Plague Watching

[Defrost]

What wrestling are you watching while everything is shut down/being in isolation during the Pandemic?

Currently watching NJPW Jingu Climax from 1999

Singles Match
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Brian Johnston

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) vs. El Samurai & Jushin Thunder Liger

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Kendo Kashin

Tag Team Match
Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. nWo Japan (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Mad Dogs (Michiyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto) (c) vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

Singles Match
Scott Norton vs. Don Frye

IWGP Title Match
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Death Match
Great Nita vs. Great Muta

[Tainted Eclipse]

watchin survivor series 2003

[Defrost]

I remember there being an inane number of gimmick matches on that one and Shawn having a helluva one man show in his match.


Watching Flair and the Andersons against Pez Whatley/Rocky King/Italian Stallion from a random episode of World Championship Wrestling.

[Defrost]

Watching NOAH Departure.

Having not seen mid 2000s puro in a while it feels like 50 years ago in a lot of ways to now.

[Defrost]

Watched Stone Cold vs Jericho from the Raw before the Undisputed Title mini tournament. Not surprisingly it was very good.

[Beer-Belly]

Watched Stone Cold vs Jericho from the Raw before the Undisputed Title mini tournament. Not surprisingly it was very good.

It might be their best match.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Watching NOAH Departure.

Having not seen mid 2000s puro in a while it feels like 50 years ago in a lot of ways to now.

what in particular? less flamboyant hairstyles?

[Sinner]

Gonna rewatch:

-The Cruiserweight Classic
-Lucha Underground Season 1
-WrestleKingdom 10

[Defrost]

what in particular? less flamboyant hairstyles?

A few things. A bunch of guys who I remember watching all of the time who kinda just disappeared. The production. NOAH being #1 and what NJPW was doing and just memories of the scene back then. How much younger some guys are. How some guys look the same.

I watched Destiny right after and I remember for how long that was considered the last giant show because it was the last time someone put a lot of people in the Dome. There are a lot fewer people at that show than is remembered. The 1/4 show this year easily outdrew it.

[Defrost]

It might be their best match.

Just going singles matches it would have to be.

Maybe should give the match they had before King of the Ring that year another look. It would have to be one of the two.

[Fanny Batter]

It's a shame Austin spent 2001 getting suplexed on his neck almost exclusively, he was so fucking good that year but burned out once he'd dropped the belt and ended up having a few stinkers before he went home - the Jericho match at No Way Out where he's clearly not arsed, and the Undertaker match at Backlash that's still happening I think. Shame. Though I guess the style he was working that year wasn't sustainable for that neck of his. Double edged sword - he either works a few more years and we don't get that 2001 peak, or he burns out like he did.

[Defrost]

It's a shame Austin spent 2001 getting suplexed on his neck almost exclusively, he was so fucking good that year but burned out once he'd dropped the belt and ended up having a few stinkers before he went home - the Jericho match at No Way Out where he's clearly not arsed, and the Undertaker match at Backlash that's still happening I think. Shame. Though I guess the style he was working that year wasn't sustainable for that neck of his. Double edged sword - he either works a few more years and we don't get that 2001 peak, or he burns out like he did.

If he never turns heel he never has to bump like that for babyfaces all Summer and Fall. Yet another reason that heel turn was a bad idea.

[Tainted Eclipse]

wish there was somewhere to watch early ROH shows. the packs aren't even seeded on pwtorrents and i cant sign up to xwt.

[Defrost]

wish there was somewhere to watch early ROH shows. the packs aren't even seeded on pwtorrents and i cant sign up to xwt.

The excuse seems to be the music, but just ditch the entrances like PWG does.


Just watched back Shinsuke vs Sakuraba. Amazing how good Sakuraba could be when he gave a shit. He barely ever gave a shit.

On to Shinsuke and Okada vs SUWAMA and Kondo from the 2012 joint NJPW/AJPW show in Sumo Hall. First Rainmaker match in Sumo Hall.

[Tainted Eclipse]

i dont know if i'd pay for a streaming service for the shows without the music. i know it's out of their control. copyright is a grave evil. i'd just keep trying to download the originals.

[Defrost]

I find myself in a Shinsuke Nakamura mini marathon. Watching him vs Bob Sapp from Nexess. I mentioned mid aughts puro feeling like it came from another time or another planet maybe. Look at this fucking card.

Six Man Tag Team Match
Heat, Naomichi Marufuji & Tiger Mask vs. American Dragon, Koji Kanemoto & Ultimo Dragon

Six Man Tag Team Match
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Osamu Nishimura & Shinya Makabe vs. Makai Club (Giant Majin, New Strong Majin & Super Strong Majin) (w/Kantaro Hoshino)

Singles Match
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

Singles Match
Ken Shamrock vs. Josh Barnett

Tag Team Match
Dolgorsuren Serjbudee & Dolgorsuren Sumyaabazar vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Meng

Tag Team Match
Kendo Kashin & Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama (c) vs. Kazunari Murakami (w/Kantaro Hoshino) & Masahiro Chono

Different Style Fight
Yutaka Yoshie vs. Jan Nortje

Singles Match
Sean O'Haire vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Different Style Fight
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Musashi

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
Bob Sapp (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[Beer-Belly]

Just going singles matches it would have to be.

Maybe should give the match they had before King of the Ring that year another look. It would have to be one of the two.

The King of the Ring match was a triple threat with Benoit. It's fine, but I think Austin was working hurt and I know Benoit got injured in that match, so it wasn't as good as it could have been.

[Beer-Belly]

It's a shame Austin spent 2001 getting suplexed on his neck almost exclusively, he was so fucking good that year but burned out once he'd dropped the belt and ended up having a few stinkers before he went home - the Jericho match at No Way Out where he's clearly not arsed, and the Undertaker match at Backlash that's still happening I think. Shame. Though I guess the style he was working that year wasn't sustainable for that neck of his. Double edged sword - he either works a few more years and we don't get that 2001 peak, or he burns out like he did.

Austin was actually shaping up to have a pretty good summer in 2002 before shit hit the fan. The "no punches allowed" match he had with Flair on Raw right before he left should be more fondly remembered than it is. Austin showed he could still go as far as wrestling is concerned. After that, he had feuds with Eddie and Benoit lined up, and those matches could have been stellar.

[Defrost]

Shinsuke vs Sapp is a billion times better than Shinsuke vs Brock even if Sapp gets hilariously blown up

[Beer-Belly]

If he never turns heel he never has to bump like that for babyfaces all Summer and Fall. Yet another reason that heel turn was a bad idea.

They really, REALLY should have just kept Austin face at the Invasion PPV and turned Jericho heel instead. It wouldn't have been that hard to say Jericho did it out of loyalty to Heyman or something similar. Then Angle could join the Alliance due to the frustration of not being taken seriously in the WWF. Seems easy enough to outline.

[Tainted Eclipse]

downloading the 2003 ROH shows

[Ringo]

wish there was somewhere to watch early ROH shows. the packs aren't even seeded on pwtorrents and i cant sign up to xwt.

I have one invite for xwt if that's what you need?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Found this shit for any of you Japanese Wrestling dorks.

And check it, this guy has a ton of other Japanese wrestling shows.

[Tainted Eclipse]

I have one invite for xwt if that's what you need?

I had just let an account get deactivated for a bad ratio ages ago and they wouldn’t let me sign up with my ip. I just decided to get a vpn. Thanks though

[Tainted Eclipse]

speaking of mid 2000s puro. i watched KENTAfuji vs. kotaro suzuki and ricky marvin. like a large percentage of NOAH matches, it could have benefited from being about half as long. but it was a good match.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I was just thinking about this last night, but did any other majorly hyped guy to get famous in Japan ever have a worse run in the big leagues than "Dr. Death" Steve Williams? His entire late-90's American career is like a comedy of errors.

1998 -

- Comes to the WWF, is set up to win The Brawl For All.
- Loses the Brawl to Bart Gunn.
- Starts a brief TV feud with Bart Gunn.
- Plays backup to a heel JR, during JR's ill-advised heel turn.
- Beats up Al Snow and Bob Holly.
- Beats up Tiger Ali Singh and Babu.
- Puts Bob Holly through a wall in a backstage fight

He comes in, gets beat in a shoot by an underneath guy with no push, during that he fucks up his ankle. He never gets a proper feud or anything approaching a "run". He's persona non grata - Because at an advanced age, after a career of hard work, he can't win a shoot against a man half his age. Finally they let him go.

1999/2000 -

- Pops up in WCW with "Oklahoma", who's Ed Ferrara doing a terrible impersonation of Jim Ross and his bells palsy.
- Doc gets to feud with Vampiro - Prompting Edklahoma to get on commentary and continue to impersonate JR, by mocking his call of "Stone Cold", by yelling "Vampiro!" for entire matches. Those matches suck, by the way.
- Doc beats 4 luchadors in a 4 on one match.
- Doc gets to toss around the more fit members of The Misfits. Yay?
- Doc feuds with Berlyn. Nobody cares.
- Doc jobs to The Wall on TV, after The Wall kicks out of Doc's finish.
- WCW folds, Doc's left out in the cold.
- WWF doesn't bring Doc in for The Invasion.
- Jim Ross feels alienated from Doc for years, when they used to be best buddies, because Doc allowed the Oklahoma thing to happen.

Are those maybe the worst 3-4 years of any "major" star failing to get any traction or create any good highlights you've ever heard?

[Tainted Eclipse]

heres someones list of top 50 NOAH matches
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/wres...t2688-s10.html

1.) Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/13/2003
2.) Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 11/1/2003
3.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final) NOAH 4/15/2001
4.) Tamon Honda vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/5/2001
5.) Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda (GHC Heavyweight Title Contendership Tournament Final) NOAH 9/1/2001
6.) Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 4/7/2002
7.) Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/25/2004
8.) Takeshi Morishima, Takeshi Rikio & Daisuke Ikeda vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito & Jun Izumida NOAH 3/16/2003
9.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue (GHC Tag Team Chapionship) NOAH 9/10/2004
10.) Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 2/17/2002
11.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/28/2007
12.) Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda, KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi NOAH 8/23/2003
13.) Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 6/6/2003
14.) Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 1/22/2006
15.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 3/2/2008
16.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano NOAH 6/6/2003
17.) Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata NOAH 6/6/2003
18.) Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/7/2002
19.) Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu vs Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki NOAH 4/24/2005
20.) Jun Akiyama vs KENTA NOAH 5/17/2009
21.) Akitoshi Saito vs Tamon Honda NOAH 3/30/2003
22.) Jun Akiyama vs Masao Inoue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/23/2006
23.) Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki NOAH 11/5/2005
24.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 4/25/2004
25.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Masaji Aoyagi NOAH 10/5/2003
26.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 3/1/2003
27.) Yoshihiro Takayama vs KENTA NOAH 6/27/2004
28.) Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama NOAH 12/2/2007
29.) Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & KENTA NOAH 10/3/2009
30.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima NOAH 3/5/2006
31.) Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/23/2002
32.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 5/18/2001
33.) Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu NOAH 9/18/2005
34.) Kensuke Sasaki vs Mohammed Yone (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/27/2008
35.) Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 1/8/2005
36.) Tamon Honda vs Takuma Sano NOAH 3/16/2003
37.) Takeshi Morishima, Akira Taue & Takuma Sano vs Jun Izumida, Yoshihiro Takayama & Jun Akiyama NOAH 3/6/2004
38.) Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 10/19/2002
39.) KENTA & Katsuyori Shibata vs Akira Taue & Go Shiozaki NOAH 9/9/2006
40.) Kenta Kobashi & Makoto Hashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 8/19/2005
41.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 7/27/2001
42.) Tamon Honda vs Takashi Sugiura NOAH 10/31/2009
43.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshinari Ogawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 12/7/2002
44.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata NOAH 2/17/2002
45.) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Izumida vs Akebono & Takeshi Rikio NOAH 1/22/2006
46.) Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & KENTA vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi NOAH 2/18/2003
47.) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/10/2004
48.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) NOAH 1/26/2003
49.) KENTA vs SUWA (GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/18/2005
50.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs El Samurai & Masayuki Naruse (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) NOAH 9/23/2002


maybe try to watch through the ones i havent seen

[Defrost]

That Honda match is so god damned overrated

[Tainted Eclipse]

going by memory it would be in my top 5, along with the kobashi/honda tag match from the same year.

