ROH Epic Encounter II

ROH Epic Encounter IIROH Epic Encounter II

By Big Red Machine
From August 25, 2006
Discussion

ROH Epic Encounter II (8/25/2006)- St. Paul, MN

JIMMY JACOBS & LACEY BACKSTAGE- the typically excellent character-work you would expect from these two.

THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. IRISH AIRBORNE- 6.75/10
Good opener.

MATT SYDAL PROMO- would have been good if it didn't sound so rehearsed, and if Sydal didn't look so proud of himself for remembering all of it.

HOMICIDE vs. JIMMY JACOBS (w/Lacey)- 6.5/10
Wow. This crowd HATES Jimmy Jacobs. Everywhere else ROH has goes, Jimmy is over as something akin to a sympathetic babyface, but here... ouch. I don't think I have ever heard fans boo "Ballad Of Lacey" before. The Briscoes beat Homicide down after the match.

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI- 6.5/10

DELIRIOUS PROMO- it's a Delirious promo, but you can pick out a few more words than usual.

COLT CABANA & DAVEY RICHARDS vs. JIMMY RAVE & SAL RINAURO (w/Prince Nana)- 5/10
No. This is all wrong! Did Davey Richards just do... a comedy spot?

AFTERMATH- okay. The Briscoes come out and get on Davey's case, leading to a brawl. Wow. At this point they might as well just call this show "Attack Of The Crazy Rednecks." In an absolutely perfect moment, as the brawl is breaking up and people are getting the Briscoes to the back, one fan shouts "F*CK THE CONFEDERACY!" Hilarious.

COLT CABANA PROMO & SEGMENT WITH JIMMY JACOBS- GREAT babyface promo, but it all felt slightly undone by Cabana being a jerk to Jimmy (not that being a jerk like that isn't within Cabana's character. It absolutely is... but it doesn't help him look like the babyface he should be going into his title match tomorrow night).

MATT SYDAL vs. DELIRIOUS- 7.25/10.
I didn't like the finish, though. If the point was to show how far these guys have come since ROH's last show in St. Paul (when these two made their main-show debut), having the same finish to this match as to that match seems counterproductive. I also think that having the match in the same spot on the card hurt this theme, too.

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong(c) vs. BJ Whitmer & Samoa Joe- 7.25/10.
They took the negative of Aries physical limitations because of his injury and turned it into a positive by making Roddy look Strong (see what I did there?)

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO- okay, and a perfect transition into...

JIMMY JACOBS, COLT CABANA, & LACEY SEGMENT- heartbreaking. Props to all three for their character-work here. This was the excellence that made Jimmy Loves Lacey as awesome as it was.

TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE IN WHICH IF DRAGON WINS, NIGEL WILL NOT GET ANOTHER TITLE SHOW AS LONG AS DRAGON IS CHAMPION: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Nigel McGuinness- 8.25/10.

The storytelling was good, but this felt like the wrong match for this point in the feud. This match should have happened at Generation Now, so that Dragon hasn't been able to beat Nigel yet going into their match at Unified, then they have their last match here, with Dragon once again getting a decisive win (this time under normal rules) and Dragon putting him over on the mic and giving him the Pure Title belt to keep after the match. Having their last match for the title end in a draw with mutual respect afterwards feels like it accomplished nothing. Compare this to what they did the next night with these same stips between Dragon and Cabana.


Overall, a good show from, but there are much better shows out there.

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