Retro Rowe: ROH Supercard of Honor II Review

ROH: Supercard of Honor II

March 31, 2007

-Not really sure when I wrote this one either, but I'd guess sometime in 2007 when I'd just moved into my first apartment and was using my girlfriend's hilariously old computer.

-This was night two of a double shot weekend in Detroit, Michigan during Wrestlemania 23 weekend. Our hosts for the evening are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.

- The DVD opens with Jimmy Jacobs talking about his hatred of BJ Whitmer. He accuses Whitmer of walking out on him, and worrying about his career and legacy more than anything else. Jacobs says that tonight, in their steel cage match, he will be fighting for the greatest cause of all: love. Camera pans to the lovely Lacey, whom Jimmy has been obsessed with. Jacobs wants his innocence and purity back, and he will accomplish that by taking out Whitmer. "In my mind, you've already lost, big brother" claims Jacobs, which sends a chill running down my spine. Jacobs has developed into one of the best characters in all of wrestling, highlighted with this excellent promo.

-We are treated to highlights from last year's Supercard of Honor Dragon Gate match. Many considered that match to be the Match of the Year for 2006, so the stars of Dragon Gate are looking to repeat tonight.

-Jay Briscoe comes down to the ring to a monster pop. Last night in this same venue, Jay single handedly won back the ROH Tag Team Championship after his brother, Mark, botched a shooting star press to the floor and landed on his head. Jay says that Mark is recovering in the hospital and is looking forward to returning and having a great reign as tag champions. Jay is joined by former tag champs Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal. Daniels is heeling it up. The fans are chanting "Fallen Angel" to which Daniels cuts them off with "I know I'm here, shut the hell up and listen!" Daniels wants Jay to forfeit the tag titles to him and Sydal right now. Instead, Jay brings out his surprise partner, Delirious. If Sydal and Daniels can beat them, they can have a future shot at the titles.

Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe and Delirious
Daniels set the tone for the match by hitting a cheap shot on Delirious as the bell rang. Jay ends up dumping Daniels to the floor, causing the Fallen Angel to consider leaving the match. For the record, Daniels is wearing that same face paint that can be seen every Thursday night on Impact. Daniels reconsiders and tags in Sydal, who demands Delirious. Those two have had one of the higher profile indy feuds as of late, which is always good to see, especially during a time when the wrestling world has been going through so much hard time. The match continues in a spotty, yet intense fashion, with a highlight being Jay Briscoe drop kicking Delirious into Sydal and Daniels, who were holding him at ringside. From there, Delirious becomes the face in peril for several minutes. Briscoe eventually cleans house, but Daniels hits a Death Valley Driver and goes for the Best Moonsault Ever, which is dodged. Delirious gets involved again, hitting the Panic Attack and Shadows Over Hell on Daniels, which still wasn't enough to put him away. After some chaos, Sydal is tagged in and misses the shooting star press. Delirious hits the chemical imbalance and pins Sydal at 18:08. Daniels and Sydal seem to be in a rut in their quest to reclaim tag team gold. Good opening match that probably didn't need to go as long as it did, but was enjoyable nonetheless, ***1/4.
Winners: Jay Briscoe and Delirious

Retro Rowe: ROH Black Friday Fallout

Ring of Honor - Black Friday Fallout
November 26, 2006

by SamoaRowe

-From Lake Grove, NY. Our hosts are Dave Prazak and Jimmy Bauer (Gabe Sapolsky).

-Backstage interview with ROH Tag Team Champions Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. They are staging a phony press conference. Since they are the champs, they feel they can say whatever they want, whenever they want. They dismiss the other teams chasing after them. Tonight, they defend their newly won titles in a “No DQ” match against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.

-Brent Albright introduces himself to the ROH audience. He’s coming off a lackluster run on Smackdown. Albright is here to make money and beat people up. Tonight, he gets the opportunity to beat five people up in the gauntlet match.

Four Corner Survival:
Daizee Haze vs. Nikki Roxx vs. Lacey vs. Allison Danger

That’s right, they’re opening with a women’s match, what are you going to do about it? Hot start with participants tagging themselves in, as everyone hates Lacey. Danger turns up the aggression, attacking Lacey with hard strikes. Roxx assists Danger in a double team against Lacey. Haze tags in and puts Roxx down with a Tornado Daizee Cutter. Allison misses a curb kick and Haze locks on an STF. Danger looks for a tag but Lacey refuses. Roxx tags and works over poor Allison. Lacey tags herself in and blindsides Danger. Allison makes a comeback but Haze sneak attacks with a drop-kick. Roxx and Haze gets tags and Roxx gains the upper hand with a tirt-a-whirl backbreaker. Barbie Crusher on Danger by Roxx! Daizee jumps Nikki and nails a Hart Punch. Lacey shoves off Daizee and puts Roxx down with an Implant DDT. Lacey gains the victory at 8:27. Solid match that really gave Lacey a chance to get over, **½.
Winner: Lacey

Retro Rowe: ROH Honor Reclaims Boston Review

ROH -Honor Reclaims Boston - Nov 3,2006

by SamoaRowe

-I still haven’t gotten my WWE tapes in the mail (damn holiday weekend) so here’s the second live ROH event I ever attended.

