Delirious/Sydal 2/3 falls rewatch

Without question there best match, but it still feels like it is missing something. I mean you have all the good staples of the rivalry plus a face/heel dynamic with all the chicanery going off without a hitch. And yet there really wasn’t that moment where it went to that next level. Just good action all match without that moment to make you remember it. Slight no.

Colt/Jacobs rewatch

This was a bloody war, although I wouldn’t say it is a great match. It has to be the highest amount of blood spilled in a match if nothing else. The match reminds me of the SCS/Phophecy Street Fight from 04 in that there are a lot of fun unique spots, but some spots you could have dropped. So what I’m saying is that it is on the list, but will probably be last. #1 for now.

Joe/Richards rewatch

And we are 0 for 4 on rewatches. Joe gives Davey a good ass kicking, but it wasn’t as epic or hot as I thought it was. Davey was also a part of the NRC at this point, but he fought most of the match as 06 Richards and then awkwardly transitioned to his heel persona in the end. So I guess 06 was much worse then I remembered. No.

Strong/Claudio/SHINGO/Pelle/MBriscoe/Cross rewatch

I wanted to love this more because Pelle was so great at getting killed, but just seemed to be too many little botches to it. Especially the late run in by Aries in the end which looked terrible. I mean everybody in the match played there correct roles, I just think the execution could have been better. No.

Joe/Morishima rewatch

That match was as good as it was because of Joe. Morishima, as has been the case through 07, will just do his thing regardless whether it adds anything to the match. Yes, the match had blood and Joe was kicking his head in, but felt really dry on rewatch. No.

Jacobs/Whitmer LMS rewatch

This was a more spot driven match then I remembered. I mean all the spots were spaced out accordingly and the all the big spots did look good. But the more I look at this in the context of the feud, it feels strangely tame even with the spike. Add the crap ending, and I don’t think I have the heart to put it on the list. No.

Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries ROH Rising Above 12/29/07

This was some great shit. They go the Danielson/McGuinness Generation Now direction in attacking each other’s arms while not being major enough to sell the whole match. I really dig Nigel’s defensive wrestling of trying to get to the ropes when it looked like he could get caught. Might have been back and forth in the end, but it is something I will take a closer look at. Top 10 for sure, maybe top 5.

Now on to rewatching.

Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black vs. Jack Evans & Ruckus vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer Scramble ROH Rising Above 12/29/07

This was a heck of a 6 minute sprint. This was balls to the wall action from beginning to end with no time wasted. Worthy of a rewatch.

Jimmy Jacobs vs Bryan Danielson ROH Unscripted 3 12/1/07

At times, this was a really fun and smart match. Bryan outclasses Jimmy and Bryan is really nasty at points in stretching Jimmy. Eventually, Bryan’s busted open and did some really nice selling. Jimmy working the cut didn’t do anything for me, however. He just didn’t do anything to get the crowd riled up to take it to that next level. Maybe it was just on this watch, but I want to give this match another shot. Rewatch.

Austin Aries vs Tyler Black ROH Unscripted 3 12/1/07

Mostly a showcase match for Tyler. A wish there was more I could say about it, but the match was just there for me. No.

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black ROH Final Battle 2007 12/30/07

What a weird show Final Battle was. The match is good, but disturbingly heatless for most of it. Then the heat picks up, but it is during the endrun where it starts to get ridiculous with overkill. Partially dug it and that’s it. No.

Chris Hero vs Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson vs Takeshi Morishima Elimination ROH Final Battle 2007 12/30/07

Good 4-way. As far as each part of the match goes:


1st elimination- Good at establishing the roles and feuds.
2nd elimination- Good strategy by Hero, but the finish comes out of nowhere.
3rd elimination- Too much ‘your turn, my turn” stuff for my tastes.

I don’t see a great match here, but I’ve seen this match done better in the past. No.

Roderick Strong vs Erick Stevens ROH Final Battle 2007 12/30/07

This match had a dead crowd for most of this which really killed the match. No.

Davey Richards vs Naomichi Marufuji ROH Final Battle 2007 12/30/07

Can’t do Unscripted 3 or Rising Above right now. There out there but the voice is not matching up with the action. Have to get rid of the torrents first before they play properly.

Good match with some decent Davey selling, but like a lot of matches in late 07, it’s lacking any type of personality. Sure you got it at the end, but that had its share of shaking off offense. No.

Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries 30 Minute Iron Man ROH Reckless Abandon 11/30/07

Well that was terrible. What’s with half hour matches sucking today? Hell no.

Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson ROH Glory by Honor 6 Night 2 11/3/07

This is a pretty violent spectacle without being great. Very good as the next chapter in a feud, but the story feels a little inconsistent to me. Don’t get me wrong I loved a lot of it, but something feels off about it. Definitely on the rewatch pile.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Naomichi Marufuji ROH Glory by Honor 6 Night 2 11/3/07

It was a technically fine, even good, match, but really lacks that wow factor. Claudio demonstrates his strength advantage and Marufuji goes after his leg. Claudio does well in selling the leg, but never get that moment where it reaches the next level. I want to like it more, but it just isn’t there. No.

Naomichi Marufuji & Takeshi Morishima vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & KENTA ROH Glory By Honor 6 Night 1 11/2/07

Well this sucked ass. I have never seen so many restholds in a wrestling match ever. And I’ve never seen a major star of Misawa’s status be such an afterthought in a match. I know he was out of his prime at that point, but he was the GHC champion and brought nothing to the table except his trademark spots. Fuck this match. Fuck no.

Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero ROH Glory By Honor 6 Night 1 11/2/07

Good short match. Nigel has a legit injured arm and Hero goads him into a match. Hero’s mocking was nice, but he didn’t really push to win the match. Yes he was overconfident, but I was expecting more of an arm attack then I got instead of the usual beatdown. Didn’t dig the ref business with him taking his eye away from the ropes which just looked stupid. Nigel’s last ditch comeback was brilliant however. I just don’t think there is enough there, to put at that next level. Slight no.

Takeshi Morishima vs Kevin Steen ROH Honor Nation 10/5/07

Hated it. Steen works the leg, Takeshi doesn’t sell it. Fuck that. No.

Rocky Romero, Roderick Strong & Davey Richards VS Ruckus, Jack Evans & Jigsaw ROH Honor Nation 10/5/07

This was a really fun 6-man. VS did there spots and NRC had a good control section were good foils. It was a bit no selly at times, but in 07 this at least deserves second chance. Keep.

Takeshi Morishima vs Nigel McGuinness ROH Live in Tokyo 7/16/07

It was fine, but longer then it needed to be and way too overkilly. It was a good carry job by Nigel who got the crowd into it at points, but there is only so much you can do with Tekeshi. No.

Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Matt Sydal, Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki ROH Live in Tokyo 7/16/07

Decent spotfest. It was a match with absolutely nothing mind blowing in it. Fine, for what it was, but that’s it. No.

Jay & Mark Briscoe VS Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal 2/3 Falls ROH United We Stand 6/22/07

Well that was very disappointing. There just didn’t seem to be any flow in the match and it ends up standing out more with a dead crowd and not being that long for a 2/3 falls match. No.

Bryan Danielson/Nigel McGuinness vs Takeshi Morishima/Naomichi Marufuji ROH United We Stand 6/22/07

Fuck yeah for torrents. Too bad this was pretty through the motions though. Can’t really say I’m surprised considering who is on team NOAH.  No.

Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson ROH Glory by Honor 6 Night 1 11/2/07

This bored the shit out of me. Just no direction to the work and there end run didn’t really come off as clean as it usually would. The first match is the only match I could really say was good. I believe I spent three days downloading these matches. No.

Bryan Danielson vs Austin Aries ROH Chaos at the Cow Palace 10/21/07

Not as good as the first match but Danielson aggravated me with his strategy. It feels like we finally get a story with Bryan going after the leg, but then he switches to work on the arm just because he felt like it. It makes most of the match meaningless as a result. No.

Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson ROH Honor Nation 10/5/07

Reviewing the best of three series between these two.

Good match although directionless. I mean it’s a match between these two, but I think have a deeper match in them. No.

Roderick Strong vs Chris Hero vs Rocky Romero vs Austin Aries vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Human Tornado ROH Survival of the Fittest 2007 10/19/07

Beside Hero’s bullshit performance along with the stretch run with Claudio, I wasn’t really feeling it. NRC took up most of the time and dragged the match at times. Too much going through the motions to be memorable. No.

Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness ROH Survival of the Fittest 2007 10/19/07

It’s a match between these two with a 20 minute time limit, which means it was very good. This was a match that was mostly on the mat, which I am fine with because it is these two. Both do a really great job in selling there body parts and this match is every bit as comparable to there other matches. Keep.

Jay & Mark Briscoe VS Matt Cross & Austin Aries ROH Motor City Madness 9/14/07

Blah. Cross was a turd in this match just not being on the same page with the Briscoes and celebrating like a goofball at the most inopportune times. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen/El Generico Steel Cage ROH Caged Rage 8/24/07

Another good match in there series, but there are too many that are better. This one is another slugfest, but without the memorable spots which doesn’t work in this part of the feud. Another enjoyable chapter, just not great. No.

Takeshi Morishima vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Brent Albright Elimination Match ROH Caged Rage 8/24/07

Surprisingly good 3 way sprint. Takeshi adapting to this match and it ended up being a quality sprint. Not great because there were selling issues throughout, but I liked it for what it was. No.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush ROH Race to the Top Tournament Night 2 7/28/07

Good regular match. Lack of story and the back and forthness of the match prevent this from being more then that. No.

