- 04/30/2008 (12:26:21 pm)
- Press Release
…..
Here are my reviews for ROH Death Before Dishonor V (Night 1) and Death Before Dishonor (Night 2). They are two separate DVD’s but I figured I’ll hit two birds with one stone and do them both at the same time. You can post the reviews if you wish, or just the urls, or don’t post them, perhaps just read and enjoy them, or you may choose to simply do nothing J But I demand that you continue being cool!
DBD5 Night 2: http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/?page_id=2490
*** ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
August 10, 2007 - -
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR V (Night 1)
Jack Evans vs. Davey Richards: The action-packed Death Before Dishonor V weekend started on a heavy note with the continuing feud between Jack Evans and the No Remorse Corps. Jack has been promising to build his own faction to level the playing field against the No Remorse threesome. It looked like Jack had things in order, when NRC leader Roderick Strong hit the ring and pushed him off the top rope causing the disqualification. Rocky Romero joined in and the Corps dismantled Evans while Strong promised to end Jack Evans at Caged Rage later that month. Austin Aries and Erick Stevens, known as the Resilience, hit the ring to save Jack Evans from further damage. Jack pushed Aries and Stevens away and said he would go out and get some of his own people to watch back.
SHIMMER #1 CONTENDERS GRUDGE MATCH
Lacey vs. Daizee Haze: While SHIMMER is a completely separate wrestling promotion, it also represents Ring of Honor’s women’s division at the same time - and does a fantastic job of it. The heated feud between Lacey and Daizee in Ring of Honor has spilled over into the SHIMMER realm. SHIMMER champion, Sara Del Rey, stood on the entrance ramp in an attempt to intimidate the competitors in the ring. I really wish SHIMMER could draw the crowd that ROH draws. A full card of SHIMMER matches in front of hundreds of fans (instead of dozens) would be awesome. It took an Implant DDT for Lacey to put away her flower-child nemesis and earn herself a shot at Sara Del Rey’s SHIMMER championship the next night in
PURE WRESTLING MATCH
Chris Hero w/Sweet & Sour Inc. vs. Nigel McGuinness: As usual, Chris Hero was accompanied to the ring by the Sweet & Sour crew, consisting of “Super Agent” Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland, Bobby Dempsey, and the beautiful but villainous Sara Del Rey. Nigel McGuinness was the last Pure Wrestling champion before he lost it to American Dragon in a unification match one year ago - almost to the day. Before the match, Sweet & Sour announced their own “rules,” which were obviously ridiculous and meant to stack the deck against Mr. McGuinness. Something very mysterious happened during the opening moments of the match, when the lights went out and a voice came over the sound system shouting “Project 161! Project 161 is real! Project 161! Project 161! Project 161!” The announcers claimed that it was fans trying to make a name for themselves at ROH’s expense. Once the match got started, Hero put McGuinness in a simple Hammerlock, and Tank Toland put Nigel’s leg on the ropes, thus wasting Nigel’s first rope break. A few minutes later, Nigel was penalized another rope break for using an illegal closed fist. After some more Sweet & Sour shenanigans, Toland pulled the same trick by putting Nigel’s leg on the ropes and using up Nigel’s third and final rope break. This meant that the ropes were in play, and Hero immediately locked in a submission and made Nigel tap out even though he had reached the ropes. After the match, McGuinness got a small measure of revenge when he pounded Bobby Dempsey down with a huge Lariat.
Delirious vs. Brent Albright vs. “Iron” Matt Cross vs. Pelle Primeau vs. “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards vs. Jigsaw: What a strange mix of wrestling style and personalities. These matches are purposely booked randomly without reason, usually lacking any heat - just an opportunity for someone to rise up the ranks in one night at the expense of five other guys. Late in the match, Delirious lured Brent Albright backstage, and Matt Cross scored a rare victory after hitting a really smooth shooting star leg-drop on Eddie Edwards inside the ring.
