in 2007 ROH turned five and for an indy company that is a pretty impressive deal. Instead of just holding a single anniversary show ROH wanted to ryan a series of calling them the FIfth Year Festival. Its similar to the Milestone Series from 2006 where they were making it clear you should buy every show in the series. Instead of trying to claim each one was it's own Milestone its about celebrating a single moment. Problem is the steam really dives off. TNA celebrates its Anniversary in June because there first show was in June. Trying to start the celebration in May is to much. Same with ROH doing six shows kills the feeling. A better idea would have been do to a triple shot and call that the FYF. Don't get me wrong these show were important as new champions were crowned. The new direction ROH truly took shape. It was also key in that was the end of Samoa Joe's ROH career. TNA pulled Joe from the company. Now many ROH fans were pissed by this and many a "Fuck TNA chant!" rang out. Of course those ROH fans ignore the fact Joe was under contract to TNA, TNA was and still is a bigger company that ROH with much more exposure, You make more money in TNA, TNA had already let Joe keep working ROH for over a year, TNA did let Joe come back for one more show later that year. And most importantly Joe was out of things to do in ROH. He had done it all worked with all the guys he could work with. Hell he didn't' even wrestle at FInal Battle and it wasn't as part of a storyline he just didn't' get booked for a match. The time had come for Joe to leave before he got really stale in ROH. Plus how is him leaving for TNA any different than CM Punk going to WWE?
So the FYF also becomes the Samoa Joe Goodbye Tour. That did mean several things like his issue with NOAH, and Nigel McGuinness had to be addressed before he left. Now I am skipping a two shows ROH did in January of that year but both shows are just filler and nothing key comes out of them. I will also note Bryan Danielson is out of ROH healing up from injures suffered during his ROH title run. So is the FYF a six show long party?
Outside the Manhattan Center Rebecca "Becky" Bayless aka Cookie from TNA welcomes us to the show. Oh boy this is painful to watch as Bayless struggles with her intro hyping up the ROH title match. What worries me is that's the take they went with how bad were the ones they didn't use? I will cut her a break she had been out of wrestling for a while at this point and this was new to her. She had been a manager not an interviewer. We get special open for the Fifth Year Festival showing various moments in ROH history. Its a nice little touch to set these show apart. Jimmy Rave is backstage talking about the long road he has traveled in ROH. Rave talks about beating all the greats and tonight he will win the world title in New York City. Rave reminds us he's beat everyone with the heel hook and he's tired of being a failure and he's all business now. Really good promo by Rave I do wish ROH would have included video of his wins over guys like Punk and AJ Styles while he was talking to drive home his point.
Pelle Primeau makes his way out to start the show. Pelle says he's come to crowd surf (he celebrates his wins by doing that.) Pelle issues an open challenge. Samoa Joe's music plays and Pelle panics. Suddenly it shifts to the champ is here the song Joe used during his title reign. Takeshi Morishima from NOAH runs out and attacks Pelle and his a back drop driver to pick up a quick win. Back at Glory By Honor Joe and Morishima had a run in. Morishima was also here representing NOAH after Joe's challenge. Morishima gets a microphone and speaks Japanese but calls out Joe. Fellow NOAH star Nigel McGuinness comes out and talks to Morishima. Morishima listens to him and leaves. Pelle is still down as Adam Pearce and Shane Hagedorn come out. Hagedorn slaps Pelle in the face and taunts him with the top of the class trophy. Delirious runs out to jump start our first match. The opening drags on way to much. I get they wanted to show Morishima as a monster but this just doesn't come off well
Adam Pearce with Shane Hagedorn vs Delirious- These two had been feuding for months and Delirious was yet to score a win over Pearce. Clubs to the back by Delirious. Pearce with right hand. Flying fore by Delirious than drop kick sends Pearce to the floor. Delirious follows out and chops him. Hagedorn grabs onto the foot of Delirious. Pearce takes over. Delirious ducks a clothesline and hits baseball slide on Hagedorn. Pearce sent over the top rope and he lands on Hagedorn. Delirious to the top and hits a summersault senton onto both men. Chop to the chest by Delirious. In the ring Delirious gets the cobra clutch locked in but Pearce with a low blow gets free Choke slam by Pearce. Knee drop by Pearce. Head butt to the gut by Delirious. Pearce goes to the eyes. Pearce uses one of the tassels to choke the masked man. Release suplex by Pearce. Chops by Pearce. Delirious goes for a sunset flip but get punched in the head. Cover by Pearce gets two. Chin lock by Pearce. Knee to the stomach by Pearce. Pearce takes a break in the corner. Power slam by Pearce gets two. Pearce says he will press Delirious into the crowd and goes for it. Delirious escapes and gets drop toe hold. Cobra stretch by Delirious. Pearce up and rams Delirious into the turnbuckles. Pearce runs into boot. Rana by Delirious than the leaping lariat. Delirious runs into a boot. Pearce steals the Ric Flair flip over the ropes onto the apron than power slammed off the top rope spot. Panic attack by Delirious. Shadows over hell. Hagedorn onto the apron to stop the count. Pearce into his tights and gets brass knuckles. Delirious ducks and Pearce nails Hagedorn. Delirious gets his own pari of knuckles and loads the mask. Head butt to the face for the win for Delirious. Ok match truth is this feud went on way to long and so much of it was the same. They have match Pearce cheats to win. Finally it was wrapped to move Delirious into a side feud with Roderick Strong. Post match an upset Pearce shoves Hagadorn who begs for forgives finally the embrace.
