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.