Takeshi Morishima vs Nigel McGuinness ROH Undeniable 10/6/07

Great story on paper, but bad execution. I liked Nigel sticking to lariats because that was worked in the past and Morishima goes after the arm to neutralize it. The problem is that Nigel didn’t really bother selling it and some of his early lariats didn’t look that good. You didn’t have the aggravation of Morishima going down early, but you have a chunk of fighting spirit spots. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Davey Richards/Rocky Romero ROH Undeniable 10/6/07

It was good at points and blah at others. Rocky stunk, Richards was fine, and Jay didn’t sell the arm. The Briscoes have had too many better tag matches that year. No.

Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries ROH Undeniable 10/6/07

Can’t find Honor Nation, so on to Undeniable

Good but not as sweet as the SoH2 match. Here the back work seemed more prominent and I felt Aries should have sold it. Also the learned spots came later on in the match, but came off as being to back and forth. Also, the brainbuster through the table was not a DQ for whatever reason. No.

Lacey/Sara Del Rey vs Daizee Haze/Amazing Kong (bonus match) Man Up ROH 9/15/07

Ooh, a women’s match. It was ok for what it was but the talent gap between the partners is really big. The weaker ones try, but it still comes off as second rate joshi at times. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen/El Generico Ladder War ROH Man Up 9/15/07

I really liked it, but I didn’t think it was as good as the Boston Street Fight. This match just seemed to have more dead time in it. The spots were still sick in that Briscoes/Steenerico type of way. I don’t know about MOTYC but this is on the rewatch pile.

Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson ROH Man Up 9/15/07

Best match on the show so far, but it only feels like a good match. This lacked the fulfilling story and the execution of there last match. The story confused me because the announcers were trying to give off that Takeshi wouldn’t go after the eye even though it was obvious that he was doing that. And considering that Bryan had an obvious injury, he doesn’t really sell it. Add in the usual criticisms I have with Takeshi’s title matches and I just don’t this was as good as people have hyped it to be. No.

Roderick Strong vs Erick Stevens ROH Man Up 9/15/07

Good, but it wasn’t as stiff as I thought it would be. Yes there were a lot of moves in it, but you kind felt like they had a better match in them. No.

Austin Aries Vs. Davey Richards ROH Man Up 9/15/07

Hated it. It felt kind of house showish and the outcome was never in doubt. No.

Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Claudio Castagnoli ROH Man Up 9/15/07

It was ok I guess. Doesn’t have the story or the stand out moments to be a top tier 4 way. No.

El Generico vs Naomichi Marufuji ROH Motor City Madness 9/14/07

This match turned out to be the complete opposite of what it looked on paper. Marufuji actually has a good performance and Generico didn’t. Marufuji actually has a neat control section on Generico’s just based on simple stuff like working a headlock and hitting his head into the post. Yet, Generico doesn’t sell it. I can’t get my head around it. Still good, but the opportunity was there to be more then that. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 2/3 Falls Manhattan Mayhem 2 8/25/07

Every bit as good as there other matches, but overkilly at the end. Especially Mark’s no sell of the Package Piledriver near the finish. There wasn’t any story to this, but the match was just crazy a lot of the time. This 2/3 falls match isn’t as good as the Briscoes/KOW match, but I see this being every bit as fun. Keep.

Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson ROH Manhattan Mayhem 2 8/25/07

MOTYC. Danielson attacking the leg of Morishima was so great. Everything about it was brilliant to kicking it to using a small package and school boy to going for submissions. Morishima sold although not really trying to show a poker face. But what Danielson did, with a broken orbital bone, was convincing enough for me Keep.

Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli ROH Manhattan Mayhem 2 8/25/07

It was good, but it kind of felt like a normal match trying to disguise itself as a grudge match. As a grudge match, you don’t get the mat wrestling you want. The striking wasn’t on par with a grudge match and the commentary was pretty for this match for whatever reason. They just didn’t seem to be excited about it. No.

No Remorse Corps/Matt Sydal vs The Resilience/Delirious Philadelphia Street Fight ROH Death Before Dishonor 5 Night 2 8/11/07

Possible MOTYC…if time was cut from it. It wasn’t that people weren’t trying in the end, it was just that the crowd seemed to peter out and the wrestlers in the match sort of disappeared as opposed to being eliminated all together. But I can’t blame the crowd because the match was 30+ minutes. I’m against regular matches going that long (minus draws), but I never want to see that in a street fight. Still, there is 2/3rds of a great match there and that is enough for a rewatch.

Takeshi Morishima vs Brent Albright ROH Death Before Dishonor 5 Night 2 8/11/07

This was better then it had the right to be. Say what you will about Brent, but at least the first “knock Morishima off his feet” spot was a convince bodyslam as opposed to a weak clothesline from a junior wrestler. It actually had decent psychology with Brent going after the arm. It’s just too bad that it these two who are wrestling. The arm work from Brent looked awkward at points and Takeshi didn’t really sell it that well in the end anyway. I will just say it is good and leave it at that. No.

Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush ROH Death Before Dishonor 5 Night 2 8/11/07

I felt like Mike was more of the reason why this was as good as it was. Not that Bryan was bad, but I felt like his control section, which was a big chunk of the match, had no substance to it. I felt could have cut that section before the dive and be better off for it. When the arm is gone after and sold, it gets really good, but again, it took a while to get there. With that, I have to give it slight no.

Kevin Steen/El Generico vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe Boston Street Fight ROH Death Before Dishonor 5 Night 1 8/10/07

Yeah, this is a MOTYC. Every bit as insane as I remembered back in the day. Constant intensity and effort and lots of disgusting chair shots. A barricade being broken and thrown at by Steen. Probably could have taken the table spots out because it wasn’t really sold in the long term. Still, this is probably my #1 of 07 right now.

Takeshi Morishima vs Claudio Castagnoli ROH Death Before Dishonor 5 Night 1 8/10/07

Same old Morishima match, good but is dependent on his opponent to really make it great. Claudio did well and was over, but no story. This does not bode well for the Albright match. No.

Chris Hero vs. Nigel McGuinness Pure Wrestling Match Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 8/10/07

I’m on the fence on this one. I mean it’s a great bullshit performance by Hero and his crew yet the wrestling just wasn’t doing it for me as much as I would like and I like the British style. I think there is enough of a story there where I will give this another shot.

El Generico vs Claudio Castagnoli ROH Race to the Top Tournament Night 2 7/28/07

Not the great match I thought it would be, but still very good. It did establish a story with Claudio going after the back while Generico made every attempt to hit the brainbuster. Generico’s selling was fine if a bit understated. The ending run went a bit long with the fighting spirit BS. Still worthy of a rewatch.

Bryan Danielson/Jay Briscoe/Matt Sydal/Austin Aries vs Nigel McGuinness/Mark Briscoe/Delirious/Roderick Strong ROH $10,000 Tag Match Race to the Top Tournament Night 2 7/28/07

Can’t see Claudio/Quackenbush because I only have half the show.

I wanted to keep this for the first half, but I didn’t like the second half. The first half was so silky smooth with the establishment of storylines and wrestling. I loved the Briscoes just leaving the match to just drink beer because it felt like such a Briscoe thing to do. After that the crowd is dead and Delirious and Strong leave, which nobody cared about, and Nigel is left alone to be killed. Only half of a great match only makes this a good match. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Bryan Danielson/Nigel McGuinness ROH Race to the Top Tournament Night 1 7/27/07

I really liked this. The story’s about Bryan and Nigel not being on the same page with the hierarchy being Bryan>Briscoes>Nigel. This established a story while not putting the Briscoes in a position to sell because they are not good at it. All the flaws you usually associate with these four were minimized and had enough sweet spots to give it a rewatch.

Mike Quackenbush vs. Matt Sydal ROH Race to the Top Tournament Night 1 7/27/07

Good match. Loved the lucha mat work and submissions although it was tad bit exhibitiony at points. The match didn’t have any story and it was obvious at points that the it was back and forth. No.

Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, and Masaaki Mochizuki vs Bryan Danielson, CIMA, and Naomichi Marufuji ROH Live in Osaka 7/17/07

This has a little time missing from this too, not that I would have any interest in seeing the whole match. All the stuff that I tend to hate in wrestling is in this match minus some decent Bryan selling. No.

Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Delirious VS Ryo Saito, Dragon Kid and Matt Sydal ROH Live in Osaka 7/17/07

I can’t find two matches from Live in Tokyo. Same issues as United We Stand. Damnit, they will be reviewed.
I apparently have the clipped Dragongate version which has about 5 minutes missing from it. Probably missed some back and forth stuff which probably didn’t add anything to the match. I thought it was a good house show match at best. This had too much of a case of déjà vu with looking way too much like the Do Fixer vs Blood Generation match from 06. No.

Bryan Danielson vs Go Shiozaki ROH Live in Tokyo 7/16/07

I feel this was a good match, but it also exposes the flaws in both wrestlers. Go can throw some great chops and sell well, but he can be restholdy and do moves that look bad like that second rope, whatever the fuck that was, facebuster. Bryan can do great mat wrestling and work a body part, but will not sell or take the time to sell the big moments. Add in some shaky execution and a lame fighting spirit exchange, I think I can safely phase this out. No.

KENTA vs Bryan Danielson ROH Driven (bonus match) 6/23/07

Very good match. Kind of a spotfest in a way because there didn’t seem to be a story in it, but a lot of stuff looked like it hurt. The spots seemed to be spaced out well and not really any back and forth except for one suplex exchange, but this is worthy of a rewatch.

Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson ROH Driven 6/23/07

OK, I feel I can safely say that this is a very good match at the least and possibly a borderline MOTYC at the most. There were three points where Danielson would get back on offense way too fast. Two were on the outside and the last lariat not really being sold in the finishing stretch. Bryan could have ducked the lariat and it would have been fine. Would have liked Nigel to sell his back more, but Bryan didn’t really go after it that long so it wasn’t that bad. Who knows how this will list on rewatch.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH Driven 6/23/07

Good match, but something wasn’t clicking with me. Wasn’t really thrilled with the fighting spirit in the beginning with the Briscoes. The middle section was fine and got crazy near the end when Generico got bieled into a row of chairs. It was a match that got better as it went along, but I don’t think I can go out of my way to recommend it. No.