ROH tag team champions Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels are backstage. Daniels says the fans think there are only two teams in ROH the Bricoes and Aries/Strong. Daniels talks about how injures and there schedules has limited there title defenses but that ends tonight. Daniels talks about how Aries and Strong brought prestige to the tiles and tonight they will make the reputation of Sydal and Daniels. Sydal asks Aries and Strong how it feels to be challengers? Sydal points to his recently won Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Title saying it showed he could get things done. He tells Daniels to follow his led. Pretty good promo. If there is any problem its that Daniels and Sydal was clearing setting up for a feud that never happened.
Daizee Haze and Alex Thatcher vs The Dangerous Angles Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger- This was about hyping up SHIMMER promotion that ROH would sell DVD's of. Thatcher was out of the Northwest. She had a very promising career going and than just stopped wrestling one day. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure all four girls were faces in SHIMMER. Haze and Danger start us off. Lock up and arm drag by Daizee. Hammer lock into head lock by Haze. Dangers reveres the position and gets the takedown. Head scissors by Daizee. Jackknife pin by Danger gets two. Exchange of near falls. Head lock by Haze. Del Rey tags in. Power bomb attempt by Del Rey but counted into the rana by Haze. Arm drag by Haze. Face buster by Haze tag to Thatcher. Stereo drop kicks to the head by Thatcher and Haze. Lacey comes out and start to brawl with Daizee. Germans suplex by Del Rey gets two. Lacey and Haze fight to the back. Royal butterfly by Del Rey for the win. Really short match. Its to bad given how good the girls are.
Four Way Fray Shingo vs Jack Evans vs Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey vs Xavier- The four way fray is a match out of ROH's than sister promotion Full Impact Pro. Unlike a four corner surveil all four men are in the ring at once and its elimination rules. I assume this was done to raise the profile of FIP to an extent but I think at this point only Shingo was a regular in FIP. Davey Richards was advertised for this match but was out injured. Xavier was the second ever ROH champion having beat Low Ki and he was the man Samoa Joe beat to win the belt. He was a surprise entrant in this match (witch the DVD box spoils) and hadn't been in ROH in a long time. Jacobs has modified his look adding more makeup and coming out a new song. The idea is supposed to that he's lost his hand after Lacey got stabbed in the face in December. The problem is Lacey is with him and she is clearly fine. Hell Lacey makes no change in her gimmick at all. I know part of this is to set up for the eventual Age o the Fall group but this is also where Jimmy has more or less parked his gimmick since angry crazy emo. Lots of stalling by everyone. Finally Xavier and Jacobs go after Evans. Double drop kick by Evans than Shingo nails Jacobs and Xavier with a double lariat. Spring board drop kick on Xavier and Jacobs by Evans. The mention Evans and Shingo are both in the same faction in Dragon Gate. Clothesline by Xavier levels Evans. Chops by Shingo o Xavier. Kick to the spine by Xavier on Shingo. Shingo no sells round house kick and blocks a jump kick. Modified spine buster by Shingo on Xavier. Jacobs and Xavier are on the floor. Evans goes for a hand spring to the floor. They move and Evans hits his heard on the guard rail coming down. Jacobs with a hard running drop kick to Shingo's back when he is look at Evans. Double stomps an elbow by Jacobs on Shingo than a kick to the head. Cover by Jimmy gets two. Drop kick to the head by Jacobs. Xavier goes for a move on Shingo who moves and he hits Jacobs. STO on Xavier and DDT on Jacobs by Shingo. Xavier avoids a corner splash by Shingo and hits a knees to the head. Sling who knee by Xavier int he corner. Xavier covers but Shingo kicks at two. Spear by Jacobs on Xavier gets two. Contra code is blocked. Xavier with a power bomb into a face buster than a fluster over into pile driver on Jacobs. Xavier takes time to pose. Burning hammer Shingo on Xavier… Who pops right up so Evans can hit an reverse rana. Oh come on you can't sell a freaking burning hammer longer than that? I get next move is planned but the Burning Hammer is a move should be special . Backslide by Evans pins Xavier to eliminated him. Shingo calls for Evans to help him get rid of Jacobs. Assisted running corner clothesline by Shingo follow e by a Hand spring elbow by Evans. Spring board knee by Evans. Jacobs kicks at two when Shingo covers. Contra code attempt is blocked by Shingo.
Inverted DDT off the ropes onto the knee by Shingo on Jacobs. Lariat by Shingo to pin Jacobs. Shingo and Evans shake hands but than each kick each other in the stomach. Exchange of forearms. Shingo runs into double boots. Evans goes to spring board but Shingo cuts him off. Shingo goes charing but Evans gets a monied rana. Shingo to the floor. Saskue special by Evans to the floor. Both men are down. Evans sends Shingo back into the ring. Evans goes for the hand spring elbow Shingo catches him in the air and dumps onto the ropes. Lariat by Shingo only gets two. Shingo goes for a german suplex by Evans lands on his feet. Kick to the head by Evans goes for the flying knee its blocked. Release German suplex by Shingo only gets two. Shingo goes for another lariat but Evans with a land spring into a kick. Leading kick than a running knee by Evans gets two. Evans to the top rope but Shingo cuts him off. Shingo on the ropes but Evans with knees knocks him down. 630 by Evans for the win. Ok match but it given the rules you would think it would be non stop action instead it was a lot of dead space as it turned into basically a slow tornado tag early on. Evans was set to be part of a huge storyline in 2007. ROH wanted to give him a huge win.