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Matt Sydal w/Larry Sweeney: What a great match-up of styles. I was always pushing for Sydal to get a shot at the ROH World title when Danielson held it, but it was an opportunity which never came. To my knowledge, Matt Sydal has NEVER gotten an ROH World title shot. What’s up with that? Before the match, Larry Sweeney said that he and Bryan Danielson had some unfinished business. Sweeney said he offered the services of Matt Sydal a few weeks ago and he (Dragon) owes them $3333.34 (one third of the $10,000 prize, plus one cent!). Bryan Danielson said he put the money in a retirement fund so Matt Sydal will have some money when he retires. Danielson said if Matt Sydal can beat him tonight, he will give him his share of the money, but if he loses he gets to keep Sydal’s portion of the $10,000. Sweeney agreed, but only if Danielson’s portion was on the line too. Three thousand three hundred thirty three dollars and thirty three cents is a lot of money. They beat each other up pretty good in this match. Danielson used a Triangle-choke, in combination with his trademark flurry of elbow shots to the head to earn a victory via referee stoppage. After the match, Sweeney was mad at Sydal for costing him so much money, and Sydal was mad at Sweeney because twenty minutes ago he had a retirement fund. They argued up the isle but hugged and made up before exiting through the curtain.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH:
Takeshi Morishima vs. Claudio Castagnoli: The Race to the Top tournament winner, Claudio Castagnoli, decided to cash in his guaranteed title shot against the Japanese ROH champion, Takeshi Morishima. There was a brief moment of euphoria when Double C managed to hit Morishima with the Ricola-bomb and referee Todd Sinclair came within an eyelash of counting the three before the champion kicked out. The fans erupted, believing that Castagnoli had captured the gold, but quickly realized it was an extremely stressful false finish. The fans got hostile, chanting “F*ck you, Sinclair!” at the referee. A few minutes later Morishima battled back and finished off his Swiss challenger to retain his ROH World championship once again. Morishima grabbed his belt and put it between his teeth like an animal and immediately hit the showers, leaving Claudio in the ring to get a well-earned standing ovation from the ROH fans.
UNSANCTIONED
The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: I think everyone expected the absolutely maximum amount of insanity for this, the latest match in the ongoing feud between Team Steenerico and the now-legendary Briscoe brothers. Everything about El Generico is “fan friendly,” but his tag team partner is “all business,” and has no problem doing what it takes to get the job done. The Briscoes are the ROH World Tag Team champions, but since the match is non-sanctioned, the belts were not on the line. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard signed off early, thus allowing the action to speak for itself. The fight spilled out of the ring and over the barricade, which was replaced by a preverbal human-barricade, as ROH fans stood clueless in the path of danger. Their ROH tickets surely contained a small print disclaimer, relieving the company of any responsibility if a fan got hurt or injured. It got so rowdy that one fan yelled “You ain’t gonna see this sh*t on ECW!” Jay Briscoe got busted open, as did baby brother Mark. It just kept getting crazier and crazier with every death-defying stunt. They turned multiple chairs into scrap metal and probably took years off their careers - but the fans were happy as pigs in you know what. Eventually a huge ladder was introduced into the match. It was the least sturdy ladder in the history of pro-wrestling matches which included ladders. Kevin Steen put the finishing touches on the Briscoes by nailing Jay with a Package Pile-driver onto the ladder in the middle of the ring and got the 1-2-3. After the match, Steen challenged the Briscoes to a Steel Cage match in
If you would like to purchase this or any other Ring of Honor DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com —- if you still need some convincing, you can check out streaming video of various ROH matches for free at www.ROHVideos.com
Death Before Dishonor V (Night Two)
*** ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
August 11, 2007 -
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR V (Night 2)
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE
Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico: The second night of the Death Before Dishonor V weekend started with Jay Briscoe calling out “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen to have their scheduled “Light’s Out” match. Steen came out and said he promised he would call his mother, but sent El Generico to the ring for his scheduled “Falls Count Anywhere” match with young Mark Briscoe. They picked up right where they left off the night before after their brutal unsanctioned Boston Street Fight. Seriously, how do these guys get out of bed in the morning? The match ended after Generico planted Mark head-first into the concrete with a DDT and pinned him on the ringside floor. There was a brief scuffle after the match between Kevin Steen and Jay Briscoe to build heat for their match later on the card.
Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero & Jigsaw w/Sweet & Sour Inc.: “Super Agent” Larry Sweeney enlisted the services of the masked Jigsaw to team with Chris Hero, which tells you exactly how they feel about Bobby Dempsey and Tank Toland, who up until this point have remained a ringside comedy act. All I can say is I hope Jigsaw got his money up front. McGuinness and Castagnoli make an impressive team, with their size and natural ability. Both of them belong in the WWE. Castagnoli did his patented Giant Swing on Jigsaw (grabbed him by the ankles and swung him around and around and around). The funny thing is Jigsaw’s pants started to come down and he desperately hung on to them as Double C continued to swing. The Sweet & Sour guys started interfering, so Nigel McGuinness chased them backstage. While the referee was distracted, Chris Hero whacked Claudio Castagnoli with the Race to the Top trophy and scored the pinfall to win. After the match, Hero and Sweeney busted Castagnoli’s forehead open and destroyed the Race to the Top trophy. Nigel McGuinness returned and cleared the ring to to make the save and check on Castagnoli’s badly injured eye.