Claudio Castagnoli Vs. Matt Sydal ROH Driven 6/23/07

Good short match. Plenty of tricked out armdrags, ranas, and lucha for 8 minutes. It doesn’t have a story to the match to put it as a must watch singles match. No.

Matt Cross, Erick Stevens & Delirious VS Rocky Romero, Davey Richards & Roderick Strong ROH Driven 6/23/07

Well, I can’t watch the two main events from United We Stand because Filefactory decided not to have free downloads anymore, so I am stuck going to Driven. This will probably compromise the project unless there are other available sources. But for now…

White hot opener. Just a pure sprint where everyone was made to look good and hide there weaknesses. Went a few moves too far in the end with Rocky getting up way too fast after the Corkscrew Moonsault, but this is still very good. Rewatch.

Rocky Romero vs KENTA ROH United We Stand 6/22/07

It was solid. Not really enough of a story or moments to justify the 18 minutes. No.

Takeshi Morishima Vs. Roderick Strong ROH Domination 6/9/07

Strong made this a good match. I mean he rifled off some great chops on Morishima. Still, it’s a Morishima formula match that lacks story and has the same old flaws that I have been beaten to the ground. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Kings of Wrestling 2/3 Falls ROH Domination 6/9/07

Every bit as good as there Final Battle 06 match. They just have that chemistry together where you just enjoy everything. Very fast paced and probably isn’t looked at as highly because of the end result. Rewatch.

Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH Domination 6/9/07

Great stuff here. This had great lucha, big moves, and Steen being a dick while not overstaying its welcome. Unless something drastic happens, this is probably a top 15 match for the year or higher. Rewatch.

Matt Sydal VS El Generico ROH Fight at the Roxbury 6/8/07

Good match as you would expect. Has a big referee botch and these two didn’t really spread there wings to make this anymore then that. No.

Mike Quackenbush vs Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Nigel McGuinness ROH A Fight at the Roxbury 6/8/07

Good match, but I thought it was going to be better. I was expecting more in the mat wrestling department although the lucha from the Chikara dudes was fun. The story isolating the smaller man doesn’t really work as well as Pelle getting killed in the 6-man in February. Just not good enough for me.

KENTA/Nigel McGuinness vs Takeshi Morishima/Bryan Danielson ROH Respect is Earned 5/12/07

Not what I expected. Way more back and forth then I would have thought. All the pairings were fun, however. I really need to rewatch this, just to see if I was right the first time.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Claudio Castagnoli/Matt Sydal ROH Respect is Earned 5/12/07

Very good Briscoes spotfest. Better then the MCMG match because it went around 20 minutes, but does have similar issues. Especially the back and forth and Briscoes finisher selling down the stretch. Still, both teams had some pretty looking spots and will keep it on the list for now.

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Rocky Romero ROH Respect is Earned 5/12/07

For a “Marufuji in ROH” match, this was actually good. Marufuji kept the shitty strikes to a minimum and did a pretty fine job of working the leg with Rocky selling it pretty well on first watch. Hell, Marufuji even sold the early armwork well. The final minute had some no selling rubbish, but for a match where I had low expectations, it turned out way better then I thought. Rewatch.

Delirious vs KENTA ROH Reborn Again 5/11/07

Better then people might think. The Delirious comedy was funny as was his attempts to stop KENTA from kicking him by biting his leg. Still, no one was buying the kickouts in the end and as much as KENTA can kick a good match out of people, his matches tend to lack direction. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Murder City Machine Guns ROH Good Times Great Memories 4/28/07

It’s very good on first watch, but I have no idea why this was getting the love that it was. It’s essentially a 30 minute spotfest although better then you would expect with the Machine Guns being entertaining and different in an ROH environment. I do feel that I have seen better Briscoe matches before and after this match. I will give this one more shot for now. Rewatch.

Roderick Strong vs Jack Evans ROH Good Times Great Memories 4/28/07

Pretty good, but Evans was coming back way too fast at points. Roderick laid a good beatdown, but nothing compared to there match in ASE3. I liked that match better and that’s not even on the list. No.

Takeshi Morishima vs Shingo ROH Good Times Great Memories 4/28/07

God this is a tough one. I mean it is a better Morishima formula match then most I‘ve seen with the fighting spirit spots being at least cut off. But you still have Morishima going down way too early, not really selling that he is on the brink of losing, and not really having a story to the match. If he fixed one of those issues then I could see myself rewatching it. Instead, I have to give another slight no to a Morishima match.

Takeshi Morishima vs Austin Aries ROH The Battle of St. Paul 4/27/07

I say better then the last match. I loved Aries taking the fight to Morishima early and the announcers trying to put over the combination that beat Samoa Joe could beat Morishima. But Morishima made some questionable decisions like going down for a clothesline early when he could have built him being finally knocked down or no selling the combination way too fast and easily finishing Aries off. I think the added selling issues put this outside the list. Slight no.

Takeshi Morishima vs Nigel McGuinness ROH Fighting Spirit 4/14/07

If you are a fan of fighting spirit, you may like this. I don’t because it undermines the move that was hit and I feel there are ways to get around this. Especially, when fighting spirit happens after a finisher. This was a good slugfest, but there is no story and no selling. Those two reasons are why I can’t highly recommend it. No.

Kevin Steen/El Generico vs Jay Briscoe/Erick Stevens ROH Fighting Spirit 4/14/07

This is a storyline match and is better then most Briscoe matches. The hate between Jay and Kevin was fun and everyone was really laying in there shots on each other until the NRC interference. The 2 on 1 lasted a bit too long, but then Mark comes in and it gets exciting and scary during the stretch run when Steenerico targets Mark’s head. Letting Stevens stay a bit longer and cutting some time off, it may be a MOTYC. It is still very good and is on the rewatch list.

Nigel McGuinness/Doug Williams vs Takeshi Morishima/Chris Hero ROH This Means War 2 4/13/07

It’s weird seeing Doug again. About the same as he was 3 years earlier. The match was meh. Hero stealing NOAH finishers was amusing and Morishima switching between unbeatable and overbumping was irritating. No.

Roderick Strong/Rocky Romero/Davey Richards vs Austin Aries/Matt Cross/Erick Stevens Elimination Match ROH This Means War 2 4/13/07

It was a good NRC mauling. Still it was pretty much a long squash and should have shortened. Oh, and Matt Cross sucks. No.

Colt Cabana vs. Delirious ROH This Means War 2 4/13/07

This was a fun comedy match and it actually had psychology for what that’s worth. I recommend it as a good novelty match, but not as something to go out of your way to see. Happy no, as opposed to an aggravated no like from the DG 6 man.

CIMA/Susumu Yokosuka/Shingo vs Dragon Kid/Masaaki Mochizuki/Ryo Saito ROH Supercard of Honor 2 3/31/07

God damn was the no selling egregious in this match. I mean I know the DG in ROH matches in 06 had these problems with back and forth, but they at least had an interesting first 2/3rds of the match. This didn’t. This had the same problems as the 8-man tag from ASE3, but way worse. I can’t in conscience recommend this. No.

Roderick Strong vs Austin Aries ROH Supercard of Honor 2 3/31/07

Despite what you thought of the booking at the time, it was a better match then I thought. No, it was not hate filled, but it did have a lot of learned spots in it, which made it very good in a different way. They also didn’t put themselves in any traps where the back work could have come into question. It’s good enough for a rewatch.

Jimmy Jacobs vs BJ Whitmer Steel Cage Match ROH Supercard of Honor 2 3/31/07

Well, that match was lunatic. Every sick thing they have done in there feud is here, but cranked up to 12. Is it a MOTYC? On first watch, no, barely. Without question very good, but there did seem to be some selling issues with BJ. Still, that’s why I have the rewatch, to see if I was wrong the first time.

Jack Evans & Naruki Doi VS Rocky Romero & Davey Richards ROH Supercard of Honor 2 3/31/07

It was ok, but there was too much no selling to be anything memorable. No.

CIMA/Susumu Yokosuka/Dragon Kid/Ryo Saito vs Austin Aries/Delirious/Rocky Romero/Claudio Castagnoli ROH All Star Extraveganza 3 3/30/07

For an 8 man tag, this had a lot more back and forth in it then it should have. Not that this wasn’t fun or didn’t have moments, but the two control sections left a lot to be desired. The thing is that I have seen fun matches this year that didn’t have as many of the flaws as this match did. No.

Roderick Strong vs Jack Evans ROH All Star Extraveganza 3 3/30/07

This was a lot of fun at points, but this had no business going 22 minutes. Hell, it should have not been as even as it was. Evans got stretched, tortured, and destroyed but he didn’t do as good of a job selling the damage. Strong was great at delivering a mauling, but there were points where he got back on offense way too quickly. Good, but not great. No.

Samoa Joe vs Homicide ROH Fifth Year Festival: Finale 3/4/07

Considering that this was Joe’s final match in ROH, both were kind of in cruise control here. What they did was good, but there was no story here to make it memorable. No.

Jimmy Rave vs Nigel McGuinness Fight Without Honor ROH Fifth Year Festival Finale 3/4/07

I dig this match, but there just seems to be something missing to this to really make it a MOTYC. Like I was expecting a little more leg or groin work to fill out the middle. The finishing stretch with the guardrail spots were crazy enough to put this in the rewatch pile.

Naruki Doi/Shingo vs Roderick Strong/Davey Richards ROH Fifth Year Festival Finale 3/4/07

Good spotfest, but without the story that the Jay vs Mark match had. This was fine, but people were no selling moves down the stretch and it just became a headache after a while. No.

Jay Briscoe vs Mark Briscoe ROH Fifth Year Festival Finale 3/4/07

These two belted the shit out of each other. It felt like every shot and move was executed with a little gusto to it. I would say it was a MOTYC if it wasn’t so back and forth at points. I understand that this was all about the Briscoes toughening each other up, but when a Moonsault on the outside and a supplex on the ramp aren’t treated as the big deal they should be, it just makes me think what the point of the move was. Still, this was too good not to rewatch.

Pac vs Matt Sydal ROH Fifth Year Festival Finale 3/4/07

Good storyless match, but it wasn’t as crazy as it could have been, considering who was involved. No.

BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs Falls Count Anywhere ROH Fifth Year Festival Finale 3/4/07

I dug this. I don’t think this was better then the LMS match, but it was more of Whitmer squeezing out a desperation victory then a long epic bloodbath. Have to wait later in the month to see how it ends. Keep.

Nigel McGuinness vs Samoa Joe ROH Fifth Year Festival Liverpool 3/3/07

I don’t know. This is good, but there matches in 05 were better then this. Hell, there “It All Begins” match was a better version of this match. This was ok, but they don’t really do a great job of laying out a story. Sure, you had the ref stoppage and final stretch, but I didn’t think the sequence was laid out that well. I seriously don’t see the hoopla for this match except for the crowd heat at the end. No.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Naruki Doi/Shingo ROH Fifth Year Festival Liverpool 3/3/07

And yet another DG match that was better then I thought it would be. I thought this shit was not suppose to hold up (granted there still is the rewatch portion). This match just seemed to move at a hell of a pace and it helped that Shingo was in for most of it. There probably were some selling issues, but this wasn’t hitting me in the face like other Briscoes matches. We’ll have to see on the rewatch.

Roderick Strong vs Pac ROH Fifth Year Festival Liverpool 3/3/07

Damn, this is a coin flip. Strong was a really great dickish ass kicker and Pac took a hell of a beatdown. They lose me with the story though. Strong does his work the back strategy and then he just goes away from it in the middle of the control segment. If you want to be a storyless match, then fine. But don’t do a match where you tell a story and then change it mid match. There was also some no selling in this which hurt the match. I mean a lot of the moves in the match looked brutal, but at 18 minutes I have to give this a slight no.

Delirious vs Matt Sydal 2/3 Falls ROH Fifth Year Festival Liverpool 3/3/07

The best in there series by far. Just there best executed match with the most logical transitions. Adding the face/heel dynamic gave this more of an added dimension. Keep.

Takeshi Morishima/Nigel McGuinness vs Samoa Joe/Homicide ROH Fifth Year Festival Chicago 2/24/07

It was fine I guess. They did a lot of similar spots that were done in Morishima/Joe and Morishima/Homicide. Some confusion in the match along with some Nigel no selling took me out of it. I’m just not feeling this. No.

Jimmy Jacobs vs Colt Cabana Windy City Death Match ROH Fifth Year Festival Chicago 2/24/07

Not the MOTYC people feel this is. Hell, I’m kind of on the fence if I find this good enough to rewatch. It’s definitely bloody fun and they do a lot right, but there are moments where it didn’t work. The stuff with Albright and Whitmer didn’t really work, the hammer and spike spot was kind of silly, and it took a long while to set up a table for the senton spot. I would be insane not to give this a another shot, but I’m not sure it’s better then the LMS match between Jacobs/Whitmer. Rewatch.

Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe ROH Fifth Year Festival Chicago 2/24/07

Good stuff, but it falls into the same line of storyless matches we’ve seen before. Well it’s not like Daniels/Sydal didn’t do a rib work story, but there the Briscoes so take a guess how that went. Still a fine match, but is only significant for the title switch. No.

Davey Richards vs Samoa Joe Fifth Year Festival Dayton 2/23/07

I really liked this. Joe just beats the shit out of Richards for most of the match and eventually Richards has to use low blows in order to have a shot to win. Joe covered up Davey’s weaknesses enough to make this nominated. Keep.

Pelle Primeau vs Matt Cross vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Shingo vs Mark Briscoe vs Roderick Strong Fifth Year Festival Dayton 2/23/07

This was some fun shit. The three heels absolutely Pelle was pretty great even though there was some stuff that didn’t come off well. It got stellar during the home stretch with a lot of great spots. Keep.

Homicide vs Takeshi Morishima Fifth Year Festival Philly 2/17/07

I still kind of thought this was good, but this just reinforced why Homicide can be such a stupid wrestler at times. He is facing a way bigger wrestler in Morishima and he decides to have a match as if they were equals. Morishima is a good bumper and all, but you need to build toward that moment. So Morishima has been good so far although he will get restholdy at times. Still, Homicide dragged this down. No.

El Generico/Kevin Steen vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe Fifth Year Festival Philly 2/17/07

Really good start to this feud, but I’m on the fence when it comes to including this. There were lapses in action whether it was setting up for the next spot or someone being lost. I know for a fact that this feud will get better and with that I have to give this a slight no.

Homicide vs Jimmy Rave ROH World Title Match Fifth Year Festival NYC 2/16/07

I liked this, but it was far from perfect. Homicide had a big case of the stupids at points. He complains that his back is hurt, and then does a top rope senton. Same thing happened when he had the heel hook applied then did a big boot immediately after. Rave did stuff outside his comfort zone like a dive to the floor. It was fine, but it is not listable. No.

Samoa Joe vs Takeshi Morishima Fifth Year Festival NYC 2/16/07

This was a fun super heavyweight slugfest. It may not be deep in story or anything (although Joe did go after Morishima’s bloody nose), but it was what you wanted it to be. I’m on the fence in whether this was a MOTYC or not. I’m leaning towards no because the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Needs to be rewatched

Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal vs Austin Aries/Roderick Strong ROH Fifth Year Festival NYC 2/16/07

Good match, but could have been better. It was really fun when GenNext were fucking up Sydal. I thought it was going turn into back work on Strong, but it never came to be. Eventually Aries botches a quebrada and it starts to lose its luster after that. It sucks it had to end that way for GenNext but what are you going to do. No.

Brent Albright vs BJ Whitmer Tables Are Legal Match ROH Fifth Year Festival NYC 2/16/07

It was interesting. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it could have been but the table spots were not sold as well as they should have been. Add in a fighting spirit spot and I can easily nix this. No.

Delirious/Davey Richards/Shingo vs Austin Aries/Roderick Strong/Jack Evans ROH Battle of the Icons 1/27/07

This is a tricky one. On one hand, it is a really fun match with some good comedy moments. On the other hand, it is like every Richards tag match I’ve seen in 06 where there is no story and a chunk of restholds. This is a good match, but there are spaces in the match where it drags in the middle with Team Davey. Even if I were to nominate it, I am pretty confident it would not hold up on rewatch. Slight no.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer Last Man Standing ROH Battle of the Icons 1/27/07

Awesome match again. Probably there second best match so far. I don’t think I should be repeating this, but it is these two bleeding like stuck pigs and taking hideous bumps and it rules. But is it a MOTYC. I say no. The crowd brawling in the beginning didn’t do anything for me, and the ending should not have counted because Albright broke up the count. Still, this is at least very good and is on the rewatch pile.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Austin Aries/Roderick Strong ROH 2/3 Falls Dedicated 1/26/07

I wasn’t feeling this. I feel like we have been there and done that with this series. There just isn’t anything interesting to do in this feud anymore. It looked like they tried to do a back work story, but Jay, SHOCKINGLY, didn’t sell it. Imagine that. No.

Rocky Romero vs Davey Richards ROH Dedicated 1/26/07

For what it was, this was good, I guess. Still, the striking would fluctuate from good to mediocre, there was no story, it was back and forth, was restholdy, and submissions would not be sold properly. So it was like the worst parts of a Kurt Angle formula match with some fire thrown into it. No.

Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal vs. Austin Aries/Roderick Strong ROH A Night of Tribute 11/19/05

Disappointing, but still good. The lack of story really grounded this match. If you are going to do a storyless match, then it better stick out from the rest and this just didn’t do that. No.

And with that, ROH 05 is complete.

1. Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi Joe vs. Kobashi 10/1/05
2. Bryan Danielson vs. James Gibson Glory By Honor IV 9/17/05
3. Low-Ki vs. KENTA Final Battle 2005 12/17/05
4. Generation Next vs. The Embassy War Games Cage Match Steel Cage Warfare 12/3/05
5. Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe Steel Cage Warfare 12/3/05
6. Austin Aries vs Samoa Joe ROH World Title Match 3rd Year Anniversary Part 3 2/26/05
7. Matt Hardy VS Roderick Strong ROH Punk: The Final Chapter 8/13/05
8. Alex Shelley/Delirious vs Generation Next ROH Nowhere to Run 5/14/05
9. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley and Abyss Six Man War Buffalo Stampede 10/15/05
10. Kenta Kobashi & Homicide vs. Samoa Joe & Low-Ki Unforgettable 10/2/05
11. Spanky and CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal Back to Basics 3/12/05
12. James Gibson vs. Black Tiger ROH Manhattan Mayhem 5/7/05
13. Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong This Means War 10/29/05
14. Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans and Austin Aries ROH Third Anniversary Celebration Part 2 2/25/05
15. CM Punk vs Jay Lethal ROH World Title Match Sign of Dishonor 7/8/05
16. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness ROH It All Begins 1/15/05
17. Jimmy Rave/Alex Shelley/Abyss vs Austin Aries/Roderick Strong/Matt Sydal ROH Redemption 8/12/05
18. Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana ROH Death Before Dishonor III 6/18/05
19. Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli This Means War 10/29/05
20. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness ROH Dragon Gate Invasion 8/27/05
21. Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuiness vs. Alex Shelley ROH Double Stakes Four-Corner Survival Match Stalemate 4/16/05
22. CM Punk vs. James Gibson ROH Fate of An Angel 7/16/05
23. James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Survival Of The Fittest 2005 9/24/05
24. Bryan Danielson VS Austin Aries Enter the Dragon 10/14/05
25. Bryan Danielson vs. Spanky ROH Best of the American Super-Juniors Tournament 4/2/05
26. Roderick Strong vs. James Gibson Unforgettable 10/2/05
27. Bryan Danielson vs Rocky Romero ROH World Title Match Steel Cage Warfare 12/3/05
28. Austin Aries vs. James Gibson ROH The Final Showdown 5/13/05
29. James Gibson vs. Austin Aries ROH World Title Match Stalemate 4/16/05
30. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs. Low-Ki & Homicide ROH Punk: The Final Chapter 8/13/05
31. CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave Cage Match ROH Nowhere To Run 5/14/05
32. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley vs Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal Enter the Dragon 10/14/05
33. Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal Fight without Honor Glory By Honor IV 9/17/05 (1st match)
34. Jay Lethal vs BJ Whitmer vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe Final Battle 2005 12/17/05
35. Jimmy Rave VS AJ Styles ROH 3rd Year Anniversary Part 2 2/25/05
36. Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs. CM Punk/Ace Steel ROH The Final Showdown 5/13/05
37. AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong ROH Fate of An Angel 7/16/05
38. CM Punk vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Title ROH The Homecoming 7/23/05

Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley ROH Showdown in Motown 11/4/05

Except for the arm work, this did nothing for me. I was expecting a little more hate to this considering the feud at that point, but it felt very pedestrian. No.

AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries ROH This Means War 10/29/05

It was good, but considering who was involved, it should have been better. Aries was the better wrestler selling his hurt back the entire match. AJ didn’t sell his midsection work and just didn’t seem to be on the same page with Aries all match, except for a couple of cool moves. Maybe part of it is expectations, but there have been so many awesome matches this year that I can easily discount this one. Slight no.

Bryan Danielson vs. Steve Corino ROH Buffalo Stampede 10/15/05

It was ok but there was way too much resetting in it. Like half the match took up that and the crowd getting on Corino. Should have cut the time in half. No.

James Gibson vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Survival Of The Fittest 2005 9/24/05

This ended up being better then I expected. The majority of the match was a body part being worked over a bit until they took over and they worked a body part. Most of the selling from both wrestlers were actually good except for Daniels dropping the neck selling too soon. As a matter of fact, I would have cut that section out entirely along with Daniels weak blade job. Why, because the match didn’t need 26 minutes, especially when it ended on a regular finisher anyway without any of the work mattering or being used as a transition point. Still, I thought I was going to hate, and this ended up being a pleasant surprise. #23.

Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Rave ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 2 11/6/04

Good little match. A tad messy at points and the neck work didn’t really matter, but for what it was it was perfectly fine. No. And the results stay the same for ROH 04.

Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness ROH Dragon Gate Invasion 8/27/05

Despite the quiet crowd, this was very good. It had some really smart strategy by Nigel to have Joe get his warning and to work on Joe’s arm after the chair shot through the ropes. It actually makes me want to rewatch there Future is Now match to see if I underrated that. The lack of heat does hurt the match, but there is enough good stuff here that puts this on the list. For now, #20.

James Gibson vs. Spanky ROH Night of the Grudges II 8/20/05

It was OK. Spanky the heel was fun, but he needed more convincing offense to make it work. The story was fine, but the crowd sucked for this. It felt like they were expecting a longer match and the match didn’t become as good as it could have been. No.

Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs. James Gibson/Spanky ROH Punk: The Final Chapter 8/13/05

This is a tough call. This is most certainly a good tag, but I’m confused with what they were doing with the story. You had your early arm wringers from Gibson/Spanky which gets dropped when they were in control and you had Jacobs working Spanky’s neck during the FIP section but Whitmer wasn’t making any effort to work it. Add the heel turn at the end and I don’t know what to think. I am leaning toward a slight no.

AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave ROH The Homecoming 7/23/05

Wasn’t feeling this. It felt very repetitious in the beginning and threw me out of it early. There were some nice moments later on, but I wasn’t feeling this. No.

Havana Pitbulls vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 1 11/5/04

This kind of stunk. Neither just seemed to be on the right page and the match went way too long. Hell no.

Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal vs. John Walters/Nigel McGuinness ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 1 11/5/04

Finally, found this show.

This was good, but not in the way I expected. In the opposite of what I expected, Joe performance was the worst of the bunch. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t bringing it with the strikes like he usually does. Also, Nigel was the FIP instead of Lethal. He was fine, but you have Lethal right there, so why not use him. Lastly, it was storyless. Although I liked this, I’ve seen better matches that didn’t have a story. No.

Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave ROH Fate of an Angel 7/16/05

Good match, but it went too long. Joe beating the shit out of Rave was good times and Rave coming back by using the shoelace was fun. I feel that a couple minutes could have been shaved and the camera was focusing way too much on Nana’s treatment of Jade. It also didn’t really feel like a Pure Title match. No.

James Gibson vs. Alex Shelley vs. Azrieal vs. Jimmy Rave ROH Escape From New York 7/9/05

This dragged. Especially when Azrieal was in most of the match and the match goes 22 minutes. Gibson is the best wrestler, but he was in the least and this just doesn’t work. Hell no.

Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki ROH Death Before Dishonor III 6/18/05

This was good, but this match made me realize why Lethal was tagging with Joe. His comeback offense just isn’t that great especially against Low Ki. His neck selling was great, but he works better when he is tagging Joe in. Ki was his usual good self. I want to love this more, but it was a little awkward in the beginning and Ki’s control section wasn’t as memorable as the GBH3 match. Add the ending, which would have worked if it wasn’t for the ref not seeming to give a shit, and I have to say no.

Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana ROH Death Before Dishonor III 6/18/05

Another sweet Samoa Joe match. Cabana pisses him off early which leads to a rope break and a warning which eventually leads to a closed fist. Eventually, Joe works the arm which was fun and Colt did a pretty good job selling it. I wish the crowd was hotter down the stretch, but for some reason they weren’t biting. This is still really damn good and is on the list. Right now, #18.

James Gibson vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Nowhere To Run 5/14/05

This was good, but it took a while to get going. It looked like we were going somewhere with the leg work in the beginning, but only led to a very pedestrian control section by BJ and didn’t really do well in selling it. Got good in the end, but the first 2/3’s were a waste. No.

Jimmy Rave vs. Matt Sydal ROH The Final Showdown 5/13/05

Good solid match. Rave had some nice midsection work Sydal was alright with the selling, but it feels like something’s off with it. Like it feels like he hits all of his moves way too easily at times. Rave kicking out of the moonsault belly to belly tipped the scales in favor of No.

Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs. CM Punk/Ace Steel ROH The Final Showdown 5/13/05

I may be overrating this, but this was pretty damn good. The pre-match scuffle between BJ and the SCS was useless, considering nothing came from it. The beginning was your usual headlock and head scissor fare, but it got better in the middle and end. JesHuss win actually came off as organic without any of the no selling. The match is not deep in story, but there is enough there where I can barely put on the list. #33.

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 3 2/26/05

Except for the bootlace hiding, this did nothing for me. I thought this should have been shortened with Rave controlling from the get go without any control from Punk. It is not that Punk is bad, but it felt like he went through the motions in his control section. At least in the cage match, when Punk was going through the motions, it was at least under the guise that Nana wouldn’t interfere. It just doesn’t work here. No.

Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (Falls Count Anywhere) ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 3 2/26/05

This was … amusing. It isn’t as bad as some people may say, but seriously, small packages and backslides on the floor in a match that I thought was going to be hate filled. What really kills the match for me is how back and forth it was. No.

Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (Taped Fist) ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 1 2/19/05

On the low end for this rivalry. It was still fun when they were fighting in the crowd, but when they were in the ring, the match kind of dragged. Only for those who really need to see the entire Danielson/Homicide rivalry. No.

CM Punk vs. Spanky ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 1 2/19/05

Good, I guess. Good leg selling from Punk and even Spanky was fine selling the neck. It’s just that the match was kind of basic with nothing really standing out as being memorable. I also felt there was no momentum to the match at points because of Punk not getting any move off because his leg was hurt. I understand it was the story, but it got repetitive after a while. No.

Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 1 2/19/05

Weird match. It looked like they were trying to do this grudge match, but the crowd was just quiet throughout it. It’s a shame because they was some good stuff in the beginning and then it became a no selling clinic to pop the crowd and I just don’t dig those types of matches. No.

Austin Aries vs. Colt Cabana ROH It All Begins 1/15/05

Better match then Scramble Cage Melee but only good. It got off to a nice start, but Colt was just coming back way too quickly at points. The match just got worse from there with the somewhat clever ending. Still, I’m not in love with it. No.

Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness ROH It All Begins 1/15/05

This was pretty damn good. Every bit as good as there encounter at “The Future is Now”. Nigel tries to neutralize Joe with the cravat until Joe eventually uses his strikes to take control. Nigel eventually fires up and ended up being better then I thought it would be. The crowd sort of hurt the match because they didn’t buy the upset happening. There were also two bad set-ups for moves down the stretch. One with Joe deliberately going to the top rope for the Tower of London, and Nigel doing the headstand in the corner for a third time and predictably being taken out. This match is the tighter of the two and is going on the list. #16.

Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki ROH Final Battle 2004 12/26/04

This was a good match, but disappointing considering who was involved. Danielson was pretty awesome while Ki wasn’t bad but his control section on Danielson’s arm left a lot to be desired. Danielson took control and fucked Ki shit up just as much as he did Homicide last show. It was just too bad there weren’t enough moments like that. No.

