Online World of Wrestling (original) (raw)

Nigel McGuinness returned to ROH from a successful tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH and was received warmly by the Boston fans. Nigel thanked the fans for braving the weather (apparently there was a snow storm) and said they had a gift to reward their loyalty. Nigel McGuinness introduced his opponent, making his return to ROH after a two plus year absence, former ROH Pure champion and Boston's own "Hurricane" John Walters! Walters looks like and shares the same wrestling style of a young Chris Benoit (and you know that can't be bad).

After a great back-and-forth match, Walters kicked out after a Tower of London, then kicked out after a running Lariat, then reached the ropes after a second rope Lariat. It took another big Tower of London to finally put the Hurricane down for the count ( 7 / 10 ). I know it's not permanent but it was cool to see John Walters back in an ROH ring; it doesn't hurt to bring these guys back once in a while.

Lacey was looking beautiful as she got some promo time and complained about not being involved in the big women's match tonight. Lacey said she gave Jimmy Jacobs the night off and warned Colt Cabana and B.J. Whitmer that she may spend some of her Lacey's Angels money (and oh there is A LOT of it!) to take them out.

Daizee Haze faced off against Mercedes Martinez in a SHIMMER match. Daizee has dropped the Embassy attitude and is working on a fresh start in ROH starting with this match. Mercedes surprisingly defeated Daizee and had her arm raised in victory ( 5.5 / 10 ). It was surprising only because Daizee is an ROH regular. The match was far too short but the fireworks happened after the match when Lacey came down and slapped Daizee Haze across the face for taking what she perceived to be "her spot" in ROH.

The crowd totally popped for Christopher Daniels' entrance with manager Allison Danger and tag team partner Matt Sydal in his corner. The cheers turned to jeers as the heat-magnet Chris Hero appeared on the scene with his tag team championship partner, Claudio Castagnoli. Sydal was in his gear and doing stretches so I predicted he and Castagnoli would most likely follow the match with a match of their own. You can tell Chris Hero loves to make the fans hate him, and I can't see why he wasn't signed with WWE along with Claudio Castagnoli. Chris Hero, who was defeated by Matt Sydal last month, was pinned by Chris Daniels this time around giving the Fallen Angel the impressive victory ( 6.5 / 10 ). As Matt Sydal vs. Claudio Castagnoli got underway, Hero was chased by Daniels backstage leaving Allison Danger alone at ringside. Double C looks like a giant standing next to Matt Sydal, and Sydal is no small man himself. Sydal continued his streak of impressive victories after an amazing shooting star press on Claudio Castagnoli ( 7 / 10 ). Allison Danger (who is dropping weight and looking hotter than ever) was getting very friendly with Matt Sydal all night - I wonder if they'll start a jealousy angle with Christopher Daniels. Matt Sydal will be put to the test tomorrow night against KENTA.

It was then time for six man tag team action featuring Jim Cornette's hired assassin team of the Briscoe Brothers and Steve Corino, accompanied by Shane Hagadorn, taking on Homicide's army including Samoa Joe and B.J. Whitmer. It was WAR from the opening bell with "relaxed rules" (I love that term, exclusive to ROH), focusing on Homicide's bitter feud with Steve Corino, which will climax the following night in a Fight Without Honor on a DVD appropriately titled "The Bitter End." After an action-packed match, Steve Corino brought out a set of brass knux but the referee took them away from him. Corino then brought out a second set of brass knux and knocked out Homicide, and then the Briscoes gave him (Homicide) a Spike Jay-Driller to win the match ( 7 / 10 )! After the match, Steve Corino choked Homicide and told the fans it was the last time they would see Homicide because he's going to "kill him" tomorrow night!

Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal, with Allison Danger, cut a promo on the King's of Wrestling and are now calling themselves the "Lords of the Ring." Daniels + Sydal (+Danger) = Champs. Awesome.

Two ROH veterans locked horns when the man with the chip on his shoulder, Jimmy Rave, met "Classic" Colt Cabana in a singles match. Cabana is goofy and Rave is very bitter - and if anyone has a right to be bitter it's Jimmy Rave! Colt Cabana won the match by Submission using a reverse Boston Crab ( 5.5 / 10 ). As much as I like Colt Cabana, I wanted Jimmy Rave to win this match so badly because he deserves a much bigger push than he has been getting.

If you weren't a frequent follower of ROH you wouldn't expect American Dragon vs. Delirious to be all that great, but for those who have experienced any of the previous encounters between these two knows that their chemistry together is very entertaining. This would be Delirious's third opportunity at the ROH World title but it was not destiny to win it on this night as Dragon successfully retained his championship once again ( 7 / 10 ). It wasn't their best match together but still pretty cool with a few very intense minutes at the end of the match!

And the award for quickest promo goes to..... Daizee Haze! "Lacey.. you better watch what you say and what you do!"

It was main-event time and also the "everything they touch turns to gold" portion of the night. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Japan's KENTA are responsible for the majority of the 2006 Match of the Year contenders. KENTA was coming off two victories over both Strong and Aries in singles matches and the team of Aries & Strong sought to get back their wins over KENTA before he returns to Pro-Wrestling NOAH. KENTA's tag team partner and American protege was Davey Richards for this match event spectacular. The crowd was either on the edge of their seats of standing on their feet for the entire twenty minute match which was filled with painful striking and submission moves as well as classic ROH wrestling action. It was everything ROH fans have come to expect from an ROH Main Event ( 9 / 10 ). After the match, Austin Aries put over KENTA on the mic and the crowd chanted "Thank you, KENTA!" and "Please come back!"

TNA/LAX leader Konnan cut a promo saying he was coming to ROH to back up Homicide against Jim Cornette - oh joy (sarcasm).

Jimmy Rave cut a promo complaining about the fans throwing toilet paper at him and said he was sick of it! Rave said something had to change RIGHT NOW. What's in store for Jimmy Rave? Stay tuned......

Final Thoughts: This was ROH's return to Boston and they truly reclaimed the city as their own with a great night of wrestling matches. The crowd was very appreciative and totally hot for all the action in the ring - ROH would be stupid not to come back!

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