Online World of Wrestling (original) (raw)

Jim Cornette kicked off the DVD with a backstage segment thanking Steve Corino for what he did to Homicide the previous night (suffocating him with a plastic bag). Corino was more than happy to be of service, and was almost orgasmic when he relived the assault in his head. Jim Cornette asked Corino to do one more favor, that was to do something about "that goofball" Delirious tonight.

Brent Albright spoke on camera and said he was pissed about losing to Christopher Daniels they night before but he was determined to prove himself in ROH. His new catch phrase is "GET OUT or TAP OUT," and ROH has already produced a cool t-shirt for Mr. Albright.

The first match was a tag team match between two of Jim Cornette's hired goons, Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn, taking on the high-flying combination of Irish Airborne. The Crists were coming off a big win over Colt Cabana and Jimmy Jacobs at the last show but they were not as lucky this time around. Shane Hagadorn knocked out one of the Crist's with a foreign object and Adam Pearce finished him off with an unnecessary pile-driver to win the match ( 5 / 10 ). After the match, Jim Cornette came out and the crowd chanted his name so he asked "where were you in the last few months when I needed you?" - Cornette said Pearce and Hagadorn were a great example of old school tag team wrestling. Cornette turned on the heat machine and insulted the fans as well as Homicide to get the fans all riled up.

Next on deck was a great technical wrestling match between Japanese wrestler Shingo (who dropped the "Takagi" part of his name) and Roderick Strong. Shingo is now a regular member of the ROH roster AND I think he now lives in the USA but I could be wrong about that one. At the conclusion of the match, Shingo threw technical wrestling out the window when he put Roddy face-first through a table at ringside. It looked amazing but I don't think you're supposed to go through a table face first - I don't know, it just looked awkward. Shingo rolled Strong back into the ring and easily finished him off to win the match ( 7 / 10 ).

The Embassy no longer exists in Ring of Honor (or anywhere else for that matter) but Jimmy Rave and Salvatore Rinauro still came out to the Embassy entrance music and got the full-blown toilet paper treatment from the Chicago fans. Just when you thought they were phasing that gimmick out, Chi-town had to dig it up! Their opponents were the dysfunctional tag team of Jimmy Jacobs and Colt Cabana, whom I have affectionately dubbed the "Soap Opera Express," led by the sassy little vixen known as Lacey. If you haven't been paying attention for the last five months let me help you get caught up; Jimmy loves Lacey A LOT. Lacey hates Jimmy but loves Cabana. Unfortunately for Lacey, Cabana only loves Cabana. You're up to speed now. I just hope this storyline doesn't end with Jimmy and Cabana loving each other. Jimmy Jacobs nailed Jimmy Rave with a back senton, and Colt Cabana finished him off with a moonsault and they both covered Rave for the 1-2-3 to win the match ( 7 / 10 ).

And so begins the soap opera portion of tonight's program; naturally since they finally won a match, Jimmy Jacobs wanted a hug from Lacey but she said that it was Colt Cabana who got the win and she started slobbering over him instead. Lacey offered Cabana a contract for Lacey's Angels but Cabana said his relationship with Lacey was all personal (sexual) and didn't have any interest in doing business with her. Cabana called Lacey a BITCH for treating Jimmy Jacobs like crap and said everybody is annoyed by her. Lacey started freaking out and ordered Jimmy Jacobs to attack Cabana with a steel chair. Cabana tried to talk some sense into Jacobs, and joked that he was "the little sister I never had." Jimmy looked like he was coming to his senses but crotched Cabana on the second rope and attacked him in one last ditch effort to win Lacey's heart. It didn't work. Jacobs stabbed Cabana in the face and head with Lacey's high heel shoe. After a while, B.J. Whitmer ran down and threw Lacey down to the mat (crowd popped big time for this) but Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey then retreated backstage. Whitmer assisted Colt Cabana, whose face was covered with blood by this point and it was affecting his vision. This stuff went on for way too long.