[Defrost]

It's It's a good match but damn

[Horatio]

Tamon Honda is like a wet dream from before there were wet dreams

(There were no wet dreams before 4/13)

[Horatio]

I'm catching up on Slim J and Daniel Makabe mostly on IWTV and 321battle on youtube, but that NOAH list makes me want to see Akira Taue wrestle again.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Gonna review the 2003 ROH shows as I go through them. Gonna go for STAR RATINGS on the matches.

Staring off with REVENGE OF THE PROPHECY, from January 11 2003.

The show opens with a series of clips from ROH HIGH IMPACT TV, which I either never heard of or have completely forgotten. Apparently it was a show produced for local Philadelphia TV station channel 48 (I had no recollection they ever had a local show; I know CZW had a show on channel 48 for a while in 2002). Looks like they discontinued it in 2003. It would be selected matches and some angle/promos unique to the show which they’d end up including in later DVDs. This series of vignettes has Steve Corino introducing a new group to combat the Prophecy. He debuts Simply Luscious and steals Samoa Joe. When he confronts Christopher Daniels, Daniels reveals he’s recruited Corino’s sister, Allison Danger.

The show is taking place outside of Pittsburg – the furthest West ROH has ever traveled up to this point! We open up with SPECIAL K (a group of high flyers whose gimmick was being drug-addled ravers) promo, on the famously incomprehensible early ROH sound system. DA HIT SQUAD and SAT come out and kill them.

Our first match is CHAD COLLYER vs. MATT STRYKER. No, not Matt Striker, Matt Stryker, distinguishable by his prominent unibrow. Their ROH careers did overlap, I wonder if they were ever on the same show? I feel like they were. This match was actually very good. Surprisingly good. Really tight, everything was executed well. Good, steady progression toward the end with a hot home stretch with no overkill, some believable nearfalls, and a strong ending. I don’t know how many indie guys these days could have a match this tight, solid and technically competent. They’d do a lot more flips, though. One spot I especially liked was when Stryker blatantly overshot a Lionsault, and Collyer didn’t pretend to sell it, but went right back on the offensive, capitalizing with a GEDO CLUTCH for a good nearfall. I’m gonna go ***1/2.

Next is CM PUNK vs. MICHAEL SHANE. Sloppier and less impressive than the opener. 2003 CM Punk is no 2003 Matt Stryker in the ring. Not much noteworthy here, but it was short enough and not in any way offensive. **

BJ WHITMER vs. COLT CABANA vs. PAUL LONDON vs. HOMICIDE. Four way match, two guys in at a time. Fast paced match with something always happening, not too remarkable until the really energetic homestretch. Some nice dives by London and Colt. Whitmer hits rolling Dragon Suplexes and tries to bridge the third, but Paul London breaks it up with a Shooting Star Press for the win. Fun match, went by really fast for its length. ***1/4

Aw shit we got BRYAN DANIELSON vs. SAMOA JOE next. This match is incredible. Stiff, gritty, feels like a real fight. Everything is a struggle and the strikes hit hard. Joe gets most of the offense as they’re pushing him super hard. Joe’s low kicks toward the end of the match really look devastating. Awesome ending with Joe ducking a roaring elbow and hitting a nasty knee strike to the head. No need to play around with nearfalls after a nasty blow like that, Joe picks him up and hits the Island Driver for the win. The number of people who could have a match like this isn’t big. This wasn’t about epic big move trading and tons of nearfalls, this was about slugging it out in a tough, grueling battle. For a matchup that never really produced the all time classic it promised on paper, I wonder if this might be their best match together. ****1/4

Now here’s a lineup. SAT & GHOST SHADOW vs. DIVINE STORM & KONNAN. According to Gabe on commentary, Konnan is here to “bring pure lucha libre to Ring of Honor.” Lots of arm drags, hurricanranas and head scissors here. Plenty of them sloppy, but they keep the action quick and get a new pair of guys in the ring every minute or so. The home stretch was bloated by featured a couple pretty good spots. Jose Maximo hits a really good looking top rope brainbuster which should have been the finish. Quiet Storm hits a nasty looking One Winged Angel. Ghost Shadow actually hits a beautiful sit out powerbomb. Ghost Shadow hits a Samoa Joe style Muscle Buster which Gabe refers to as “a very innovative move.” Was Joe using the move by then? Did Joe steal the Muscle Buster from GHOST SHADOW? Konna taps Ghost Shadow out with the Tequila Sunrise for the win. This match could have been much better if it were more compact and didn’t feature an awful strike exchange between Jose Maximo and Quiet storm toward the end. Still, enough good stuff for me to go **1/2.

DA HIT SQUAD vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. WEAPONS MATCH. Love the commentary explaining that the Carnage Crew don’t care about winning, they just wrestle to get out their frustration and aggression over their ugly wives, nagging kids and 12-hour jobs. This is the kind of weapons brawl I like. No complicated set-up spots, no finesse, just non stop, disorganized brawling with the occasional high impact move. This could have gone a bit shorter as it had worn out its welcome to me in the last couple minutes, but this was mostly fun. ***

Special K are partying in the back, getting high off balloons, leading us to SPECIAL K vs. DUNN & MARCOS & THE OUTCAST KILLAS. I’d mark out big time if ROH brought back Dunn and Marcos for their long-deserved tag team title win. This match is a total spotfest. No tags or anything, one guy in, big move, next guy in, big move. Fun enough, there were a couple really nasty head drops. **

Time for our main event, LOW KI & AJ STYLES vs. XAVIER & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS. Xavier is in the middle of his legendary ROH title run. They go LONG in this match, almost 30 minutes. There’s not much of a structure or narrative to the match, which helps to make the length work to its disfavor. Just a lot of evenly matched move trading. Those moves are good though, and the selling is good. They do manage to make it feel like the main event. This is a no hold barred match, which is really only used to take out ropebreaks, so there are several submissions in the ropes spots. At the end, Styles his a Styles Clash off the apron through a table on Daniels in a big spot, and Low Ki picks up the win with a Dragon Sleeper to Xavier while he’s wrapped up in the ropes. Solid main event with a big spot to end it. ***1/4

2003 is off to a good start! This was a very fun show. Danielson/Joe was a legit great match, had an excellent opener, and a lot of variety throughout the card. Crowd was consistently hot. The super low-rent early ROH production fills me with nostalgia. Very good show. 7.5/10

[Horatio]

Chad Collyer and Matt Stryker were what the Pure title was invented for.
And then they put the title on AJ STYLES. What's pure about being able to wrestle like Superman? Chad and Matt had to retire from not being "pure" enough...weird shit.

I forgot Dunn and Marcos were around that far back.

ON TOPIC, Jack Gallagher is dressing half Daisuke Ikeda, half CHEETAH print, and he's STILL calling himself Gentleman. Absolutely epic performance in the empty arena 10 man elimination this past Friday. He's being booked as both heel AND intelligent, so booking may be coming around for Little Jack. Between HIS match and Bryan/Gulak, I don't know what fed I'm watching anymore.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We've got the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW, February 8th 2003.

The one year anniversary and ROH’s debut in NYC, this has to be considered ROH’s biggest show to date. There’s an endearingly bad video package of every ROH event up to this point to start the show.

We open with EZ MONEY vs. CHAD COLLYER vs. COLT CABANA vs. MICHAEL SHANE. I like these ROH 4-way matches where only two guys are legal at a time, even if they often throw that out the window during the homestretch. Perfectly solid match for the first half but this really heats up in the second half. Lots of nearfalls, really well executed spots, some good dives. EZ Money hits a great looking Hangman Page style flipping double lariat, and ends up picking up the win with his Cha-Ching release suplex. Went the perfect amount of time for what it was and the home stretch was really well executed. ***1/2

Next up is THE TEXAS WRESTLING ACADEMY vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. The Texas Wrestling Academy is Hotstuff Hernandez, Fast Eddie and Don Juan, students of Rudy Boy Gonzalez. This is a surprisingly solid tag match with a good face in peril segment, a nice hot tag to Hernandez and a good babyface comeback. Fast Eddie goes for an Asai moonsault but the Carnage Crew take him out mid-air with a hubcap shot, then get DQed for beating the Texas Wrestling Academy with hubcaps and chairs. The match was short and fun, **1/2, but that’s not all. YMCA blares through the speakers and out come THE CRISTOPHER STREET CONNECTION to get revenge on the Carnage Crew. The Christopher Street Connection were an over the top, flamboyantly gay gimmick who would often get beaten down by homophobic teams. Whether the homophobic beatdowns were supposed to be cheered or booed depended on the context. They’re faces here though, and the take out the Carnage Crew with extremely homoerotic offense. The crowd is really into it, but their kiss in the middle of the ring after wiping out the Carnage Crew gets a decidedly mixed reaction. Super fun segment all together.

JAY BRISCOE vs. MARK BRISCOE. This is being billed as their last match against each other before they become a tag team. This match is all about them trading big moves, and they hit some good ones. Best spot by far is Mark hitting a top rope moonsault to the outside, to a laying down Jay Briscoe. I feel like this is a match that would have been better in 2003 than watching it now, as seeing tons of high end moves in a row was not so common back then. Good match, doesn’t overstay its welcome, but not really anything special. Great ending with Jay hitting three ROLLING JAY DRILLERS. ***1/4

STEVE CORINO vs. HOMICIDE next. Corino cuts a promo adding Michael Shane and CW Anderson to his group along with Samoa Joe and Simply Lucious. He runs down the NYC crowd. The match ends up being more of an angle than a real match. The wrestling is fine, but most of the emphasis is placed on Corino’s team trash talking the fans and commentary explaining how Corino is trying to run ROH by being the biggest star and using his Zero-One influence. The end is good though, with Homicide missing big on a dive and then taking a couple big moves before he passes out to a Cobra Clutch. The match is probably around **1/4 but it’s really just an excuse for the angle that fallows: THE BRAWL. They run a worked shoot brawl with the NYC crowd rushing the guard rail to attack Corino’s stable. It’s a really well done angle that feels chaotic and believable. The locker room empties to subdue the fans. Excellent segment.

After the post-riot intermission, the Outcast Killaz and Dunn and Marcos come out but are interrupted by CW Anderson. He takes them out and challenges anyone in the locker room. Out comes CM Punk and we get CW ANDERSON vs. CM PUNK. Boy, this match was bad. Very sloppy, very awkward, and the crowd rightly shits on it. Punk wins by countering a spinebuster into a very ugly sunset flip. *

SAMOA JOE vs. BRYAN DANIELSON isn’t gonna have trouble following that one. They definitely don’t recapture the magic of their last match, though. The match never really comes together, and ends up just being mostly un-notable but good wrestling. There are moments of greatness, though, like Danielson no-selling a suplex and standing right up to deliver a hard slap to Joe, Joe driving Danielson on his neck with a nasty Urinagi, and Samoa Joe’s vicious knees to Danielson’s head toward the end. But it never really comes together to be anything more than a solidly good match; solidly good it certainly is, though. ***1/4.

PAUL LONDON vs. LOW KI vs. AJ STYLES is next, with the winner getting an immediate title shot vs. Xavier. This match starts out awesome. Super fast pace, very clever, and good intensity and stiffness too. As it starts to wear on it does lose some steam at times, but always gets it back with a big spot here and there. For all the big moves, my favorite spot in the match is Low Ki missing a Shining Wizard, but then immediately following it up with a kick to the back of the head. Hard to explain but an awesome spot. Low Ki hits a top rope Ki Crusher on Styles and London is able to immediately follow it up with a Shooting Star Press for the win. ***1/2

Though it was scheduled to be the main event, Xavier demands London challenge him RIGHT NOW. XAVIER vs. PAUL LONDON for the title. This match is all about heat. Xavier works over London for a good while, with London coming right off a grueling match. London’s comeback is great with an awesome springboard forearm and a beautiful dive off the top to the outside. There are some awkward moments of miscommunication but for the most part the ending is really hot with some great nearfalls. The crowd goes wild when London is in position for the SSP, but Allison Danger pulls Xavier out of the ring, saving the title. Crowd pops big when London kicks out of Xavier’s 450 and at that point it seems like they really think he’s going to win, but soon after Xavier reverses a roll-up and grabs the tights for the cheap win. Lots of heat and the crowd was really into it. ***3/4

And so the main event ends up being SPECIAL K vs. SAT, DIVINE STORM, DA HIT SQUAD and MIKEY WHIPWRECK. This thing was not good. They go over 30 minutes, just a nonstop spot fest. To their credit they keep everything moving quickly, but not a lot of it is good. Seems pointless to try to “rate” a match like this. Maybe *3/4? The show would have been better without it.