Bobby Cruise hypes the show for set for the next night in Philadelphia and mention Morishima will get an ROH title shot. Samoa Joe's music plays and this time he comes out. Joe gets the microphone. The fans start a please don't go chant. Joe thanks the boys for giving him a chance to come out and address the fans. Joe says this kicks off the Samoa Joe Farewell torn. Some idiots start to chant Fuck TNA. Joe reminds them he's being paid by TNA. Joe talks about how ROH has grown. Joe thanks the fans and says this has been the best time he's ever had in wrestling. Joe says he's got all the nice out of the way. Joe talks about Morishima calling him out before he was at the building. Joe calls or Morishima. Nigel comes out and gets a microphone and tells Joe to relax. Nigel says he respects Joe but he doesn't call out Morishima. Morishima calls out you. Am I the only one confused by that line? Joe had called out Morishima months earlier. And they had a match booked for the night. Nigel admits he respect Nigel but asks if he's forgotten or where he works? Joe keeps calling Nigel boy and calls Morishima his Japanese Sugar Daddy before shoving Nigel. They start to bright. The ROH Students/ Security along with referees pull them apart. Joe breaks free and goes after Nigel again. Finally the officials get control. I understand wanting to do a Joe says goodbye promo but they cut same promo more or less though out the FYF. The Nigel and Joe stuff comes off as awkward. From what I have heard one of the ideas tossed around was for Joe to win the ROH title go full heel and have Nigel win it from him. So it feels booker Gabe Sapolsky doesn't want to give up on that but now's trying to cram a multi month storyline into a few shows.
Tables Are Legal Brent Albright vs BJ Whitmer- Back at Final Battle Albright had awesome bombed out of the ring through a table at ringside leading to this match. This is not a tables match where first guy to drive his opponent through a table wins. It just means if you use a table you aren't DQ'ed. In that case why not just make it a street fight or something. Now I like both these guys but I feel like this period really hurt BJ's career as almost all of ROH matches became wild brawls. Don't get me wrong BJ is a talented guy but ROH wasn't letting him show how talented he was. Even during the CZW feud he was still in other matches that allowed him to still wrestle. Albright jumps Whitmer when he is posing on the ropes shoving him off and through a table on the floor. Albright takes that plastic stuff the put around tables and uses it to choke Whitmer. Whitmer sent head first into the guard rail. Big right hands by Albright than he rams Whitmer into the guard rail again. Albright pulls a table out from under the ring even though there are table around the ringside. Albright puts the table he got in the ring. Whiter is up and they exchange chops and rights hands. Kick and Whitmer is sent into the guard rails head first again. Albright sets a table up in the corner. Whitmer choked on the ropes. In the ring Whitmer hits a right hand an tires to hit he exploder. Albright revers position and goes for it. Whitmer reverse the position and hits the exploder sending Albright though the table in the corner. Only the lower part was wrecked so Whitmer hits another exposer breaking the rest of the table. WHitmer covers and Albright kicks out strong at two. Ok and at this point all drama is dead for me. Think about it you had guys going through tables over and and over and over again. Hell BJ just hits Albright with a version of his finisher twice. The match should be over. Matches like this kill off a weapons effect. I know the usual tables match can get repetitive with it's rules but that doesn't make it look like getting through a table is something you can just brush off. Albright blocks an attempt to ram his head into the corner and hits elbows. Albright uses his boot to choke Whitmer. Albright position a table on the floor. Albright rams BJ's head into the apron. Albright grabs what appears to be a note book and hits Whitmer with it. Ok all the things you could have used you pick the thing that any idiot would know only would sting for a second. Back into the ring. Albright sits BJ on the tape turnbuckle. Belly to back superplex to the floor. Whitmer turns his body and lands on top. Both men are down. Whitmer gets up and tosses Albright tint to he ring and covers. Albright again kicks out Strong at two. Can you at least just have it be he rolls the shoulder escapes and not powerful bursts kick outs. Right hands by Whitmer. Albright goes to the eyes. Drop kick to the leg by Whitmer than a running knee to the head. Vertical suplex by Whitmer. Whitmer covers but pulls Albright up. Oh sure guy goes through a table three times he kicks out. Takes a normal move he only survives Because Whitmer wants to keep the beating going.