-From Braintree, MA. Our hosts are Dave Prazak and Jared David.

-Nigel McGuinness comes to the ring and puts over ROH’s return to the Boston area. His mystery opponent is local boy, John Walters.

Nigel McGuinness vs. John Walters

They show off their chain wrestling skills in the early going. Nigel leap frogs and runs into an arm drag. Walters delivers a slingshot arm drag to take control. They trade hip tosses and Walters scores yet another arm drag. They trade uppercuts and Walters scores with a flying cross body. Nigel throws a suplex and goes after the arm. Walters is also favoring arm attacks. Walters powers out of a cobra clutch only to eat a lariat. Walters counters with a big spinebuster. Walters unloads a flurry of offense but can’t get the pinfall. Hammerlock takedown by McGuinness cuts off Walters’ momentum. Walters comes back with a Codebreaker and an arm submission. Neckbreaker by Walters only gets 2. Nigel bounces back with the Tower of London for only 2. Nigel counters into the big lariat for a very close near fall. The crowd goes nuts for that one. McGuinness hits the lariat off the ropes but Walters gets a rope break. A second Tower of London ends it at 13:54. It was getting hard not to root for Walters at the end, ***.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness

Retro Rowe: ROH Survival of the Fittest 2005 Review

ROH Survival of the Fittest - Sep 24, 2005

by SamoaRowe

-I’m waiting for some WWE tapes to arrive in the mail, so I figured I’d review the first ROH event I ever attended. For those of you who are familiar with DWS, I took this event in with Viceroy Virus and GreatWhiteChoate.

-From Dorchester, MA. Our hosts are Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak.

-Austin Aries and Roderick Strong can hardly believe it’s been a whole year since the first Survival of the Fittest tournament. Aries had a star-making performance last year, but came up short in the finals, so this year will be his redemption. Strong politely disagrees, saying it’s going to be his year.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier:
Sal Rinauro vs. Jay Lethal

They exchange wristlocks in the early going. Rinauro counters into an armlock, but Lethal reverses into a pinning predicament. Rinauro goes after the arm some more. Lethal rebounds with a spinebuster for 2. Lethal targets the back, but Rinauro surprises with a drop-kick. Belly to back suplex by Rinauro gets a near fall. Hip toss backbreaker by Lethal! Back suplex by Lethal isn’t enough for the win. Sal counters out of a crucifix submission. Rinauro gets caught on the ropes but counters with a flying bulldog. Rinauro nails a springboard DDT. German suplex by Rinauro still isn’t enough. Lethal rebounds with a running suplex. Flying head butt by Lethal gets 2. Sal gets some near falls but misses a springboard kick. Lethal pops up with the Dragon Suplex for the win at 11:35. Perfectly good opener here, they made that look easy **¾.
Winner: Jay Lethal

EVOLVE 36

EVOLVE 36
January 9th 2015

-It’s become a New Year’s tradition for me to try to get back on board with the good folks at WWNLive. Here we go again.

-From Ybor City, FL. Our hosts are Lenny Leonard and someone who’s name I couldn’t catch over Johnny Gargano’s music.

-New Open the Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano comes to the ring to talk. He recently reclaimed his coveted Freedom Gate title during WWNLive’s uber-successful tour of China. Gargano thanks the fans for their support throughout 2014 and helping them put on the best wrestling in the world. Gargano puts over the young, hungry locker room but states that he wants more fresh talent to join the WWNLive family. Therefore, members of the official roster will have the chance to endorse new wrestlers for opportunities. FIP Champion Rich Swann joins Gargano in the ring and reminisces about how they climbed to the top together as part of RONIN and as rivals. Since Gargano’s scheduled opponent is out, Swann endorses Shane Strickland as the replacement. Gargano is open to giving a title shot to the unproven challenger.

DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Championship:
Johnny Gargano © vs. Shane Strickland

They feel each other out with some chain wrestling and Gargano wins the exchange. Gargano gets the upper hand in a Roman-Greco knuckle lock and applies a crossface variation. Gargano throws some nice knife edge chops, which wakes Strickland up to maneuver into a drop-kick. They tease dives, but Strickland kicks Johnny in the face and lands a flying cross body for 2. Strickland repays the chops and nails a “brain kick.” Gargano catches Strickland on the turnbuckles and hits a backstabber. Gargano applies a modified cloverleaf and wrenches the fingers. Strickland looks shaken as he absorbs jabs and chops. They block suplexes and trade stiff shots until Shane rolls into an Ace Crusher! Gargano counters with a double stomp to the head, but Strickland SWERVES with a gut-buster for 2. Gargano avoids a moonsault on the floor and nails a suicide dive! Shane counters with a twisting slam for another 2 count. They trade more stiff offense until Strickland nails a DDT off the turnbuckles. Gargano gets his knees up on Strickland’s Red Arrow, but Shane still makes the cover. Strickland springboards into a super-kick and Gargano lawn darts him into the turnbuckles. The GargaNO Escape ends it at 14:25. Fun match with an appealing story, though a tad INDIE-RIFFIC, ***.
Winner and still DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano