BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans ROH Manhattan Mayhem 5/7/05

Well that was pretty crazy.  Every move that was done in this match was used to cause paralysis to the opponent, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.  The only complaint I have is that the double team finishers were not sold long enough, but this was awesome stuff.

James Gibson vs. Black Tiger ROH Manhattan Mayhem 5/7/05

Man is Gibson fucking great.  BT had some nice counters in it, but he would stand around and do nothing at points and hurt momentum.  Gibson’s selling of the after effects of the submissions was world class and totally elevated the match.  Another keeper.

Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuiness vs. Alex Shelley ROH Double Stakes Four-Corner Survival Match Stalemate 4/16/05

Rules: 2 pinfalls.  1^st pinfall gets a shot at the Pure championship while the fall guy is eliminated.  2^nd pinfall is for the ROH World Championship title shot. 

Probably the best match I’ve seen so far.  Had some really slick chain wrestling in it with Colt and Joe being awesome in it.  The submission breakups were actually good because they stopped to think about giving the pure title an aura of importance to it.  The Nigel/Shelly section didn’t really work for me because they eliminated the two best wrestlers before that and the match kind of lost its heat.  Still wasn’t long enough to ruin it.  The best so far.

Austin Aries vs. Homicide ROH Best of the American Super-Juniors Tournament 4/2/05

Probably the worst very good match I’ve seen so far and I’ve seen a lot of them.  The issues, Homicide jumping back on offense too quickly at points, Homicide’s crappy fighting spirit act, and the match not really having a story.  It did get intense near the end.  I’ll keep for now.

James Gibson vs Roderick Strong ROH Best of the American Super-Juniors Tournament 4/2/05

Nice carry job by Gibson.  Sold the back work like a champion and led Strong through some nice sequences.  Ending didn’t click with me, but its way better then Strong’s match against Homicide.  Worth a rewatch.

Bryan Danielson vs. Spanky ROH Best of the American Super-Juniors Tournament 4/2/05

Very good, but not in the realm of it being one of the top 50 ROH matches of all time from back in 06.  Spanky showed good ring awareness, but didn’t really do that well in selling the arm work.  Good for a rewatch, but I’m not even sure it’s better then some of the 3^rd Anniversary matches.

Roderick Strong vs Homicide ROH Back to Basics 3/12/05

This did not interest me one bit.  I guess they were trying to show that Roderick was in Homicide’s league, but this was just bland.  Homicide actually seemed to be selling, but he sold it when he was in control which was just confusing.  Skip it.

Homicide, Rocky Romero, Ricky Reyes vs Generation Next Trios Tournament Final ROH Trios Tournament 2005 3/5/05

I’m glad I watched this match, just so I could reassure myself that I’m not being too easy of a grader.  I thought this stunk.  Too many breaking up of the pins.  Nothing like the July 08 Battlarts 6-man where they found the cringe inducing ways to break up submissions.  I’m losing focus writing this because this match lost my focus and the audience’s focus.  Just a total black hole of a match.  PS, the Rottweilers suck.

Samoa Joe, Vordell Walker & Bryan Danielson VS James Gibson, Spanky & Nigel McGuinness ROH Trios Tournament 2005 3/5/05

Another solid effort, which seems to be becoming the norm in 05.  I don’t think it is the great match that some have suggested.  Why, I don’t know.  There just seemed to be something missing that I can’t finger on.  Maybe Vordell who did look a little lost at points, but wasn’t really terrible.  It didn’t connect with me, but that what the rewatches are there for. 

Jimmy Rave VS AJ Styles ROH 3rd Year Anniversary Part 2 2/25/05

Another fun match.  AJ was more aggressive in this and cleaned Jimmy’s clock on a couple moves, especially the apron brainbuster.  I do think Jimmy should have been more aggressive in the middle and should have picked up a little more during the match, but what was here was fine.  That makes four matches from 3^rd Year Anniversary Night 2 that I going to rewatch.  None I would say are blow away MOTYC, but they serve there purpose.

Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans and Austin Aries ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Part 2 2/25/05

This match was really fun half way through and then started to dip with Gen Next’s control section.  Too many “let’s take everything to the outside” spots.  There was also a really noticeable botch near the end.  Enough for a rewatch.

CM Punk vs. Alex Shelley ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Night 2 2/25/05

Another very good one.  Some really good selling from both.  Maybe some of the control sections were a little dry, but I feel there enough here to put on the rewatch pile. 

James Gibson vs. Spanky ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Night 2 2/25/05

This was super fun.  Gibson came off as one of the best workers in ROH in just his first match.  His arm work was efficient, the strikes he threw looked great, and his reversals were crisp.  The only thing I could complain about is Spanky’s selling, but other then that I really liked it. 

Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuiness ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 2 2/25/05

Easy match, but probably the best match I've seen so far.  Mostly comedy, until the final two minutes.  Wish it would have went a little longer, then it could have went in the rewatch pile.

Austin Aries VS Colt Cabana Cage Match ROH 3rd Year Anniversary Part 1 2/19/05

It was a good match, but it was hurt by the cage match stipulation.  I know it is said that there are two ways to win a cage match, but in reality there are three (pin/submission, escape over the cage, and escape through the door).  The problem is that they would do the worst possible option at every turn when they had there opponent down. This is why I feel that we should never have anyone escape through door in cage matches.  The big detractor of the match was the story.  I know Austin gave Cabana a brainbuster on the stage in there last title match, but other then that, meh.  It works as a good by-the-numbers cage match and that is that.

Homicide vs Bryan Danielson ROH Tap-Out Match It All Begins 1/15/05

Weird little match.  Starts off with these two brawling into the crowd until a camera gets knocked out, and now both are in the ring and then the bell rings.  So they do the exact opposite of a tap-out match before the actual match begins and now there really isn’t much heat in this match.  The match was fine, but it just seemed like it was missing something.  The selling was OK but I’ve seen better.  I’ll pass on this one.

Altar Boy Luke vs Outcast Killaz vs Fast Eddie vs Dunn & Marcos vs Carnage Crew vs Jack Evans vs Dan Maff/BJ Whitmer vs Trent Acid ROH Scramble Cage Melee Match Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

This was a hell of a lot better then I thought.  Definitely 100% insane but had better structure then I would have thought.  Plus, all the dives looked great (except for maybe the botched rana, which doesn’t really count as a dive).  The selling for them was hit or miss.  The big offenders were Maff/Whitmer and maybe the Carnage Crew (although I’m a little hazy on that one.)  Although to be fair they were feuding at that point.  Fuck it, I’ll update my last post and throw this up there.     

Best of ROH 2004

1. ROH Title Cage Match Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe ROH At Our Best 3/13/04
2. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk ROH Joe vs. Punk II 10/16/04
3. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk ROH World Title Classic 6/12/04
4. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki vs. Dan Maff vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Second Anniversary Show 2/14/04
5. Tag Titles Match Briscoe Bros. vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04
6. I Quit Match Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs ROH Joe vs. Punk II 10/16/04
7. 2/3 Falls Match Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Testing the Limit 8/7/04
8. Pure Title Match Finals Alex Shelley vs Doug Williams ROH Reborn Completion 7/17/04
9. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04
10. Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04
11. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries ROH Final Battle 2004 12/26/04
12. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters, & Matt Stryker ROH World Title Classic 6/12/04
13. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros., Jimmy Rave, & John Walters ROH Generation Next 5/22/04
14. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04
15. Hardcore Match CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer ROH Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2 7/24/04
16. John Walters vs Nigel McGuiness ROH Pure Title Match Glory by Honor 3 9/11/04
17. Austin Aries vs Low Ki ROH All Star Extravaganza 12/4/04
18. Nigel McGuiness vs Jimmy Rave vs Rocky Romero vs Austin Aries ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04

19. Altar Boy Luke vs Outcast Killaz vs Fast Eddie vs Dunn & Marcos vs Carnage Crew vs Jack Evans vs Dan Maff/BJ Whitmer vs Trent Acid ROH Scramble Cage Melee Match Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

Austin Aries vs Low Ki ROH All Star Extravaganza 12/4/04

I think it is good enough, but barely. First 5 or so minutes were boring and listless, but got better after the heat seeking missile. The rib work was fine; the selling was OK but could have been better. I didn’t like how obvious it was that it was going to a draw. But I liked it just enough.

I may have to rewatch some of the stuff from 2004 that didn’t make the bold list. I know there was some stuff I couldn’t find online for 03-04, so that I will look for on a later date. I’ll put up the ROH 04 list and go to ROH 05.

John Walters vs Nigel McGuiness ROH Pure Title Match Glory by Honor 3 9/11/04

Probably, the best of the new matches in this go around.  Definitely dug the nifty mat work and the chess match atmosphere on whether to take a rope break or not.  I think the ending would have been a bit better, if Nigel didn’t dive on Walters a few seconds before that.  Not super high end, but I dug it enough.  

CM Punk vs Homicide vs Samoa Joe ROH Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

I thought I was watching a WWE match from 2000-03 with the stealing of the finishers.  The match had a lot standing around in the beginning and then it degenerated into no selling, screwed up spots, and I think there was some comedy in there.  Didn’t like it.   

Spanky vs Homicide ROH Round Robin Challenge 2 5/14/04

This kind of stunk.  A bit too much BAF, and the selling was kind of spotty at points.  Skip. 