Whitmer clears sets up two tables and stacks them on top of each other at ringside. Whitmer goes for the awesome bomb. Albright escapes and hits a German than a half nelson suplex. Whitmer right up and hits a big lariat that floors Albright. Albright gets a hold of a table piece and nails Whitmer with it. Awesome bomb by Albright puts Whitmer through the two tables on the floor. Albright tosses Whitmer into the ring and covers. Whitmer kicks at two. Albright gets another table and puts in the ring. Albright sets it up on the top rope. Another pice of the table shot to the head of Whitmer by Albright. Albright gets more more tale. One of broken so Albright kicks it breaking it. Albright sets up another table up. Knees to the back by Albright. Albright gets a table that isn't broken and sits it up next to the second one form earlier. Albright sets BJ up on the table on the top rope. BJ first at Albright. Exploder Superplex thought he tables. Whitmer covers and best the win. It would be one thing if this match was later on the card in a Main Event or even Semi Main Event match but this was the fourth match on the card. It wasn't the feud ender or anything. Its matches like this is why people go "That stuff doesn't' hurt… They pre cut the tables…" Plus it doesn't help both Whitmer and Albright don't sell enough here. The big moves lack effect. ROH should know better and both these guys who have been around the business enough should have known better.
ROH World Tag Team Championship Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels © with Alison Danger vs Austin Aries and Roderick Strong- Aries and Strong had been set to get a shot at the tag bels for months but various reason kept postponing the match. Strong has black eye coming in. Its not part of a story line in ROH He just took a hard shot in a match. Daniels an Strong start the match. Head lock takeover by Daniels. Head scissors by Strong and both men get back up . Drop toe hold by Danielson into a head lock. Arm wringer into a wrist lock by Strong. Daniels flips free gets a hammer lock than into the wrist lock of his own. Daniels ducks a strong chop and gets a head lock. Shoulder tackle by Daniels. Monkey flip by Daniels. Strong cartwheels to his feet and nails a leg lariat. Tag to Aries. Strong holds Daniels so Aires can hit an elbow off the second ropes. Firemen's carry by Aries. Wrist lock on the ground by Aries. Knee drop to the arm by Aries. Daniels vets position and tags Sydal. Arm wringer by Sydal on Aries into a wrist lock. Reversed by Aries. Sydal flips free. Elbow to the ear by Aries. Arm drag by Sydal. head lock by Aries head scissors by Sydal. Headstand escape by Aries but Sydal moves before he take the drop kick. Strong comes into the ring and nails Sydal in the back. Daniels just watches his partner get double teamed. Combo head scissors, head lock takeover by Sydal. Aries and Strong to the floor. Suicide dive by Daniels takes out Strong. Daniels holds Strong. Aries trips Sydal . Sling shot senton and ethan a elbow drop by Aries on Sydal. Surfboard by Aries than into the leg full nelson. Sydal gets the ropes. Aries drives Sydal to the corner and tags Strong. Chops by Strong than a fall away slam gets two. Tag to Aries, Strong sling shots Sydal into the Aries elbow. Twisting splashy by Aries onto Sydal who is laid out on Strong's knees. Sydal rammed into Strong's boot. Tag to Strong. Double team atomic drop than a double team side slam gets two. Strong with the Mexican surfboard into a chin lock. Sydal escapes. Strong gets off the tag. Dead lift release german by Strong gets two. Tag Aries. Strong puts Sydal in the strong hold as Aries hits a drop kick. Aries overs and gets two. Over hand chops by Aries. Tag Strong who chops Sydal. More chops by Strong. Delayed vertical suplex into a shoulder gut buster by Strong. Who taught Roderick Strong more moves? And did he get hit in the head and forget them after this match?
Sydal drives Strong to the corner and chops at him. Sydal charges into an elbow but hits the spin kick. Tag to Daniels. Running lariats by Daniels on Strong. Snap suplex by Daniels gets two. Knees to the back by Daniels. Strong whipped hard into the corner and agin. Back breaker by Daniels on Strong. Chin lock with a knee in the back by Daniels. Tag to Sydal. That's one of those tags back in that just feels to soon. Double team Slam by The champ. Daniels slams Sydal onto Strong for a two count. Drop kick to the chest by Sydal. Sling shot drop kick by Sydal. Aries breaks up the pin. Chin lock by Sydal. Strong gets the ropes. Tag to Daniels. Sydal holds Strong so Daniels can stomp him. Club to the back by Daniels. Leg lariat by Daniels gets two. Strong moves out of the way on a corner splash. Backslide by Strong gets two. Chops by Strong. Daniels blocks on. STO into the Koji clutch. Aries breaks it up. Knee bar by Daniels as he falls back to make the tag to Sydal. Sling shot leg drop by Sydal gets two. Charing lariat in the corner by Sydal. Strong rammed into Daniels boot. Daniels tags in. Power slam by Daniels. Forearms exchange knee to the gut by Daniels. Sling shot belt to back suplex by Strong. Both men are down. Tag to Aries. Sydal charges in no tag. House of fire times by Aires. Sydal back body dropped to the floor. Big sued dive by Aries takes out Sydal. Jaw breaker on ropes to Daniels. Corkscrew press Aries gets. Two. Aries goes for a kaprana but he slips and clutches his leg. They mention Aires has a nagging ankle problem. Strong into the ring. Double team back breaker. They go for the brain buster big chop combo. Daniels escapes and shoves Aries into Strong. Sydal in drives the leg takedown. Sydal takes time to play to the fans and goes for a Standing moonsault. Aries gets the legs up. Aries tries for up and over gets caught. Jig and Tonic by Sydal. Strong breaks up the pin with the sick kick. Strong drags Aries to the corn and tags in. Sling shot power slam by Strong gets two. Sydal charges into the big boot. Strong to the second rope. Sydal hits him with a back fist. Hurricanrana. But Strong hooks the ropes so Sydal hits. Sick kick off the sec on reps gets two. Strong takes out Daniels. Tag to Aries. Strong goes for a power bomb. and holds Sydal in the air. Daniels Aries to the top Daniels cuts him off. Aries and Daniels fall to the floor.
