Bryan Danielson/Austin Aries vs Nigel McGuinness/Go Shiozaki ROH Double Feature (night 2) 3/15/08

Perfectly fine house show match (they were shooting The Wrestler movie on those two nights), but nothing more then that. No.

Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson ROH 6th Anniversary Show 2/23/08

Great angle, problematic match. The story with Nigel’s concussion and Bryan not striking the head is great along with Nigel getting more pissed off and finally turning heel by the end and finding out he was faking. Then you have Nigel working the arm, and yet Danielson doesn’t sell it. So you have one great story attached to one bad story in one match which essentially makes this a good match. Too bad there are better versions of this matchup. No.

Roderick Strong vs Necro Butcher vs Erick Stevens No DQ Match ROH 6th Anniversary Show 2/23/08

Well this brawl was lunatic. The Strong/Stevens are actually getting really good, but then you add the Necro Butcher and it gets even crazier. It was messy at points, in a Necro match kind of way, but this is a 3 way that actually sticks out from the others. Rewatch.

Go Shiozaki vs Austin Aries ROH 6th Anniversary Show 2/23/08

This was a formula match in that they don’t really do anything of substance except for the chopping. So much better shit I have seen today. No.

Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong ROH Without Remorse 1/26/08

Good, better then I thought it would be. The match had a good bit of spite, hate, and stiffness despite failing on an arm work vs back work storyline. If they just dropped the arm vs back story then I could see nominating it, but it is just too jarring for me to ignore. No.

Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black vs. Rocky Romero & Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries & Bryan Danielson vs. Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer Ultimate Endurance ROH Without Remorse 1/26/08

1st- Scramble
2nd- I Quit/Submission
3rd- Pinfall

I’m surprisingly on the fence on this one even with the wack booking. Danielson brings the incredible selling and my hypothesis that 08 was Danielson’s best overall year is looking good even in January. I mean his performance carried the 2nd and 3rd falls. Probably won’t age well on rewatch, but it’s worthy of another look.

El Generico vs Claudio Castagnoli ROH Without Remorse 1/26/08

Very good again. You have the early headlock vs leg work match which was interspersed with comedy. Then the leg is finally worked on and Generico sells like a wounded animal. Did not see the time limit coming and still had me buying near falls near the end. Rewatch.

Nigel McGuinness vs Chris Hero Steel Cage Match ROH Breakout 1/25/08

This is one of the more unique cage matches I’ve seen. This match was kind of an algorithm of comedy, escape the cage, technical wrestling, blood feud, and Sweet and Sour bullshit all wrapped up in an amount of time that I didn’t think was going to work. Yet the match was tons of fun. Hero was the better wrestler, but Nigel did well in selling the leg. Hidden gem of the year so far. Rewatch Pile.

Tyler Black vs Bryan Danielson ROH Breakout 1/25/08

This was very good. Black plays the cocky young prick who constantly pie faces and slaps Danielson while Danielson gets slowly pissed off. The match was great in making Black to be on Danilson’s level. Can’t wait to see there other matches. Rewatch.

Tyler Black/Necro Butcher vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe Street Fight ROH Transform 1/12/08

Well, this is going to be difficult to rate. I know what it says on the title, but it really isn’t. If anything, it is a lesser version of the Philadelphia Street Fight from 07. Everything was in silent awe throughout including myself. I doubt this is listable, but I feel that this worthy of rewatch.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Austin Aries ROH Transform 1/12/08

Formula Aries match with a crazy ass ending showing why Claudio was even a freak of nature back in 08. I guess Aries was showing shades of heeldom evenbefore he turned by the end of 08. I will just say he is not as fun here (or even fun at all), then today. Just bland at least here he is. No.

Age Of The Fall vs Hangman 3 vs Vulture Squad vs Briscoe Brothers Ultimate Endurance Match ROH Proving Ground 1/11/08

The falls:

1st- Scramble
2nd- No DQ
3rd- Regular

I know some are high on this Ultimate Endurance, but it was only good to me. I thought the way the match was laid out made sense in that everybody’s strengths were highlighted and you had the story of both heel teams trying to take the Briscoes out. It just felt good without anything being outstanding. The deal breaker was Jacobs recovering way too quickly after the doomsday device. No.

Erick Stevens vs Austin Aries ROH Proving Ground 1/11/08

Got good in the end, but it just felt like a match for most of it. Everything after the restart was fun, but I don’t really care for 20+ Stevens matches. No.