ROH Death Before Dishonor Night 1 & 2

[Diamond_Dog]

NIGHT1:

2 and a half years as an ROH fan. 8 years as a wrestling fan. Zero live shows. Needless to say, I was way starved of live wrestling.

I just got back from my first ever show. It was one of the greatest nights I've had in years and I will quite probably remember this live experiance for the rest of my life. Well, if not the rest of my life, then at least an extremely long time.

From the very fun opener, to the beyond insane main event, every match delivered in a huge way. I'm just happy to have been a part of such an amazing show.

One thing that I really loved about the show was just the friendly tone of the entire building. Nearly every place I go, there seems to be at least one asshole to ruin my fun. At this show, every fan, every wrestler, was awesome.

My first memory of the night was just, being starstruck by the wrestlers. Yeah, I know they put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us, and yeah I know they're much more approachable than any celebrities would be, but this is still my first live show and I've watched and admired these people from my living room for the better part of 3 years.

I will distinctly remember, riding up near the parking lot with the window down, I was in the backseat. I see a guy walking up near the door. It's Bryan Danielson. I try like hell to yell out to him, but to no avail. Damn, I should've gotten a slower driver. But right after we pass him, I look back, and I see that hair. I didn't see his face or much of his body, but I knew the split second I saw that hair I was staring at Nigel McGuinness. It was great, I just wish I would've thought to jump out of the car window.

So I'm walking up to the building, and I see none other than The Resilience stepping out of their vehicle. I say hi to Austin, and he shouts "Don't get shot". Well there were piggymobiles around, but I didn't know what had happened. I assume someone got shot.

The kinda weird thing was there was a bunch of helicopters flying around. Maybe it was some bank robbery, or maybe Sweeney paid for a helicopter to drop him and his clients off at the show. Not sure.

So after shooting the **** with some other fans, I walk in. The first thing I have to do is take a piss. So I go into the bathroom, and there's Project 161 fliers on the sinks. Needless to say, it was awesome. I started to calm down and get into the groove of things. My chest stopped hurting.

Then I walk into the arena itself. The moment I walk in, my jaw drops. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I was staring at the ROH ring and those awesome guard rails, in person. It was so much cooler than on DVD. I found my seat, and sat, anxiously awaiting what would happen.

So the pre-show starts with the 6-way. I don't know what it was, maybe because it was my first live match, but I just loved it. It wasn't a great match but I loved it. Dempsey was HUGELY over, like more over than some of the people on the main show. Hagadorn was great, everyone was great. Some of these guys have some real potential, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them on the main shows somewhere down the road.

So then there's the second match, Sara Del Rey crushing some jobber girl. But damn, that jobber girl was fricken HOT. Not to take anything away from Sara, she's great too. But that jobber girl was just, daamn. The match sucked.

I was pissed off that the pre-show was over. I mean, I was glad the bad matches were over, but the fact that it was what, 35 minutes until the main show started? Longest 35 minutes of my life.

Finally, the main show starts, with Jack Evans vs. Davey Richards. Great match. I mean it was no masterpiece but I liked it. Davey was a great heel, and Evans is well, Evans. Kinda sucks that it was a no-contest, but oh well. Got to see the Resilience come out and kick some ass afterward, which was fun.

Then we got Lacey vs. Daizee Haze. This was probably my least favorite match of the night. I haven't gotten to see any Shimmer, or too many recent ROH DVDs, so I was kinda in the dark about their in-ring ability. Overall wasn't bad, I just couldn't get into it. A few nice looking spots though, and of course both women are gorgeous, which helped.

Next, Hero vs. Nigel in Pure Wrestling. First of all I was impressed with Nigel's restraint when it came to the lariats. I think he only connected with two the whole match. There was some great looking wrestling, but the real highlights were Hero's solid 24 karat gold antics, as well as the whole blackout and Project 161. Overall, great match.

6 Man Mayhem. One of my favorite ROH matches. This one was really good. Everyone got nice spots in. Best part by far was Delirious. I was kinda worried about Delirious because a lot of people have said he's been a lot more serious lately. Glad to see this show he was his old self, through and through. This is the match that killed most peoples' pick-ems I imagine, especially mine. I was stuck between Albright and Delirious. I never guessed Cross would win. He was like, my second to last or third to last choice. But overall, still a very fun match.

