Ring of Honor: From a Fans Perspective

[LJC]

Unstoppable: August 25, 2006 – St. Paul, Minnesota

Number One Contender's Match-Four Man Elimination Match

Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Steve Corino

ROH World Heavyweight Title Match

ROH World Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson vs. Winner of Four Man Elimination Match

ROH World Tag Team Title Match

ROH World Tag Team Champions Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer and Samoa Joe

Special Challenge Match

Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Rematch From Reborn Stage One

Delirious vs. Matt Sydal

Anything Goes

Adam Pearce vs. Homicide

Challenge Match

Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Jacobs

[Evansfan1]

Show Review ROH Unstoppable (08/25/06) Results & Thoughts

By Jacob Baron

-- Ring of Honor made its return to St. Paul, only its second appearance ever as the first was Reborn Stage 1 in April of 2004. We were in St. Paul on August 25, 2006, for “Unstoppable,” which is stating which man is unstoppable heading into the Title Match with Bryan Danielson. The St. Paul Armory was filled with ROH fans, about up too 500 or more. People wanted to see a special Four Man Elimination followed by a Title Shot or to see if Joe can become the first ever Triple Crown.

1. Davey Richards defeats Jimmy Jacobs at 11:50.

This was a good contest to start things off here tonight really getting the St. Paul crowd into things early. Davey Richards seems to be the curtain jerker as a single’s wrestler, but the way he impresses everyone, he should be moving up pretty soon. Jimmy Jacobs was looking to shut down Richards as he thinks Richards is moving just a bit to fast.

Jacobs had a great start taking it right to Richards before Bobby Cruise could even announce his name. Jacobs stayed in control for quite sometime and went for an early Contra Code, but Davey reversed it by just tossing Jacobs off of him. Davey took a distinct advantage after that and now there was no looking back. Soon enough Davey hit the DR Driver, but he said that he wasn’t finished as you can tell he wasn’t happy with Jacobs on what he said. So Davey went up high and connected with a Shooting Star Press finishing Jacobs off as Lacey looked on with a pissed off look on her face. A good way to get things going again in St. Paul. **1/2

-- Christopher Daniels came out to the ring with Allison Danger. Danger got Daniels a microphone and The Fallen Angel didn’t look happy. Daniels said that he is sick and tired of hearing Claudio Castagnoli running his mouth about how CZW is better than ROH. Daniels simply just said that ROH beat CZW and now it’s over. Daniels said that after this Double Shot, he wants Claudio gone! Claudio came out and responded to saying that he understands that ROH defeated CZW, but what he is looking at is something different. Claudio said that he got Chad Collyer for a reason. He said that he has another surprise for a reason. Finally, he said that the reason was to make an impact and show something to Ring of Honor that ROH hasn’t seen in a very long time.

2. Christopher Daniels defeats Claudio Castagnoli at 14:27.

Claudio was without Collyer tonight so he was just on his own and it was a good idea. Daniels really wanted to hand Claudio a beating and that is exactly what he did. Daniels stood up for Ring of Honor. Claudio tried his best in defending CZW, but it just wasn’t his night. The St. Paul crowd was all over Claudio and they just wouldn’t stop chanting, “Fallen Angel!”

Early on they traded off move for move, but soon enough Claudio took control with a bunch of Swiss Uppercuts. Daniels was in trouble and looking to by dying down as Claudio was looking for the UBS Neckbreaker, but Daniels reversed it by landing onto his feet and then dropkicking Claudio. A little bit later in the match, Daniels entertained the crowd by hitting back to back BME’s, but different types. One was on the actual ropes and the other in the turnbuckle. That wasn’t enough to put Claudio away, but the Last Rites was a little later on. Claudio comes up with another loss, but still performs to his best. ***

-- After the match ended, Claudio Castagnoli, with a pissed off face took a microphone. He told everyone and Daniels that Daniels is right. Claudio said that this will be his last appearances in ROH if he cannot defeat Samoa Joe tomorrow night. The crowd went wild and chanted, “Joe’s gonna kill you” while he left the ring as Daniels just nodded his head with a smile on his face.

3. Steve Corino defeats Jimmy Rave, Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana at 22:41.

This was a fantastic match as all four men put on a classic. They all wanted a title shot equally, especially Corino and Rave since they didn’t have any coming up in the future. So, both men gave it their all and wanted a piece of Dragon later on tonight. Unfortunately, only one man can get a shot at Dragon.

