ROH's Fifth Year Festival reaches the home stretch with two big shows in England. Now ROH champion Morishima is back in Japan for these shows so he won't appear. He is defending the title and would face KENTA witch ROH says was a show on level with a PPV in the USA. The problem is the thatch is never seen on an ROH release. Also not even having the champion on the card really takes away from the specialness of these final two events. The big attraction is its the end of Samoa Joe's time in ROH. So does the FYF end with a bang or would I rather bang my head against a brick wall than watch it again?
We open with Roderick Strong telling us he was the man that attacked Jack Evans. Strong claims he never liked Evans and he used him to make his name and show he was the best in tag team wrestling. Strong says he will break Pac in half and show what he does to guys like Evans. Like I said in the last review there is no drama to this revelation. It was clear Strong was the one that did it even if this had been when Rocky Romero was introduced as member of the NRC and he did it than Strong still would have been behind it since he was the leader of the NRC. This is almost like bad comedy where its clear who did every knows who did and the guy thinks he got one over.
Jimmy Jacobs says his flight was miserable since Lacey wasn't with him. Jimmy talks about Cabana giving Lacey the Colt 45. Jimmy brags about making Cabana bleed more than anyone. Jimmy claims he changed Cabana forever. Jimmy says Lacey said she was proud of him. Jimmy says Lacey gave him a job to take out Cabana or Whitmer or both. Jimmy says someone is going home in a body bag. Jimmy says than all those things Lacey has been whispering in his ear comes true. ITs an ok promo but why are they doing Cabana vs Jacobs even in a tag match again? THey just had the blow off give it some time to rest.
Davey Richards vs Homicide with Julius Smokes- Oh are you kidding me they brought Smokes to the UK? They water money on a plane ticket to bring him. What did Homicide spend some of that TNA money to bring him over? This match was announced prior to Homicide losing world title and would have been Richard first title shot in ROH. Lock up and Richards drives Homicide to the cover and does the chest tap thing on the break. Head lock take down by Richards. Head scissors by Homicide. Richards escapes and gets a single leg crap. Richards changes to a front face lock but Homicide reveres to a hammer lock and drops a knee into the back. Richards gets the ropes. Head lock by Richards and a shoulder tackle. Richards blocks a hip toss and in a nice touch gives a cocky heel laugh before hip tossing Homicide. Stalemate after an exchange of sweeps. Richards offers his hand shake and kicks Homicide in the leg. Arm drags by Homicide than for some reason we cut to Smokes. You know so far Smokes has been on his best behavior and actually not distracting from the match did Gabe make a deal where if he flamed down they just randomly cut to him? Cradle by Homicide gets two. Drop kick sends Richards tout floor. Homicide misses the baseball slide and takes a round house kick to the chest. Richards whips Homicide into the guard rail and than Yakuza Kicks him into the crowd. We cut to Smokes arguing with the referee because I guess Gabe really did make a deal with Smokes. Chops by Richards and he sends Homicide back into the ring. Power slam than an elbow drop by Richards gets two. Monkey flip by Richards by Homicide lands on his feet and hits a cross body for two. Arm drag into a arm bar by Homicide. Shoulders in the corner b Richards Richards runs into a boot. Back elbow by Homicide gets two. Homicide rakes the bag and Smokes starts screaming like Homicide just regained the world title. Its bad enough the guy always jumps around trying to get in shots. But he never shuts up he's always screaming about something. Big chops by Homicide. Back spinning heel kick by Richard followed by a front suplex onto the ropes. Richards steals Homicides bandana and mock him. Back break by Richards for two. Body scissors by Richards. Homicide goes for a sunset flip and gets it for two. Tilta a whirl back breaker by Richards. Great looking snap suplex by Richards gets two. Richards sends Homicide to the floor and follows him out. Richards slaps Homicide. Chops by Homicide than Smokes lands one and they keep reacting it unit Homicide crotches Richards on the guard rail. OH that is total bullshit. Why do wrestler in ROH keep letting Smokes land moves on them? I get they might like/respect Homicide but come on.