Resilience vs. NRC tag match. This was very good. Austin and Strong are two of my favorite wrestlers on the roster, and they delivered big time in this match. Good psychology, nice spots, it felt like there was real legit heat between these guys. It was great. Loads of fun. Kind of awkward at the end, when NRC was beating up Resilience, obviously I and everyone else start chanting for Jack. It felt kind of awkward when Cross came out. I know he's a member of the Resilience but, everyone wanted Jack. Well luckily, Cross got his ass handed to him quickly and Jack came out for the save. Then he announced his "crew", I guess isn't dead after all, because at the next Boston show he's bringing them to fight NRC. Really worried about Austin. I hope he's going to be okay.

K, intermission. Intermission went by like nothing. I don't know how long it was but it didn't feel long at all. I got to meet Jack, see the dance-off backstage which was great fun, got a picture with him and everything. Jack is great. I saw Rocky walking by, I said to him "great match tonight", he shrugged it off and walked away faster. Guess he was uptight about taking the fall. I shook hands with Matt Sydal as he was walking by, said a quick word of hello to Brent Albright, who seemed nice but I didn't want to bother him too much. So I get a drink from the vending machine, buy Glory By Honor V, Night Two, and get back to my seat, anxiously awaiting the last three matches.

First match after intermission is Danielson vs. Sydal, which is one of the matches I was looking the most forward to on this show. I won't delve into the storyline that happened first, just that it was great. The match was tons of fun. Danielson is just amazing. Sydal's up there too. Must-see match in my opinion, although to me personally it felt a little short. Anyone know how long it was? Anyway, great, fun match. Loved it.

Next, Morishima vs. Claudio. I, as well as the rest of the crowd, kicked into overdrive. Much louder than we had been the rest of the night, although I was pretty loud for everything except the two women's matches (pretty much too busy drooling). It was an excellent match. Must-see again. Every time Claudio hit a big move, and every time he kicked out of one of Morishima's pins, there's just this huge roar. I had no fricken idea who to cheer for. Everyone else was cheering for Claudio, but I love Morishima too. So basically I alternate every few minutes, chanting for one guy then the other. That was fun. A great match, but again it felt a little short. Crowd was absolute rip**** with Claudio lost.

Finally, the main event. Oh, my, goodness. What an insane match. INSANE I tell you. There wasn't anything even barely resembling a dull moment anywhere in this match. It was bell to bell madness, everywhere in the building. I was going crazy for the Briscoes, as they're, with the exception of Danielson, my favorite wrestlers in ROH. But I couldn't resist the urge to sing "OLE!" for Generico.

There were at least 10 spots in this match that just took my breath away. It's so different live. I mean, on DVD, you see an insane spot and sometimes you cringe but, live I thought these guys were really dead on a number of occasions. Nothing could prepare me for this match, it was just, crazy. I loved it. Just amazing.

What an amazing night. I mean, the best way to describe ROH live in one word is simply this: Indescribable. I was so pumped going into this, at many times I was afraid it wouldn't live up to my inhumanely high expectations. Well, it surpassed them. This is one night that I will remember every time I see anything relating to ROH or wrestling for that matter. ROH on tape/DVD firmly held my interest and attention for the better part of 3 years, but no amount of tape watching can prepare you for the insanely different experiance of seeing ROH live.

I hadn't planned to go to the next one, due to the fact that transportation to and through Boston was kind of a once in a, well I wouldn't say once in a lifetime, just once in a long time opportunity. But screw it, if I'm able to, I'll use whatever means necessary to create my own once in a long time opportunity to see the next one. I have to, ROH live is an experiance I will never forget, and I definitely need to do it again. And soon.

Sorry this post went so long.

