BRM Reviews ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies

[Big Red Machine]

ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies (8/16/2003)- Fairfield, CT

RAVEN PROMO- great

CM PUNK, ROB FEINSTEIN, & THE OUTCAST KILLAZ BACKSTAGE- good

SPECIAL K & ALEXIS LAREE BACKSTAGE- very good. It took them a year, but they decide to try to find more chicks… and the first one they come across is Alexis. This goes as well for them as… well… as well as you would expect a bunch of losers with no respect for the wrestling business trying to pick up Mickie James to go. The result of this is Alexis vs. Becky for later tonight.

OPENING SEGMENT- okay

HOMICIDE vs. PRINCE NANA- 3/10
Good for what it was. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL tope con hilo by Homicide. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone execute that move better than Cide does here.

THE CARNAGE CREW BACKSTAGE- okay

THE RING CREW EXPRESS (Dunn & Marcos) vs. THE PURISTS (Tony Mamaluke & John Walters)- good squash.
The Purists are my all-time favorite team that never took off.

DAN MAFF PROMO- not a bad promo, but it dragged on for WAY too long.

WINNER GETS AN INVITATION TO THE FIELD OF HONOR TOURNAMENT: Matt Stryker vs. BJ Whitmer- 6.5/10

POST-MATCH PROMOS- okay

TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH: The Carnage Crew vs. The S.A.T. vs. The Backseat Boyz vs. Izzy & Dixie (w/Special K)- 5.75/10

ALEXIS LAREE vs. BECKY BAYLESS (w/Special K)- no rating. Good segment. The beatdown in the beginning was GENIUS!

PRE-MATCH PROMOS- good

#1 CONTENDER’S TROPHY MATCH: Xavier vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.25/10

FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Hydro vs. Deranged vs. Johnny Storm vs. Slyk Wagner Brown (w/April Hunter)- 6.25/10.
Spotfest

CM PUNK PROMO- great

CM PUNK vs. SAMOA JOE- 6/10.

AFTERMATH- GREAT!

RELAXED RULES MATCH: Homicide vs. Steve Corino (w/Guillotine LeGrande)- 8/10
IMO, barbed wire and forks are too far for “relaxed rules.” This was just WAY too out of control. Still an awesome match, though, but not the classic that others have made it out to be. For those who are wondering, it is pretty obvious exactly when Corino’s ear drum ruptures.

LOW KI vs. DAN MAFF- 6/10
Due to the legit ending of the match, I’m going to give them a pass on the low rating in the main event.

SPECIAL K SLIP A PILL INTO ALEXIS LAREE’S DRINK- um… okay?

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO & SEGMENT WITH CM PUNK- AWESOME! Daniels’ promo was great. He managed to take Maff getting legitimately knocked out and make Maff look tough for it. Punk’s promo was AMAZING!


Overall, a pretty good show from ROH. As a point of trivia, I believe that this might be ring announcer Bobby Cruise’s first appearance in ROH, as Corino brought him along as his own personal ring announcer

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Chris Lovey- “Enzugiri to the knee”… which, by definition, cannot be an enzugiri.