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.