Pre show started with a six man students match - Osirius vs. Hagadorn vs. Dempsey vs. Payne vs. Rhett vs. Franklin. Very basic students match; what you need to know is that Hagadorn did his usual heel shtick and won via brass kunx. Bobby Dempsey is over like a mother in Boston. He had people swarming around him getting autographs after the show. Match rating: *

For the Sara Del Ray vs. Candice LaRae match, I figured the over/under was 2 minutes. I went with the under. I won. Pretty much a squash; Del Ray picked up the win with the butterfly lock submission. Match rating: DUD

MAIN SHOW~!

Jack Evans vs. Davey Richards ended in DQ when the NRC ran in. I was disappointed with this match given how good their match back in September was. Davey seemed a bit out of it in terms of emotion as well. Teasing the 630 as much as they did with no forseeable payoff annoyed me as well. Decent opener none the less. Resilience made the save but Jack told them he could handle himself and for them to stay away. Match rating: **1/4

Lacey vs. Daizee was a pretty good little match. Both seemed really into it, but I felt like Sara Del Ray was too involved with the match. Lacey got the pin using a lung blower followed by her DDT. I wish Jimmy was at the show because Lacey bores me without him. Match rating: *1/4

Pure title match: this ruled. After Sinclair read the rules, Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero read the Pure Title Commandments. They are as followed:

1. There is to be no delaying the athletic feats of any athlete such as a Chris Hero (not sure what he actually said, but that was close I think)

2. Wrestlers are not allowed to be British, if they are, they forfit all rope breaks

3. You can't put your hands on Sweeney

4. No closed fists or closed lines (?)

Nigel went back to his '05 pure style wrestling which was awesome. Hero and Sweeney hammed it up for some quality entertainment and knocked off Nigel's rope breaks pretty quickly. Hero won with a STCravate. Nigel took the piss with Dempsey after and turned him into a 'baked potato.' Match rating: ***1/2

During the match, the lights went out and a Project 161 message played. The production staff called for refs to look behind them and there was a minor scuffle. When the lights came back on, Hero told Sinclair that Nigel used all 3 rope breaks during the black out. Classic.

Matt Cross defeats Delirious, Brent Albright, Eddie Edwards, Pelle Primeau & Jigsaw to win Six Man Mayhem with a shooting star leg drop on Edwards. Basic 6 man stuff. Delirious now has a beard and messed with Albright a bit. They ended up brawling to the back so they'll probably have a match or two down the road. Jigsaw looked real good in this one. Match rating: **1/2

I found the NRC vs. Resilience tag match to be disappointing. First off, it seemed to drag on and had minimal heat from the crowd. Part of that was probably because Aries screwed up his ankle half way through the match so it all fell apart. It was a bit like the Aries/Strong match from FYF:NYC in that regard. Somehow, he managed to hit the 450 on Rocky for the win. Another reason for me not really liking this match was because of those stupid Rocky comments. We get it, Rocky Romero - Rocky Balboa. It's not clever anymore! I don't know how many times I heard 'yer a bum Rocky' tonight. One good thing though, Rocky and Stevens worked incredibly stiff; they were brutal to eachother. Davey ran in for the post match beatdown, Cross came out too - to no avail. Jack made the save...but not to help the Resilience, but because he's waging war on the NRC. He announced his crew would take on the NRC on Oct. 5. Finally, I mean, he's only promised his group for 6 months now. Match rating: **1/4

Intermission~!!!! This just in, Gabe is with the Resilience.

Prior to the Danielson/Sydal match, Danielson and Sweeney had a discussion about the money. Basically, Danielson invested it but Sweeney wanted it NOW. Stips were added to the match as a result. If Danielson won, he'd keep Sydal's share. If Sydal won, he'd get all 3,333.34 right after the show (they divided it into thirds since Briscoe didn't try hard enough). The match was surprisingly mostly mat based. Sydal got a Jack Evans-esque stretching. The crowd in my section sucked though so I couldn't really enjoy it. Danielson picked up the win with some sort of triangle choke with elbows to get Sydal's share. After the match, Sweeney was livid at Sydal, but they made up. Match rating: *** (that's a very particular rating, I'll assume)

What can I say about the title match other than WOW! I went into it expecting Claudio to get beat, but he held his own better than any of Morishima's other opponents (that I've seen). Claudio got a lot of offense in which was awesome. In fact, he even tope'd Morishima through the guardrails and into pretty much the 3rd row. They teased the Riccola Bomb to the point where the pay off Riccola Bomb had everyone, including me. That was the closest near fall I've ever seen. Morishima's comeback was a little weak though, but great match nonetheless. Claudio was over huge with the crowd, he pratically woke them all up from hibernation with his performance. Match rating: ****

I've seen a lot of wild brawls in ROH, but this one may have been the wildest. All four of them brawled in 3/4 of the building using every object imaginable including chairs, a ladder, tables, Rockstar energy drink cans, a fan's shoe...on two different occasions (same shoe), section signs, and fans themselves. Both Briscoes took a ton of un protected chair shots to the point where I was grimicing. Steen took a couple big bumps through tables as well. The thing about this match was that all the fans were around the wrestlers, but the wrestlers disregarded their safety so it was a pretty hostile environment. Both Briscoes bled, yet Steen didn't (hmmm). Generico and Jay both took NASTY bumps through chairs. After a few near falls, Steen got the win with a package piledriver on a ladder. My only complaint was that Generico didn't hit the brainbuster . Hopefully he hits it in NYC. Match rating: ****1/4

After the match, Steen made an 'open' challenge to the ROH world champion for the return date.

OCT. 5th so far:

Jack +2 vs. NRC

Steen vs. Danielson

Very good show with the main events being the stand out matches. The crowd really stepped it up for Claudio and they remained very hot for the street fight. I highly recommend checking this show out when it's released. Everyone who was at the fan gathering should thank Gregh for his usual generousity.

[Remus]

Fuck, Castagnoli е изгубил! Бесен съм! Не че Моришима не ми допада, ама сериозните мачове за титлата при него са веднъж на два-три месеца, да не говорим, че често са еднообразни. При Клаудио щеше да има повече интрига, когато защитава.

Иначе ми е кеф, че Hero е спечелил срещу McGuinness и очаквам с нетърпение да гледам последния мач.

[Big Evil]

Така така... Йокозуна 2.0 все още се крепи, но определено му се вижда края. По-точно - искам да му се вижда края! Както и си мислех, спечелването на RTTT турнира е вдигнало неимуверно хийта на мача. Но наистина имам предчувствието, че края на Моришима идва, до края на лятото според мене ще е сдал титлата, или най-много началото на есента(септември-октомври). Така че, както казах в една предишна тема - Клаудио не успя, и сега за главата на Шима идва the gun for hire Ако излезна прав за Брент(което е малко вероятно), ще има малък празник... Все пак казвам, малко е вероятно, но си имам едно на ум относно тоя тайтъл шот, който докопа Олбрайт. В смисъл такъв, че и края на 2004 надали някой е предполагал сериозно, че след като Джо смаза Пънк за някакви си 40 минутки след 2 едночасови равенства, ще сдаде титлата на един откровен заек като Ейрис. Фюдът на Брискотата и Дженерико/Стийн върви перфектно, кой знае какво мазало ще стане в Хартфорд, когато са в клетката.... Иначе Хироу хубаво е спечелил, ама нещо ми става леко кофти на стомаха, като си помисля, че ще стане stepping stone(надали се пише така)на Найджъл... не, не че Найджъл не го заслужава, просто съм нещо като.... "противник" на цялата история около Chris Hero и ROH. Хироу не е материал за РОХ, не и за РОХ 2007

[Diamond_Dog]

Mitch Franklin and Pelle Primeau vs. Up In Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy)- Up In Smoke got an insane amount of love from the crowd. It was great. Match was short; only about 4 minutes or so; but Cheech and Cloudy got a chace to show off there skills and looked pretty good in this short match. Pelle pinned Cloduy with a roll up to win.- *1/4

Eddie Kingston vs. Alex Payne vs. Sexiest Man Alive (didn't hear his name) vs. Shane Hagadorn- Kingston gets a huge pop; a lot of love from the crowd as well. He tries to be a heel but nobody is really buying it. His first entrance in the match was bad. He didn't look good at all. His second part in the match looked really good though. The match itself was pretty decent. An enjoyable 4-way. Hagadorn got the win.- *3/4

After the match Albright came to the ring and destroyed Payne and the guy who's name I don't know. Hagadorn escaped. As Albright looked at the crowd Kingston came up behind him. Albright turned around and they had an intense staredown. They traded some forarms and Kingston got him from behind in a dragon suplex position. Alrbight reversed and hit the half nelson suplex. Both guys looked great in this.

