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The Cynical DVD View
ROH: Supercard of Honor III
By Michael CampbellGo Shiozaki vs. Delirious
This is a superb way to open such a big show. Pairing Delirious against more serious, Japanese imports has worked before (his bout with Kenta at Reborn Again was excellent), and this follows the trend. They play off both Delirious’ insanity, and the language barrier that exists with a foreign star in ROH, not understanding his bizarre tendencies. The masked man attempts to have Go Disqualified for using chops, and for his part, Go plays along fabulously.
It’s of no surprise when Shiozaki picks up the win, following an err, Delirious final few minutes of frenetic action.
Bushwhacker Luke, Dingo, and Alex Payne vs. Kenny King, Sal Rinauro and Chasyn Rogers
Pumped up by the fine opener, the Orlando crowd are on fire for this tag contest. Obviously, it’s not to be taken particularly seriously, and with that it mind, it’s a total success. The YRR trio are the perfect partnership to battle with such a comically wretched squad as the faces here. Luke is really limited at this point, but performs his trademark spots with enough gusto to please, while Dingo impresses with a few unique moves that almost make up for his dreadful gimmick. Payne’s complete inability to look like one’s stereotypical impression of a wrestler, is surely what has got him over, and he handles himself well. But it’s the YRR who are the winners here, both in booking, and in promise. The first half of the match is sluggish, but a basic Indy-fest, that leads into a surprisingly fast-paced last few minutes.
Entertaining indeed.
-At this point, a No Remorse Corps tag team title match took place, but was for a PPV taping, so we rejoin with the NRC in the ring, which leads us into the following bout…
FIP World Title Match
Roderick Strong vs. Erik Stevens
This doesn’t actually transpire, because both guys repeatedly attack the referee, before the bout can commence. In it’s place, we’re treated to an adrenaline-rush of an unsanctioned brawl, that has the crowd completely unglued. Roddy’s chest is bust open by Steven’s stiff backhand chops, which looks disgusting, as the two tumble around the ringside area. But the heat of this battle doesn’t draw itself from crowd stunts (see the later Briscoes match), instead it’s a result of their frighteningly real strikes. Both guys bleed heavily, and fire the crowd up, until eventually, Strong cracks the supposed challenger to his belt with a sickening chair shot to the side of the head. With Stevens fallen, the other No Remorse Corps members hit the ring, and hold him down, while Roddy shaves off his Mohican. Despicable!
Hot, hot angle, that got over superbly with the crowd. Both men were absolutely magnificent.
-A video package shows some of the key moments in the rivalry between the Age of the Fall and the Briscoe Brothers. Not bad- but still too grungy and somewhat too drab to appeal to anyone outside of the fan club. This sort of feud could have been used to attract new fans, but it needs to not be presented in such a basically edited fashion as this.
Relaxed Rules
The Age of the Fall vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe
The fans are extremely hot for the Briscoes. Jacobs and Black are accompanied by Lacey and Rain, which is the first time I’ve seen her in ROH. The match starts out hot and hectic, with crazy double teaming from the outset. The immediately fight into the crowd, and the first half of the match becomes a completely insane arena-wide brawl. It’s different however to the earlier Strong/Stevens warfare though (thank God), and has the fans spasming with excitable glee. In one totally ridiculous spot, Mark locates a trampoline from under the ring, and uses it to springboard himself over the ringside barricade. Soon after he takes a seriously clumsy bump onto the rows of arranged chairs. All four are seriously wreckless and dangerous bumps are aplenty. This portion of the match comes to it’s end, when Mark, yep you guessed it, hit’s a wild spot of the entrance, through a table. It should be pointed out that a “bumâ€, whom The Age of the Fall found outside, (and supposedly bought a ticket for) is lying on the table at the time. His resemblance to Necro Butcher gives the garbage wrestlers detractors some ammunition…
Back in the ring, Black and Jacobs double team Jay, but thanks to his ability to “man upâ€, can’t put him away. But this is executed in a completely believable, and also compelling fashion (except for one point when Jay kicks out of a Super Doomsday-Contra Code- totally unbelievable) .Mark eventually makes his return, and saves Jay, setting up the big Briscoes finish, but when he attempts the Doomsday Device, Jimmy catches him in the Choke half-way through the mid-air rotation, and gets the victory when the younger Briscoe passes out.