Punk and Raven cut promos on each other in the post-show clips, the program that really started Punk on his trajectory to becoming a top star.

I’m going to be generous and mostly discount the main event. Without that, this was a great show. 8/10

[Defrost]

If Paul London of then existed in the current era he'd have been such a huge deal on the indies and now in either AEW or NXT

[Rancid_Planet]

If Paul London of then existed in the current era he'd have been such a huge deal on the indies and now in either AEW or NXT

Oh fuck yeah. I've ever heard Bruce Prichard say the same thing. Paul was a prototype for the next 15 years of wrestlers.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

[Tainted Eclipse]

If Paul London of then existed in the current era he'd have been such a huge deal on the indies and now in either AEW or NXT

It is a sort of forgotten piece of history that at this point London is the most beloved guy in ROH, more than danielson, joe, low ki, styles, etc. wonder how his career would have turned out if he stayed with roh for a few more years and signed with wwe in the 2005-2010 period.

[Tainted Eclipse]

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

Arguably 2009

[Tainted Eclipse]

another thing i should have mentioned: in the main event of the anniversary show, quiet storm hits a canadian destroyer. according to an article i read looking this up, the first time petey williams ever hit the move was in march 2003, this was february 2003. had anyone done a canadian destroyer before that? did QUIET STORM invent the canadian destoyer?

[Tainted Eclipse]

in my research, i see that petey williams made a tweet about people stealing the destroyer from him, and chris hero responded with a picture of quiet storm and amazing red shaking hands, i assume implying that it was indeed quiet storm who innovated the move. may he be forever cursed.

[Tainted Eclipse]

now i must determine if quiet storm also innovated the move now known as the one winged angel, which he hit on ROH's first show of 2003.

[mth]

You are doing the Lord's work.

[Horatio]

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

Punk was a really unique worker in that he tried to wrestle everyone's game up until he left ROH and started doing a kenta kickboxing style, am I right?
He basically had no moveset of his own, but he could work hour long headlocks with Joe and 90 minute TLC matches with Chris Hero.
By the summer of Punk(06?), he was definitely a good worker. I'm not sure how I feel about his WWE wrestle. I honestly stopped watching when he came up. Time for a WWE Punk dive?

[Defrost]

Sounds like ROH tv for the time being will be a dive into the back catalogue

[Defrost]

Punk’s thing was that he was the best promo guy on the indies.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We travel up north to Boston for EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, March 15th 2003.

We’ve got a rematch of CHAD COLLYER vs. MATT STRYKER to open up. Very similar to their last match. Probably the opening chain wrestling was better, but the home stretch wasn’t as good. At the same time, the crowd was super hot. These guys are great at working a very basic technical match and making it feel like an exhausting battle. Collyer reverses a sunset flip into a Texas Cloverleaf to get his second tap-out victory over Stryker. ***1/2

Low Ki is cutting a promo with Da Hit Squad, but Dan Maff is upset that Low Ki is hogging to spotlight while he and Monsta Mack are just lowly midcarders.

AMAZING RED vs. SLIM J is next, with Amazing Red enjoying a decided size advantage, which he makes use of to hit an F5! Not too good of a match, just a lot of overly-creative moves over and over again. Red picks up the win with a sort of piledriver thing. *3/4. Commentary says that Amazing Red is replacing Paul London as AJ Styles’ tag team partner later tonight. Special K’s bodyguard, SLUGGER, hits the Bodybag on Red post-match to put him at even further disadvantage.

CM is in the ring next and fully debuts his Straight Edge heel gimmick, running down Raven for being a drug addled degenerate and not even showing up, and declaring his superiority to the Boston crowd. As he goes to walk back out through the curtain, he’s floored by a punch from Raven. Back in the ring they go back and forth on the mic and agree to a match for later.

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. SAT vs. THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. AJ STYLES is next, with AJ going it alone as Red is not able to compete yet. Winner gets a tag title shot in the main event. Fun spotfest, doesn’t overstay its welcome, most of the spots look good, a really nice dive sequence with AJ finishing it off with an SPP to the outside. Some big head drops in this match. Really liked the ending with Jose Maximo fighting off a Styles Clash, so AJ just hoists him up and hits a NASTY powerbomb and flipping over into a cover for the win. ***1/4

LOW KI and DA HIT SQUAD vs. DERANGED, DIXIE and ANGEL DUST. The story of this match is Low Ki and Da Hit Squad want to beat some respect into Special K. Special K get obliterated to start off. Ki is hitting with full force and Da Hit Squad are throwing them around with no regard for their heads and necks. Special K are able to get the advantage with some interference from the rest of the group and actually work over Dan Maff for a while, seeing three 100 pound guys work over a 300 pound face in peril is amusing. Before long Ki and Da Hit Squad come back and obliterate Special K some more. The rest of Special K start to interfere more and more blatantly, so the ref has to call for the DQ. Post-match, Low Ki gets on the mic and says that if the whole group wants to be in the match so far, they’re go 3 on 6 with them. Dixie tries to buy Low Ki off with pills. Low Ki takes one and pretends to be high to lure the whole team into a false sense of security, before snapping out of it and killing them all. Hit Squad come back in and they hit triple finishers for the win. This was a blast and the crowd was super into it. ***1/2

DUNN & MARCOS vs. QUIET STORM and GHOST SHADOW. Holy fuck, Quiet Storm and Ghost Shadow are a SUPERTEAM. The true innovator of the Muscle Buster and the true innovator of the Canadian Destroyer. Basically a competitive squash match, Dunn taps out from a leglock from Quiet Storm. *1/2

CM PUNK vs. RAVEN is next, in a way Punk’s star-making match. It’s a Raven’s Rules match. Punk gets the advantage with technical wrestling first, before Raven then starts to out-wrestle him. They brawl around the outside with chairs, Raven gets busted open but I can’t tell by what, but he does a nice bladejob. After this it becomes a real ECW match. Trinity had accompanied Raven to the ring so Punk attacks her and whips her into a barricade, she responds with a top rope moonsault on Punk, he responds by hitting her with a legdrop through a table. Yeah, very ECW. Last several minutes of the match are good except for the fact that Punk is trying to debut a new submission called the Devil Lock, a really shitty variation of a tequila sunrise. Man is it a shitty move. But he wins with it. Fun hardcore match with blood and big spots. ***1/4. Raven tries to DDT Punk post-match but the ref breaks it up, hilariously pointing to the initials R O H on the corner pad as his reason why. His commitment to the Code of Honor earns him the DDT.

SAMOA JOE vs. HOMICIDE vs. EZ MONEY vs. BJ WHITMER for the number one contendership for the ROH Title. Joe and Homicide still have heat with each other from the last show. Most of this match really isn’t anything special, though there are good moment. Joe and Homicide have a good chop/slap fight which ends with Homicide poking Joe in the eye to a big pop. EZ Money hits a German suplex on Joe that drops him on his neck. Joe ends up choking Money out for the win, to become the number one contender. Decent match. **1/4

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and XAVIER vs. AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED for the tag titles. Styles and Red start hot, hitting dives, Styles hits two nice spinning back kicks, Red hits a 619, among other things. Xavier randomly reverses an irish whip and hits AJ Styles with a powerslam for a pretty lame transition into heel control. The heels work over Styles before Styles makes a tag and we go into the home stretch. It’s pretty decent but nothing special, and features a pointless interference spot. Super, super awkward ending that must have been the result of some miscommunication, but the end result of it is Styles pinning Daniels with the Styles Clash for our first title change of the year. ***

Another good show. Early ROH is underrated. No match to blow you away, but plenty of good wrestling, a title change, and a significant moment in the Punk/Raven match. 7/10

[mth]

Really enjoying reading these.

[Defrost]

I am not up on what WWE's version of history is on most things these day. So I am curious about something.

I am currently watching a Dusty vs Tully Lights Out, Barbed Wire, Ladder match from the 1987 Bash tour. When they talk about ladder matches has this ever been mentioned?

BTW boring ass match.

[Horatio]

IWTV went down on maintenence right while Deranged vs Azrieal from CZW (9-15-03) was reaching its peak. Fun fact: Azrieal used a One Winged Angel (called the Dark Halo). I know this wasn't the first one used, but it was the best one I've seen. The match also features the worst, most dangerous looking, nearly botched poisonrana, both guys looking like they broke their necks.

the main event ends up being SPECIAL K vs. SAT, DIVINE STORM, DA HIT SQUAD and MIKEY WHIPWRECK. This thing was not good. They go over 30 minutes, just a nonstop spot fest. To their credit they keep everything moving quickly, but not a lot of it is good. Seems pointless to try to “rate” a match like this. Maybe *3/4? The show would have been better without it

As a fan of most of these guys, I have to speak up for this match. it is available on youtube and must see if you've never seen Special K, or if you've seen da hit squad or sat and wanted more.
I don't remember Brian XL or Angeldust (azrieal) doing anything memorable in it, but Jody Fleisch joined Special K and is included in this, acting like a raver on ecstasy, which you don't always get from him.
Dixie is a total ring general, showing how to get a punch over while moving very fast.
Izzy (insane dragon) isn't in the match much but he shows off some of the best kicks this side of Aoyagi and Low Ki.
Slim J is a total dick and he may have been a teenager inthis but he still shows total confidence in what is an absolute clusterfuck of a match (what was that a 14 man superplex?).
there is some storytelling between Deranged and the heavyweights, and Deranged, who is a total babyface, plays a radical heel.
It's more total clusterfuck than your usual SAT spot-fu, but you have to know that Special K are some of the greatest lightheavyweights to grace American indy wrestling. Their gimmick totally pigeonholed them from being the elite of their time but occasionally they still rock.

[Horatio]

AJ STYLES vs DREW GULAK - CZW 15th YEAR ANNIVERSARY 2-8-14

This match is seriously jet-lagged Superman vs wannabe Bob Backlund and it actually delivers!
Gulak wrestles like a man who intensely loves wrestling, wrestles intensely, and consequently wrestles too intensely (he doesn't know he's a heel and honestly says "oooohh" when Styles tells him his manager interfered -- he's still just Soldier Ant!). He wrestles such the good champion (he throws in a back body drop like only Backlund could to Superman) and by the end of the match, he seriously looks like a GIANT to lift for the Styles Clash.
Styles is still at his athletic best in this and he times all of his comebacks beautifully, but this is a Gulak showcase (he eats a sitff receipt for making Styles smell his armpit in the Gu-lock).
Seriously, Superman tired of fighting but fighting his fight and getting screwed (SPOILER), and Gulack doing his ROH "boring wrestling" best back in 2014.

Also, Kimber Lee from Chikara is involved in this; lookin like jailbait, i think i got her and Krisstat confused. Kimber Lee should join the Dark Order as Brodie Lee s sister or wife cause she is totally the type to turn on a dark order and defeat them ALL and them go back to being a heel later.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We’re finally back in Philadelphia for the first time in 2003 for NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS, March 22nd 2003.