I think they go for that spot where Sydal stands on the shoulders and hits a big DDT but either Strong falls back to soon or Sydal slips because we basically get Sydal driving himself on Strong's leg. Strong covers and gets two. Daniels up and Hits Strong with an enziquri tag to Daniels. STO and Arabian press on Strong gets two. Daniels charges into boot. Iconclamis on Strong by Daniels gets two. Aries knocked off the apron. Tag to Sydal. Lung blower by Daniels. Standing moonsault by Sydal. Aries breaks up the pin. Head butt by Daniels to Aires. Strong sends Sydal to the floor. Strong nails Daniels in the back. Double ten back breaker on Daniels. Big chop brain buster combo. Sydal back into the ring. Aries is still hurting. Alabama slam by Strong gets two. Tag to Aries. Aries to the top. Daniels with a knee to the back of Strong sends him flying into the corner causing Aries to fall. Death Valley Driver by Daniels on Aries. Strong sent to the floor. Sydal shooting star press on Aries followed by the Daniels Best Moonsault ever for the win. Really good match. Its nice seeing Strong vary up his move set and do some different things and i really do mean that. It had some rough spots and I get you could have made it a littler shorter but its still a fie showing.
Post match Danger celebrates with the champions. Sydal taunts Aries and Strong. Daniels tries to talk some sense into his partner and even apologizes to Aries and Strong. Aries and Strong are still in the ring as Davey Richards comes down. Davey gets in Aries face and than Strong hits Aries with a back breaker. Davey starts to stomp on Aries. Strong gets a microphone and says he's been following Aries to long. Strong says its his time to lead a faction. Davey says we have witnessed and Aries has experienced is the benign of Ne Remorse Corps. Jack Evans runs out and shoves Davey off Aries. Strong steps between Richards and Evans. Evans tries to talk to his former Generation Next stable mate. Strong yells he has no problem with Jack but leaves with Richards. Aries gets up and tells Roddy to look at him. Aries talks everything he and Strong have been through and he does him let that. Aries says he and Evans can take the two clowns out. Evans says he has no beef with Strong. Evans talks about there time in Generation Next. Evans tells Aries to let him get to the bottom of it. Aries says he will get to the bottom of it his way. Aries hints hie will form his own faction and leaves. Its an ok segment the problem is Strong is bad a cutting promo and to add to that his voice isn't always very clear. So his big dramatic speech about it being his time just falls flat. This kicks off the period where ROH went faction crazy. Not only would we get the NRC we eventually get the Aries led Resilience and the Evans led Vulture Squad now if had just stayed to those three it would have been one thing however ROH already had SNSI that would grow into a faction. Adam Pearce would led the Hangmen 3 witch would fuse with SNIS but still was around for a while. Jimmy Jacobs would start the Age of the Fall so that leaves us with six factious running around at various points in the year. That's just to many it be like TNA doing Aces and Eights, SEX, Immortal, and Team Canada all at once.
On top of that the original idea of having three members of Generation Next feud with each other fell flat. Although Evans had been hyped as making a full time return to ROH he wold miss a number of ROH shows and well out of sight out of mind since ROH wasn't talking about him or hinting he had been injured by Strong or something. At this time Austin Aries still was under a TNA contract right after his faction the Reliance was formed ROH announced there were going on PPV so TNA pulled him. ALthough he did get released and returned to ROH the damage was done. The NRC pretty much won ever match vs a Reliance member or Vulture Squad member. And its hard to been interested in a one sided feud.The No Remorse Corps were only faction that really lasted or gelled as a team of the first three but by the end it became to much about portraying Strong as a main evener a role he just isn't met for. Maybe 2002- mid 2006 ROH could have pulled this off but not in 2007 when Gabe Sapolsky was on his last legs as a booker.
Backstage at Intermission Rebecca Bayless is with ROH world champion Homicide and Julius Smokes. Bayless asks how it feels having been on the first ROH show and being world champion five years later. Homicide says it feels real good and the party will never end. Bayless asks about Jimmy Rave and names off the people that have tapped out to the heel hook. Smokes starts laughing at something. Homicide compares Jimmy Rave to a five dollar hooker. Than Smokes start rambling about god only knows. Pretty poor segment Bayless again didn't to well in her role as a backstage interviewer. Homicide really wasn't into it and well Smokes was Smokes.