The first man to be eliminated from the Four Man Elimination Match was the Crown Jewel of The Embassy, Jimmy Rave. Prince Nana ordered Sal Rinauro to get in the ring and help Jimmy Rave out. So in went Rinauro and went to Spear Nigel, but Rinauro missed and connected with his partner, Jimmy Rave! Referee, Mike Kehner let it go as Rinauro attacked his own partner. This led into Nigel almost taking Rave’s head off with a huge Lariat and letting Nigel McGuinness eliminate Jimmy Rave because of Sal Rinauro.

The next man out was the ROH Pure Champion, Nigel McGuinness. It was down to the two men earned Title Shots and Steve Corino, but Corino played it smart and just watched Cabana and Nigel go at it themselves. It soon lead to a ducked Lariat by Cabana and then lead to Cabana nailing Nigel with the Colt 45 for the elimination. So now Cabana gets a shot at the ROH World Heavyweight Title tomorrow night and the ROH Pure Title in the future.

It was just down to Steve Corino and Colt Cabana. They went back and forth for the last few minutes until Cabana hoisted Corino up for the Colt 45, but Corino just slid out of it. Corino then went Old School Bomb, but Cabana slid out of that. Both men didn’t know what to do and how to finish each other off. Finally, Cabana came charging at Corino for a Lariat, but Corino ducked and Cabana turned right into an Old School Kick and that was it. Steve Corino was going to be facing Bryan Danielson later tonight. A great match as all four men performed their best I believe. ***1/2

-- Steve Corino would get a shot at the ROH World Heavyweight Title, if he could get there. Right after the match ended Homicide’s music hit, but a second in, Homicide was in the ring. Corino was on his ass in shock as Homicide took out his ghetto fork. He was going right after Corino, but all of a sudden down came Adam Pearce and the Anything Goes Match was on right now.

4. Adam Pearce defeats Homicide in an Anything Goes Match at 13:43.

This was a very entertaining brawl which got out of control very quickly. Pearce just wanted to beat the living hell out of Homicide while Homicide just wanted to get his hands on Steve Corino.

Pearce and Homicide went punch for punch early on, though, until Steve Corino entered the action by nailing Homicide in the back with a steel chair. This was all allowed as Anything Goes. Pearce and Corino were just beating the living hell out of Homicide and no one was coming down for any help. Corino then hit the Old School Bomb and Adam Pearce hit the Piledriver. Every time Pearce would go for a cover, though, he would come up at two. Finally, someone came down, but it was The Briscoe Brothers, just more armory for Pearce’s army.

Amazingly, though, Homicide started fighting back and took his ghetto fork and was stabbing everyone. By the end of everything, everyone was busted open that was in the ring except for the referee. Homicide finally got shut down, though, when Mark Briscoe nailed him with a Chop Block from behind. The Briscoe Brothers finished Homicide off for Pearce as they together hit a Spike Jay Driller onto a seated chair breaking the chair and basically Homicide as well. Pearce then did a little cocky cover and Homicide was beaten down and defeated. **3/4

-- After the match, though, the four men weren’t done. They continued a beat down until finally, Ricky Reyes came down with a chair in hand scaring the four men out of the ring. Reyes checked on Homicide and he saw he was hurting and he needed some help.

-- It was now time for Intermission and Bobby Cruise announced that ROH would be back in St. Paul on April 20, 2007. The Intermission tonight was about 30 minutes, a long one.

5. Shane Hagadorn defeats Mitch Franklin at 5:46 to retain his ROH Top of the Class Trophy.

This was again one of the basic squash matches after intermission. Instead of a big name squashing a nobody, it was the ROH Top of the Class Trophy holder squashing Mitch Franklin. Franklin really had no chance here. Shane Hagadorn basically bored the crowd for the whole time and quickly won with a huge Lariat. A very boring match, ROH needs new guys to go after this Trophy. 1/2*

6. Delirious defeats Matt Sydal at 15:50.

These two men came into ROH facing each other in St. Paul a little bit more than two years ago. They battled back and forth for about 7 minutes with Matt Sydal coming out on top, but the rematch from that match was much different.

Sydal took the early advantage picking up from where he left off from the last time they faced in St. Paul. Sydal was totally dominating early on, but Delirious soon turned it around with a huge Enziguri. Delirious held the advantage for quite some time, but Sydal wound up fighting back and soon enough after Sydal nailed a huge Enziguri Headscissors out of nowhere.