BJ WHITMER vs. MATT STRYKER vs. DIXIE vs. ALEX ARION is our opening, and I’m rooting for my boy Matt Stryker to finally pick up a win. Mostly a mediocre match, though Stryker and Whitmer do have a really nice strike exchange. I wouldn’t mind seeing that singles match. BJ Whitmer drops Dixie on his neck with a nasty Exploder ’98 for the win. Poor Matt Stryker. **

SAT and QUIET STORM vs. IZZY, ANGEL DUST and DERANGED is next. Mikey Whipwreck has aligned with Special K and helps them to ambush SAT and Quiet storm. Damn, SAT and Quiet Storm. This team bears combined responsibility for the Canadian Destroyer AND the Spanish Fly. They didn’t know the Pandora’s Box they were opening, and the evil they unleashed on the world. This is a very sloppy spotfest, but a lot of the spots are actually pretty good (though plenty aren’t), there’s a strong heel/face dynamic, and the crowd is super hot, so it all combines to end up better than it deserves to be. Mikey hits the faces with Whippersnappers and Special K pick up the win. **

BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DUNN & MARCOS. Pre-match, Dunn and Marcos debut their Ring Crew Express name and declare themselves the number one tag team in Ring of Honor. Hell yeah. Short competitive squash with the Backseats hitting some very amusing offense, including double bulldogging Marcos’ face into Dunn’s balls. Dunn and Marcos get a hot run of offense but the Backseat Boyz finish it by hitting great looking T Gimmick. **1/4

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. DOUG WILLIAMS, for both the FWA heavyweight title, a UK organization, and the number one contendership for the ROH title. Solid match. Starts off with Williams hitting Daniels with a bunch of rollups. Daniels works Williams’ ribs and Williams works Daniels’ neck. Match heats up toward the end and Williams takes it with a great Chaos Theory. **3/4

CW Anderson and Samoa Joe come out an trash talk with Homicide’s boys in the crowd, this erupts into another brawl leading to CW ANDERSON and SAMOA JOE vs. DA HIT SQUAD and HOMICIDE. Just a wild brawl, some good spots, some very sloppy spots. CW Anderson hits a great spinebuster on Dan Maff. Homicide hits Steve Corino’s girlfriend with the Cop Killer. Anderson gets DQed after hitting a spinebuster on Homicide. Homicides boys all storm the ring, one of them wielding a MACHETE, to chase off Steve Corino’s group, now known as THE GROUP. **

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. MACE and HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ is next. Mace is one half of the Christopher Street Connection, and pre-match he loudly informs the camera that his regular partner, Buffy, can’t wrestle tonight because his ass hurts too much. Mace and Hernandez are a fun team with Hernandez using some nice power moves, including a great looking spear, and Mace’s offense consisting of more homoerotic hijinks. The South Philly guidos aren’t exactly 100% receptive to Mace’s hijinks. Hernandez hits an incredible no-hands dive over the top rope before getting a nasty chairshot to the head. Carnage Crew follow that up with a second rope spiked piledriver on Mace for the win. Very amusing match. ***

AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS. Briscoe Brothers’ debut as a tag team, challenging for the tag team titles. AJ and Red start off super hot. Jay and AJ have a cool amateur wrestling exchange which AJ continues to get the advantage of, ending it with a go behind into a nasty German suplex. Mark comes in and AJ tries another German, Mark resists, but Red comes in and hits a superkick into the German, AJ and Red following it up with dives to the outside. Great sequence. Back inside all four guys hit big moves, including a beautiful brainbuster from AJ. Big homestretch with tons of nearfalls. The very end is super heated, with Red’s cornrows coming undone, revealing a giant frizzy white boy afro. Red hits a nasty top rope Code Red but the pin is broken up. AJ plants Mark on the top rope, catapults Red into a hurricanrana, Mark flips right into a Styles clash for the win, with Red cinematically collapsing on his back as the ref counts the three. Awesome ending, great workrate style tag. ***3/4

LOW KI vs. JODY FLEISCH. Strong opening with Low Ki establishing his superiority and Fleisch trying to evade him. They had the story of this match right with Low Ki’s strikes vs. Fleisch’s acrobatics, but it went on too long and wasn’t focused enough. Fleisch tried for some spots that really didn’t come off right, like a shooting star pile driver which Gabe raved about on commentary, but wasn’t successful at all. Ending was a horrifying top rope Ki Crusher, and I really liked how they sold it by Ki lying around for a minute before crawling over for the cover, but still getting the three. This match could have been a lot better, but even with its flaws it had plenty of good stuff, mostly thanks to Low Ki, but Fleisch wasn’t worthless either. ***

CM PUNK and ACE STEEL vs. RAVEN and COLT CABANA. Punk tries to avoid Raven, allowing Ace Steel to ambush him. Punk tries to put Raven in the godawful Devil Lock, but Raven gets to the ropes and then hits a drop toe hold into a chair. Cabana hits a pretty sweet pop-up powerbomb on Ace Steel after his hot tag. Colt hurts his leg on a moonsault to the outside. Punk and Steel try to take advantage of it, setting up a table, but Punk goes through the table with an elbow drop as Raven rolls off and capitalizes with a DDT to Steel for the win. **. Punk breaks the Code of Honor post-match! He attacks Raven and Cabana joins him. Punk and Cabana are finally together in ROH!

Backstage, Homicide and Julius Smoke talk about bringing THE STREETS to ROH to take on Corino’s group. Low Ki isn’t happy about it. ROH is about sport, and the streets need to stay in the streets.

XAVIER vs. SAMOA JOE for the ROH Title. Joe dominates with chops and kicks to start off, but Xavier gets the advantage by working over Joe’s neck, including a very impressive brainbuster. Joe HULKS UP but the heat is cut off with a very awkward suplex miscommunication. He hits his German-Dragon-Straightjacket suplex trio for the nearfall, but Xavier is able the knee his way out of a brainbuster to get back on the offense. Joe gets his knees up for the 450 and shortly later takes Xavier down, hammers him with knees, and locks in the choke for the pass-out victory. SAMOA JOE IN YOUR NEW RING OF HONOR CHAMPION. Crowd pops big. Inauspicious match for the beginning of an auspicious title reign. A big moment in ROH history nonetheless. **1/4

Another good show. The undercard didn’t have much top-shelf wrestling, but the matches were mostly fun, and very easy to watch. We had the tag title match for probably the second best match of 2003 ROH so far. Main event was far from special as a match, but it was a big time moment. 6.5/10

[Defrost]

Trying to take my mind off of some bad news today by watching the match where Marufuji beat Akiyama to win the GHC Title.

Now I am just annoyed thinking about the avoidable fall of Pro Wrestling NOAH. So distracted at least.

[Tainted Eclipse]

what do you think were the big mistakes

[Defrost]

Panicking after Marufuji and KENTA didn't go as well as they hoped, with nothing on the undercard btw, and putting the belt back on Misawa is the most glaring.

Rikio being the one to beat Kobashi when of the four guys that really came up in NOAH in that period with him, Morishima, KENTA, and Marufuji he was obviously fourth of the four.


Just throwing Kobashi to the wolves when he came back from cancer destroyed his body. Rewatching the awesome Burning vs Kensuke Office feud of 2008 the obvious way to go was with Kobashi and KENTA as the GHC Tag Champs with KENTA doing 85% of the work and Kobashi coming in for the hot tag. It would have drawn and protected Kobashi's body, but that's not the way it went down.

Those have always been my top 3

[Rancid_Planet]

I am not up on what WWE's version of history is on most things these day. So I am curious about something.

I am currently watching a Dusty vs Tully Lights Out, Barbed Wire, Ladder match from the 1987 Bash tour. When they talk about ladder matches has this ever been mentioned?

BTW boring ass match.

WWE history says first ladder match was HBK/Razor.

BUT they also included a Bad News Brown/Bret Hart ladder match on the Bret Hart dvd set that dated back to early 80s Calgary.

So like everything in WWE it just depends. But I don't recall the match youre talking about ever coming up on WWE programming.

[Fanny Batter]

I think the line is that Bret brought it in from Stampede to work Shawn, as seen from the "trial" match on Smack Em Whack Em, then they shelved their programme and used it for Shawn vs. Razor. If I was a betting man I'd say the original plan was Shawn beating Bret at Summerslam 92 then the Ladder match at either Survivor Series or Wrestlemania 9, but the UK territory exploded so they did Wembley and Bulldog instead.

Always found it weird that they called Shawn vs. Razor a first when they'd featured one on a recent VHS. Same video with the Bret/Flair title change so I imagine it was popular, too. In fact, fairly sure the cover has an image from the ladder match, so any fan with access to tapes would have been aware it existed before 'Mania 10.

Fuck it, I'm watching early 90's WWF during the plague.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We’re back in Philadelphia for THE EPIC ENCOUNTER, April 12th 2003. ROH have upgraded their production values. We’ve got dimmed lighting, black tarps behind the crowd and fancier ringside barricades. I prefer the old look.

THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DA HIT SQUAD starts us off. It’s looking like a total squash by Da Hit Squad with the Backseats getting no offense at all. Until Dan Maff accidentally takes out Monsta Mack with a lariat and then gets hit with the T Gimmick give the Backseats the win. Maff is pissed post-match and BREAKS THE CODE OF HONOR, storming to the back without shaking hands. Maff has been teasing a slow burn heel turn all year so far, it may be coming soon. *1/2

Special K comes out and Mikey Whipwreck challenges the Backseat Boyz to prove that Special K are the best tag team in ROH. This brings out Dunn and Marco, who protest that THEY are the best team in ROH. Then the Carnage Crew comes out and says they don’t care who the best team in ROH is, they just want to kick some ass. The Backseat Boyz say they have somewhere to be, so the other three teams will have a three way match to determine who faces them.

And so we have SPECIAL K vs. DUNN & MARCOS vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. A quick spotfest. Good dive sequence that ends in Dunn and Marcos hitting stereo stage dives. Davito misses a moonsault. The Carnage Crew hit Dunn with the second rope spiked piledriver, but Mikey Whipwreck hits both of them with Whippersnappers allowing Hydro to cover Dunn for the win. *3/4

AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS in a rematch. Cool sequence to start with AJ and Red going for double dives, the Briscoes cut them off, then go for double dives of their own, AJ and Red move out of the way, then hit a criss-cross suicide dive flip over the top combo. Back inside Red hits a nice Code Red with assistance from AJ before getting worked over by the Briscoes. After a while Red makes the tag and they trade big moves and spots. AJ and Red try the catapult top rope hurricanrana again but Jay turns it into a top rope powerbomb. Mark pushes AJ out of the ring and tries to hit a plancha into a hurricanrana, but AJ holds on and hits a Styles Clash on the floor. Back in the ring Red drops Jay on his head and hits a standing shooting star press for the win. A compacted version of last show’s match but definitely didn’t hit the highs and wasn’t as memorable. Still very good. ***1/2

CM PUNK vs. BJ WHITMER next. The first half of this match is just bad. Punk is genuinely one of the worst wrestlers in ROH right now. It gets a bit better once Punk hits a nice looking Shining Wizard and Whitmer hits and nice looking high knee. Punk had set up a table outside early in the match and pathetically failed in his attempts to hoist Whitmer up to tease a powerbomb through it, but at the end they end up fighting on the apron and Punk hits a German suplex off the apron sending them both through the table. The ref calls a stop to the match as both guys are out. *1/4

HOMICIDE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS is JIP due to technical difficulties. These guys work hard but man, this match does not come together well. Homicide goes lock on a really sweet STF variation though. Very, very awkward botched sequence toward the end that ends in Homicide winning with a rollup. *1/4. Daniels teases finally turning over a new leaf and following the code of honor, but Samoa Joe and CW Anderson, THE GROUP, attack them both, Homicide being their intended target. Dan Maff comes out and runs off THE GROUP. Daniels and Maff square off, Daniels rips off Maff’s shirt to reveal A PROPHECY SHIRT. DAN MAFF HAS JOINED THE PROPHECY. Pretty big pop for it. Maff walks out on Homicide, his trainer.

There’s a genuinely hilarious CM Punk promo backstage, patronizing BJ Whitmer telling him next time he’ll take it easier on him so he doesn’t quit. Then clips of a women’s match without commentary. Odd.

SAMOA JOE vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ in a non-title match. Joe rather questionably starts the match by working over Hernandez’s arm. Hernandez gets Joe out of the ring and hits a big no-hands dive over the top, and for a little while the match becomes what it should be as they trade chops and strikes and Hernandez hits a big belly to belly on Joe. It slows down again after that and Joe gets the win with a triangle choke. Pretty disappointing, this should have been a fun big man match. *3/4

Post-match, Joe says the crowd in Philadelphia wants a title match. The next match is scheduled to be a triple threat, Joe adds himself and turns it into a four-way for Samoa Joe’s first ROH Title defense.

