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.