SHIMMER TITLE MATCH
Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey: This was officially the first defense of the SHIMMER title on a Ring of Honor show. Lacey confidently walked to the ring pre-maturely declaring herself the new SHIMMER champion. Daizee Haze was shown watching the match from the sidelines with her arms crossed and her teeth clenched. I think Del Rey was caught off guard by Lacey’s increased aggression. This very intense match ended with Del Rey finishing off Lacey with her trademark Royal Butterfly finisher. Excellent match. SHIMMER fans be proud!
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush: This is what I would whole-heartedly consider a “DREAM MATCH.” Not a lot of people know or understand how awesome Mike Quackenbush is and how dedicated he is to wrestling and the history of wrestling - specifically Lucha Libre. This turned out to be a technical masterpiece that would make fans of that genre very proud. I think Quackenbush might be the first wrestler to really give Bryan Danielson a taste of his own medicine. Quackenbush put in a great effort, but the American Dragon scored the victory with the dreaded Cattle Mutilation. The ROH fans chanted “Thank you, both!” after the match to show their appreciation. This match probably got Quack over as a top star in Ring of Honor.
Surprise surprise, legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter showed up playing the roll that Gary Michael Cappetta used to play - backstage interviewer. Apter’s first assignment included interviewing Delirious. Rib?
LIGHTS OUT MATCH
Jay Briscoe vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen: A “Light’s Out” match doesn’t mean they turn the lights out in the building. Don’t laugh, because that’s what I thought it was. It actually means your opponent has to be knocked out for a ten-count. The fans encouraged Jay Briscoe throughout the match, chanting “Man Up!” every time Steen put him down for the count. Eventually El Generico interfered, which I guess is legal since it’s Anything Goes. Kevin Steen hit a Package Pile-driver, which finally put Jay Briscoe down for the 10-count.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright: Brent Albright is one of few wrestlers on the ROH roster who can come close to matching Takeshi Morishima’s physical stature. Albright became a fan-favorite by default, and had the fans praying to the wrestling Gods for a title change. Albright planted Morishima with a pair of Half-Nelson Suplexes and came within an eyelash of getting a three count. The fans became unglued, chanting “that was three! that was three!” but the match continued. A few minutes later, Morishima battled back and hit a vicious Lariat, followed by a Back-drop Driver and scored the 1-2-3 to retain his ROH World title. This was almost a carbon copy of Takeshi’s match with Claudio Castagnoli the previous night in
The No Remorse Corps (Roderick Strong & Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) & Matt Sydal vs. The Resilience (Austin Aries & Erick Stevens & Matt Cross) & Delirious: Roderick Strong bragged that the NRC took out Austin Aries last night after they saw Delirious, Stevens, and Cross come out without their fearless leader. Just when the Corps thought they had the upper hand, Aries snuck in and attacked the heels from behind to get the party started. All eight men paired off and went to war in all four corners of the building. Matt Cross and Matt Sydal ended up scaling the bleachers - truly dangerous territory. Sydal fell backwards on top of the six other wrestlers below. Matt Cross then pulled a Jackie Chan and used the wall as a launch-pad and dove off on top of the pile of humanity below. There were a lot of stunts, not as dangerous as that, but I won’t spoil everything for you. Sydal later took a clumsy dive off the top rope, over the guard rail, putting Delirious through a table - sort of. Erick Stevens took two sick chair-shots to the head from Roderick Strong. The injured leg of Austin Aries was placed between a ladder, and Roderick proceeded to smash it with a chair. Erick Stevens emerged from the carnage with blood all over his face. The match took a physical toll on all eight men, plus the poor referee. The carnage seemed to go forever. It boiled down to Roderick Strong putting his FIP nemesis, Erick Stevens, in the Stronghold until he went limp and the referee stopped the match - awarding the victory to the No Remorse Corps. Erick Stevens really took the brunt of the punishment, as well as Austin Aries. Both of them were injured during the match but continued to fight for the Resilience.
If you would like to purchase this or any other ROH DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com —- if you need some convincing, you can check out streaming video of various ROH matches for free at www.ROHVideos.com