I have watched all the missing matches minus the Weekend of Thunder shows. I may have to get back to that later. Here is the revamped list for ROH 04.

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. Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04
9. Pure Title Match Finals Alex Shelley vs Doug Williams ROH Reborn Completion 7/17/04
10. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04
11. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries ROH Final Battle 2004 12/26/04
12. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans vs. Briscoe Bros., Jimmy Rave, & John Walters ROH Generation Next 5/22/04
13. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters, & Matt Stryker ROH World Title Classic 6/12/04
14. Havana Pitbulls vs. BJ Whitmer/Dan Maff vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs. The Carnage Crew Ultimate Endurance ROH Glory By Honor III 9/11/04
15. Doug Williams vs. Chris Sabin ROH 2nd Anniversary Show 2/14/04
16. Colt Cabana/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04
17. Nigel McGuiness vs Jimmy Rave vs Rocky Romero vs Austin Aries ROH Reborn Stage 2 4/24/04
18. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04
19. Austin Aries vs Low Ki ROH All Star Extravaganza 12/4/04
20. CM Punk vs. Hydro (Jay Lethal) ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04
21. ROH Title Match Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04
22. Hardcore Match CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer ROH Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 2 7/24/04
23. 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
24. Doug Williams vs. Austin Aries ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04
25. The Briscoes vs. The Havana Pitbulls ROH Reborn: Stage One 4/23/04

Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04

Damn, another sweet match from this show. Hell another sweet match from this rivalry. This was the Danielson that people called the best in the world and not the 06 version. Danielson was just fucking up Homicide and just being a total ass kicker. Homicide seemed to have legit sprained his ankle when he got body slammed on the entrance. It actually affected the match in a positive way because his bad tendencies were kept to a minimum although there were glimpses of it. Probably went too long considering his condition. Not as good as there match in April, but another listable match. #18 for now.

Colt Cabana/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans ROH All Star Extravaganza II 12/4/04

This was damn fun. The shenanigans with Jim Cornette and Bobby Heenan ruled and was a damn good match in its own right. There were some execution issues with Evans but from a pure fun perspective this is certainly on the list. #17.

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

Just as tough of a judgment as last time. The first couple minutes weren’t necessarily bad, but I felt like the feeling out process ran too long. Ki working on Aries chest was awesome. He was a bit methodical because of the draw, but all of his offense was great. Aries selling was more along the lines of “I’m worn out” as opposed to “My chest is crushed”. The ending was still obvious. This held up well on rewatch and it is listable. #17.

CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong No DQ ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 2 11/6/04

It was fine at points, but as a whole, it just didn’t click. Some will look at Ace not getting the chair under the leg with the second rope Arabian Face Buster botch and Evans short the 630 through the table botch as hurting the match. I think more of the issue was just there being too much dead time between set ups and the crowd being cold in the middle. No.

CM Punk vs. Austin Aries ROH Weekend of Thunder Night 1 11/5/04

Damnit. I can’t find the Weekend of Thunder shows. Maybe I can find the shows later on. However, I did get two of the five matches.

Good match, but would have been great with better circumstances. Those circumstances being the lights going out in the middle of the match and the crowd heat being terrible. I feel bad because Aries was tremendous picking apart Punk’s leg. Punk’s selling was ok in that it wasn’t atrocious. Add in a bit of awkwardness here and there and I have to give this a slight no.

Samoa Joe vs. Rocky Romero ROH Gold 10/15/04

It wasn’t bad per se, but it felt like a lesser version of a Joe vs Low Ki match. Hell, it kind of felt like a lesser version of the Romero vs Danielson match from Steel Cage Warfare in 05. The striking wasn’t as stiff as it could have been and since that is the forte of both wrestlers, I find it somewhat surprising even though Joe vs Punk II was tomorrow. No.

Jay Lethal vs. Chad Collyer ROH Gold 10/15/04

Good match carried by Lethal’s selling. It’s just too bad that this match looked too much like the Shelley/Lethal match at Scramble Cage Melee. Unlike the other match, this served its purpose and ended when it needed to. Still, I think the beginning was a bit too basic and I have to barely say no.

CM Punk vs. Homicide ROH Gold 10/15/04

Good match, but I felt I should have liked this more. Part of it is that the beginning had Homicide getting back on offense way too quickly, especially after being suplexed on chairs. Homicide did sell the back somewhat well during the rest of the match to be fair. Punk had his neck worked on and he didn’t really sell any of it. If the selling was better I would consider listing it, but this just lacks the polish to put it over the line.  No.

Alex Shelley/Austin Aries/Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs. CM Punk/Ace Steel/John Walters/Jimmy Jacobs (Elimination) ROH Midnight Express Reunion 10/2/04

God, this was such a pain in the ass. Illogically set up and wouldn’t fucking end. Seriously, Walters is getting his ass kicked for an eternity at the end and rather then just finish up, they let it go for another several agonizing minutes. This Gen Next vs Walter’s & Co. feud has been the very definition of diminishing returns. Hell no.

Havana Pitbulls vs. BJ Whitmer/Dan Maff vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs. The Carnage Crew Ultimate Endurance ROH Glory By Honor III 9/11/04

1st fall- tap out match
2nd fall- scramble match
3rd fall- regular match

Fuck this was way better then I thought it would be. This one was a 20 minute sprint and was quite the brawl. Yes, people will balk at the double submission being allowed, that the third fall was probably more of a scramble then the second fall, and some may not like the ending. But this was a hell of a lot of fun and put over Maff/Whitmer as warriors. #15.

Samoa Joe vs. Doug Williams ROH Glory By Honor III 9/11/04

Did nothing for me. I thought they were going to do a striker vs mat technician match, but it just seemed to go on forever. Doug seemed out of it and Joe didn’t really push himself enough to make this good. No.

John Walters vs Nigel McGuiness ROH Glory by Honor 3 9/11/04 (rewatch)

Good match, but doesn’t hold up. The thing I noticed this go around was Walters neck work and Nigel not selling any of it. The mat work is still really nifty, but the selling wasn’t great and the ending would have been great if the dive didn’t happen before that. No.

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 (rewatch)

You know what, fuck the haters I really liked this. It’s was chaotic spotfest, but it highlighted the feuds and storylines and had some memorable dives. Yes, Maff/Whitmer and the Carnage Crew could have sold the dives longer, and yes, Acid vs. Evans had some no selling along with the top of the cage huricanrana looking bad. Still, this was the best match on the Scramble Cage Melee by a long shot. #19.

Havana Pitbulls vs. Izzy/Dixie ROH Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

I got what they were going for, but it was pretty bland. They were trying to show that the upset could happen, but the crowd seemed to suck that day. No.

Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries ROH Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

This…sucked. There just didn’t seem to be any chemistry there and to add to that it went long and was done in front of a dead crowd. They tried to make it special with Colt getting busted open and having his shoulder worked over, but didn’t do the best job in selling it. The only good part was Colt schoolboying the referee thinking he won only to have Aries raise his hand and hit a clothesline. Definitely, no.

Jay Lethal vs Alex Shelley ROH Scramble Cage Melee 8/28/04

This is a tough one. I liked the destruction of Lethal’s leg and his selling, but it felt like that they ran out of ideas in a match that went only 12 minutes. It also didn’t help that it was back and forth at points especially after the dragon suplex. For that, I say no.

Briscoes vs. Homicide/Low Ki ROH Testing the Limit 8/7/04

It was some good tag team wrestling. I really have nothing bad to say about the match, but there wasn’t really any story to the match or any moment in it to really make me remember this as being more then good. No.

Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

Wasn’t as good as it could have been. Colt seemed to be groggy at points and it really hurt the pace of the match. Joe was awesome as usual, but there wasn’t really any focus in this match to make high end. No.

Homicide vs. Jay Briscoe ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

Like Ki/Mark, this was good. This was at least shorter, but it was too back and forth at points. Had somewhat similar finish like there Survival of the Fittest match right down to the ref literally watching Smokes cheat. No.

Low Ki vs. Mark Briscoe ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

Good, but went too long for what they were trying to accomplish. Ki should have just gave him a great ass beating in half the time instead of doing a longer average ass beating. No.

Doug Williams vs. Austin Aries ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

Tough call but I really liked a chunk of this. The match had great arm work by Williams and great arm selling by Aries. Williams did sell his neck for a little bit even though it wasn’t really the story. However, Williams no selling shined through in the finishing stretch. Reminded me of the Aries/McGuiness match from February 06. I felt like the work in this match was more interesting and is on the list. #19.

John Walters/Matt Stryker vs. Roderick Strong/Jack Evans ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

It looked like it could be a great match, but it sort of petered out. Walters was not doing the best job of selling a simple beatdown and making the comeback way too fast and Strong and Evans weren’t as awesome as they were in there match against Special K. It didn’t help at the end that the ref saw Shelley purposely break up a submission. Just can’t do it. No.

Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 2 7/24/04

A little bit better then there first match, but still lacking something. It had some nice mat wrestling, but neither side does anything extraordinary to take that match to the next level. Good, but unmemorable. No.

Austin Aries/Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Jacobs/John Walters/Matt Stryker ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 1 7/23/04

This match was kind of messy. This does not make me forget the 6-man from World Title Classic. The match kind of had a pointless Stryker FIP section before it got to Jacobs being killed. Some sections in the match looked like it was building to something bigger and it just didn’t come together because of communication issues. Pretty forgettable. No.

Low Ki/Rocky Romero vs. BJ Whitmer/Dan Maff, ROH Death Before Dishonor 2 Night 1 7/23/04

It was alright, but this reminds me why I don’t like the Rottweilers. They tend to overuse there heel tricks too much, and the heel ticks aren’t even used that well to begin with. Ki and Rocky were trying to trick the referee that they were tagging, but they don’t even bother to clap there hands to convince the ref that a tag had been made and this happened several times. Maff made this match work with his arm selling and general awesomeness and to be fair, Ki, Rocky, and Smokes bumped really well for them. Still, the match just didn’t do it for me. No.

Jack Evans/Roderick Strong vs. Dixie/Izzy ROH Reborn: Completion 7/17/04

Good 9 minute match. I think my issue with the match was how the match was set up with Strong taken most of the beating instead of Jack early on. The teamwork of both teams was damn good although Special K looked blown up at points. I want to give this match more love, but the lack of story prevents me from making it listable. No.

CM Punk vs. Hydro (Jay Lethal) ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04

I really dug this and I am a little surprised this doesn’t get more love. Lethal is great at selling an asskicking and the back and Punk is a great smarmy heel being more concerned about embarassing Hydro then beating him and paying for it. The crowd could have been better and I probably would have taken some time off the match. Although probably not better, this match is comparable to there 05 match. #16.

Jay Briscoe vs. Homicide ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04

This kind of sucked. The interference happening right in front of the referee was the cherry on top. Hell No.

Alex Shelley vs. Mark Briscoe ROH Survival of the Fittest 6/24/04

Good match, but too back and forth. Had some good selling from Shelley and alright selling from Mark. Beside the back and forth, it just didn’t grab me. No.

Dan Maff/BJ Whitmer vs. Colt Cabana/Ace Steel vs. Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs. Jack Evans/Austin Aries Ultimate Endurance (Submission, Scramble, No DQ) World Title Classic 6/12/04

Good match, better then I thought it would be. I can say that none of the gimmicks were bad, but I feel the match should have been shorter as a whole. Especially after Joe/Punk I happened earlier in the night. Submission match was fine although I felt it took a bit too long to getting Evans isolated where it began to get awesome. Scramble match was fine although a bit no selly. The No DQ match would have been great if time was cut from it, so it was only good. None of the three matches gave me a reason to consider this a great match. No.

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

Held up pretty well. The story of Rave being targeted for arm submissions was fun and Rave’s selling didn’t come off as bad as I first thought because he never used his arm once during the final stretch. Probably, could have shaved some time from the Rave/Aries headlock section, but it was still a quality 4-way. Right now, #15.

The Briscoes vs. The Havana Pitbulls ROH Reborn: Stage One 4/23/04

This is a close one. This match was better then I thought to the point where I feel like I am overrating it. Had a great story with Rocky being the constant shit stirrer and stealing some of the Briscoes spots. However, it was slow at points and Reyes gassed out in the end. Still, the story elevates it just enough to just be #17 on my list.

Carnage Crew VS Special K Scramble Cage ROH At Our Best 3/13/04

Well, this sure was something. The Carnage Crew team had the Carnage Crew, Masada, Justin Credible, and Dusty fuckin Rhodes and Special K had…everyone. The Wargames rules got thrown out the window in the middle and it became a giant clusterfuck. Dusty did his thing, until he was dragged out by Ox fuckin Baker, Justin did his thing with the cane, and Carnage Crew got there revenge. Special K doing dives when they have the numbers advantage doesn’t make any sense but this whole match was just mish mash of stuff that only ravers could understand. It was interesting, but no.

Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs ROH The Last Stand 1/29/04

Good start to there ROH feud but this will not make you forget there I Quit match. The announcers wanted to give the impression that Shelley was working over Jacobs neck, but I really didn’t get that moment where the neck was a target. It did have a really fun beginning, but there isn’t enough there to be listable. No.

Alex Shelley vs. Matt Stryker ROH The Battle Lines Are Drawn (Pure Rules) 1/10/04

By pure stubbornness, I was able to find this match. And in the end, I am not even sure if it was worth it. It wasn’t a bad match per say, but it left a lot to be desired. I mean this was the first pure rules match and they were there to work out the kinks. Shelley leg selling was great, but the match took a bit long to get going. Like nothing could grab my attention like the Williams/Sabin match from next month. No.

CM Punk vs. Doug Williams ROH 2nd Anniversary Show 2/14/04

Good match, but not as good as the other match. This had more of a face/heel structure which was fine, but it just didn’t to it for me. Doug’s leg selling was actually good and I liked the ending, but I think that it ended kind of abruptly. This one, for a change, needed more time. No.

Doug Williams vs. Chris Sabin ROH 2nd Anniversary Show 2/14/04

OK, here’s the deal, finding ROH 2004 before the megaupload crackdown was a pain in the ass. Now it is damn near impossible. So I am going out of order for 04 and in all likelihood 05.

This was a slick little match. The match only went about 8 minutes, but you had a great story of Doug targeting the neck and Sabin using his flying to get in offense. Sabin’s selling was pretty good and the match had no filler in it. Doug did try to get back on offense at bit too quick once or twice, but this is about as good of an under 10 minute match you will get. Right now #14.

Steve Corino vs CM Punk vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03

Honestly, disappointing. I felt like they were trying to give the impression that this was a deeper match then it actually was. If that was the case then there should have been hate and brutality in it which I didn’t feel was there. It also didn’t help that Corino and Daniels were in there most of the match. It is not that they are bad, it is that Joe and Punk are right there and better. No.

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. No Rope Barbed Wire Match Homicide vs. Steve Corino ROH War of the Wire 11/29/03
7. Christopher Daniels vs. Paul London ROH Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II 4/26/03
8. ROH Title Shot Match Xavier vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 8/16/03
9. Christopher Daniels vs. John Walters ROH Empire State Showdown 10/25/03
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. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson ROH One Year Anniversary Show 2/8/03
14. Jody Fleisch vs Low Ki ROH Night of Champions 3/22/03
15. Tag Titles Match Briscoe Bros. vs. Samoa Joe & AJ Styles ROH The Conclusion 11/28/03
16. ROH Title Shot Match Homicide vs. Colt Cabana vs. Dan Maff vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Death Before Dishonor 7/19/03
17. Hardcore Match Xavier vs. John Walters ROH Final Battle 2003 12/27/03
18. Fighting Spirit Challenge Homicide vs. BJ Whitmer ROH Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03
19. ROH Title Shot - FWA Title Match Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams ROH Night of Champions 3/22/03
20. ROH Title Shot Match Low Ki vs. Paul London vs. AJ Styles ROH One Year Anniversary Show 2/8/03
21. CM Punk vs. AJ Styles ROH Tradition Continues 10/16/03

Matt Stryker vs. Tom Carter ROH Do or Die 5/31/03

This was ok, but it took too long to get going. Time could have been cut from it and the match would have been better. There were also a lot of pin attempts they should have not wasted there time doing. It got good near the end where they seemed to have a story with Carter going after the leg, but it just makes me think why they couldn’t establish this in the beginning. No.

Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson ROH One Year Anniversary Show 2/8/03

No where near as good as the first match, but still very fun. Joe was just godly in kicking Danielson’s ass. Danielson was problematic between not selling the back early in the match to small packaging Joe after he got powerbombed in the end. This reminded me of the Joe/Homicide match from 03 in that Joe was so great in the match that you could ignore the opponents short comings. With some shuffling of the list, this is #13.

Shinjiro Ohtani/Masato Tanaka v. Steve Corino/Low Ki ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02

Very good match. They cut a pretty outstanding pace and every move hit looked painful. It was a tad back and forth and Corino’s nearfalls on Ohtani were met with apathy, but Ki was in for the most part and Tanaka and Ohtani were great asskickers. Probably the tenth best match for ROH 02. With a bit of shuffling, here is the new list.

ROH 2002
1. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles ROH A Night of Appreciation 4/27/02
2. Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson ROH Round Robin Challenge 3/30/02
3. Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Christopher Daniels The Era of Honor Begins 2/23/02
4. Fight Without Honor Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe ROH Glory By Honor 10/5/02
5. Paul London vs Bryan Danielson ROH Night of the Butcher 12/7/02
6. Low Ki vs. Amazing Red ROH Road to the Title 6/22/02
7. Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe ROH Honor Invades Boston – 8/24/02
8. Low Ki vs. Spanky vs. Doug Williams vs. Christopher Daniels 60 Minute Iron Man Match ROH Crowning a Champion 7/27/02
9. Hardcore Match Paul London vs. Michael Shane ROH Unscripted 9/21/02
10. Shinjiro Ohtani/Masato Tanaka v. Steve Corino/Low Ki ROH All Star Extravaganza 11/9/02
11. 30 Minute Iron Man Match Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams ROH Scramble Madness 11/16/02
12. Bryan Danielson vs. Christopher Daniels ROH Round Robin Challenge 3/30/02

Christopher Daniels/Donovan Morgan vs Dick Togo/Ikuto Hidaka ROH Unscripted 9/21/02

This is a tough call. This was a fun 15 minute match, but there were issues with it. Like I wanted to see some Daniels/Togo stuff and end up getting Hidaka and Modest for a chunk of it. It also had more finishers for a match that had chicanery at the end. Add a bit of no selling and I regrettably have to leave this off. Slight no.

Jose Maximo/Joel Maximo/Chris Devine v. Insane Dragon/Dixie/Brian XL ROH Honor Invades Boston 8/24/02

It was what it was, a spotfest. SAT sucked in this while everybody else was ok, I guess. This match didn’t really piss me off as much as it should because at least this was short. Still execution is all over the place and the set up for some of the moves were preposterous. Only notable for showing what the undercards looked like in ROH ten years ago. No.

Jody Fliesch v. Jonny Storm ROH Road to the Title 6/22/02

Right now I am going to watch a lot of matches that I missed from 02-05 without the benefit of megaupload. You never know, there could be an underrated match somewhere.