Thrilling from start to finish. Although I felt that Jay was able to survive maybe one devastating move too many, it didn’t detract from the overall bout. At times, this was suicidal stuff, with so little margin for error throughout the brawling in the stands, but all four performed admirably. The finish itself, was of course, absolutely breath-taking, and deservedly resulted in a couple of ROH’s too-seldom-used replays. Seriously, someone in this company must know where the rewind button is….
-Erick Stevens is backstage, sitting in a corner, still covered in blood. Asked if he’s alright, he basically yells us he’s not, and this feud will continue. Stating the obvious… but very well done segment.
BXB Hulk & Shingo vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen
Whilst Kevin Steen’s stock has certainly risen throughout the early part of this year in ROH, and with his guarantee of winning gold before the annum’s end, will do so even more; El Generico has quietly been doing his fair share of evolving. His part in some of the duo’s best efforts has lately had little to with purely his ability as a flyer, and increasingly more to do with his own nuances and character. In this bout, he’s again superb. At the beginning, BXB’s dancing earn a ridiculous pop from the fans, but admittedly, it’s sexy stuff for sure. Not as hot as Steen’s little jig in response however.
This is a tremendous bout, that really highlights the character traits, and personalities in evidence in these two duos. At no point can the action be called anything other than furiously paced, but at the same time, it’s far from a bland spot-fest. As expected, the action becomes absolutely furious in the elongated finishing stretch, as the quartet pull out a vast array of finishing moves, double-team spots, and intricate sequences that have become a Generico/Steen staple as much as that of the Briscoes. On several separate occasions, they attain genuinely spine-tingling near falls. After too many highspots to even begin to list, Shingo pins El Generico for the win.
Tag team wrestling in it’s 2008 incarnation close to it’s absolute finest. These four knew that they aren’t exactly likely to encounter each other on a frequent basis, and thus went all out, to deliver everything they possibly could. Slightly disappointing to see the Japanese crew earn the victory, over the ROH regulars however.
-Erick Stevens is shown backstage shaving the remainder of his Mohican off.
ROH World Title Match
Nigel McGuinness© vs. Austin Aries
Their first World title match at Rising Above was absolutely outstanding, and the most epic bout I’ve seen in a long time, so I’m totally looking forward to this one. Plus, we have the added intrigue of whether or not Aries will join the Age of the Fall (okay, so I know how it turns out beforehand- vaguely, but it’s still exciting to see how everything transpires…). As the two opponents stand across from each other , there’s a great “big match†atmosphere.
Obviously, they start out with some flawlessly lovely mat wrestling, and targeting of body parts. It’s old fashioned, and absolutely perfect. The other dynamic that has changed is also that Nigel was not a full-on heel last time they wrestled. Like the Age of the Fall, though even more so, he still has his rigid followers, who support his motives- the mark of a serious, sanctimonious, but self-justified heel. At times, they play off the Rising Above encounter, which adds to the enjoyment for attentive fans. Nigel ends up the better off following the first six or seven minutes, really working over the arm of Aries, in a rather tastily, smug and sly manner. Aries makes a comeback, and unlike some, continuous selling the wounded limb, but is cut off swiftly by Nigel. The feel for this overall bout is that it’s building to what will be a scintillating climax.
The two combatants end up trading their submission finishers, to little avail, and Nigel nails a Tower of London, but again, it’s not enough. Aries comes back with a whole bunch of dropkicks in an impressive moment, but seconds later, tastes uh, arm, as he’s on the receiving end of a sick Lariat. Aries misses his 450 splash, landing hard on his shoulder, and is then shoved into the London Dungeon by the Champion. Ouch. The hold is reversed, and Aries pulls out his equivalent, and back and forth they go. The minutes that follow are completely outstanding and end a magnificent contest.
Holy crap, that was a fantastic bout. Honestly, a great wrestling match that developed logically and sensibly, but also traded off what occurred in the last title match, and rewarded those who had seen it. Some of the spots where brutal, but they were also thrilling and at times, unpredictable. It’s hard to compare it to Rising Above, because that match was so uniquely dynamic, whereas this one was completely different, until the final moments, at which point they made a point of putting both guys over by focusing on their intelligence and ability to adapt. Fantastic.