The Briscoe Brothers Jay and Mark Briscoe vs Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana- Outside of there in ring styles I really don't' get why Nigel and Cabana were teaming up. They had in the past but that had been about turning Nigel heel so he could feud with Cabana. I think ROH knew there tag division was really to thin and started teaming them together again to round things out again. The Bricoes jump Nigel as he enters the ring and and him to the floor. Jay brawls with Cabana as Mark whips Nigel into the guard rail. Roll up by Cabana gets two and a not the attempt gets two. Sloppy rana by Ja. Double team move by the Bricoes. Running corner clothesline by the Bricoes than double running boots in the corner. Mark goes for some king of spring board move but Nigel pulls him to the floor. Double team suplex on Jay by Nigel and Cabana. Upper cuts by Nigel and Cabana knock Jay down. Mark to his corner Nigel to his. Colt power slam Jay and drops a karat chop. Tag to Nigel who nails Jay in the side. Hammer lock DDT by Nigel. Hammer lock back heel trip by Nigel. Head butts i the corner by Nigel than he nails Mark. Nigel goes to run the ropes but Mark trips him. Jay with a leg drop. Tag to Mark who hits a spring board double stomp that gets two. Chops in the corner by Mark than he rams Nigel into the corner. An awful looking head scissors by Mark it's clear he's not putting any type of pressure on the guy. Christ Mark how do you blow a head scissors? I actually see Nigel moving Mark's legs so it looks tighter. Cabana. trying to get int o the ring giving Mark a chance to hold the ropes. Tag to Jay. Side slam second rope leg drop combo by the Bricoes. Tag to Mark. Head butt by Mark. Drop toe hold in head lock by Mark. Nigel revers into a top wrist lock takedown. Both men are down. Mark right into a front face lock. Nigel with a arm wringer toss and makes the tag to Cabana. Cabana back body drops Mark to the floor and onto Jay who had been hit off the apron earlier. Cabana with a flip senton off over the ropes whips out the Bricoes Brother. Mark back into the ring. Right hand by Colt. Chops and thrusts Cabana grabs the chest hair and Mark screams like a little girl. Cabana runs into a booth. Twisting cross body off the top by Mark. Tag to Jay who hits chops. Sloppy drop kick by Jay. Mark again shows he can't do basic stuff by even managing to fuck up choking Cabana on the ropes. Splash into the corner by Jay gets two. Shoulder blocks by Jay. Tag to Mark. Leg lariat by Mark gets two. Stupid looking Karate chops by Mark. Tag to Jay. Jay chokes Cabana in the corner. Kick to the head by Cabana the swinging suplex to Jay. Tag Nigel. Mark jumps in the ring way to early so he has to stop and just let Nigel get in the ring. I'm not actually trying to nit pick everything Mark Bricoes does but he blows the most basic stuff. And he's so obvious about it.
House of fire time for Nigel. Nigel suplex Mark on to Jay. Uppercuts to Jay after he tosses Mark to the floor. Palm strike combo into a spinning elbow by Nigel. Nigel ducks clothesline by Jay and nails a short lariat that gets two before Jay puts his foot on the rope. Short arm lariat by Nigel gets. Mark into the ring and hits the worse looking leg lariat ever. Spring board splash by Mark. Jay covers and gets two. Tag to Mark. Briscoes go for that barking shoulder tackle. Nigel stops himself. DOuble elbow by Cabana than Kaprana takes out Mark. Nigel sends Jay to the floor. Double team forearms by Cabana and McGuinness. Butt but by Cabana than a running uppercut by McGuinness on Mark. Double team tower of long is set up for but Jay is back and hits a German suplex on Colt. Niger driver neck breaker combo by the Briscoes on Nigel gets two. The Briscoes try to whip Nigel and Colt into each other but they dose do. Stereo sloppy fishermen's buster by the Briscoes. Stereo big splash each get two. Cabana rolls to the floor. Jay out after him. Nigel avoids the Mark corner splash. Kick to the back falling lariat to the chest by Nigel gets two on Mark. Cabana sends Jay into the guard rail which we only hear. Back to the double team tower of London spikesMark on his head. Jay breaks up the cover. Jay sends Cabana to the floor. Big boot by Jay on Nigel when he turns around. Tag to Jay? I know I talk about forgetting the tags but you just spent the last three minutes with guys coming in and out as they please at that stage forget about tags. Plus the Briscoes are in the wrong corner. Jay driller is blocked. Death valley driver by Jay. Cabana breaks up the pin. Colt 45 is blocked and Jay back body drops Cabana to the floor. Briscoes go for the Spring board dooms day but Nigel drops behind first. Missile drop kick by Cabana takes out Mark. Chin breaker by Jay on Nigel but he falls back into the rebound lariat for the win. Its an ok match. It doesn't turn ion the spot monkey fest a usual Briscoe match does. But as usual the Briscoes were sloppy.
Post match Samoa Joe runs out and attacks Nigel with jabs. Cabana tries to calm it down . Nigel to the floor as security and Cabana hold him back. Out comes Morishima. Joe turns around and sees him. They start exchanging forearms and the bells rings to start the next match.