Better then I thought it would be. Except for the spots, not that good. It was nice they kept it to a 7 minute sprint, but nothing was built, there was no selling, and botchy at points. No connection from one spot to the other and very choreographed but that’s the early 2000’s for you. No.

The best ROH matches of 2006

1. BJ Whitmer, Ace Steel, Adam Pearce, Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson & Homicide VS Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, Necro Butcher, Nate Webb & Eddie Kingston Cage of Death Death Before Dishonor IV 7/15/06
2. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide. Final Battle 2006 12/23/06
3. Homicide vs. Colt Cabana Ghetto Street Fight Fourth Anniversary Show 2/25/06
4. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs Dragon Gate Challenge 3/30/06
5. Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce vs. Chris Hero, Necro Butcher, & Super Dragon The 100th Show 4/22/06
6. Nigel McGuinness VS Bryan Danielson Weekend of Champions Night 2 4/29/06
7. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness Generation Now 7/29/06
8. Jimmy Rave/Alex Shelley/Abyss vs Jimmy Yang/Jack Evans/Matt Sydal Tag Wars 1/27/06
9. BJ Whitmer/Jimmy Jacobs/Adam Pearce vs Jimmy Yang/Jack Evans/Matt Sydal Tag Wars 1/27/06
10. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi Better Than Our Best 4/1/06
11. AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal Hell Freezes Over 1/14/06
12. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Delirious vs. CIMA, Shingo & Matt Sydal. Final Battle 2006 12/23/06
13. Jay & Mark Briscoe VS Austin Aries & Roderick Strong Unified 8/12/06
14. Jay & Mark Briscoe VS Matt Sydal & Davey Richards Anarchy in the UK 8/13/06
15. Jay Briscoe vs Austin Aries How We Roll 5/12/06
16. Jimmy Jacobs VS BJ Whitmer In You Face 6/17/06
17. Bryan Danielson vs KENTA Glory by Honor 5 Night 2 9/16/06
18. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero Hell Freezes Over 1/14/06
19. Jimmy Rave vs Davey Richards vs Delirious vs Samoa Joe Throwdown 6/23/06
20. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide Destiny 6/03/06
21. Blood Generation vs. Generation Next Dragon Gate Challenge 3/30/06
22. Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave 4th Anniversary Show 2/25/06
23. Bryan Danielson vs Colt Cabana Chi Town Struggle 6/24/06
24. Kings of Wrestling vs Briscoes Final Battle 2006 12/23/06
25. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong vs Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelley Weekend of Champions Night 2 4/29/06
26. Claudio Castagnoli, Super Dragon, Necro Butcher, & Nate Webb vs. Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, Colt Cabana, & BJ Whitmer CZW vs. ROH 8 Man, Anything Goes Weekend of Champions Night 1 4/28/06
27. Homicide VS Necro Butcher Ring of Homicide 5/13/06
28. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe Best in the World 3/25/06
29. Jimmy Rave vs Davey Richards Destiny 6/03/06
30. Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer Supercard of Honor 3/31/06
31. KENTA VS Samoa Joe VS Bryan Danielson In Your Face 6/17/06

Danielson/Homicide Final Battle rewatch

Yeah, this ruled. What makes this better then there match at Destiny is that they didn’t have that back and forth finishing stretch that I loathe so much. The story was great because they actually did a great job of selling the arm work and showing that it was hindering them. Add the booking in there and it is a MOTYC. If the crowd was just a little hotter, this would be #1. Easily #2. So onto the list and maybe some thoughts on the year.

Aries/Strong/Delirious vs. CIMA/Shingo/Sydal rewatch

This held up real well. Doesn’t have the selling issues that the March Dragongate 6-mans had. They could have cut a little time from BG control section and Shingo could have been better at points, but this had minimal restholds and I loved the pace of it. Not top 10, but pretty close. List.

Kings of Wrestling/Briscoes rewatch

Very fun although not perfect. There were points where it got a little back and forth, but both were smart not to use restholds and to tag out often. Not an all time best spotfest like the Tag Wars 6-mans, but the most worthwhile match in ROH 06 for quite a long time. List.

Delirious/Cabana/McGuinness/Whitmer vs Danielson/Rave/Shingo/Jacobs Elimination Match rewatch

Did not hold up. Everything was good at points, but I kept expecting better throughout. The booking was fine, but the crowd was lukewarm throughout. Also, Delirious ate way too much offense and I just couldn’t buy him surviving. No.

Richards/Aries rewatch

The crowd killed this match. I mean they both had good countering to each other’s offense which eventually led to Aries getting his arm worked over. The match for some reason just didn’t have any energy to it and they kind of played the “no selling” card down the stretch to get the crowd into it. So yeah, no high end matches in October and November. No.

Daniels/Sydal vs Richards/Delirious rewatch

Perfectly fine, but too long for a spotfest and didn’t have the heat. Just lacked the highlights to be anything more then good. No.

KENTA/Sydal rewatch

Didn’t hold up as well as I thought it would, which surprised me. Sydal did great job in selling the asskicking but KENTA struck me as the problem with this. Yes, he threw his great kicks, but the match lacked a story and there were a lot of restholds for a match this short which doesn’t work for a single’s match unless a story is there. It was, strangly, a very by-the-numbers match. I mean they do mat work in the beginning, stalemate, then they trade shots without a reason. This just didn’t work for me. Sadly, no.

Aries/Strong vs KENTA/Richards rewatch

Not that compelling of a spotfest, too long, and not enough heat throughout. KENTA was probably the best in this, but even then he was a little too intent on throwing on a resthold. I’ve seen this match done better. No.

Danielson/Delirious HCB rewatch

It had potential early, but lack of story and Danielson being in “house show” mode killed this match. It was better then I thought, but this needed to be shorter and more a sprint to be great. No.

Danielson/KENTA rewatch

It is very good, but it is not a MOTYC. It has a great consistent story throughout with Danielson’s arm with KENTA doing awesome armwork. Dragon’s selling came off even better on rewatch although there were points where Dragon could have sold a little better. It still has the fat that I mentioned last time (leg work and the fighting spirit exchange). Get rid of that and you have a MOTYC. As of right now it would not be in the ROH top ten of this year. Still recommended and listed.

Joe/Strong rewatch

More restholdy and methodical then I thought. It was also more even then I would have liked. Why is this a problem, because I feel they should have built up Roderick lifting Joe up later in the match instead throwing it out in the beginning. But that is just me. Definitely stiff, but Roderick works the back and isn’t put over well. So yeah, I don’t dig Strong as the “Messiah of the Backbreaker”. Sure it makes sense to target a body part, but your opponent isn’t selling it and it makes the back work seem insignificant. With that, I have to say no.

Briscoes vs Sydal/Richards rewatch

Better then I thought it would be. It was like that United tag where they cut a great pace throughout, but at the same time has similar flaws. Although they tried to avoid it at points, there was some no selling in this. What this surprisingly doesn’t have is finisher overkill (if you don’t count some head drops as finishers). Not great or anything, but slightly better then the United tag. Keep.

Danielson/Nigel United rewatch

Tough match. Two things hurt this match. One was the story, and the second was Nigel’s selling of the story. The arm work was fine, but Nigel didn’t bother selling any of it. It is even more annoying when he doesn’t really sell Cattle Mutilation or the Crossface Chickenwing. It worked in Generation Now because no one ever really had control of the match so no one was trapped into selling. Plus, there are better matches with arm work selling in just Danielson’s title matches this year. Add the recurring theme in this feud with back and forth, and I feel just confident enough in leaving this off my list. Slight no.

Briscoes vs Aries/Strong United rewatch

The best of there three matches. It cuts a great pace and everything was executed properly. Still, it doesn’t have the selling to be a great match and again, Roderick eating two double team finishers was too much. It is spotfest, so it is on the list.

Richards/KENTA rewatch

Tricky match. I think it is good and all, but I’m not exactly sure why it was so restholdy in the beginning. I also feel it was a bit back and forth and no selly at points. Granted KENTA kicked hard and Richards was putting extra mustard on his kicks, but the lack of story makes me put this in the no column. Slight no.

Richards/KENTA vs Briscoes rewatch

Good, but not great. Had some no selling in it and the hot tag looked awful. They cut a good pace but they started to lose steam through the second half. Better then I thought it would be, but no.

Danielson/Nigel Generation Now rewatch

This was way better then I thought it would be. I was afraid that “going after a body part” strategy would sink the match. However, neither really had control during any part of that, so no one fell into any traps. Still had some sweet mat wrestling, but it still had some moments of back and forth. I liked the first match just a smidgen better because there was selling, but this is top 10 worthy. Keep.

CZW vs ROH Cage of Death rewatch

Yep, still a great match. Everything I said the first time bares repeating here. Maybe a tiny bit of no selling near the end with Webb, but he did get cut off at the end. I pretty sure this is No. 1.

Nigel/Strong rewatch

Tough one here. On one hand, they were really blasting each other and was awesome. Then, you have the story of Nigel getting his back worked over to a point where he doesn’t sell any of it, and Roderick who has his arm worked over sells alright but is forgotten at the end. Add in some back and forth and a fighting spirit spot, and just by a little bit, I have to regrettably say no.

Danielson/Colt Chi-town Struggle rewatch

I really like this, but suffers from the usual issues I find in Danielson matches. There were points in this match where he and Colt shrug offense off and go to the next move. It’s sad because this was really fun for a lot of this. Possible top 5 if they the issues I named were cleaned up, but it probably won’t be top 10 when all is said and done. Keep.

Rave/Richards/Delirious/Joe rewatch

Definitely the best ROH 4 way of 06. Joe brought the asskicking, Delirious brought the comedy, and Rave brought the stooging. Richards was ok and took a good asskicking but he doesn’t have the instinct to bring it consistently. I did love how the match was put together although the middle did meander at times. Again not a top 10 match for that year, but the match is listable.