Sydal went to finish off Delirious and hit the Here It Is Driver at the finish of the match, but that wasn’t enough to finish Delirious off. Sydal then took Delirious up high and Sydal was looking for the Moonsault Belly to Belly Suplex, but Delirious fought Sydal off and pushed him down to the mat. Delirious then flew off the top rope and nailed Sydal with the Shadows Over Hell, but Delirious thought it wasn’t enough. So he picked Sydal up and then hit the Chemical Imbalance II for the finish. A very good match between these two, much better then their first and Delirious tied up the series between them in ROH. ***1/4

-- After the match, Delirious got up and helped up Matt Sydal. He pointed at Sydal and put up one finger, mentioning one more match. Sydal shook his head yes followed by Delirious offering a handshake to Sydal. Sydal accepted the handshake and the two men shook hands in the middle of the ring seeming as there might be one more between the two as both men took a win between the two not counting their match at Do or Die.

7. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defeats BJ Whitmer and Samoa Joe at 20:54 to retain their ROH World Tag Team Titles.

This was a very good match between the World Tag Team Champions against Joe and Whitmer. Joe was looking to become the first ever ROH Triple Crown Winner, but as well as trying that, he put on the match of the night with his partner with Whitmer against the Tag Team Champions.

Early on Joe, who the crowd was of course behind, dominated the action with his partner BJ Whitmer. It seemed that Whitmer and Joe have been working for quite a while at the start of this match as they were trading moves off back and forth with quite a few tags. Things turned around though, when Whitmer took a little bit to long when he went for an Exploder Suplex and it allowed Aries to reverse it.

The Tag Champions were now in control and they didn’t give anything up as they just stayed right on top of Whitmer. Finally, Whitmer reversed a Brainbuster and was able to flip over onto his feet. Whitmer then dove towards Joe and made the hot tag to get him and Whitmer back into this bout. Joe wound up tossing Strong out of the ring and then nailing Aries with a huge kick to the face knocking him out of the ring. Joe then flew out of the ring with a Suicide Dive, but with knocking down Aries and Strong, Joe also accidentally landed on his head on the outside.

Joe was down for quite some time leaving everything up to Whitmer and he did good for a little bit, but it was to much for him with a two on one attack. The crowd started getting louder and louder for Joe to get up and finally he did and rolled into the ring. Joe, who was a bit dizzy, tried fighting of Aries and Strong, but Strong nailed Joe with a huge Half Nelson Suplex making Joe roll back out of the ring. Aries then nailed Whitmer with a Brainbuster followed by Strong locking in the Strong Hold making Whitmer tap out. Joe had another chance to become Triple Crown Winner, but Whitmer wasn’t the right partner either, but either way they teamed pretty well in a good match, but they just came up short. ***3/4

8. Bryan Danielson defeats Steve Corino at 23:46 to retain his ROH World Heavyweight Title.

Steve Corino, who already fought for 23 minutes early tonight against three other men earned this shot and didn’t want to waste it. Corino already faced Danielson once for the title and that came up short and once again he did not want to waste this shot.

Early on Corino was fired up and had good control early on. Corino tried to make the match a quick one and tried to work a fast paced match and get Danielson off of his game, but that didn’t work out to well in the long run. Corino worked on the upper body of Danielson basically all match as he really didn’t lock in any submissions and just hit high impact moves.

Everything turned for the worst on Corino as he went for an Old School Kick, but it was ducked and Danielson lifted Corino up and started up his airplane spin. After a good amount of spinning, Danielson let Corino down, but couldn’t really cover as he was a bit dizzy himself. Danielson was the first to his feet still and went for a Diving Headbutt, but Corino rolled out of the way gaining advantage once again.

Coming down to the finish, Corino was calling for the finish and went for the Old School Bomb, but Danielson dropped back to his feet and went for a school boy, but Corino just kicked out. Then down came The Briscoe Brothers trying to distract Danielson by getting onto the apron, but Danielson nailed a Lariat on Jay and then a huge Roaring Elbow on Mark knocking both men off the apron. Danielson though, then turned around towards Corino who went for another Old School Kick, but Danielson ducked it again and this time went for a crucifix pin, but Corino kicked out. Dragon followed right up with at least 15 elbows to the side of the head making Mike Kehner call for the bell giving Danielson the victory. Corino and Danielson put on a great match, but Corino couldn’t come up with the victory after fighting early tonight. ***1/2

-- After the match ended, Colt Cabana came out and held a staredown with his opponent for tomorrow night. Finally, Cabana got a microphone and congratulated Danielson on his impressive victory and said he will be ready for him tomorrow night. Cabana extended his hand for a handshake and Danielson reached in, but then took it back and just swiped his hand through his hair and rolled out of the ring making a smirk at Colt Cabana.