Topa con Helio by Homicide while Richards is still on the guard rail. Smokes breaks his deal with Gabe and jumps right into the camera shot blocking Richards because Smokes wants everyone to see his dumb little dance. Back to the ring and Richards land some double ax handles. Over head belly to belly suplex by Homicide gets two. Knee to the midsection by Richards. Richards goes for the running power bomb but Homicide counters into a Rana. Running boot in the corner by Homicide. Homicide covers but Richards gets the rope. Atomic drop by Richards a series of Kicks. Homicide ducks the final kick and hits an exploder suplex for two. SwingingDDT by Homicide. Richards blocks the lariat and hits a saito suplex. Running corner forearm than a gut buster by Richards and he hits the running power bomb but only gets two. Smokes still being an idiot screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Inverted cloverleaf by Richards. Homicide gets the bottom rope. Power slam by Richards and he climbs the topes for the shooting star press. Homicide tripes Richards to crotch him. Ace crusher off the ropes by Homicide. Richards ducks the lariat and hits the hand spring kick. Homicide falls back hits the ropes and nails the lariat. Its bad enough Nigel McGuinness started doing the takes move falls back for the rebound don't you start 2007 Homicide. Move only gets two. Kicks to the face by Homicide. Richards goes for the pop up into the kick by Homicide never really gets into the air. Falcon arrow by Richards gets two. Inverted clover leaf again by Richards. Homicide rolls through sending Richards into the corner. Richards escapes the cop killer an chits a release German. Homicide no sells int an hits the three amigos snap suplex. Homicide to the top rope for the frog splash that gets two. Coop Killer to give Homicide the win. Pretty good match but there appended to be some strange set up in it. Smokes as usual was awful I know I talk about him a lot but he's that bad he takes away from the match. I also feel Davey needed the win more. Yes Homicide was the one main eventing vs Joe the next night but Davey was coming off an injury he had lost to Joe and taken the pin in a tag match the week before. I think they had Davey take as many of the big moves as he did to try and give him a rub but the win would have better. Homicide in ROH was like Joe or Danielson he was over and so legendary he could afford pretty much any loss.
Sara Del Rey vs Alison Danger- There isn't a story line reason for this match as the two were partners and they even embrace before the match. It was just another match used to promote the SHIMMER DVD sales. Lock up and a go behind by Del Rey. Danger gets a wrist lock and a take down. Del Rey reverses. Counter into the hammerlock by Danger. Drop toe hold by Del Rey. Front face lock by Del Rey reversed by Danger. Head lock by Del Rey and she cranks it on. Danger work over the wrist again Knee bar by Del Rey. Danger flips over and rolls free. Arm wringer by Del Rey than into a hammer lock lock. Escape by Danger and gets gets a courting hold than a roll up for one. Front face lock by Danger. Danger goes for a sunset flip but Del Rey just drops down onto her. Stomps by Del Rey. Vertical suplex by Del Rey gets two. Octopus hold by Del Rey. Roll up by Del Rey gets two. Jack knife pin by Dangers gets two than a small package gets two. Backslid by Danger for two Kick to the gut by Del Rey shuts down Danger. Royal Butter fly by Del Rey is counted into the STO by Danger. Fore arms by Danger than a running clothesline . Love lace choker by Danger gets two. Del Rey ducks the clotheslines and hits a big boot to the chest knocking Danger over. Another big boot by Del Rey and finally a third for two. Samoan drop by Del Rey gets two. Drop toe hold by Danger hangs Del Rey on the bottom rope. Curb kick by Danger gets two. Body scissors with a cravat by Danger. Del Rey mangoes to stand even with the hold locked in. Royal Butterfly out of the hold for the win by Del Rey. Very good match some really impressive chain wrestling a nice taste of the kind of matches you could find on SHIMMER. Post match Danger raises Del Rey's hands and the partners leave together.
We get a Bricoes Brother promo with is a huge waste of time. Its you typical rambling promo by the two idiots where they keep going Man up over and over again. How about you two just shut up? I have no idea what they even tried to say they are so hard to understand.
Jimmy Rave and Jimmy Jacobs vs BJ Whitmer and Colt Cabana- Why are they putting Jacobs and Cabana in a match just after there blow off match. Rearrange the damn cards and put them in other matches. It just does such a disservice to the match they just had to be wrestling each other the vey next show. Rave and Jacobs knock Whitmer and Cabana off the apron when they are making there entrance. Rave chops Whitmer and than use Whitmer's vest to choke him. Jacobs pounds on Cabana. A big right hands by Cabana sends Jacobs into the crowd as Whitmer tosses Rave into the crowd on the other side. Whitmer tosses Rave into a bunch of chairs. Cabana uses his jacket to choke Jacobs. Chop exchange Rave and Whitmer. Rave and Whitmer fight to the upper deck where there is no light. Finally some shows that Whitmer is trying to toss rave over the guard rail. Rave gets free. Jacobs uses a banner to choke Cabana. Rave and whiter head down the stairs. the shot just bounces around randomly I think they are trying to show Cabana chasing Jacobs. Rave gets Cabana and they exchange. Back to ringside all four men go. Head lock and a punch to the head by Cabana on Rave. Whitmer holds Jacobs so Cabana can chop him. Whiter sends Jacobs into the guard rail. Jacobs head sent into the apron. Right hands by Cabana on Rave. Whitmer Power bombs Jacobs onto the guard rail. Into the ring Whitmer and Rave go. Chops by Whitmer. cobs grabs the ring bell;. Running boot to the head by Whitmer on Rave. Jacobs nails Whitmer int eh back with the bell. DDT by Rave on Whitmer. Tag to Jacobs who hits a senton witch is dumb move since Jimmy just got droop back first on a large pice of metal not even 90 second before. Jacobs stands on Whitmer throat and than series of double stomps with the elbow. Ok now we just randomly cut to Cabana than to Rave than back to Cabana. Jacobs drags Whitmer to his corner to tag Rave. Stomp to the face by Rave. Rave covers but Cabana distracts the referee. Stomp off the second rope by Rave gets two. Chin lock by Rave. Tag to Jacobs. Double team sweep and punches to the face by the two Jimmys. Cabana gets Jacobs out of the ring. Jacobs back in and drops an elbow off the second rope to Whitmer. Jacobs takes off his elbow pad to hit a second one. Front face lock by Jacobs and Rave tags in. Kick to the side by Rave as Jacobs holds on. Side russian leg sweep into a modified stretch by Rave. Jacobs into the ring and stomps the head. Rave covers and gets two. Rave hits the ropes and runs into an exploder by Whitmer. Both men are down. Tag to Cabana. House of fire time for Cabana. Spinning slam on Jacobs. Jabs for both Jimmy's. Kaprana by Cabana on both men gets two. Stacked Butt butt but Jacobs moves. Jacobs head over to another corner so Cabana just give him the butt butt there. Double atomic elbows by Cabana. Tag to Whitmer. Jacobs to the floor. Double team board buster by Cabana and Jacobs. Running knee to the head by Whitmer. Jacobs breaks up the pin. Jacobs knocks Cabana off the apron. Jacobs goes for the spear on Whitmer who side steps it but he hits Cabana instead. Rave spears Whitmer and gets two. Tag to Jacobs. Neck breaker by Rave an stop rope senton by Jacobs gets two. Contra code is blocked. Spine buster by Whitmer. On the floor Rave send Cabana into the guard rail. Brain buster by Whitmer but Rave breaks it up. Cabana sends Rave to the floor. Whitmer places Jacobs on the top. Jacobs blocks the super exploder and hits the super contra code for the win. Ok match but I think starting out with a massive brawl made the rest of the match boring.
2 Out of 3 Falls Delirious vs Matt Sydal- Why are these two in a stipulation match? Because Gabe had nothing for either of them and used there career long reason for some quick patch work booking. Sydal comes out with his open the brave gate title even though it's not on the line. Sydal leaves the ring while Delirious does his opening freak out. Sydal avoids a single leg. Lock up and head lock by Sydal. Delirious shoves him off and Sydal hooks the ropes. Delirious with a head lock and Sydal shoves him off Delirious hooks the top rope. Arm wringer by Sydal. Escape by Delirious and he gets a firemen's carry. Sydal drives Delirious into the ropes and breaks clean. Arm drag off he ropes by Sydal. But Delirious avoids a dropkick and rolls Sydal up for two. Butterfly lock by Delirious. Escape by Sydal and he ties up the arms. Inside cradle by Delirious gets two. Monkey flip by Sydal than the cannon ball leg drop gets one. Standing dropkick in the corner by Sydal drop Delirious. Seated abdominal stretch by Sydal. Head butt to the stomach by Delirious to take control than a back drop suplex gets two. Hard kick to the spine by Delirious. Exchange of chops. Sydal runs into a back elbow but hits a flying head scissors. Drop kick by Sydal and its a real beauty. Charing elbow the a charging double knees and a running lariat as Delirious is strong up in the corner. Sydal with a cocky cover and gets one. Low blow right in front of the referee and it's clearly a low blow but because ROH has Todd Sinclair the worse referee ever it's not a DQ. Outside in drop kick by Sydal gets two. Delirious changes into a boot. Delirious ducks a lariat and hits one of his own. Leaping lariat by Delirious. Running kick to the head by Delirious who stand over Sydal. Low blow again and than a small package by Sydal to win fall number one. This time the ref helps by not looking right at the Sydal as he cheats. During the ref Delirious grabs the Open the Freedom Gate Title that Sydal had. When the referee takes it from him this lets Sydal stomp on to start the second fall. Diving head butt to the stomach by Delirious has no effect. Sydal tears off tassel from the mask and uses it to choke Delirious. Sydal breaks on four than chokes again. The referee takes the tassel and while he' stetting rid of it Sydal pulls off another and uses it to choke Delirious. Sydal uses the bottom rope to choke. Spin kick by Sydal Delirious rolls to the apron. Sling shot leg drop on the apron by Sydal. Sydal pulls Delirious up by the mask and into the ring. Chin lock by Sydal. Delirious with a rope break. Sydal uses the mask to pitch Delirious back to the floor. Delirious reveres a whip and sends Sydal into the guard rail. Panic attack by Delirious. Back into the ring they go. Delirious uses the ears to toss Sydal around. Cobra stretch is blocked but Delirious toss Sydal back down. Bizzaro driver gets two for Delirious.