SAMOA JOE vs. MATT STRYKER vs. COLT CABANA vs. TOM CARTER for the ROH Title. Cabana debuts his Copa Cabana theme. Carter is indie legend Reckless Youth. The three attack Joe to start but then begin to fight among themselves. They go at it for a while, with Joe stepping in now and then to hit a kick or chop. Finally Joe goes for a suicide dive as Stryker and Cabana are on the floor, but Carter cuts him off with a boot and gets a nearfall with a sunset flip. Joe gets hit with a couple big moves but is able to capitalize on Cabana and Carter fighting to put Cabana in the choke. Carter comes off the top and hits a frog splash on them both, but Joe is able to maintain the choke and Cabana is forced to tap. A cool ending, but not a very good match. *3/4

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. PAUL LONDON, two out of three falls, is the reason this show is called The Epic Encounter. Match starts off with a really nice collar and elbow tie up, followed by some good, competitive chain wrestling. Danielson takes most of the offense in the first fall, hitting most of the high impact moves, but London fires back with plenty of his own. Loud dueling chants for both guys, which was a novelty at the time. This match is probably more responsible than any other for its popularization. London picks up the first fall by reversing a top-rope back suplex attempt from Danielson, shifting his weight and landing on top of him for the pin. They go a bit over twenty minutes in the first fall, which is almost always the best thing to do in two out of three falls matches. The first fall should happen around when a normal match would end. By the start of the second fall, it already feels like a grueling competition. London gets the advantage early on in the second fall, but Danielson cuts him off as he climbs the ropes, trying to finally hit that top rope back suplex. London fights it off twice, but when he stands up on the top rope Danielson pops up and dropkicks his knee. London’s leg gets caught in the ropes and Danielson attacks it viciously. The rest of the fall is spent with Danielson focusing on the knee, London is able to mount of brief offense but it cut off quickly. Danielson locks in a single leg crab on the bad leg, and London has to tap as Danielson wrenches back on it. London’s selling in the third fall really takes this match to the next level. Danielson dives for the leg to start off, but London hits him with stiff kicks. Danielson keeps going for it, but London hits stiffer and stiffer kicks until Danielson is out. Love that spot, Danielson willing to expose himself to damage because of how effective the crab was. London is totally debilitated this fall and can hardly stand. His offense is limited to roll ups and strikes he can hit Danielson with when they’re both lying on the mat. Danielson hits his big moves, the rolling elbow, the dragon suplex, and finally the top rope back suplex, all look great. Danielson teases a top rope back suplex through the table at ringside but London is able to fight him off and come off the ropes with Danielson, hitting a spinning DDT. London crawls to the opposite turnbuckle, hobbles to the top, and hits the SSP as Danielson is trying to get up. Excellent match. Amazing selling by London and they really worked it to feel like a classic war of attrition. ****1/2

We end the show with an unsanctioned Bunkhouse Brawl, THE GROUP vs. HOMICIDE’S CREW and DUSTY RHODES. Wild brawl, too many people to keep track of them, many little-known figures. Everyone blades. All kinds of crazy spots. Heels sell big for Dusty. Julius Smokes hits an awesome dropkick off the apron. Iceberg, a huge fat guy, gets dumped on his head with a German Suplex. Dusty and Homicide take a fork to Jack Victory’s face and he quits. Homicide’s crew wins. The end was sort of awkward as they asked Victory if he quits over and over again, but he never really responds clearly. They end up just calling it for Homicide’s crew though. Awesome wild brawl. ****

How to rate a show like this? The undercard sucked, by far the worst of the year. But it ended with the best ROH match of the year so far, and probably the third best in the wild Bunkhouse Brawl. Call it 6.5/10, weighing the relatively quality of the undercard and main events against each other.

[Defrost]

Here's a random one

MNM vs Mexicools from Armageddon 2005. Super fun like 9 minute match.

I was stunned how much the crowd were into the Mexicools.


Next up Undertaker vs Jim Neidhart in a 6 minute match from a 1994 episode of Superstars.

Imagine a 6 minute Undertaker vs Neidhart match in 1994. That's the match.

[Fanny Batter]

Watching Superbrawl 2, the work is great throughout but my enjoyment is ruined by the hardcam front row, possibly the least enthused group of people in history. Should have moved the cunts on when they weren't popping for Liger vs. Pillman!

[Defrost]

Watched Baba & Hansen vs Misawa & Kobashi. Awesome finishing sequence on this one. Kobashi and Hansen had unreal chemistry. Baba was grinning ear to ear the whole match even when he should have been selling. Fun times.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We’re back outside of Pittsburgh for ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE II on April 26th 2003.

In ROH’s second show ever, Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki competed in a Round Robin series of match, ending up with all three tied with 1-1 records. This year, Christopher Daniels, Paul London, and Amazing Red will participate. We open up with CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. AMAZING RED. Very solid big man vs. little man match. Well, Daniels isn’t exactly a big man, but compared to Red he is. Red botches a little bit, but not too much. Red hits a really nice Code Red for a good nearfall toward the end. He goes up top but Daniels kicks the ref into the ropes, Red falls off, and Daniels hits the Last Rites for the win. Good opener. ***

DA HIT SQUAD vs. COLT CABANA and ACE STEEL next. This match was signed before Maff joined the Prophecy, so this is the last time Da Hit Squad will team together. A little dissention in Da Hit Squad, but they’re able to work together. Good chop and slap exchange between Maff and Steel which leads to Cabana and Steel hitting Maff with a series of moves. He’s able to tag in Monsta Mack who hits Steel with a big lariat. Da Hit Squad try for their signature cannonball into the corner, but Cabana moves. Gabe sells on commentary that they’ve never missed that move before. This allows Ace and Cabana to take out Maff and hit Mack with a double team Colt 45 for the win. Fun match. **3/4

SAT vs. HYDRO and BRIAN XL vs. EZ MONEY and STERLING JAMES KEENAN vs. DUNN & MARCOS. This is one of the better of these kinds of spotfests that ROH has had so far this year. Really fun, went the right amount of time, far fewer botches than usual. A couple really nice dives and two especially impressive multi-man spots. Sterling James Keenan does hardly anything in this match, but he does his a cool dive toward the beginning. EZ Money gets Marcos on the top rope but instead of hitting and move decides to dive off onto a group of people below. SAT take the advantage to his Marcos with the Spanish Fly for the win. ***1/4

CM Punk comes out and is met in the ring by one of Raven’s ‘disciples’. WCW’s Daffney comes out to attack him and reveals that she is the newest member of Punk’s Second City Saints, under the name Lucy.

This leads to CM PUNK vs. HOMICIDE for the number one contender’s trophy. This ended up being a really good match in spite of a lot of sloppiness. Both guys his really nice dives and the end is super hot. Homicide kicks out of the Pepsi Plunge and from then on the crowd is really hot, with Julius Smokes doing a great job hyping them up. Punk and Homicide trade big moves and near falls, with Gabe freaking out on commentary about Homicide fighting with all he has for his son. Homicide attempts a Cop Killer, which Gabe says they need to find a new name for because Homicide’s probation officer watched one of the tapes and told him he couldn’t call it that anymore. A series of sloppy reversals leads to Homicide locking in his nice STF variation for the submission win. Plenty to criticize in this match but it rises above it with a really hot home stretch that feels important. ***1/4

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ, FAST EDDIE and DON JUAN. HOLY SHIT. Talk about a hidden gem. This is an out of control wild brawl. Better than the brawl that ended the last show. Just nonstop chaos. This is the three man version of the Carnage Crew, with Masada making his second appearance. So much craziness here. Loc gets a terrible cut on the back of his head and bleeds all over the place. Masada BREAKS a chair over Fast Eddie’s head. Everyone blades. Fast Eddie hits and top rope hurricanrana from the top rope, to the outside, ONTO AN OPEN CHAIR on Masada. Hernandez hits a crazy through dropping Masada on his neck. Hernandez launches Fast Eddie from the ring to the outside onto the Carnage Crew in a crazy spot. He tries to follow it up with his no hands dive over the top rope but Devito whacks him with a chair on his way down, and he then lands on his head to boot. Carnage Crew hit the second rope spike piledriver on Fast Eddie for the win. This ruled. ****1/4

PAUL LONDON vs. AMAZING RED is match number two in the Round Robin. Lots of botched and awkward spots in this one, mostly from Red, but he makes up for it with a really nice German suplex and top rope Code Red. London starts to do AJ Styles’ taunts, as he’s jealous that Red took his place and won the tag titles with Styles. London hits the Styles Clash on Red to win it. **1/4. So Red goes 0-2 and loses the Round Robin. Match wasn’t too good but it was short and fast paced, with a couple nice spots and good development of the growing tension between London and Styles.

Gary Michael Cappetta is backstage interviewing my boy Matt Stryker. Chad Collyer interrupts and says he’s going to make Stryker tap for the third time tonight. He speaks with a southern accent. I swear, from the first time I saw him on an ROH DVD until now, I always thought Collyer was British. This prompted me to look him up on Wikipedia and apparently he now works as a magician.

ALEXIS LAREE vs. PERSEPHONIE is next. Laree is better known as Mickey James. Gabe is VERY creep on commentary drooling over the women. The match isn’t good, but it’s not really too bad, and it’s short. Laree wins with a reverse DDT. *1/2

MATT STRYKER vs. CHAD COLLYER vs. DONOVAN MORGAN vs. BJ WHITMER vs. MICHAEL SHANE is next. It’s an interesting dynamic and Stryker and Collyer are sort of feuding, Shane and Morgan have heat as part of the Group vs. Prophecy feud, and Whitmer is just the fifth wheel. Shane taunts Morgan but is able to evade him to start off. Collyer lands a bunch of rollups on Shane but he goes low with a chopblock. For the next several minutes the other three guys take turns working over Collyer’s leg. Collyer is able to make the hot tag to Morgan who now has Shane alone and unloads on him. Great ending sequence as Collyer gets Stryker in the middle with the Texas Cloverleaf, teasing a THIRD tapout, but Michael Shane breaks it up with a superkick. Morgan takes Shane out with a spinning fisherman’s buster. Whitmer takes out Morgan with an exploder. Stryker and Collyer briefly team up to take out Whitmer with a leg lariat German suplex combo. Collyer goes for the Gedo Clutch on Stryker but Stryker reverses it into the Stryker lock, a sort of Indian Deathlock submission and TAPS COLLYER OUT. MATT STRYKER PICKS UP HIS FIRST WIN OF 2003. ***1/4. I’m fantasy booking a 2 out of 3 falls Collyer/Stryker match to settle the score. Followed by them teaming up for a tag title reign.

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. PAUL LONDON to decide the first ever winner of an ROH Round Robin Challenge. They spend a lot of time stalling in the beginning but once they lock it up this is a really, really good match. London gets a string of offense at first but Daniels takes control by working on the ribs. The crowd is really into London as the underdog and is super hot for the whole match. London gets some quick spurts of offense but Daniels is mostly in control. Still, they work a very fast paced match. London hits a Shooting Star Press but Allison Danger distracts the ref. London backdrops Daniels out of the ring onto her, and shortly later goes for another SSP but Daniels get his knees up, and London’s bump onto the knees looks great. Daniels follows it up with a flatliner and a triple jump moonsault for the win. ***1/2

SAMOA JOE vs. DOUG WILLIAMS is actually Samoa Joe’s first official ROH Title defense. They get the in-ring introductions and everything. Unfortunately this match isn’t very good. Williams goes after Joe’s arm and Joe does a good job selling it, but this match never really amounts to much. To its credit, it actually still does have something of a big match feel. Joe blocks a Chaos Theory and hits some knees to Williams’ head before finishing him off with the choke. **

Post-match, THE GROUP runs out to beat down Joe. Michael Shane tries to save him but gets a beating too.

Despite the dud of a main event, this was definitely the best show of the year so far. Very strong undercard with an awesome hidden gem in the 6 man brawl. 8/10

[Fanny Batter]

Is the dropkick at the start of Owen vs. Kid at KOTR 94 the greatest moment in the history of this great sport?

[Defrost]

Just watched the Stone Cold vs Jericho match from the Raw after the famous 10 German Suplexes match. It was going better than the match they had that I talked about earlier in the thread, but the finish is such a clusterfuck of ref bumps and run ins that it takes it down for me.

[Beer-Belly]

Just watched the Stone Cold vs Jericho match from the Raw after the famous 10 German Suplexes match. It was going better than the match they had that I talked about earlier in the thread, but the finish is such a clusterfuck of ref bumps and run ins that it takes it down for me.