Overall Thoughts:

Like always, another great show by Ring of Honor to start of an amazing weekend. The last three matches after the squash match after Intermission were the best three along with the Four Man Elimination Match. Number one goes to, the ROH World Tag Team Title Match between Austin Aries and Roderick Strong against BJ Whitmer and Samoa Joe. Both of these teams put on an amazing match just showing how prestige’s the Tag Belts in ROH are. Samoa Joe is still looking to become Triple Crown Winner, but I believe it will come soon after a great match here.

My runner-up goes to the Four Man Elimination Match to see who would face Bryan Danielson in the main event. Each man really wanted this match bad, but along with that it set up a lot of things in the future. I believe one of these four guys will be getting gold in the near future.

My bronze was a toss up between the Main Event and the rematch from the last St. Paul Show, Delirious vs. Matt Sydal. I will give it to the Main Event as I feel as it meant something a little bit more than the match between Sydal and Delirious.

Now I just can’t wait until tomorrow night as it will be Bryan Danielson against Colt Cabana in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match which should be amazing after what happened tonight after the Title Match between Dragon and Cabana.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Evansfan1

[Evansfan1]

Two Falls To A Finish: August 26, 2006 – Chicago Ridge, Illinois

ROH World Heavyweight Title Match-2 Out Of 3 Falls

ROH World Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

ROH World Tag Team Title Match

ROH World Tag Team Champions Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal

Falls Count Anywhere

Homicide vs. Steve Corino

Grudge Match

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Samoa Joe

Grudge Match

BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Special Attraction

Davey Richards vs. Delirious

[Evansfan1]

Show Review ROH Two Falls To A Finish (08/26/06) Results & Thoughts

By Jacob Baron

-- Ring of Honor made its return to Chicago Ridge, Illinois on August 26, 2006, for “Two Falls To A Finish,” which is stating that in the main event, Bryan Danielson or Colt Cabana will be needing two pinfalls as it is a Two Out Of Three Falls Match. The Frontier Fieldhouse was filled with ROH fans, about up too 1.000 or maybe even more. People wanted to see a classic between Bryan Danielson and Colt Cabana with the Two Out Of Three Falls stipulation.

1. Davey Richards defeats Delirious at 13:27.

This was a very good way to kick off the night as Davey and Delirious fought in a great contest. Both men were coming off an impressive victory from the night before and were looking for another tonight. Both men really battled back and forth with no one really getting a clear advantage until the last few minutes of the match. That happened when Delirious got Davey into the corner and nailed him with repeated Clotheslines.

Finally, when Delirious stopped Davey fell to the mat and tried to get up, but in the meantime, Delirious was going up high and nailed Davey with the Shadows Over Hell at the perfect time. That wasn’t enough for the finish though, so Delirious went for the Chemical Imbalance II, but Davey fought out of it and wound up nailing Delirious with a huge Lariat out of nowhere. That wasn’t enough to put away Delirious though. Davey then tried to go up high looking for maybe the Shooting Star Press, but Delirious got up and went onto the turnbuckle with Davey. They fought back and forth on the top rope, until Davey got the upper hand and nailed a huge Tiger Driver from the top rope to finish Delirious off. Like said a very good match to start off the night and made Davey continue rolling in ROH. ***

-- Down came Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs ready for there match against BJ Whitmer. Lacey got on a microphone and told everyone, including Jacobs that tonight he must win tonight against Whitmer or there will be consequences. Jacobs didn’t understand and took the microphone out of the hands of Lacey though. Jacobs didn’t say anything about what Lacey said as he just said that he will defeat Whitmer and finally win over her heart as Lacey just did a disgusting look

2. BJ Whitmer defeats Jimmy Jacobs at 13:50.

These two men have put on classics in the past with all different kinds of crazy spots. This one was another amazing bout between the two with once again another crazy spot. Jacobs went with everything he had to try and impress Lacey, but nothing was really good enough for you. After these men went back and forth for quite some time, the crazy spot of the match happened. Whitmer had Jacobs up and was looking for a Powerbomb, but didn’t want a regular one. He saw the time keepers table outside and went near the ropes towards that table. But right after he saw the table and went to Powerbomb Jacobs to the outside of the ring, Jacobs was able to sort of get a Head Scissors on Whitmer so both men went to the outside crashing through the table with the crowd going nuts.