Hard chops by Delirious. Sydal sweeps the legs and hits a standing moonsault for two. Sydal sets Delirious on the top rope and calls for the belly to belly moonsault suplex. Its blocked and a head butt by Delirious knocks Sydal off the ropes. Shadows over hells than the cobra stretch wins fall number two for Delirious. Never ending story by Delirious to start the next fall. Sydal ducks one of the clothesline and chops the back. Sydal runs into the boot. Delirious goes for a drop kick by Sydal jump backward to avoid hand gets a jackknife pin for two. Nice change up instead of taking of the move or side stepping. Drop toe hold into the corner by Delirious. Panic attack follow up gets two. Back to the cobra stretch but Sydal gets to the ropes. Sydal to the floor. Sydal gees under the ring. Delirious pulls him back out. I think this was supposed to be a call back to spots they had done earlier in there careers where usual it was Delirious going under the ring and and coming out another side. But the announcers don't' pick on that. Head butt by the masked man. Back to the ring. DDT by Sydal out of no where gets two. Flying clothesline int he corner by Sydal. Sydal takes time to mock the fans. Delirious start to rams Sydal's head in the corner and than he hits a neck breaker and gets two. Exchange of forearms. Each man goes for a running kick and connect both men are down. Both men are up and fight over a waste lock. Inverted DDT with a leg across the chest by Sydal. Sydal to the top rope for the sydal press. Delirious moves but Sydal lands on his feet. Arm drag by Delirious and he rolls into the cobra stretch. Sydal gets to the side and turns into a pin for two. Crucifix by Delirious gets two. Chemical Imbalance 2 by Delirious only gets two both men are down. Delirious to the top rope. Sydal shoves the referee into the ropes causing Delirious to trip. Moonsault belly to belly by Sydal to win the match. It's an ok match but it's one of those two out of there falls you pretty much can just tune out the first two falls. Sydal acts like a full blown heel but it's really under sold.
Backstage Alison Dangers and Sara Del Rey put over there match as women's wrestling at its finest. Danger says she and De Rey are the further. The UK tag team of Jetta and Eden Black interrupt and point out they came all the way to the UK just wrestle each other. The UK girls challenge the SHIMMER stars to a tag match. Del Rey asks if they know who they are and accepts.Its a really bland promo segment not helped that we have never seen Jetta and Black before in ROH. To add some heat or something maybe have them jump Del Rey and Danger. It doesn't help that Del Rey and Danger don't' have any type of rival any team they face in ROH is either a thrown together team or in this case one making there ROH debuts.
We get foot from the FIP title match between Roderick Strong and Hallowicked at the 2006 Florida Rumble than we get footage of title match between Strong and Richards from in Full Force from February of 2007. This was about promoting the FIP DVD's that ROH sold on there website but it just seems strange. For one there is no commentary on the matches so it almost seems like someone made an mistake and put the wrong footage in. Second Hallowicked wasn't coming to ROH for a rematch and you have spent the last few shows building Strong and Richards as allies. Maybe you could have covered with a promo right after that with Strong and Richards going that was when they gained respect for each other. Kind of like TNA having Kenny King and MVP explain there "issues" were all part of the set up.
Full Impact Pro World Heavyweight Championship Roderick Strong © vs Pac- Pac you would now know ad Adrian Neville in NXT. The FIP title can change hands on a DQ or count out. As I said in previous reviews its a dumb idea to have a second world title they you claim means as much as the actual world title for your company. I get using it as a special treat to add to a big card. But not on almost every show like ROH was trying to do. Strong spit in Pac's face on the hand shake. Lock up and Strong drives Pac to the ropes and slaps in him the face on the break. Wrist lock by Strong and Pac can't get free until a series of rolls and flips allows him to revers the leverage. Drop toe hold by Strong and he gets a front face lock. Reversed by Pac. Strong picks Pac up and tosses him off. Knee to the stomach by Strong than a club to the back. Hammer lock by Strong. Body scissors by Strong he pulls the hair. Strong rolls back into the hammer lock. Flying head scissors by Pac but the monkey flip is blocked. Back body drop by Strong. Arm drag into an arm bar by Pac. Power slam by Strong than an elbow drop gets two.Up an over int he corner by Pac than a series of arm drags into an arm bar. Strong punches free. Strong fakes out on the chop and instead pokes the eyes. ANother head scissors by Pac and third. Strong to the floor. Moonsault press off the apron but Strong catches Pac and drops him throat first on the guard rail. Strong picks Pac up and tosses him back first into the ring post. Back into the ring. Knee to the head by Strong than boot to the face gets two. Mexican surfboard by Strong and the pulls on the noise. Back breaker by Strong. Series of shoulder to the stomach by Pac but Strong with another knee to the face. Strong runs the ropes but Pac hits an enziquri. Snap suplex by Pac followed by a standing shot tong star for two. Jaw breaker by Strong followed up by a belly to belly back breaker. Strong gets two on the pin. Strong throws Pac to the floor and follows him out. Strong bends Pac over the guard rail and than slams onto the ring apron. Strong back drop suplex onto the ring frame. Strong into the ring into the ring to take the count out win. Strong made this a common spot in FIP title matches and it just always made him look stupid because he almost never won via count out he would just let a guy get a rest. Pac of course beats the count. Running knee to the stomach by Strong than he ties up the legs and neck in the center of the ring. Strong breaks when he doesn't get a submission and rams Pac's head into the turnbuckle and than he lands the big chop. Running corner clothesline by Strong and he tries it again and runs into the boot. This looked awful Strong clearly half ass running so it was clear what the spot was going to be. They try to do a spot where Strong catches the kick and Pac flips over the ropes but it doesn't happen and Strong just kicks him side to cover. Springboard missiles drop-kick by Pac.