Is that their June 4th, 2001 match?

On a different note, can anyone recommend any Stan Hansen matches where he's a fan favorite? The only one I've seen where he's essentially a babyface is the match with Andre that becomes an out of control brawl. That match ruled.

[Defrost]

Is that their June 4th, 2001 match?

On a different note, can anyone recommend any Stan Hansen matches where he's a fan favorite? The only one I've seen where he's essentially a babyface is the match with Andre that becomes an out of control brawl. That match ruled.

Yep that's the match


The match I talked about in this thread where Hansen teams with Baba against Misawa and Kobashi fits what you're looking for

[Beer-Belly]

Yep that's the match


The match I talked about in this thread where Hansen teams with Baba against Misawa and Kobashi fits what you're looking for

Nice. I'll check that out ASAP. Any other Hansen match recommendations would also be appreciated. I always forget what I've seen over the years.

I'll probably check out the Austin/Jericho steel cage match from the post-Vengeance Raw after I watch the June 4th match. I can't remember the last time I saw either, but I'm positive both end with shenanigans.

[Defrost]

Just watched Kenta Kobashi vs Vader from February 2000. I remember being a bigger fan of it than I was on this viewing. I mean it is a good match, but you have to grade on a curve considering the guys involved.

[Defrost]

Rewatched the three way round robin deal in the final of the 1997 Champion's Carnival. I wish NJPW would do something like that with the G1 some day.

[Horatio]

Nice. I'll check that out ASAP. Any other Hansen match recommendations would also be appreciated. I always forget what I've seen over the years.

Misawa/Hansen was always good. As was the Brody+Hansen vs Funks feud. I'm also partial to Hansen+Spivey vs Gordy+Williams (love what little I get to see of Spivey and Hansen/Williams is a dream match that delivers). You have probably seen Vader/Hansen; Andre vs Hansen is a class fight as well.

[Tainted Eclipse]

We’re back in Philadelphia for DO OR DIE, May 31st, 2003.

Homicide cuts a pre-show promo on Samoa Joe, saying that he turned his life around after his son was born and now he needs the ROH Title to make real money to support his family. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. At this point in ROH there weren’t really many “big” ROH title matches. Xavier won it quickly and most of his defenses weren’t pushed as big deals. The title very often doesn’t main event shows. But with Homicide hot off a big win last show and cutting a decent promo, and Homicide and Joe already having heat as part of the Group angle, this feels like the most significant title match of 2003 so far.

We start with BJ WHITMER vs. DAN MAFF. Last time we were in Philadelphia ROH did a really half-assed production “upgrade” that looked bad. This time, it’s a genuine upgrade, as the lighting is better, the ring canvas is better, and they’ve debuted the famous sheet metal barricade covers. Another first is CM Punk on commentary. Maff really leans into his heel character here. They take advantage of the barricade covers and Irish whip each other into them over and over again for the noise. The fans quickly take to banging against the barricades. Whitmer is hitting pretty light tonight. Maff hits two half-nelson suplexes dropping Whitmer on his head. Maff goes for the Burning Hammer but Whitmer escapes and hits a German. He goes up to the top rope but Allison Danger comes in the ring and sort of, like, caresses BJ’s ass and his causes him to get crotched on the top rope, allowing Maff to hit a Burning Hammer for the win. Pretty lame ending. Totally unoffensive match, but nothing too good. **

Post-match, Julius Smokes and Low Ki come out to confront Maff about betraying his people and forgetting where he came from. Maff says he did what he had to do to get ahead. Low Ki’s arm is in a sling, but he tells Maff one day soon it’s going to be he and Low Ki in the ring. Ki then turns his attention on Julius Smokes, saying he doesn’t belong in Ring of Honor, because this isn’t the streets. Homicide tries to play peacemaker. Trent Acid sneaks into the ring and attacks Homicide. Gabe explains they have heat in other promotions.

JASON CROSS vs. TONY MAMALUKE next. Not a bad match, just one guy hits a move, the next guy hits a move. Some of the moves are pretty good looking, and Cross does hit a really sweet corkscrew dive, but the match never really comes together and the crowd isn’t into it. *3/4

Backstage, Iceberg thanks Rob Feinstein for booking him. The Outcast Killaz are angry Iceberg is booked but they aren’t, so Feinstein tells them they can wrestle him. It ends up being ICEBERG vs. OMAN TORTUGA. Iceberg is not very mobile. Not much to this match. Iceberg does hit a nasty senton for the win. *. Dunn and Marcos save the Outcast Killaz from further damage, since they’re all friends on the ring crew.

MATT STRYKER vs. TOM CARTER. This is a profoundly boring match. Everything is executed competently, but it’s very, very boring. Punk and Gabe bickering on commentary is entertaining though. To their credit, they salvage the match at the end with some big spots and end up getting the crowd really into it. Stryker wins with a rollup. **. Post-march Carter is pissed off. Says he pioneered the junior style that all the MARKS in the back wrestle. Carter says the roll-up pin was cheap, so they agree to have a submission match next time they’re in Philadelphia.

SECOND CITY SAINTS vs. DIXIE and IZZIE vs. CARNAGE CREW vs. BRISCOE BROTHERS next. Punk and Cabana’s debut as a team in ROH. Pretty standard scramble tag. Some good dives toward the end, especially Davito hitting a moonsault to the outside. Punk wins it with a Pepsi Plunge. **. Post-match, Punk berates the crowd for smoking weed, and insults ECW’s Straw Hat Guy, in the front row, for being a Raven fan.

ANDY ANDERSON vs. JOHN WALTERS next. A short, nothing match with sloppy execution. *1/2

CM PUNK vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. JIMMY RAVE vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN. Punk’s second match of the night, and I think Rave’s ROH debut. Punk certainly seems to be improving. He very amusingly oversells a chop to the back by Rave early on. Rave gets put over well here, getting a lot of offense. Crowd is really behind Daniels, and they pop pretty big when he a Punk square off for the first time. Daniels and Kazarian trade moves for a while and Daniels gets the win with the Last Rites. **3/4. Post-match, Daniels offers Punk a spot in the Prophecy. Punk says he’ll do it if Daniels shakes his hand, which he of course won’t. They both say that they’ll meet each other one on one soon.

BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. SLIM J and JODY FLEISCH. This match is just a mess. Not good at all. They do one massive spot though: a double moonsault off of high scaffolding in the crowd. Still, that wasn’t enough to make up for everything else. *

SAMOA JOE vs. HOMICIDE for the ROH WORLD title, now that Samoa Joe has defended the title in the UK against Zebra Kid. Good hard hitting match, really feels like a world title match. Joe hits his Ole kicks, Homicide drops Joe on his head with suplexes, crowd is really hot for the most part. Joe gets the advantage with knees and then locks on the choke. Low Ki comes out and pumps Homicide up, allowing him to reverse it into the STF. Low Ki then slaps Homicide to get his blood flowing and Homicide hits a back suplex, ace crusher, and top rope double stomp. He drops Joe on his head with a suplex and Joe rolls out onto the floor. Long spot with refs coming from the back to assess if Joe can continue. Spots like these hardly ever work and this definitely cooled out the match. Homicide gets Joe back in the ring and puts him up on the top rope, but Julius Smokes and Low Ki start arguing on the outside distracting Homicide and allowing Joe to hit a Muscle Buster off the top rope for the win. Shame the match got cooled off by the refs checking on Joe spot at the end but it was still really good. Low Ki slapping Homicide was a great moment. ***1/2. Homicide is really good post-match, totally heartbroken over how close he was to the win.

After the show Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels brawl, but they get broken up. Next show, The Prophecy vs. The Group compete in a six man match, the losing team must DISBAND.

Another really weak undercard for the Philadelphia crowd. Not quite as bad as the Epic Encounter show’s undercard, but obviously this show didn’t have the blow away final two matches either, though the main event was very good. 5/10.

[The Law]

Watched Backlash 2003 tonight. Was a pretty good show, Rock vs. Goldberg was a lot better than I remembered.

Opener was Team Angle vs. Los Guerreros. Team Angle retained a solid 15 minute match. Eddie and Chavo stole the tag belts afterward, that led to a Ladder Match at Judgment Day. But Chavo was hurt so Tajiri substituted for him.

Sean O'Hair (w/Roddy Piper) beat Rikishi in the second match. This was when they were doing the O'Haire Devil's Advocate gimmick. Awesome gimmick but it turned out he couldn't do live promos so they tried to have Piper talk for him. They dropped Piper after he made some negative comments about the company in an HBO interview and O'Haire was left rudderless. Match wasn't very good, O'Haire had a great look and was an amazing athlete but never really learned how to work.

Kane and Rob Van Dam beat the Dudleyz to retain the tag titles. Good match, Kane and Van Dam were a great team. I think this was about the end of the road for Val Venis as Chief Morley, he went back to being Venis the next month.

Jazz beat Trish to win the Women's Title in a nothing match.

Big Show beat Rey Mysterio in three minutes. This is where he swung him like a baseball bat while he was on a body board. And then he just fucking dropped him and Rey landed right on his head without his arms to brace himself. That was brutal and he could have been hurt really bad but it seems like he was fine.

Brock beat Cena to retain the WWE Title in the next match. This is when Cena was first getting pushed, I think this was his first pay-per-view match as the rapper and it was for the world title. Brock bladed and Cena cheated a lot to create vulnerability. They definitely made Cena look strong, took Lesnar 15 minutes to beat him. It was a pretty good match, but Lesnar was definitely better suited to play a heel at this point in his career. Impressively there were pretty loud "Cena" chants toward the end of the match, he was already winning the fans over. Kind of crazy that they had the patience to wait a year to put the US Title on his and then another year after that to have him win the world title. It feels like today if somebody started getting over like that they would put the belt on him within six months.

Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho beat Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, and Booker T in a very good six man tag. I really liked the booking of doing a six man here, no need to do Triple H vs. Nash right away when you've got Rock and Goldberg as the main event. And world title matches would feel more special if both belts weren't defended at every pay-per-view. This match did a good job advancing multiple storylines. Triple H got the win over Nash with a sledgehammer shot, that didn't make a lot of sense to me because I thought Nash would get the pin on Triple H to set him up as the #1 contender for the title. But this was the era of Triple H always winning, so he went over.

Main event was Rock vs. Goldberg. Rock got mostly cheered for his entrance. Goldberg was cheered during his entrance but the crowd turned on him over the course of the match. Rock was bumping and selling his ass off for Goldberg and I think it ended up getting him sympathy. Goldberg hit a Rock Bottom early, but then missed a Spear and hit the ring post. Rock was in control for awhile after that, Goldberg kicked out of the Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. Goldberg popped up, hit the Spear. He hit another Spear, then the Jackhammer and got the pin. Crowd was booing and chanting "Goldberg Sucks" by the end. I really enjoyed this match, I thought it was one of Goldberg's best longer matches (they went 13 minutes). I don't know if the fans really hated Goldberg, but Rock was just too awesome for them not to cheer him.

Pretty good pay-per-view overall. Goldberg/Rock is definitely worth checking out if you've never seen it.

[Tainted Eclipse]

I watched Goldberg vs rock years ago and thought it was incredible. Had it pegged as one of rocks top 3 career matches actually.

[Beer-Belly]

Misawa/Hansen was always good. As was the Brody+Hansen vs Funks feud. I'm also partial to Hansen+Spivey vs Gordy+Williams (love what little I get to see of Spivey and Hansen/Williams is a dream match that delivers). You have probably seen Vader/Hansen; Andre vs Hansen is a class fight as well.

Thanks. That Andre vs. Hansen match is a favorite of mine. I know I've seen the 5 star Hansen vs. Kobashi, Brody/Hansen vs. The Funks, and Vader vs. Hansen. I've seen more than that, but those spring to mind. Any shorter Hansen matches to recommend? The long stuff is great, but I like binge watch shorter matches quite a bit.

[Beer-Belly]

Baba's arms freak me out.

[Defrost]

I really like the Hansen vs Hogan match from the WWF/AJPW show in 1990

[Horatio]

Hansen vs John Nord was under 10 minutesd features good work...