Both men were down for quite sometime, but finally both men got up around the same time after the ref finally started counting a 10 count on the outside as first he had to check on them. Both men got in the ring and Whitmer went for an Exploder, but Rave slid through it somehow and grabbed the head of Whitmer and went for the Contra Code. He started running up the turnbuckle, but Whitmer fought out of it quickly and stopped Jacobs on the top rope. It seemed like another spot to the outside was about to happen, but Whitmer then just nailed a huge Half Nelson Suplex on Jacobs making him land right on his head in the middle of the ring. That was all for Jacobs and Lacey wasn’t very happy. A very good match between these two which they usually have. ***1/2

3. Samoa Joe defeats Claudio Castagnoli at 11:52.

Another great match here just is making the night even better. Joe and Claudio faced off before, but it never had the proper ending. Now it had to because if Claudio lost in anyway, he said that he would leave ROH for good. Claudio did have a good start to the match though, as you could tell he didn’t want to leave ROH. He didn’t act like himself with his usual heel tactics and his taunts wasting time. All Claudio did was try and stay on Joe. It didn’t work for long as the powerful Samoa Joe tired down Claudio.

Coming down to the finish Claudio fought back and started to hit repeating Swiss Uppercuts finally knocking Joe down to the mat after hitting about five. Joe then got up and Claudio came charging back with a huge Lariat which didn’t fully knock Joe down. Claudio had to hit two more until Joe could finally hit the mat. That wasn’t enough to finish Joe off so Claudio went up high. Joe got to his feet, but was slightly bending over. Claudio went to jump and hit a Flying Swiss Uppercut, but out of nowhere, while Claudio was in midair, Joe jumped up and nailed Claudio with a huge Leg Lariat. Joe couldn’t recover though, and cover Claudio so both men got to their feet around the same time. Claudio charged with a Running Swiss Uppercut, but Joe ducked and ran against the ropes and came back taking Claudio’s head off with a huge Lariat surprisingly putting Claudio away. A very good match between these two, but Claudio seems to be gone from ROH now. ***1/4

-- After the match and Claudio recovered and after Joe left the ring, Claudio got a microphone. Claudio said that he is done and he is listening to Christopher Daniels who he refereed to as a “b*tch” though. Claudio did add at the end that he promises Daniels and the rest of the ROH Roster he feels that he will be seeing most of them sometime, somewhere in the near future which left a confused face on the faces of the crowd.

4. Homicide and Steve Corino went to a No Contest in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at 14:36.

Every time these two hook up in a ROH ring it really is always exciting. This time these hooked up in a Falls Count Anywhere, but it wasn’t as real as their matches use to be. With Pearce and The Briscoes Brothers on Steve Corino’s side, it wasn’t as fair. Homicide did give it his all as he really took it to Corino and all the guys he had at his side.

The match didn’t really stay in the ring for to long as after just a few minutes in they headed to the outside. They brawled all the around the ring until they finally headed out into the crowd. This is where Homicide did everything he could as the crowd was with him handing him chairs and such. It got shut down soon enough though, as Adam Pearce came out of nowhere and nailed with a huge Lariat. The Briscoe Brothers then came out and no the numbers game was just unfair.

They soon made there way back towards the ring and once again brawled on the outside. Ricky Reyes and Julius Smokes then came out and fought off The Briscoes with steel chairs running them off as they followed them. Homicide then nailed Pearce with a huge Belly to Belly Suplex on the outside! It was once again down to Corino and Homicide and then Homicide just nailed Corino with a huge Lariat on the outside, but Corino just kicked out. So Homicide then went for some artillery and headed backstage. He came back out with a chainsaw, something he carried around with him in his early ROH days! Pearce was able to recover and help Corino up to his feet and they ran away from Homicide up the ramp and backstage as Homicide followed them as the match really just came to an end after that which kind of disappointed the crowd. Still a pretty entertaining match, but just not the best ending to this match, maybe we will see another one happen between Corino and Homicide down the line. ***

-- It was now time for Intermission and Bobby Cruise announced that ROH would be back in Chicago Ridge on October 28 with the Homicide and Steve Corino feud continuing. The Intermission tonight was about 20 minutes, shorter then usual.