Samoa Joe vs Takeshi Morishima- As 2006 went on Samoa Joe showed signs of a dislike and believing Pro Wrestling NOAH didn't respect ROH. At Glory by Honor that year these two got into a shoving match after an in ring segment where ROH and NOAH stars were surrounding the ring. Finally Joe called out NOAH late in the year and Morishima was here to answer him. Plus the two were similar in a lot of ways so a match made sense. Exchange of forearms. Big shoulder block by MOrishima knocks Joe over. Joe to the floor. Jumping shoulder block by Morishima off the apron. Morishima stands on Joe's throat. Joe sent back into the ring. Chops by Joe and a sires of strikes by Morishima. Cartwheel into a corner splash by Morishima. Again Morishima stands on Joe's throat than he chokes Joe on the ropes. Weak looking power slam by Morishima than he double stomps Joe. Joe with chops but a forearm knocks him down. Morishima chokes Joe not he ropes again . Jabs by Joe Chin lock by Morishima and he goes to the eyes. Sadly the annocuers ignore that. Running corner lariat by Morishima. Joe puts his foot on the ropes. Chin locks sitting on the back by Morishima. Joe gets the ropes. Back to the chin lock and Joe gets the ropes again. Chops by Joe. Flying hip check by Morishima knocks Joe down. Morishima to the top and hits a missile dropkick. Morishima covers and gets two Joe whips Morishima into the corner but runs into a boot. Atomic drop by Joe and flying big boot followed by the send ton gets two. Jabs and chops by Joe. Running back elbow than a flip kick by Joe. Face wash by Samoa Joe and the running final one. Kick to the face by Joe. Round house kicks by Joe. Joe tears at Morishima face and than an elbow to the noise. Morishima is bleeding form the noise another elbow to the noise. Joe bites him. Forearm by Joe. Judo throw by Joe and more kicks to the face. Morishima to the floor. Suicide dive by Joe whips out the man from Japan. Ole kick by Joe. The fans chant once more time so Joe tosses Morishima into the guard rails and does another Ole kick. Joe sends Morishima back in the ring and covers. Morishima kicks at two. Joe pulls up Morishima and hits some punches. Joe charges but Morishima hits a side slam. Running back splash by Morishima and a second one. Joe rolls his shoulder at two on the pin. Running Yakuza in the corner by Morishima. Joe avoids an corner splash. STO by Joe gets two. Joe goes for a back drop but Morishima lands elbows. Enziquri by Joe and than a Death Valley Driver that gets two. Rapid fire kicks to the face by Joe. Joe goes for a power power bomb but Morishima backdrops him and splash down onto Joe's chest.
Morishima back to the top rope. Joe cuts him off. Slaps to the face by Joe. Joe to the top and goes for a superplex. Joe knocked of the ropes. Morishima starts to climb down. Joe gets the muscle buster. We get an awkward count or Morishima failed to kick out in time. It appears to three but the match keeps going on. Joe is is in shock. Yakuza kick by Joe. Shoulder block by Morishima. Neither man goes down. Savate kick by Joe but Morishima lands a lariat. Both men are down. The referee counts both men. Morishima is up. Thez press by Morishima gets two. Back drop driver is blocked. Yurniagi by Morishima. Back drop driver the move Morisiham use as a finish. Joe kicks at two. Joe ducks another lariat and hits a half nelson suplex. Coquina clutch his locked. Morishima drops down trying a chin barker Joe locks it right back in. Morisiham gets free. Back drop driver is blocked. Modified bulldog by Joe. Coquina clutch locked back in. The referee checks the arm and it falls three times giving Joe the win. This is a very good match but it hasn't aged well. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad match and it's interesting to see. But little things that would have put it over the top aren't there. A good example is on commentary Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard under sell the fact Joe is for once the smaller man and that for the first time in ROH career he was dominated by points. They also don't do a good job of getting over how big a deal Morishima is. There also seems to be a real lack of intensity at times. Remember this was a grudge match both men wanted sticking up for companies and it just doesn't have that fire.
Post match a big thank you Joe chant breaks out. JOe gets emotional and pounds on his chest. The fans chant please don't go at him. Morishima is down selling the fact he is choked out. I give him credit for that as a lot of guys just stand up he took time to stay down. The fans show respect to both men as the leave.
We get a video recapping the Feuds of the year. We see Nigel vs Rave. Danielson vs Nigel. KENTA vs Danielson. Homicide vs Danielson. Cabana and Homicide, Jacobs and Cabana. Whitmer vs Jacobs. And ROH vs CZW. Cornette and co vs Homicide. The Briscoes vs Aries and Strong. Aries and Strong vs Sydal and his various partners. Joe vs Danielson. Its a good video and I understand wanting to recap the previous year in ROH witch was a tradition on the Anniversary show but I can't help buy wonder why limit it to just the past year why not look at the whole five years.
