ROH The Epic Encounter
ROH The Epic Encounter (4/12/2003)- Philadelphia, PA
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT WITH AJ, RED, LONDON, & ALEXIS LAREE- GREAT!
THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DA HIT SQUAD- 3/10. What was the point of having Da Hit Squad dominate the whole time. They were one of the biggest tag teams on the indies at this point. They could have done the same finish (because the finish is really what was important in this match) but had a competitive match, and this would have been much better.
TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH: The Carnage Crew vs. The Ring Crew Express vs. Special K (Dixie & Hydro) (w/Special K)- 4.5/10. Spotfest
AFTERMATH- okay
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles & Amazing Red(c) (w/Alexis laree) vs. The Briscoe Brothers- 7.25/10
BJ WHITMER vs. CM PUNK- 6/10
HOMICIDE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10. Very good aftermath.
ALEXIS LAREE vs. ARIEL- Squash.
SAMOA JOE vs. HOTSUFF HERNANDEZ- 5/10. Excellent booking here by Gabe. Joe looked absolutely dominant beating a guy who is bigger than he is.
SAMOA JOE PROMO- good set up for the next match
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH FOR THE ROH TITLE: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Colt Cabana vs. Matt Stryker vs. Tom Carter- 7.5/10. Great match, which once again made Joe look extremely strong while getting everyone else over again.
2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH: Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London- 9/10. This was the “Epic Encounter” for which this show was named, and it definitely lived up to the hype.
I QUIT BUNKHOUSE RIOT: Team Homicide (Homicide, Iceberg, J-Train, “Lowlife” Louie Ramos, Dusty Rhodes & Becky Bayless) vs. The Group (Jack Victory, David Young, CW Anderson, & Guillotine Legrande, The Bar Room Brawlers, & “The Midnight Rider,” & Simply Luscious)- 3/10. Crap. Not even close to being acceptable for a main event. This was just too chaotic. You couldn’t follow any of the action, and having so many no-names in this match made it hard to keep track of who was on which team. There were no big spots, but there was a lot of blood. “The Midnight Rider” quickly disappeared after being revealed to not be Dusty Rhodes.
POST-MATCH PROMO BY DUSTY, HOMICIDE, & JULIUS SMOKES- good
SECOND CITY SAINTS PROMO- Great promo by Punk. Good character work by Cabana.
THE CARNAGE CREW BEAT UP THE RING CREW- okay.
THE PROPHECY & MONSTA MACK SEGMENT- Good promo by Daniels and a great interaction between Maff & Mack.
Gabe alluded to the scripted nature of wrestling on commentary multiple times, which annoyed me a lot.
Overall, a decent shot from ROH. It had some great stuff, and it had some total crap. The good generally outweighed the bad, though, so I would recommend it, the Epic Encounter makes it a must-buy for fans of Bryan Danielson and Paul London.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT WITH AJ, RED, LONDON, & ALEXIS LAREE- GREAT!
THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DA HIT SQUAD- 3/10. What was the point of having Da Hit Squad dominate the whole time. They were one of the biggest tag teams on the indies at this point. They could have done the same finish (because the finish is really what was important in this match) but had a competitive match, and this would have been much better.
TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH: The Carnage Crew vs. The Ring Crew Express vs. Special K (Dixie & Hydro) (w/Special K)- 4.5/10. Spotfest
AFTERMATH- okay
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles & Amazing Red(c) (w/Alexis laree) vs. The Briscoe Brothers- 7.25/10
BJ WHITMER vs. CM PUNK- 6/10
HOMICIDE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10. Very good aftermath.
ALEXIS LAREE vs. ARIEL- Squash.
SAMOA JOE vs. HOTSUFF HERNANDEZ- 5/10. Excellent booking here by Gabe. Joe looked absolutely dominant beating a guy who is bigger than he is.
SAMOA JOE PROMO- good set up for the next match
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH FOR THE ROH TITLE: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Colt Cabana vs. Matt Stryker vs. Tom Carter- 7.5/10. Great match, which once again made Joe look extremely strong while getting everyone else over again.
2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH: Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London- 9/10. This was the “Epic Encounter” for which this show was named, and it definitely lived up to the hype.
I QUIT BUNKHOUSE RIOT: Team Homicide (Homicide, Iceberg, J-Train, “Lowlife” Louie Ramos, Dusty Rhodes & Becky Bayless) vs. The Group (Jack Victory, David Young, CW Anderson, & Guillotine Legrande, The Bar Room Brawlers, & “The Midnight Rider,” & Simply Luscious)- 3/10. Crap. Not even close to being acceptable for a main event. This was just too chaotic. You couldn’t follow any of the action, and having so many no-names in this match made it hard to keep track of who was on which team. There were no big spots, but there was a lot of blood. “The Midnight Rider” quickly disappeared after being revealed to not be Dusty Rhodes.
POST-MATCH PROMO BY DUSTY, HOMICIDE, & JULIUS SMOKES- good
SECOND CITY SAINTS PROMO- Great promo by Punk. Good character work by Cabana.
THE CARNAGE CREW BEAT UP THE RING CREW- okay.
THE PROPHECY & MONSTA MACK SEGMENT- Good promo by Daniels and a great interaction between Maff & Mack.
Gabe alluded to the scripted nature of wrestling on commentary multiple times, which annoyed me a lot.
Overall, a decent shot from ROH. It had some great stuff, and it had some total crap. The good generally outweighed the bad, though, so I would recommend it, the Epic Encounter makes it a must-buy for fans of Bryan Danielson and Paul London.