5. Ace Steel defeats Trik Davis at 7:08.

This was some sort of the basic matches after Intermission, but this wasn’t the basic squash match as Steel had a tough battle with Trik Davis. Both Chicago natives battled back and forth for a short amount of time which seemed to be Davis’ night, but when he went for the Double Stomp, Steel got his feet up into his feet. Steel then quickly got up and Davis walked right into the Twist of Cain for the victory. This was a pretty good show by these two for such a short match. *

-- Nigel McGuinness came down to the ring looking a bit pissed off. He grabbed a microphone and put his Pure Title over his shoulder. He told everyone that he came to Chicago not to be some sort of wanker, but to be in competition and even compete with his Pure Title on the line. No one came out right away, but then The Embassy music hit and out walked Nana, Rave, Haizee, and Rinauro. Nana grabbed a microphone and all of The Embassy stayed on the outside. Nana started off by telling Rinauro to get on his knees and help Rave into the ring. Rave went up to Rinauro, but then stomped hard on Rinauro’s back and then laid the boots into him and then kicked him under the ring. Nana said that Rinauro screwed over Rave enough in the past month and they have had enough. So Nana finally said that Rave deserves a shot from last night and will win the ROH Pure Title without the loser of Sal Rinauro. Nigel just laughed at Nana and The Embassy which pissed them off. Rave turned his back on Nigel on the outside to go talk to Nana, but then Nigel attacked by diving threw the ropes nailing Rave with a huge Forearm Suicide Dive to the back of the head. Down ran Todd Sinclair and the Pure Title Match was on.

6. Jimmy Rave defeats Nigel McGuinness to win the ROH Pure Title at 15:51.

This was a really amazing match, match of the night or not, it was awesome. This might have been Rave’s best match in ROH, probably even better then his shot at Bryan Danielson and his World Heavyweight Title. Nigel tried his hardest to hold on his title as after making his challenge, he felt like an idiot.

Early on Nigel was on fire getting the huge jump start with the Suicide Dive Forearm, but Rave soon battled back by only having to use one of his rope breaks. Once Rave took control, he made Nigel use two quick rope breaks. Rave then called for the finish early on with the Greetings From Ghana, but it wasn’t smart as Nigel was beaten down enough and was able to fight out of it and take the control back.

Soon enough Rave lost all three of his ropes breaks and was in trouble when Nigel was calling for some sort of submission. Rave fought it though, and went and threw Nigel into the corner, but he did the headstand. Rave fell for it and got nailed with a kick to the face. That wasn’t enough though, and soon enough Rave battled back and nailed a huge Spear to take control back.

Late on in the match with both men having no rope breaks left, Rave called for a finish. He locked in a Butterfly Lock and Nigel was able to get his foot on the ropes, but it didn’t matter. Nigel soon enough got back to his feet with Rave still having it locked in, but Nigel just flipped Rave over right on his head. Nigel then left Rave up and went to throw him in the ropes, but Rave reversed it. Nigel though, came back with a huge Pendulum Lariat. Nigel thought he had it won, but Rave somehow kicked out. Nigel then called for the finish and took Rave into the corner and was looking for the Towers of London. Before he could hit it though, The Embassy music played for some odd reason. Down came a man with some sort of cape/blanket on covering everything just like how Sal Rinauro debuted. Nigel was confused, but distracted and this leads to Rave getting onto his feet and taking Nigel out with the Greetings From Ghana. Rave rolled on top of Nigel and won the match. Nigel’s just about year long reign ended with Jimmy Rave defeating him with distraction from a new member. An amazing match between these two and there better be a rematch. ***3/4

-- After the match, Nana got in the ring and started going crazy jumping up and down with the Pure Title in his hands. He then grabbed a microphone and told everyone that Sal Rinauro didn’t help them at all, but the newest member will do everything The Embassy needs, as you can tell by just before. The mystery man took off the cape/blanket and in slid in the ring, Frankie Kazarian! Nana announced Kazarian the newest member of The Embassy while him and the rest of The Embassy got TP’d as the crowd couldn’t do it to Rave before the match.

7. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defeats Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal at 17:08 to retain their ROH World Tag Team Titles.

This followed up perfectly on the pervious match as it was just another amazing match. This marks the second of two tough matches this weekend for Aries and Strong. They already witnessed a title loss the previous match, the first in 2006, and they hope they weren’t next so they tried to fight off the inexperienced team of Sydal and Daniels, who put up one hell of a fight.

The match got started up right away with neither team wasting time trying to get a quick victory. Things eventually slowed down though, because they figured there wouldn’t be a quick victory so there was no reason to waste too much energy. Finally, about halfway through the match, Aries and Strong took advantage like they do in most of their matches. The ROH World Tag Team Champions stayed in control for quite sometime until Daniels and Sydal got one big last burst of energy.

Sydal made a huge hot tag to Daniels and him starting clearing house taking down both Aries and Strong with different maneuvers over and over again. Daniels then tagged Sydal back in after Daniels hit the Fall From Grace on Aries which Sydal followed up with a Shooting Star Press, but Strong was able to break it up. This lead to a four man brawl with Daniels and Sydal coming out the two men standing. Daniels called for the finish and picked Aries up for a Death Valley Driver and Sydal went up high. Sydal came flying nailing Aries with a Dropkick and then Daniels dropped him with the Death Valley Driver, but somehow Aries kicked out.

A little bit later, Strong got the hot tag and took down Daniels and Sydal quickly. Once Aries recovered fully, it was basically over because that is where the double team moves came into play. Aries and Strong nailed the Hart Attack on Daniels followed up with the Brainbuster/Chop combo on Sydal. Aries then went up high while Strong went and locked in the Strong Hold on Daniels. Aries flew and nailed the 450 Splash on Sydal and covered. At the same time, Aries had Sydal pinned for the three while Daniels tapped out. A very good tag team match and I see two single rematches in the future. ***3/4

-- Colt Cabana came out before his Two Out Of Three Falls Match with Danielson and had a few words to say. Cabana said that this will be his last shot at Dragon and the ROH World Heavyweight Title while he is Champion so he said that he will do it for his fans in his hometown, Chicago and win the ROH Title. The crowd gave him a huge pop. Cabana said that he wouldn’t let his fans down and would show who the Best Wrestling in the World tonight is.

8. Bryan Danielson defeats Colt Cabana in a Two Out Of Three Falls Match 2 Falls To 1 at 32:58 to retain his ROH World Heavyweight Title.

A great match to finish off the night and no doubt the match of the night. This finished up three great matches to end the night as Danielson and Cabana gave it their all. Cabana would not go down without a fight as he knew this was his last chance at Dragon. Danielson though, wouldn’t make it easy for Cabana as Dragon seemed ready and prepared for Cabana one last time back in Chicago.

The match started off slow and it seemed it would be a real long one, something Cabana isn’t really use to doing, but something Dragon can do as he did it previously this month against Joe. The match didn’t actually go as far as everyone expected, but the crowd didn’t care as they put on a great match. Action got heated up when Cabana went for the Ass Bump in the corner, but Dragon moved out of the way and ground Cabana and did his usual move set on the ground.

A little later, Dragon was still in control with the crowd trying to get Cabana back into it as he was the one more over tonight. Dragon went and locked in the Surfboard though, while the crowd chanted “Same old shit.” Dragon didn’t like it though, so when he let Cabana back down, he went to lock it in again, but instead didn’t lock his arms and just reached his head back and had a sick hold in. Dragon just kept mocking Cabana, staying in control.

The first fall finally came at around the ten minute mark when Dragon was still in control and went for a Dragon Suplex, but Cabana back kicked Dragon and turned around and amazing nailed the Colt 45 out of nowhere. That was enough to put Dragon down somehow which the crowd or Cabana couldn’t believe. I guess Dragon wanted Cabana to back off him so he could get some rest.

The next fall didn’t come too much later though, at about the fifteen minute mark when Cabana called for the finish, another Colt 45. Dragon fought out of it though, and rolled up Cabana quickly with a Small Package and somehow got the three count to make the falls tied at one to one.