[The Law]

Watched Luger vs. Hogan from August 1997 Nitro. Was the 100th episode of Nitro at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Luger beat Hogan to win the belt with the Torture Rack after he fought off Hall, Nash, and Savage. Just put him over like a motherfucker, took out the NWO A-Team all by himself and then tapped Hogan clean in the middle. Pop was absolutely massive, and the post-match was probably the best part.

Like 15 WCW guys came out to celebrate with Luger. He goes to the back with all of them after a few minutes. They show Hogan yelling at the NWO guys, then cut to Luger and the faces celebrating in the back. They popped champagne and cleaned the "NWO" spraypaint off the belt.

Great, great moment. Luger dropped the belt back to Hogan just a couple days later at Road Wild. Wasn't a lot of other options since they had to get to Hogan/Sting at Starrcade.

[Ringo]

Thanks. That Andre vs. Hansen match is a favorite of mine. I know I've seen the 5 star Hansen vs. Kobashi, Brody/Hansen vs. The Funks, and Vader vs. Hansen. I've seen more than that, but those spring to mind. Any shorter Hansen matches to recommend? The long stuff is great, but I like binge watch shorter matches quite a bit.

There's like 5 amazing matches he had with Kobashi. Definitely check out some of the others if you enjoyed that one.

Awesome violent sub-10 minute brawl with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico



Whole of that feud here if you're into that, they had some wild brawls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGxUo90kC0

Great match with Terry Funk in 1982 All Japan that clocks in at around 10 minutes, absolute insanity here and Terry is so damn over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRuvEkanCYU

The bad ass team of Hansen and Tenryu murdering two frail legends in Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura. Tells a really good story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs4TOjcjLU

Another Hansen & Tenryu classic, this time vs. Jumbo & Yatsu. This is one of the longer ones though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrQdAYoGwg&t=72s

Most famous match he had with Kawada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7RMbrGfzo

[Tainted Eclipse]

We’re up in Boston for NIGHT OF THE GRUDGES, June 14th 2003.

We open with THE CHRISTOPHER STREET CONNECTION vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. Buffy kisses several men in the audience on his way to the ring. I get the sense this crowd responded to it better than the South Philly crowd would have. Really fun competitive comedy match with the Christopher Street Connection relying on extremely homoerotic offense and a good heel/face dynamic. Carnage Crew get the win with a moonsault from Davito, which mostly misses. **1/2

CHANCE BECKETT vs. MATT STRYKER next. This match was pretty dull. Beckett is not good and messes up a bunch of spots. Stryker wins with the Styker Lock. *1/4

JOHN WALTERS vs. HOMICIDE vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE. Angel Dust was schedule for this match, but Justin Credible makes a surprise entrance taking him out, and the crowd GOES FUCKING NUTS. These people are going wild, screaming, whistling, jumping up and down for JUSTIN CREDIBLE. This must be the biggest pop of his career. He declares to Gary Michael Cappetta that he’s going to make this match not just the greatest, not just the best, but just incredible. Justin Credible takes it easy early on in the match but ends up inaugurating the home stretch with a nice plancha. A good dive sequence follows and this match ends up really good toward the end. Credible gets a nearfall on Homicide with That’s Incredible and takes a nice pump over the ropes after its broken up. Homicide makes Walters tap with his STF. ***1/4

Homicide and Julius smokes celebrate as they go to the back, but behind the curtain Low K is waiting for them, telling Homicide again that Julius Smokes doesn’t belong in ROH. Homicide says he needs someone to have his back, and Low Ki can’t since he’s hurt. Low Ki walks off and Homicide starts to follow after him, but Julius Smokes holds him back and calms him down, reminding them they’re about to go to the titty bar, so he should relax.

CM PUNK and COLT CABANA vs. RAVEN and BJ WHITMER up next. This was a really, really good match. Definitely Punk’s best in ROH so far. This was like a hardcore southern formula style, very well executed. Raven beats Punk down early on. Punk takes out BJ with a chair, Raven takes out Colt with a chair, Raven and Punk tease facing off with chairs put Punk drops his chair and runs to the back. Raven follows and soon Punk spills out from behind the curtain, getting hit in the head with a trashcan and doing a great bladejob. Raven beats him all over the building with Punk bleeding all over the place, and the four brawl in the crowd. Whitmer blades too. Punk crotches Raven on the barricade and he and Cabana are able to work over BJ. After a couple comeback teases, Whitmer is able to tag in Raven and he runs wild. Hits Punk with the DDT put Cabana pulls Raven out of the ring to break up the pin. Whitmer follows it up with a diving headbutt on Punk but Cabana pulls the ref out of the ring to break up the pin. Whitmer pulls Cabana into the ring and drops him on his head with the Exploder ’98, but the ref is still down. This allows Punk to hit Whitmer with a great looking chair-assisted Shining Wizard and Colt to finish it off with the Colt 45. ***3/4. Punk attacks Whitmer and Raven with chairs post-match and puts Raven through a table with a leg drop.

Gary Michael Cappetta interviews Matt Stryker backstage, and then PRINCE NANA returns, telling everyone he’s back in this filthy, stinking company. He says he’s going to get a tag team partner.

PRINCE NANA vs. DIABLO SANTIAGO follows. Quick squash. Santiago gets some early offense but Nana hits the big ass to the face and finishes it with an inverted DDT. *

SAT vs. MIKEY WHIPWRECK and DIXIE. This is a pretty sloppy and disorganized spotfest but man the crowd is hot as fuck for it. Really, the crowd reaction makes this come across way better than it really is. **. Post-match, the Carnage Crew attack Mikey Whipwreck. He fights back but out comes JUSTIN CREDIBLE. He’s a new member of the Carnage Crew, because he’s the only person who’s as pissed of as they are after being in WWE.

PAUL LONDON vs. AJ STYLES for the number one contendership. Good mat wrestling at the beginning with Styles keeping the advantage with some sweet amateur style moves. They both take turns cheap shotting the other with a forearm strike over the referee to heat things up. Styles goes for a plancha but London rolls back in the ring out of the way, Styles lands on his feet but hurts his knee. London comes through the middle and bottom ropes with an awesome missile dropkick. They fight for the advantage on the floor, AJ Styles ends up behind the apron and goes for a kick to London, but London catches it and slams the knee over the barricade. Styles is able to land a kick afterward and back in the ring gets some offense, so only a couple minutes later is London able to capitalize and focus on the leg. I like that they introduced Styles’ injured leg a couple minutes before actually focusing on it. They trade some big moves and Styles is good with selling the leg. London his a SSP to Styles’ leg. Styles hits a Styles clash but his knee hurts him too much to capitalize right away and London is able to kick out. Crowd is super, super hot. Styles hits a German suplex but his knee is too weak to bridge, and both their shoulders end up getting counted down for a DRAW. Crowd doesn’t like it but shortly ends up giving both guys a standing ovation. ****. This match wasn’t quite as good as I remember it, but still very, very good.

SAMOA JOE, MICHAEL SHANE and CW ANDERSON vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS, DONOVAN MORGAN and DANN MAFF. The closing faction must split up. Maff and Anderson start off with a really awesome chop and slap exchange, but other than that it takes a while for this match to get any good. Once Daniels gets a hot tag, though, things really heat up. Daniels has been wrestling especially sharp lately and the crowd has been cheering him heavily, he should turn face soon. Everyone hits big moves for lots of nearfalls. Maff and Joe face off and Joe gets the better of it, hammering Maff with knees; but Maff grabs hold of Joe’s leg, trips him, flips over into a jackknife pin and gets the upset pinfall! THE GROUP MUST DISBAND. ***1/4. The Group were pretty much a lame duck team, as it was supposed to be Corino’s stable but he could hardly ever be around, plus Joe needs to focus on being singles World Champion.

Really good show. Strong undercard, one of the best matches in the year in London/Styles, really good Punk/Raven tag, solid main event. 7.5/10.

[Defrost]

Just watched the Stairway to Hell match from House Party 1998 between Sabu and The Sandman. Up until Sabu breaks his jaw it's probably the best match of Sandman's life.

[Tainted Eclipse]

i love that match. definitely in the running for best ecw match.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Just watched the Stairway to Hell match from House Party 1998 between Sabu and The Sandman. Up until Sabu breaks his jaw it's probably the best match of Sandman's life.

Didn't either Sandman or Sabu admit that the whole locker room (minus a few guys) dropped LSD or acid or something right before the show started, so a bunch of guys went out and worked fucked up?

Sandman and Sabu apparently dosed all night and worked the whole thing tripping balls.

[Defrost]

Sounds like something that would happen in ECW

[Spudz Mackenzie]

[Horatio]

I just watched the 6 televised matches that REY and TAJIRI had 02-04...
I'm thinking The Japanese Buzzsaw was Reyrey's best opponent. They went into their 4th match together (No Mercy 03) without having repeated a spot and from their they kept trying new things. 5th match had some shenanigans but the work was tight. 6th match was short and also had some shenanigans but it was still different from what you would see today.

I'm going to watch their other matches together, and maybe Rey vs Eddie series to compare, but wow, anyone who hasn't seen Rey vs Tajiri needs to.

[Murphy]

Thanks for the tip.

[Beer-Belly]

There's like 5 amazing matches he had with Kobashi. Definitely check out some of the others if you enjoyed that one.

Awesome violent sub-10 minute brawl with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico



Whole of that feud here if you're into that, they had some wild brawls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGxUo90kC0

Great match with Terry Funk in 1982 All Japan that clocks in at around 10 minutes, absolute insanity here and Terry is so damn over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRuvEkanCYU

The bad ass team of Hansen and Tenryu murdering two frail legends in Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura. Tells a really good story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs4TOjcjLU

Another Hansen & Tenryu classic, this time vs. Jumbo & Yatsu. This is one of the longer ones though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrQdAYoGwg&t=72s

Most famous match he had with Kawada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7RMbrGfzo

Woah! Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I just watched the 6 televised matches that REY and TAJIRI had 02-04...
I'm thinking The Japanese Buzzsaw was Reyrey's best opponent. They went into their 4th match together (No Mercy 03) without having repeated a spot and from their they kept trying new things. 5th match had some shenanigans but the work was tight. 6th match was short and also had some shenanigans but it was still different from what you would see today.

I'm going to watch their other matches together, and maybe Rey vs Eddie series to compare, but wow, anyone who hasn't seen Rey vs Tajiri needs to.

Don't sleep on Rey Mysterio/Ultimo Dragon/Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri/Sakoda/Akio from Smackdown!. Its short, but its very good.

[Horatio]

Don't sleep on Rey Mysterio/Ultimo Dragon/Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri/Sakoda/Akio from Smackdown!. Its short, but its very good.

I'll make sure I watch that. I've liked all of those guys at various times but I don't remember seeing it before.

Today my family and I watched:
- Undertaker vs Gonzalez - WM and SummerSlam - great matches
- Andre vs Hogan - WM 3 - gets better with age
- Eddie vs Big Show - No Mercy 03 and Smackdown retirement match - the first match is good, the second is a classic Big Show performance; it's really something to see Big Show controlling the show and Eddie keeping the antics to a minimum
- Team ECW vs Wyatt Gang - Tables match and Extreme Rules match - pretty cool stuff, especially the Raw rematch
- Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk - SummerSlam - was on its way to being a classic and then he goes for the chair, and then it all seemed like another Attitude era sprint. Mmmaybe the best match of its "kind" but I was still kinda iffy on Punk and he actually won me over despite dropping the worst Mach tribute elbow in the worst possible match to suck in..Great stuff to have to sit through
- Brock Lesnar vs Triple H - Summerslam, WM, and Extreme Rules - Triple H reminded me of someone and then I realized, oh yeah, it's Triple H that always sucked this bad. It's ONLY Triple H that sucked this bad. And then Triple H locked in his own kimura lock and I'm thinking this is the coolest thing I've ever seen ... triple h do, and I actually wanted Triple H to win. All the guy ever had to do was some actual wrestling (and no not an indian deathlock on Chris Benoit) and I appreciated it so much I almost started to forget that he's slow, sucky, fake looking, boring, ugly, wierd to look at, and even exposes himself as such against BROCK LESNAR. Weird stuff. Like, I was excited to see these matches after reading about them in WWE magazine. I thought he squashed Brock in five minutes at Mania and it kinda started out that way, but not even Triple H could squash stinkin Lesnar like the magazines portrayed. The cage match was like a normal Raw main event cage match and Lesnar was actually awesome in it. Seriously, the best Triple H matches I've seen were gainst Kevin Nash. I intend to watch his matches with Goldberg again, but was he always the worst wrestler of alltime? The guy just doesn't get it. I blame Triple H for Punk/Lesnar sucking like it did and I have no right to judge him based on THAT...