-Afterwards, The Age of the Fall come to the ring to confront Aries. Jimmy consoles Austin, again offering a spot in their group. But Aries looks unmoved. Lacey steps up, and uh, offers him, action, not just words. Well that’s one thing Jimmy can’t give. Just as they’re leaving, Tammy Sytch comes to the ring. Great, another hypocritical, promo that insults female wrestlers. She calls Lacey a “crack-whore skankâ€, then seconds later, admits she offered him sex herself. Ugh. Tammy’s the sort of babyface that I find impossible to like, because her words are utterly heelish, and distorted to suit her “good guy†persona to the point where she makes no sense. Like on Raw, when you attempt to justify Cryme Tyme vandalizing cars.
Thankfully, Austin leaves the ring with Lacey (yes!) which makes this story much more intriguing. The AOTF slap Sytch about until those ding-dang-dong Briscoes come to her aid. Really good segment- these Aries/Jimmy/Lacey moments have become unmissable.
Dragon Gate Rules: CIMA, Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino & Genki Horiguchi
Well, what can you say about Ring of Honor’s now-traditional Supercard of Honor Main event? This really is a case of needing to just sit back and enjoy proceedings. The biggest crowd reaction of course, is bestowed upon the eccentric CIMA. I’ve always enjoyed watching the guy, but seriously, he’s a bizarre fan-favorite.
This is insanely quick from the start, transcending the usual psychology of pro-wrestling with it’s wildly entertaining combination of spots and athletic sequences. If you’ve never seen Dragon Gate, ROH’s featured bouts really do serve as a fine introduction. Dragon Kid and Yoshino being in the ring together provokes much excitement, as they’re both faster than physics would suggest possible. Trademark triple team sequences are in abundance, as the fans seemingly get behind the Muscle Outlawz trio (Doi etc…), but in general, this bout is less frenetic than some of the other DG efforts, with a more traditional flow early on. Dragon Kid endures an extended heat period, as all three heels take turns in working him over. Eventually, he makes the hot tag, and CIMA is able to engage in some of the cleverest work of the evening. This is followed by action that’s pointless to pick apart, It’s just mind-blowing stuff. Mixing their now familiar spots, with fresh ones, the pace is unbelievable. But what really excites is the inventiveness with which they all double, and triple-team each other. They build the action to a fantastic last couple of minutes, during which all sorts of enormous moves are nailed, and the crowd wet themselves for the near falls. Doi pins Dragon Kid for the well received victory.
Was it as good as the two DG bouts from previous Supercard of Honor shows? To be honest, I can’t recall, and don’t especially care. It was still dazzling, and thrilling in it’s own right, even if it wasn’t as new and different as the first time round. I still don’t think I could get into Dragon Gate shows themselves, as I just can’t see myself enjoying that much of this sort of action on a frequent basis. As it is, the frequency with which we get to enjoy these superb athletes in ROH is just perfect. In this effort, Yoshino was the star of the show, really holding the bout together, bumping magnificently and delivering in his big moments, in a genuinely brilliant showing. Not a match of the year contender for me, but still fabulous baby.
-Backstage, Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn laugh a little, and Sweeney makes some ludicrous promises. Daft way to end the DVD. Couldn’t this segment have been included before the main event? I don’t get when ROH end shows with the likes of this skit, that didn’t really say much beyond what Sweeney usually does.
For me, this was the best of the Supercard of Honor shows, thus far. Although the Main Event’s comparative greatness with the previous DG tags could be debated all night long, it’s hard to argue with the overall quality of the show.
Aries/Nigel was the most exciting showdown on the card, epic, one-on-one grappling at it’s finest. A worthy companion to their previous title match. But everything added up to a completely enjoyable feast for grap fans. The early bouts were light-hearted, with a healthy dose of comedy. We had some brutal hardcore action and stunts, alongside a hot angle, splat/bang in the middle. Then the DVD was rounded out with three matches, in both singles, and tag, of superior modern-day wrestling. Again, ROH has excelled, when they have put together an overall smooth, and complimentary card. A must-buy.
Thanks for taking the time to read this wacky review/rant/gibberish. I would hope it had at least as much depth as a Repo Man match. If you have any comments, I welcome and encourage all feedback. please get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com or look for me at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc
Until bell-time, thanks again.