Both men continued battling back and forth trying to tire each other down, but they just couldn’t put either one away. Finally, the finish started shaping up though, at around the thirty minute mark. Cabana was in total control and just nailed a huge Ass Bump on Dragon. Dragon backed into Cabana who wound up hitting the Colt 45 which made every think that we had a new Champion, but somehow Dragon got his foot on the bottom rope! Colt couldn’t believe it so called for it all. He took Dragon into the corner as Colt sat on the top turnbuckle. He was looking for a Top Rope Colt 45, but Dragon fought it and wound up nailing a huge Superplex on Cabana. Both men got up, but Dragon hit a huge Regal-Plex, but Cabana just barley kicked out! Danielson then right away got Cabana where he wanted and started nailing him with huge elbows to the side of the head! Everyone though Kehner was going to call for the bell, but he let Dragon keep on going. Finally, Danielson stopped and locked in the Cattle Mutilation though, and Cabana was fading quickly. The crowd got loud for one last time, but Cabana couldn’t reach the ropes and had to tap out giving Dragon the victory, two falls to one. An amazing match here as Cabana gave it all, also, with an amazing ending. ****

Overall Thoughts:

Like always, another great show by Ring of Honor to end an awesome weekend. The last three matches after the Steel vs. Davis match after Intermission were the best three by far. Maybe the best three consecutive matches in ROH history, but no matter what, the card was amazing top to bottom. Number one goes to, the main event, the Two Out Of Three Falls Match between ROH World Heavyweight Champion, Bryan Danielson and Colt Cabana. Cabana gave it his all as you can tell here, but Dragon really showed what a great champion he was tonight winning back to back falls to pull out a victory.

My runner-up and third place is very close, but I have to give the silver to the ROH Pure Title Match because this really ended Nigel’s reign in a good way with a great match. This must have been Rave’s best performance ever in ROH. Even with the cheap ending, both of these men put on a definite remembered Pure Title bout.

My bronze of course goes to the ROH World Tag Team Title Match as Daniels and Sydal really showed something as it doesn’t matter if it is an inexperienced team or not, if both men have talent they can compete for the gold. Along with this, basically any other match could have gotten the bronze on this show.

Next up, Glory By Honor V weekend. Can’t get any bigger. Dragon defends against both Aries and KENTA. Can’t wait until more of the matches are announced and just can’t wait until both shows.

[Evansfan1]

ROH Newswire September Week 1

-- What a weekend it was last week. We saw some great matches both nights as well as a huge title change. Next up is Glory By Honor V Weekend and at the previous shows we learned some things about the up and coming weekends, but this newswire will give you more matches as well.

-- The next shows, Glory By Honor V Weekend, are set in two weeks on Friday and Saturday of Week 2. Night 1 will be in East Windsor, Connecticut while Night 2 will be in Manhattan, New York.

-- The current card for East Windsor is: Danielson vs. Aries, KENTA and Marufuji vs. Briscoe Brothers, Pearce and Corino vs. Homicide and Reyes and much more.

-- The current card for Manhattan is: Danielson vs. KENTA, Daniels vs. Marufuji, Homicide and Whitmer vs. Briscoe Brothers and much more.

-- A huge change has been made to the Manhattan show though, as Marufuji will not be facing The Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels. Daniels and Sydal have decided to concentrate and getting back on top to get a title shot so he pulled out from the match. Instead of Daniels, taking his spot will be Roderick Strong!

-- Now speaking of Daniels and Sydal, on Night 1 they will be making an open challenge to any tag team who think they can beat them. It can be from ROH or any other place in the world.

-- Jimmy Rave is your new ROH Pure Champion after winning cheaply when his new partner, Frankie Kazarian debuted. On Night 1, Rave will make his first defense as Champion against Colt Cabana, a man who deserved a shot at Unstoppable when he pinned the Pure Champion at that time. Then on Night 2, Rave will team up with Kazarian for the first time in ROH to face Colt Cabana and former Embassy member, Sal Rinauro.

-- Austin Aries and Roderick Strong came up big this past weekend. While Austin Aries tries to regain the ROH World Heavyweight Title, Roderick Strong will be in a Three Way One Fall Match against BJ Whitmer and Samoa Joe. This should definitely get Strong ready for Marufuji for the next night.

-- Survival of the Fittest 2006 is getting closer and closer. Currently there are eight men announced. This week there will be one more followed by another next week. Then the other two men will be remained as surprise entrants. This week, the ninth entrant will be, a man needing a victory soon enough, Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs is an underdog in this, but with Lacey by his side anything can happen.

[JStarr]

Closed and moved to the deep Web.