Nigel McGuiness vs Jimmy Rave vs Rocky Romero vs Austin Aries ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04

Another tricky one.  The mat wrestling for a chunk of the first half was fun, but then it led to some questionable arm selling by Rave.  It did lead to a fun stretch run to end it.  Would have been better if Rave sold better, but as it is, it barely goes above the cut line. 

CM Punk vs AJ Styles ROH Pure Wrestling Title Tournament Final Second Anniversary show 2/14/04

I’m kind of getting a déjà vu feeling from this match compared to there 10/03 match.  I feel the difference between this match and there 03 match was that Punk was smart enough to drop the back work when AJ was selling in 03.  Here AJ didn’t sell the leg and Punk still tried to go for submissions that AJ wasn’t going to sell.  I know AJ used his rope breaks, but there really isn’t any way to get a suspenseful near fall if you don’t sell like you are in danger.  Maybe I should rewatch there March match.

Briscoe Bros. vs Samoa Joe/Bryan Danielson ROH Tag Title Match The Battle Lines are Drawn 1/10/04

This one is tough.  I mean it was pretty fun for the first half, but then after the doomsday device, it kind of got worse.  The 03 match with Styles replacing Dragon was more trimmer and higher percentage of goodness.  This match, I just can’t add this to the other high end matches of 04.

AJ Styles vs Homicide ROH The Battle Lines are Drawn 1/10/04

Pretty forgettable except for Homicide’s tope.  Boring and the crowd was pretty lukewarm on top of that.  Skip.

Best of ROH 2003

1. Hardcore Match Homicide vs. Steve Corino ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 8/16/03
2. ROH Title Shot Match AJ Styles vs. Paul London ROH Night of the Grudges 6/14/03
3. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03
4. Semi-Hardcore Match ("No Holds Barred") Xavier & Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki & AJ Styles ROH Revenge on the Prophecy 1/11/03
5. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Revenge on the Prophecy 1/11/03
6. Christopher Daniels vs. Paul London ROH Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II 4/26/03
7. No Rope Barbed Wire Match Homicide vs. Steve Corino ROH War of the Wire 11/29/03
8. Christopher Daniels vs. John Walters ROH Empire State Showdown 10/25/03
9. ROH Title Shot Match Xavier vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 8/16/03
10. CM Punk vs. Steve Corino ROH Empire State Showdown 10/25/03
11. Scramble Cage Jack Evans & Teddy Hart vs. Backseat Boyz vs. Carnage Crew vs. The SAT vs. Hydro & Angeldust ROH Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03
12. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Homicide ROH Do or Die 5/31/03
13. Tag Titles Match Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & AJ Styles ROH The Conclusion 11/28/03
14. Jody Fleisch vs Low Ki ROH Night of Champions 3/22/03
15. ROH Title Shot Match Homicide vs. Colt Cabana vs. Dan Maff vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Death Before Dishonor 7/19/03
16. Hardcore Match Xavier vs. John Walters ROH Final Battle 2003 12/27/03
17. Fighting Spirit Challenge Homicide vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03
18. ROH Title Shot - FWA Title Match Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams ROH Night of Champions 3/22/03
19. ROH Title Shot Match Low Ki vs. Paul London vs. AJ Styles ROH One Year Anniversary Show 2/8/03
20. CM Punk vs. AJ Styles ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03

Xavier/Walters Hardcore Match rewatch

There were a lot of fun hellish spots, but way too back and forth.  Add the somewhat botched ending and it is bottom half.  I’ll try to put the 03 list out.

Corino/Homicide Barbed Wire Match rewatch

This dropped a couple spots for me.  There were sections in this match that were either unnecessary or were not sold to its full effect.  It was still violent spectacle. 

Briscoes vs Joe/Styles rewatch

This felt like the tag team version of the Homicide/Joe Do or Die match.  What was there was fun, but the basics came off as an afterthought.  By basics I mean no easy transitions, selling, no YTMT sections, etc.  It was very good.   

Scramble Cage rewatch

It’s still a fun spotfest.  A lot of the selling in the beginning felt a bit iffy in that they went back on offense too soon, but it got crazy in the second half and everybody in the audience lost there shit.  Definitely fun, but not elite level.

BJ/Homicide Fighting Spirit Match rewatch

A lot of stuff in the first half felt half-hearted.  It did get interesting with the head butt and the repeated punting and BJ having to man up.  Not back and forth, but the selling kind of left me feeling flat.

Punk/Corino rewatch

The match is clipped by just under 2 minutes.  The beginning and ending was fun stuff although the middle didn’t strike me as being that memorable, but had nothing really wrong with it otherwise.  Middling.