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.