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Making your family watch Undertaker/Gonzalez should be enough for them to exile you into the Coronavirus wastelands permanently.

[Horatio]

Gonzalez in his "body" suits was a sight to behold. Essential viewing.
My mom says he dressed like bigfoot and noticed that his second costume was different. And it was. You can't see his giant ass cause it's covered in hair.

My dad wants to see the Taker/Lesnar series, which I haven't seen all of, but I'm going to make him sit through Eddie and JBL at Judgment Day.

That reminds me, we also watched
- Hogan vs Vince - WM 19 - this might be the best match of its style. Overbooked and bloody awesome. Vince made Hogan play mean.
- Vince vs Shane - WM 17 - well booked but not as cool as it would have been with BLOOD
- Shane vs Blackman - SummerSlam 2000 - Blackman was fun to see again. The "highspot" seemed less insane than it did back then, but my dad is a Shane mark so I had to show him where it all started

EDIT - also, Giant Gonzalez was in Hercules The Legendary Journey. How can you diss that?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

The 'Taker/Lesnar series varies wildly in quality between "some of the best matches Biker 'Taker ever had" and "oh God, please kill me".

I always found the 'Taker/Lesnar chain match a little underrated. Even if the FBI interferes for the finish.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Back in Philadelphia for WRESTLERAVE, June 26th, 2003. Low-Ki in a pre-show interview says he’s making his return in August, and he’s gunning for Samoa Joe.

DUNN & MARCOS vs. PRINCE NANA and JIMMY JACK CASH opens. Nana recruited Cash to take the tag team division by storm. Cash is a big, muscular guy for ROH. Cash dominantes to start, even hitting a good looking top rope back elbow. Dunn and Marcos get the advantage once Nana tags in. They hit him with a double team senton and then Marcos hits a Sliced Bread Number 2 on Cash while falling onto Nana with a moonsault and PINS HIM. DUNN AND MARCOS GET THEIR FIRST RING OF HONOR WIN. Crowd goes wild. Nothing of a match, but a great moment. **

ALEXIS LAREE vs. SUMIE SAKAI next. Definitely the best women’s match in ROH so far. Short, very competently executed. Crowd pops big for a rolling small package spot. Laree wins with the reverse DDT. **

MATT STRYKER vs. CHAD COLLYER in a TAP OUT MATCH. Unfortunately this was by far the worst of their matches so far. A very hold-based matched, far more than the other two, to its detriment. It just never gets heated or very interesting. Still, it was very competently worked, good selling, and there was a stiff, but brief, strike exchange. Collyer wins again with the Texas Cloverleaf. Stryker just can’t get a break. **1/4

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. IZZIE, DIXIE and DERANGED. Justin Credible joins Loc and Davito and gets a big pop, though not as enormous as in Boston. Carnage Crew dominates to start, Special K hit some big dives, but then back in the ring Justin Credible hits That’s Incredible for the win. Pretty basic match, executed pretty well, good crowd. **1/4

SAMOA JOE vs. DAN MAFF for the World Title. Commentary explains that Maff’s father died the night before and the crowd gives him a big ovation. This match doesn’t have that good of a flow, but there were several nice hard hitting moments. Joe really beats the shit out of Maff on the floor. Joe hits a big urinagi on Maff and Maff responds with his own. Crowd pops big for the Burning Hammer tease but Joe slips out and hits a Dragon Suplex for the win. ***

BJ WHITMER vs. ALEX SHELLEY vs. JIMMY JACOBS vs. TONY MAMALUKE. Shelley and Jacob’s debuts in ROH. Whitmer is clearly presented as the top guy in this match, using his size and strength advantage and hitting a pretty cool double Exploder on Jacobs and Shelley. Jacobs in rocking his fuzzy-boots HUSS gimmick. Good homestretch where a bunch of pins and submission attempts are broken up by moves off the top rope, including a seriously beautiful big top rope splash from Shelley. Cool ending with Whitmer hitting Shelley with the Exploder, Mamaluke trying to capitalize by putting Shelley in a submission, but Whitmer hits Jacobs with another Exploder and gets the three a split-second before Shelley taps out to Mamaluke. ***1/4

CM PUNK and COLT CABANA vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and RAVEN. Daniels and Raven as a face team working a traditional tag match (with weapons) is really fun. They run wild at first hitting babyface tag team spots, the row boat spot, bulldogging Cabana into Punk’s crotch. Punk gets a chair but Daniels has his own chair and hits Punk, busting him open. Another good blade job. Daniels gets hit with a chair by Cabana and Punk and Cabana work him over for a while. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house. A couple finishers get exchanged and then Punk brings out a chain and attacks Raven with it, getting the pin. Punk chokes Raven out with the chain post-match. ***1/4. Raven challenges Punk to a Dog Collar Match next show.

In the back Punk cuts his famous promo saying he hates Raven because he’s just like his alcoholic father. This is a big moment in Punk’s career, this promo got a ton of hype and really made Punk’s reputation as a promo guy.

AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN for AJ’s NWA World Heavyweight Title. He comes out to Ric Flair’s classic theme. Sabin is also TNA X-Division champion at this point. This match has plenty of good moves and is very well executed, but it just never really picks up any steam. Crowd doesn’t really get into and it isn’t too compelling. **1/2

HOMICIDE vs. TRENT ACID in a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR. Both guys have 50 Cent songs as their themes, it’s 2003 alright. This is the culmination of a feud that has spanned several promotions, but hasn’t really been too emphasized in ROH. Crazy dives from both Acid and Homicide to start off. They bring a ladder into play and hit a bunch of moves on it. Johnny Kashmere interferes and he and Acid hit the T Gimmick on Homicide, but Julius Smokes interferes to take Kashmere out and break up the count. Kashmere and Smokes brawl into the back. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher from the top tope through a table on the outside, really chaotic and dangerous looking spot. Homicide and Acid have a good Yakuza Kick exchange and Acid brings in a big ladder. He climbs up but gets dumped to the outside. Homicide tries to capitalize with a tope con hilo but Acid moves and Homicide goes through a table. Back in the ring Homicide goes for the Cop Killer but Acid reverses into a roll up and WINS! Too bad he sort of botched that roll-up and we ended up with a somewhat awkward ending. Still, this was a really good match. The spots looked dangerous and spontaneous rather than overly set-up. ***3/4

Another good show. Strong undercard and good main event. Finally Philadelphia gets a solid show up and down the card again. 6.5/10

[Defrost]

I just watched Billy Jack Haynes vs Shawn Michaels from World Class. First they pronounce Michaels as Mickles. Second the entire match is a headlock, Shawn doing a backflip, Shawn posing, Haynes coming up to him while he poses and puts him in the Full Nelson. The end.

[Horatio]

I just watched Billy Jack Haynes vs Shawn Michaels from World Class. First they pronounce Michaels as Mickles. Second the entire match is a headlock, Shawn doing a backflip, Shawn posing, Haynes coming up to him while he poses and puts him in the Full Nelson. The end.

Seems like at this point we should be seeking whatever Chris Michaels and/or Rick Michaels wrestling made it on tape.
Shawn tends to disappoint. I freakin hate that match he had vs Vader

[Horatio]

We ended up watching:

- eddie vs JBL - Judgment Day 04 - still a perfect match
- Brock vs Taker - Unforgiven - a great brawl, kind of out of focus
- Brock vs Taker - No Mercy Hell in a Cell - a great match, awesome use of the cell
- Brock vs Taker - No Mercy Biker Chain match - better ring work than previously as Brock is no longer a greenhorn at this point, but the gimmick in this match is a little unclear; it's obvious only Taker is tall enough to reach the chain and the shenanigans further hurt the match, but these two have awesome chemistry. Worth seeing
- Vince vs Taker - Buried Alive match - a totally surreal beatdown; i loved this match. I need to see the other Buried Alive matches
- Goldberg vs Helmsley - Survivor Series - Goldberg seems to get lost in a longish match, but he still does everything with more umph than that lazy ass Triple H, who makes it obvious he's going out of his way to put Goldberg over
- Akio, Sakoda, Tajiri vs Ultimo, Kidman, Rey - SmackDown - really cool action by the face team. The japanese team didn't do anything to stand out (besides whipping Ultimo like a fool), but they were great bases for all of the highflying stuff. The sort of short match I'll want to see again
- Brock vs Taker - WM 30 - i couldn't see when Taker got concussed but he worked this like he was fucked up on antianxiety meds or something. The match had a great layout but Taker looked legitimately fucked up and the slowness might erk some people. Thank God the crowd didn't shit on it...
- Brock vs Taker - SummerSlam - i thought this was great, too. The ending is deep. Their matches seem to get better and better, though I would have to say they're lower end moty types until...
- Brock vs Taker - Hell in a Cell 2 - this was their best match. You can tell their nerves were up as they're going for their finishers early and working the matches that much harder (storyline wise). The tearing of the ring mat was a great symbol for the end of their feud, although i still think Undertaker should get his win back someday.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Its kind of crazy to think that Ring Of Honor were booking Sumie Sakai in token women's matches on those early shows and then, 15 years later, Sumie Sakai would be Ring Of Honor's first ever Women's Champion.

Say what you want, but its nice to see some company loyalty rewarded. Even if it took a while to get there.

[Horatio]

ALEXIS LAREE vs. SUMIE SAKAI next. Definitely the best women’s match in ROH so far. Short, very competently executed. Crowd pops big for a rolling small package spot. Laree wins with the reverse DDT **

BJ WHITMER vs. ALEX SHELLEY vs. JIMMY JACOBS vs. TONY MAMALUKE. Shelley and Jacob’s debuts in ROH. Jacobs in rocking his fuzzy-boots HUSS gimmick.

AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN for AJ’s NWA World Heavyweight Title. He comes out to Ric Flair’s classic theme. Sabin is also TNA X-Division champion at this point.

HOMICIDE vs. TRENT ACID in a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR. Both guys have 50 Cent songs as their themes, it’s 2003 alright. This is the culmination of a feud that has spanned several promotions, but hasn’t really been too emphasized in ROH. Crazy dives from both Acid and Homicide to start off. They bring a ladder into play and hit a bunch of moves on it. Johnny Kashmere interferes and he and Acid hit the T Gimmick on Homicide, but Julius Smokes interferes to take Kashmere out and break up the count. Kashmere and Smokes brawl into the back. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher from the top tope through a table on the outside, really chaotic and dangerous looking spot. Homicide and Acid have a good Yakuza Kick exchange and Acid brings in a big ladder. He climbs up but gets dumped to the outside. Homicide tries to capitalize with a tope con hilo but Acid moves and Homicide goes through a table. Back in the ring Homicide goes for the Cop Killer but Acid reverses into a roll up and WINS! Too bad he sort of botched that roll-up and we ended up with a somewhat awkward ending. Still, this was a really good match. The spots looked dangerous and spontaneous rather than overly set-up. ***3/4

Sakai and Laree were supposed to make it really big (at least in ROH). It's interesting how far their careers have come/gone.

Shelley and Jacobs should never have stopped working together. Any word on if Jacobs ever does HUSS anymore? I see his name sometimes on indie cards like IWAMS but I don't know if he's still doing that emo gimmick or if he's back to being weird.

Was Styles a heel in TNA for his first NWA title win? Or did he just pose as Flair to be righteous?
I know I felt Chris Sabin stepped on a lot of toes being TNA's guy from seemingly out of nowhere. Never got the hype for Chris Sabin. Any Motor City Machine Gun fans still around?

Homicide/Acid was actually the first big Fight Without Honor as Joe/Ki was still lurking under the radar, and it was kind of the first match to put Homicide on the map as his matches with Joe were not yet making waves in those days. Glad to hear the match holds up so many years after. Acid should have been WWE's new Evan Kuragious. I think I would have rated the match at ***3/4 as well. Acid seemed crazy as hell to go in there with Homicide. I think people got Homicide confused with New Jack, and as we've found out over the years, that's a really apt comparison. Did Homicide have his fork back then?