BRM Reviews ROH Unscripted

[Big Red Machine]

ROH Unscripted (9/21/2002)- Philadelphia, PA

GREAT opening segment.

ROH TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: SAT vs. The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan) (w/Simply Luscious)- 5.25/10. An okay match which was made worse by one of those dumb, early ROH non-DQs where there obviously should have been one (this time due to interference). Gabe is a genius, but somewhere along the line, the concept of not having DQ finishes, and how kayfabe reprehensible they were got muddied and became “blatant interference is allowed when the angle calls for it to be allowed,” which I just can’t stand. If DQs are such a terrible thing, and you don’t want to have DQ finishes, just don’t book blatant interference!
The announcing on this match was horrible. At one point, when one of the Maximos hit the ropes, Luscious tripped him up. This got MAJOR HEAT from the fans because, as Gabe pointed out, that was the first managed interference in ROH history. The problem was that Gabe just said that quickly, when it happened, almost as if he was just mentioning it in passing. He should have been OUTRAGED! One of those damn despicable Prophecy members just did something that is an anathema in ROH! As a babyface announcer, he should be pissed beyond belief! Gabe talked a mile a minute, and showed no emotion whatsoever.

ATROCIOUS backstage segment between The Christopher Street Connection and Hidaka & Togo. Fast forward through this.

AWESOME pre-taped segment with the FBI. Just an absolutely perfect segment. When people talk about “the little things” that can put a feud over the top if you get them right… this is what they mean.

ROH TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: The FBI (James Maritato & Tony Mamaluke) vs. Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka- 6.75/10. GREAT match. All of these guys looked awesome!

TONY MAMALUKE vs. JAMES MARITATO- Good segment. Really made me want to see the rematch at Glory By Honor.

ROH TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Chris Devine & Quiet Storm vs. Mike Modest & Bryan Danielson- 5/10. Short, but very hard-hitting!

ROH TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Ikuto Hidaka & Dick Togo vs. The Prophecy- 6.75/10

DUNN vs. ALEX ARION (w/Prince Nana)- Squash. After the match, Nana tells Arion to shine his shoes, so Arion Superkicks him. Then the Christopher Street Connection came out and tormented Nana. Then they did some stuff until Alexis Laree came out and kicked their asses, saving us from this boredom.

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Low Ki(c) vs. Xavier- 6.75/10 Wrestling-wise, this was about a 7.5, but I am taking off points for two major reasons. The first is another of those “should have been a DQ” moments, as Xavier used weapons in full view of the referee, and the second is the utter lack of reaction to title change. In the promotion about honor and playing fair, the heel stable who stand against all of those things just cheated to take the world title from Low Ki, who embodies those principles... and yet, for some reason, there were more cheers than boos!

TAKAO OMORI vs. SONNY SIAKI- 4.5/10. They kept talking this Omori guy up as a big deal. I didn't see it in him at all.

CM PUNK & COLT CABANA SEGMENT- pretty good. Didn’t do much, but at least it got me excited for the November 9th show (All-Star Extravaganza [which just came in the mail])!.

JAY BRISCOE PROMO- AMAZING! Why the hell can’t he (or Mark) be this coherent nowadays?

JAY BRISCOE vs. AMAZING RED- 5.75/10

STREET FIGHT: Michael Shane vs. Paul London- WHOA! 8/10.

ROH TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: Mike Modest & Bryan Danielson vs. The Prophecy- 6.5/10. Not good enough to be a main event.
PROPHECY SEGMENT- GREAT stuff and great build to Glory By Honor