MAIN SHOW:

Briscoes come out and challened Steen and Generico. They both come out and Steen sends Generico to the ring. Generico vs. Mark- Fun match; short only about 8-9 minutes. But they had some pretty nice spots. Generico won after interference from Steen. Mark was standing on one corner of the ring distracted; generico dove through the 1st and 2nd rope and nailed a DDT. Good stuff.- **3/4

Jack Evans vs. Deranged- At the beginning of the match some lunatic was rambling on a megaphone about Project 161 and throwing shirts to the crowd. he crossed the ring barrier and got thrown out. This was far and away the worst match of the night. I LOVE Jack; but he looked like Sabu tonight. He botched at least 3 different moves. Deranged botched a baseball slide into a headscissors as well. But other than that his offense wasn't bad. I enjoyed him. But this match was awful.- *

Deranged got don't come back chants afterwards that were completely unwarranted. But; there's always gonna be some morons in the crowd.

Hero/Jigsaw vs. Claudio/Nigel- Very very fun match. The story here was Hero doing whatevr he could to avoid Claudio; who was the most over person in the match. A lot of good wrestling with some comedy from SnS. Really fun match. Hero wins after he knocks out Claudio with the RTTT trophy. After the match SnS destroy the trophy and Claudio.- **1/2

Sara Del Ray vs. Lacey- This wasn't bad. It wasn't really good though either. It was pretty decent for a woman's match; although I think it went a bit long. If they cut it down by 3 minutes or so it would have been very enjoyable. Del Ray wins after... her finisher. which i don't know the name of.- **

Danielson vs. Quackenbush- This really had a big match feel to it IMO. Very good match; it started with a bit of one-upsmanship before Danielson started using heel tactics to get an advantage. Quack eventually took control for a while. He was great. Danielson then outwrestled him near the end and won with a Triangle-Choke type hold with elbows to the top of the head. Really good match; I think if it had another 3-5 minutes it would have been great. It was still very good nonetheless.- ***1/2

INTERMISSION

Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen- This was a great brawl. Both guys got the hell beat out of them. Finish saw Briscoe get up from a package piledriver; hit a Jay Driller, which they built to the entire match. Steen got up. Generico came out and hit the hardest Yakuza Kick ever in the corner and Steen used one more Package Piledriver for the win.- ***

Morishima vs. Albright- What a great match. I didn't like Albright too much before tonight. But he was just fantastic. It started off really strong. Albright solidified himself as a completely different challenger then Shima has ever had by slamming him with ease. The middle of the match was slower paced but still pretty decent. And then the end was fantastic. Albright hit two half-nelson suplexes for the 3-count and the win. NEW CHAMP. It was incredible. Big shocker. After the match they brawled a little more and Morishima hit his Backdrop driver. I guess they're building to Morishima's title rematch. Great match- ****

Resilience+Delirious vs. NRC+ Sydal- This match was NUTS. Just absolutely crazy brawling. A couple awesome spots:

- Cross and Sydal battle atop the closed set of bleachers. Cross pushes Sydal off into a group of the other wrestlers. Cross then runs along the bleachers, KICKS OFF THE WALL, and flips through the air before landing on the crowd. It was crazy.

- Rocky gets set up on a table under a camera station. Cross climbs up the ladder; hangs horizontally and drops onto Rocky.

- The last 5 minutes was Stevens vs. Strong. It was absolutely fantastic. Match ended with Strong hitting a rock bottom type move on Stevens from the top rope onto a ladder which was being held up by two chairs. He then applied the stronghold and Stevens passed out.

I give the match ****1/4.

Overall Thoughts: Okay show until the last two matches which were just out of this world awesome.