The oriental man trapped in a white man's body, Steve Corino, set out to do Jim Cornette one more favor by taking out "that goofball" Delirious. Corino's entrance is so cool it makes you feel like you're actually in Japan. Corino is an extremely unique performer too, from his image to the way he wrestles, to the way he carries himself in and out of the ring. He is a true asset to the wrestling business and I hear rumblings that he will soon retire - but I hope that his retirement will turn out to be "Funky." Steve Corino stole the victory over Delirious after interference from Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn ( 6.5 / 10 ). Referee Todd Sinclair listened to the fans (since when does that happen?) and reversed the decision and declared Delirious the winner. Jim Cornette came down and threatened to fire Todd Sinclair if he reversed the decision so Sinclair named Steve Corino the official winner to save his job.

Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels was not about settling any issues; it was all about two of the all-time greatest ROH talents going one-on-one to give the fans some great action. The only connection they shared was that they both intend to challenge the King's of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) for the ROH World Tag Team titles with their respective partners. Christopher Daniels defeated Austin Aries with the Angel's Wings ( 8.5 / 10 ). After the match, the shook hands and hugged. Awww.

During intermission Dave Prazak asked Shingo why he used the table in his match with Roderick Strong. Shingo said he likes "Hardcore." Roderick Strong then confronted Shingo and they started to fight and had to be pulled apart.

The previous night in Dayton, Brent Albright debuted in ROH and instead of starting at the bottom he went straight to the top and faced Christopher Daniels in a match where he fought valiantly but ultimately lost. IWA Mid-South alumni Trik Davis was the sacrificial lamb for the beginning of Brent Albright ascent up the ROH ladder ( 4 / 10 ). Pretty much a squash match. The ROH fans have quickly embraced Brent Albright, but he (his character) doesn't seem to care about the fans.

In another battle of tag team specialists, Matt Sydal took on Jay Briscoe in a singles match. This match had the potential to steal the show. It did ( 9 / 10 ). Matt Sydal won with small package - what is he stealing Bryan Danielson's gimmick now? After the match, Mark Briscoe attacked Matt Sydal and the Briscoes double-teamed him until Davey Richards made the save. They quickly transitioned into the scheduled Mark Briscoe vs. Davey Richards match without missing a heart beat. The previous night in Dayton, Davey Richards was victorious over the older Briscoe brother - and this time around he successfully defeated Mark Briscoe by submission to put an exclamation mark on their feud ( 7.5 / 10 ). Davey Richards goes 2-and-0 against the Briscoes in singles competition.

After months of 1-hour time limit draws, sneak attacks, backstage fights and all-around hatred for one another, Samoa Joe and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson set out to settle their issue in a No-DQ No Time-Limit Must Be a Winner fight to the death - okay maybe not death but as close to it as legally possible. The ROH World title was not on the line, which made this contest about as predictable as a rock floating contest. The Chicago fans showered Danielson with toilet paper which proves that gimmick, while extremely entertaining, has gotten way out of hand. After twenty minutes of fighting in and out of the ring and taking the battle all over the building, it was a leather belt wrapped around Dragon's neck with the Kokina Clutch applied which made the ROH World Champion tap out ( 8.5 / 10 ). After the match, Samoa Joe challenged American Dragon to put the ROH championship on the line in a steel cage at the next event in Chicago. This was not your typical Joe vs. Dragon match. Since there was no time limit, they were both a lot more aggressive than before. The crowd enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. Great match. You will enjoy it too!

Final Thoughts: A great series of wrestling matches. The soap opera storyline has its moments. It seems like ROH is keeping a low-profile as they begin to build towards the biggest show of the year, Final Battle on December 23rd, which will feature Homicide challenging for the ROH World championship and if he doesn't win it he will QUIT the company.

If you would like to purchase this or any other ROH DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com ---- if you need some convincing, you can check out streaming video of various ROH matches for free at www.ROHVideos.com