ROH World Championship Homicide © with Julius Smokes vs Jimmy Rave- Rave had scored a win over Homicide prion to his world tile win. That combined with his recent big wins over Nigel, Whitmer, and others earned him this shot. Rave jumps Homicide and kicks him in the stomach during the intros. Clothesline by Rave. Northern lights suplex by Rave gets two. Homicide side steps a charing Rave who goes to the floor. Topa Con Helio by Homicide puts Rave down. Rave whipped back first into the guard rails and he crotches Rave on the guard rail. Smokes chops Rave. Ok that is bull shit first the Ref should have seen it second why are trying to make Smokes look good at the expense of the guy wrestling for the world title? Even worse Smokes does this stupid strut after he does it. Rave whipped into another guard rail. Smokes doing his stupid Yeah Yeah Yeah chant. Rave dropped on the guard rail again and Homicide chops him. Back to the ring. Flying back elbow by Homicide. Cross body by Homicide gets two. Rave pulls Homicide into the turnbuckle. Homicide to the floor. Rave to the top ropes and hits a cross body to the floor both men are down. Homicide sent into the guard rail and than another one. Rave uses his boot to choke the ROH world champion. Back to the ring. Shoulder int eh corner by Rave. Running knee than neck breaker get two for Rave. Side Russian leg sweep into a arm bar by Rave. Crucifix pin by Rave gets two. DDT by Rave gets two. Rave runs into a boot twice. Ran off the second rope by Homicide. Running corner clothier follow by a running kick to the face by Homicide gets two. Smokes won't shut up. Tiger driver by Homicide than a t-bone suplex. STF by Homicide. Rave gets the ropes for the break. Homicide goes for a swinging DDT but Rave shoves him off and dropkicks the knee of the champion. Grape vine on the knee and elbows to the knee by Rave. Homicide gets the ropes. Canon ball on the leg by Homicide. Smokes doing all can to get the fans camera men and even the ref to pay attention to him and not the match but jumping around screaming hitting the guard rail Grape vine on the leg again by Rave. More elbow to the knee. Homicide clubs his way free. Rave drives the knee into the canvas. Rave steals the ghetto fork and goes to step Homicide with it. The referee stops him. This allow Homicide to get a second fork and stab Rave. The logic there makes no sense Rave needs to pin or submit Homicide to win the belt. That spot was clearly all about getting the ref to turn around so Homicide could stab Rave. Homicide with another stab and he puts it in his trunks. BTW Homicide is supposed to be a face at this time. I know part of his appeal was the fact he broke the rules but come on. Rave has bee busted open. Homicide tears at the cut. Another stoop with the fork and this time the referee sees it. What is it with ROH having the ref see weapons and ignore them. Sure every company has done it but it feels like ROH does it on every DVD I review.
Power slam by Homicide gets two. Punches to the forehand by Homicide. Knee the gut by Rave.Homicide to the apron and he tries to suplex Rave to the floor. Rave lands on the apron and hits an STO on the apron. Smokes runs in from of the camera blocking us from seeing Homicide's reaction. For god sake Smokes if this is how you manage your friend I would hate to see what you would do in a match where you managed guys you didn't like. Stop trying to distract from the action. Rave chokes Homicide. Homicide to the eye. Homicide whipped back first into the guard rail. Back in the ring Rave covers and gets two. Exchange of punches. Rave escapes the cop killer and hits the running knee. Move that rocked the world by Rave than a spear gets two. Spine buster by Homicide gets two but Homicide is still hurting. Homicide to the top but Rave cuts him off. Fighting on the ropes. Superplex by Rave. Pedigree by Rave is blocked. Homicide rams Rave into the corner. Three amigos by Homicide. Homicide back to the top. Rave up and cuts Homicide off again. DDT off the top by Homicide who goes back to the top for a senton off the top rope that gets two. Homicide sits Rave on the top. Top rope rana is blocked. Super Styles clash by Rave gets two. Now Rave had used the move as a finisher in the past renaming it the Rave Clash and feuding with AJ Styles. Rave had lost a match to AJ where he was no longer allowed to use it. I think ROH blew a chance here. They have have Rave lock in his heel hook but have Homicide get the ropes. Than Rave panics and goes for it since its the one big move he has tired yet. Instead it just falls flat my way it would have come off like a desperation moment. Smokes hurt the moment even decided he should move the guard rail around. Rave goes for the heel hook. Homicide gets the ropes for break. Rave pulls the champion to the center and locks the heel hook back in. Shocks up on the apron to distract the ref. Rave drops the hold to go after Smokes. Big Boot by Homicide. Top rope ace crusher follow by the lariat from Homicide only gets two. Both men are down. Cop killer is blocked. Heel hook by Rave. And again Smokes is a fucking idiot screaming non stop. And no this isn't him cheering on his man its him screaming to make people focus on him. Finally Homicide gets the ropes. Rave won't let go and tries to pull Homicide back. Dave sent tint the corner hard. Cop Killer for the win. That idiot Julius Smokes killed what should have been a very good match. It hard to get into the action in the ring when you have a moron doing all he can to take the focus off the action.
Post match Homicide celebrates with Smokes as Rave is still down and slowly rolls to the floor. Homicide does a strange thing where he one second he dance than the next sells his bad leg. We see officials heaping Rave. Backstage Rebecca Bayless talks about what an amazing night it was and find Jack Evans has been laid out by someone. In nice touch Bayless yells at the camera man to get help he puts down the camera but its still recording. We hear Bayless asks someone if they there the one that did it as we get the To Be Continued card like ROH did for the Milestone Series. I like that touch as its realistic and a easy way to explain why the camera doesn't whip around to show who she is talking to.
As I said this show really feels like its the real start of the year in ROH. The next world champion Morishima debuts. The NRC starts and it kicks off faction mania while ending the Aries and Strong team. But its not a good show. A lot of stuff feels rushed because Joe's elating messed up Gabe's plans so he just trigger crazy. Richards and Strong had actually been rivals in FIP and that carried over to ROH all of sudden they are buddy buddy. I think it would have been better to delay the NRC debut for a little while. It also just seems awkward Strong planned to turn on his partner the night of a title shot. Nigel and Joe's interaction seems strange as they have to rush through it before Joe leaves. The Tables Match is like sticking a big bloody fight ten minutes into a movie and than having the rest of the movie be short two or three punch fights. Finally it just doesn't feel like an anniversary show. There isn't that special feeling a celebration should be. You don't need to see this show to understand anything that is going on going forward I say skip it.
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