After this weekend I have a newfound love of Albright, Cross, and Stevens. All three put in showstealing performances.

Bring back Up In Smoke and Kingston and give Deranged one more shot.

NEW WORLD CHAMP; good work Albright. Can't wait until Albright-Danielson.

Next Philly show is 11/2- KENTA, Morishims, Marufuji announced. I'm assuming one more Japanese star will be announced two weeks from now.

Mistimed both preshow matches

Main Show

1. El Generico vs Mark Briscoe 8:26

2. Deranged vs Jack Evans 10:45

3. Chris Hero and Jigsaw vs Claudio Castagnolli and Nigel McGinnis (approx 14:30--mistimed)

4. Shimmer Title-- Sara Del Ray vs Lacey 12:38

5. American Dragon Bryan Danielson vs Lightning Mike Quackenbush 17:11

Intermission---

6. Jay Briscoe vs Kevin Steen 14:14

7. ROH World Title Takeshi Morishima vs Brent Albright 15:17

8. Non-Sanctioned 8 Man Streetfight- Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero and Matt Sydal vs Austin Aries, Delirious, Matt Cross and Erich Stevens 36:46

Preshow ***NOT CONFIRMED***

1) Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin defeated Up In Smoke.

2) Shane Hagadorn won a Four Corner Survival during the preshow defeating Alex Payne, Rhett Titus and Eddie Kingston. After the match, Brent Albright came out, laid out all four participants and cut a promo.

Main Show

1) El Generico defeated Mark Briscoe in a Falls Count Anywhere match with a spinning tornado DDT on the floor.

2) Jack Evans defeats Deranged with a 630 splash.

~Before the match started, a guy in a Project 161 shirt appeared with a megaphone.

3) Chris Hero & Jigsaw defeat Claudio Castagnoli & Nigel McGunness when Hero bashed Claudio in the head with the Race To The Top Trophy.

*FROM ANOTHER FORUM - Now confirmed by SF*

4) Sara Del Ray defeats Lacey with a Royal Butterfly Hold into a suplex. Daizee watched. "Very good"

5) "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeats "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush when Quack passed out while in a Triagnle Choke with elbows to the head. Quack broke out of a crossface chicken wing and the Cattle Mutilation.

-INTERMISSION-

*FROM ANOTHER FORUM - Now confirmed by SF*

6) Kevin Steen defeats Jay Briscoe in a Lights Out match after Generico interfered and Steen hit the package piledriver.

7) ROH World Championship: Takeshi Morishima defeats Brent Albright to retain after 2 backdrop drivers. Crowd was totally in to Albright and went nuts when they thought he won on a close near fall.

8) The No Remorse Corp & Matt Sydal defeat The Resilience & Delirious in an Unsanctioned Street Fight when Erick Stevens passed out in the Stronghold. Sick and insane must see match.

Тука има някакви протичоверечия относно мача за титлата кой е спечелил.Ако може някой ако е разбрал да пише

[Remus]

Май последната новина е вярната - Моришима е запазил. Не съм много добре запознат с този booking, но ако ще има смяна на титлата, няма ли да е най-добре това да е в последния мач?

Останалите мачове звучат добре. Като гледам Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico си е повторение на Briscoes vs. Strong & Aries - демек претендентите побеждават във всички мачове, които не са за титлите и обратното.

Cross runs along the bleachers, KICKS OFF THE WALL, and flips through the air before landing on the crowd. It was crazy. - ако ще цялото шоу да e било отврат, щях да го гледам само, за да видя този spot. Май на Cross му се мре, докато е млад.

[Big Evil]

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY FUCK!!!!! Разтреперих се при новината за Олбрайт... но най-вероятно не е спечелил той Обаче забележете, че при подробния репорт той е назован като победител, а в двата по-дребни - Шима... Ако съм познал за Олбрайт ще изпадна в бесен марк-аут, макар че, от друга страна, е споменато и някакво объркване при горещ near fall...

П.П. Remus, случва се и да не е в последния мач. Гибсън падна от Даниелсън в предпоследния мач на съответни кард