mistakes he made in the beginning of the match, cost him the Pure title.
I pondered which one of the mains would go here, and my choice was wrong. Next up was KENTA & Davey Richards vs. the Briscoes. This was the match of the evening from its intensity, its hard hitting, and its absolute ferocity from bell to bell. It was my first chance seeing KENTA & Richards, and they impressed me, but the Briscoes hit harder than any team I have ever seen, and this match was no different. The victory was a spiked Jay Driller on Davey Richards, which looked absolutely sick to the eyeball, believe you me. Some other noticeable spots during the match were the ferocity of kicks and chops by KENTA throughout the match. It reminded me of a cross between Kobashi and Tajiri with the feet and hands that sound hard as stone. Richards also sounded like he had some major league meat in his chops and kicks throughout the match. This one, I have to believe, ladies and gentlemen, that all of these men are bruised and banged up pretty damn major after this one, it was that intense. The Briscoes took a page out of Low Ki's book with a vicious double stomp on Davey Richards' stomach. I'm surprised lunch didn't come up after that one.
The Briscoes didn't like KENTA's move when he somersaulted over the top rope and kicked back, knocking one of the Briscoes in the eye. (I can't tell them apart yet.) This opened up a barrage of kicks and chops from both men, leading in to a head smash in the 2nd rope that would have made Umaga sweat, it looked that intense and vicious. The finish saw the Briscoes hit a modified death sentence on Richards, KENTA miss a 3 count with a vicious german suplex, a nice handspring circle kick by Richards, a doomsday device by both KENTA & Richards, and finally, the spiked Jay Driller for the Briscoe victory. Richards did try a shooting star, but missed. His athleticism was very apparent, and damn impressive. The match between protege and mentor later tonight in Jersey should be one for the books.
Surprising to me, Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles was the main event. I may have gone differently, but that's what happened. AJ attacked before the match got even underway, which is weird for AJ, but his momentum started with a beautiful side backbreaker on Joe, showing off how strong the 215 pounder from Georgia actually is. AJ continued to twist Joe around, in to a bridge STF submission hold, but the match was still too young to get a decision. Joe and AJ hit the floor via a hurricanrana by Styles on Joe, but Joe got the upper hand back, and hit his patented ole kick, which nearly sent Styles in to my lap back in general admission, that's how loud the thud was.
Joe got Styles in the ring, and hit a spinning jump kick in the corner. Nice agility for one so large. Joe threw AJ outside, went for the suicide dive, but AJ ran under the ropes, and hit his dive over the top on Joe who was on the floor. Somersault dive, of course. AJ hit a back suplex on Joe, which again showed his strength, but when he went for a move off the top rope, Joe was able to counter it in to a modified RKO maneuver, followed by a sick clothesline which turned AJ inside out. Joe then began the submission moves on AJ, repeatedly twisting the Georgian like a pretzel in a candy factory. Joe went for a second spinning jump kick, but AJ countered it in to the reverse DDT that you see in all the TNA matches. Joe got the momentum back, went for the muscle buster, but got nailed in the Styles Clash. It wasn't pure and clean, so Joe was able to kick out at 2. Joe and AJ traded sleeper style maneuvers which Joe held on and then suplexed AJ while in the clutch, which got Joe the surprising 3 count. No muscle buster, and no submission, which surprised me.
Joe takes the mike, puts over Ring of Honor, and then invites the crowd to hop on the turnpike, flip off the toll booth collector, and head to Jersey to cheer for their favorite wrestler as he begins his second reign as ROH World Champion later tonight.
That ends the show.
I had intended on venting my spleen about some fans at the show, but this is not the place. I'll do it on my myspace blog. If you're interested to read it when it comes up, check me out at http://www.myspace.com/mikesiciliano.
Email me at [email protected]
Hope you enjoyed the recap. It was a great show. I bought the last Long Island show as my DVD this time out. Looking forward to checking out that one from pillar to post.
Beaucoup cenabling!
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