Pac a ducks chop and goes for the moonsault press into the inverted DDT but Strong slips and the fall over so than just stand up so Pac can actually hit the move. Both men are down. Strong up first but Pac ducks the chop and hits a forearm arm. Repeat the spot two more times. Series of forearm by back than a back heel kick. Drop kick followed by the Dropsault by Pac. Strong to the floor. Strong and Pac fight into the crowd. Strong sent stomach first into the guar rial than back first. Strong kicked so he falls back and lands in a chair. Pac to the top twisting body press by Pac to the floor. Both men are down again. The referee counts back into the ring. Pac covers and gets two. Strong blocks a tiger suplex. Falcon arrow by Strong gets two. Strong goes for the gut buster but Pac lands on feet and drop kicks Strong in the face. Standing moonsault senton by Pac. Pac covers but Strong gets the ropes. Again they tip off what is gong to happen as Strong after the senton had rolled across the ring to be closer to the ropes. Pac to the top rope. Strong shakes the ropes and Pac slips. Superplex by Strong than the gut buster gets two. Strong calls for the tiger driver Pac escapes again. Strong runs into a boot. Swinging DDT by Pac. Pac back to the top and hits a 450 splash. Strong kicks out at two. Pac back to the top. Spiral tap like moves misses. Sick kick by Strong than the tiger driver for the win. I have feeling ROH wanted this to be an really epic debut for Pac. A match that even in defeat they could bring up as an example of what a top level guy he could be. And they try they really try the problem is there are so many little mistakes it really takes away from the overall match. IT really makes it a mediocre match not helped by the fact Strong is his usually boring reparative self. Post match Strong puts Pac in the Strong hold. Delirious runs out and runs off Strong.
Jimmy Jacobs is back in cave or what ever he was at at the start of the show. Jacobs says wins or losses are hollow. He says he failed Lacey. Jimmy starts calling for a referee. That idiot Sinclair shows up. Jacobs tells him to go get Whitmer so they can fight in the basement. Its a pointless little promo just repeating what was already done.
ROH World Tag Team Championship The Briscoe Brothers Jay and Mark © vs Shingo and Naruki Doi- What is this like Shingo's fifth different tag title shot with a fifth different partner? Now in storyline it's explains as "Open contracts sent to Dragon Gate" But still why give a singles wrestler this many title shot? If you want him in the tag division than give a partner. Mark and Shingo start us off. Drop toe hold by Shingo into a front face lock sit out by Mark. Go behind by Shingo. Hammer lock by Hark. Head lock take over by Shingo. Sloppy head scissors by Mark again how do you make a head scissors look bad? Escape by Shingo and into a head lock. Mark gets the ropes. Greco knuckle lock and than a fore arm by Shingo. Big shoulder tackle by Shingo. Norther light suplex with a bridge by Mark gets two. Tag to Jay and tag to Doi. Kick to the gut and a head lock by Doi. Shoulder tackles and with man goes down. Awful looking exchange of chops. Head scissors takedown and bad looking leg lariat by Jay. Tag to Mark. Double team chops by the Bricoes than the double team hip toss. Knee drops by Mark and a vertical suplex gets two. Tag to Jay. Back elbow by Jay. Double leg takedown by Doi. Elbow and than into a chin lock by Doi. Tag to Shingo. Double team back elbow by team Dragon Gate than a knee drop by Shingo gets two. Surfboard by Shingo than he change it up to a neck crank. Jay blocks the suplex and hits a snap suplex. Tag to Mark. Knee drop from the second rope by Mark and Doi makes the save. Head scissors by Mark and it looks so weak it's clear he's not really applying pressures. Shingo gets the rope. Forearm exchange and Shingo get the best of it and than hits a series of head butts drops Mark. Tag to Doi. Wishbone by the Challengers. Stomp to the face by Doi. Tag to Shingo. Hart attack off the second rope by Shingo and Doi gets two. Shoulder block in the corner by Shingo. Tag to Doi. Double team spine buster followed Shingo Holding Mark in a wheel barrow position so Doi can hit a drop kick. Jay breaks up the pin. Mark escape a suplex and hits a awful flocking kick. Tag to Jay who knocks Doi off the apron. Shingo with strikes to both Bricoes. Series of double team by the Bricoes. Jay with a weak looking back suplex on Shingo followed by the spring boat double stomp by Mark. Shingo to the floor. Mark sends him back in. Chin lock by Jay. Shingo gets the ropes. Drop kicks that at misses by a mile by Jay. Tag to Mark. Spring board spin kick by Mark who nearly slips. Mark covers and Doi breaks it up. Kick to the spine by Mark than a stupid looking spring board knee drop. Mark covers and gets two. Tag to Jay. Back breaker by Jay. I think Mark goes for moonsault but than wants to do the apron press do instead hie just drives his legs into Shingo's face. Shingo kick out at two. Stomps by Jay and a tag to Mark. Punches and stomps by Mark that Shingo starts to shake off. Forearm by Mark gets two but Shingo get his foot on the rope. What hilarious here is the the camera shot clearly shows Mark is looking right at the foot as it goes on the ropes and could easily pull it off and he still acts stunned the break happens. Tag to Jay. Shingo ducks the double clothesline and shoves the champions into each other. DDT on Mark and STO on Jay. Tag to Doi. Kick to the face for Jay and a great looking suicide dive to the floor whipping out Mark. Shingo with a spine buster on Jay. Shingo covers and the ref counts even though Doi is the legal man. Plus I know Shingo "caught him by surprise" But where is the logic in Shingo taking that big a beating and than coming into hit a power move like that?
Single leg crab by Shingo on Jay than he changes it into a cross face. Jay gets the ropes. Jay hung in the tree of whoa. Mark charges in the ring. Shingo side steps and Mark winds up dropkick his brothers. Cannon ball by Doi on the stacked up Briscoe Brothers. Doi tags in legally (again) e and hits some elbows on Jay. seated abdominal stretch by Doi on Jay. Shingo cuts off the save attempt by Mark. Shingo tags in legally. Big chop by Shingo than he hangs Jay into the ropes for a Doi senton off the top. Mark makes the save acting like a total spas and I mean it. He runs in the ring arms over head misses hitting Shingo and than misses the elbow to break up the pin it's clear he hit the ground next to Doi and Jay and not Doi. He than flips out of the ring. Double team by Team Dragon Gate. Doi runs into aback elbow. Flipping neck breaker by Jay both men are down. Tag to Mark who comes in with a spring board side kick and he of course has to add that dumb scream. Shitty looking thrust to the throat follow by a kick over the head on Doi. Mincuko driver by Jay gets two. Shingo is on the floor. Mark goes to the top and goes off with his shitty looking Shooting star press you know the one where he gets almost no rotation. Doi blocks the Jay Briscoe suplex attempt. Exchange of forearms. Jay refuses to sell a lariat. Flying forearm by Doi gets two.Sit out spine buster by Doi gets two. Shingo tags himself in. Dropkick and bell to back suplex combo by Doi and Shingo. Shingo covers and gets two. Jaw breaker by Jay. tag to Mark who hits a comes in goes for aspiring board splash and of course he adds that dumb scream. Mark screaming like a moron dons't make the the moves better it just makes you look even stupider. Side slam leg drop combo by the Bricoes gets two. On the floor Doing sends Jay into the guard rail before getting back into the ring and nailing Mark. Catapult by Shingo into the over hand chop by Doi. Mark back over the knees of Shingo. Leg drop by Doi off the second gets two. Forearm off the second by Mark. Mark to the top but Doi cuts him off. German Superplex by Doi but Jay breaks up the pin. Jay and Doi exchange forearm.s Front suplex by Jay. The Bricoes to opposite corners. Shingo cuts off Jay and Doi gets the legs up on Mark's shooting star. Doi 5 on Mark Superplex by Shingo on Jay. Doi with a front elbow on Jay off the top gets two. Jay ducks the Shingo lariat and Doi takes it. Super kick by Mark on Shingo than a running big boot by Jay sends Shingo to the floor.
The Bricoes hit total elimination on Doi. Niagara diver neck breaker combo gets two. Shingo cuts off the dooms day device and Doi rolls up Jay for two. Stunner by Jay than a exposer suplex. Mark with a Death Vally Driver. Shingo breaks up the pin. Mark sends Shingo to the floor. The Bricoes set for the spiked Jay Driller. Shingo cuts off off Mark and a great looking lariat on Jay that gets two. Mark spring boards right into a karate chop by Shingo. TKO by Shingo on Mark gets two. Running boot to the face by Doi. Jay makes the save. Jay pulls Doi to the floor. Holy crap Mark actually connects on a leg lariat and that is worth a holy crap since he misses most of his kicks. Shingo escapes the cut throat driver. Blood Rain by Shingo to win the titles. This match was a lot like a Michael Bay movie. It sucked it had no plot and the most basic elements were done poorly. But because there enough "big bangs" you will people that defend it and talk about how good it was. Also its another nearly 30 min Briscoe match and this team sucks going five. The title change I'm torn on. On the one hand the Bricoes suck and them not having the belts is a good thing. On the other the hand the sole reason Doi and Shingo won the belts was to drop them back to The Bricoes a few weeks later. Plus there was no build to Doi or Shingo winning the belts and since they weren't teaming in ROH after the dropping the belts its like it never happened.
The new champions grabs the titles and celebrate meanwhile Jay just looks sad in the ring. Shingo and Doi pose with the titles on the ramp. Mark also look upset. I get after losing a title they would be upset but there reaction is more of underage child being told they can't have ice cream than athlete that just lost a championship. The Bricoes gets a microphone. Jay says they just lost the belts in there first defense just like they did with the titles in NOAH. Jay than just starts to mumble I have no idea what he is saying but it leads to a match the next night between the brothers. I think I know what they are going for. It being that they must get tougher if they are going to hold onto the belts instead of chasing them for a year and than losing them first match. And if this was say a team with talent I would be exceed but it's the Briscoe Brothers who suck. It doesn't help Jay just mumbles. I swear the first time I watched this when Jay said "Me vs You." I thought he he said home stew he's that hard to understand.
Up next is a video highlight the ROH world tag team titles It's most features Aries and Strong since they held the belts so long than onto the KOW's title ring before showing Sydal and Daniels. You should know the complaints I have you have these shows that are supposed to be about celebrating five years of ROH running. But they really aren't doing anything to celebrate that. If you want to highlight the recent DVD's fine but why not include some of the ROH history? I mean this is the next to last show and really it doesn't feel like the history of ROH has been celebrated. Hell if they call just called this show British Beatdown it wouldn't have changed anything if anything it would make more sense because this doesn't feel like a fifth year show.
Nigel McGuinness vs Samoa Joe- These two had an issues steaming from Joe calling out NOAH and Nigel standing up the company he worked for in Japan. From what I have heard there was going to be a long term feud between the two with Joe even regaining the ROH world title and Nigel winning it from him that of course changed with TNA pulling Joe. So this was the blow off singles match in this feud. Head lock by Joe and he gets a wrist lock. Nigel reveres position and cranks on the hold. Joe Elbows and takes control again. Front face lock by Nigel but Joe gets out and goes back to the wrist lock. Nigel reverse again and gets Joe down to one knee. Drop toe hold by Joe and he slaps Nigel in the back of the head. Leg kicks by Joe. Thrust to the throat by Nigel than he slaps Joe in the face. Jabs by Joe. Joe sends Nigel to the floor. Nigel sees the dive coming and move. Joe out to the floor but is on his feet. Joe takes out the legs and Nigel hits the edge of the ring hard face first. Joe swings Nigel into the guard rail head first. Jabs by Joe before sending Nigel gut first into the guard rail. Joe plants Nigel in a chair so he can hit the Ole kick. Joe moves the chair to the other side so he can do it another time. A second ole kick. Joe goes to pitch Nigel back into the ring. Nigel catches himself and comes back off to hit lariat. Back into the ring. Uppercut by Nigel. Head stand mule kick in the corner by Nigel. Hammer lock bum rush by Nigel sends Joe shoulder first into the rig post. Nigel locks back on the hammer lock and drives his knee into Joe's shoulder and again. Chops by Joe but Nigel with a head but to the shoulder. Joe drops down clutching the shoulder. Stomp to the shoulder by Nigel. Hammer lock takedown by Nigel. Arm wringer takedown by Nigel. Nigel traps the arm and hammer locks the arm with his leg and than gets Joe's other arm tars it behind his body and bridges back. Joe is able to roll dress but Nigel lans an up kick to the arm. Nigel charges into the ST JOE. Snap mare by Joe chop to the back kick to the chest followed by the knee drop. Joe covers and Nigel kicks out at two. Chop by Joe and running back elbow followed up by the flip kick by Joe gets two. Face lock by Joe. Nigel to his feet. Running knee to the midsection by Joe gets two. Series of jabs by Joe. Nigel goes for the headstand kick again but Joe catches the legs. Nigel over the back for the kick to the back and falling lariat combo. Joe gets his feet on the ropes. Palm strikes and elbows in the corner by Nigel before the charging lariat. Cobra clutch into the short arm lariat by Nigel gets two. Nigel set for the tower of long. Joe gets the chokes but Nigel breaks it by driving Joe back into the corner. Joe whips Nigel into the corner. Nigel sides steps the running knee and Joe is hung up on the ropes. Tower of london by Nigel but Joe kicks out at two. Nigel runs into a back elbow and than boot. Knee strike off the second rope by Joe gets two. More jabs by Joe but Nigel with a shoulder to the stomach. Snap power slam on the charging Nigel by Joe gets two. Power bomb by Joe gets and into the STF. Joe changes it to the cross face. Nigel gets the ropes with his boot for a break. Nigel ducks the lariat by Joe and hits one of his own. Nigel covers and only gets two. Nigel goes for the tower of london but Joe gets free. Thrust to the trout by Nigel. Nigel changes direction and goes for the tower on the apron. Joe escapes and locks in the choke. Nigel gets free with a back wards head butt. Nigel up top but Joe takes out the legs. Muscle buster on the apron. Holy shit doesn't even cover it that had to hurt.
Both men are down on the floor. Joe is up but Nigel isn't moving. The fans chant you killed Nigel. The ref checks on Nigel as Joe gets back in the ring. Other referees come out and they tease they are going to call off the match. No I could have actually seen this being the end Joe wins but doesn't' pin or submit Nigel so it protects him. But the problem is instead of going silent on commentary and making it paper it was a real injury they have the commentary team keep talking and say this much be the end. Its like watching a movie and some guy going. "I'm telling you nothing can get in this room." You know something is getting in that room and is gong to kill that guy. They do have Dave sign off and Joe get on the microphone and get on the microphone and put Nigel over. Again though they tip the hands by having Joe swing he wants Nigel to come back and shake his hand. Nigel is on the ramps and has woken up and starts to come back to the ring. Nigel slaps Joe in the face. Joe goes for the ST JOe but Nigel turns it into a arm drag. But Nigel went to soon or Joe goes to late so looks bad. Super kick by Nigel. Atomic drop by Joe and a flying big boot. Nigel back into the ropes for the rebound but Joe slaps him coming back. Joe goes for the muscle buster and hits it. Joe covers and Nigel kicks at two. It decently helps here are in a market they do run live often and Nigel is the home town because the fans are really popping for this lease where this lead up would have been booed I think. Lariat by Joe and Nigel kick out again. Another lariat by Joe and Nigel kicks at one this time. Knees and head buts but Joe. Chop by Joe and it appears Nigel is going for the rebound but turns it into a school boy that gets two. Nigel goes for the head stand kick but Joe kicks him in the face. The Conquine Clutch is locked in Nigel flip over and gets the pin but Joe rolls back over and has Nigel on his stomach. Nigel start to fade and the referee calls for the bell. THis match had a lot of great moments to it. But it falls short of being a classic. The whole "near stoppage" thing really kills this match. It would have been better to have Joe roll Nigel back in the ring and cover him and than have Nigel kick at two. Like I said all the things they did just tipped off Nigel was going to come back. I also think the wrong guy went over. Nigel needed the win more. Joe had won every other singles match of his goodbye tour hell. Plus Nigel was clearly the guy that was going to beat Morishima so having him beat the guy that beat the champion would have been big.
Post match the fans chant thank you Joe. Nigel stays down. Joe tells the fans they should be thanking someone else and points at Nigel who still down selling the match. The fans chant for Nigel as he stands back up. Joe talks about Nigel choosing NOAH why Joe chose ROH. Joe says bottom line is Nigel chose hard the path and got back in the ring and says he knows he's leaving ROH in good hands. Joe says in ROH your not paid the most or get the most recognition but they love wrestling. Joe says ROH is not a revolting but the continuation of Tradition. Joe points at Nigel and says men will stand up and fill the gap he leave. Joe and Nigel embrace. Its a good promo but I dislike the whole Nigel chose NOAH line since well Nigel wasn't missing any shows it appeared to work NOAH. It just seemed like Gabe never really defined the Joe vs NOAH feud or even why Joe truly disliked NOAH. Part of that might have just been how fast it had to end so things got dropped.
In the basement Jacobs is screaming for Whitmer. BJ enters and they start to brawl and this being ROH they brawl right into the darkness. So yes we end on a brawl where you can see anything. This is also our cliffhanger for this show and it's a really weak one. Whitmer and Jacobs brawling we have seen that over and over again. It's not even really a cliff hanger there is no question of "What comes next?"
This just another show that feels like a chore to watch. The wrong guys go over at a time where ROH is needing to create new star. I think the main event is a case of the company trying to hard to get Nigel over as tough guy but not giving him the big win he should have gotten. The tag title change is just hey lets change the title to change them back later at the Mania weekend shows. Sydal after teasing a heel turn for moths finally goes heel but the mont is underwelming and you forget about it by the next match. If you want to see this show maybe to see the last Joe vs McGuniess match make sure if find it on the real cheap or borrow from a friend.
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