ROH Wrath of the Racket
ROH Wrath of the Racket (8/9/2003)- Dayton, OH
SEGMENT WITH ACE STEEL, COLT CABANA, HOMICIDE & JULIUS SMOKES- kind of pointless. This just made Colt look kind of dumb. It is, however, evidence that Gabe had planned to do the Rottweilers a lot earlier than he actually did.
AJ STYLES & AMAZING RED PROMO- AJ was good, Red was not.
TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH: The Carnage Crew (Loc & Masada) vs. Fast Eddie & Don Juan vs. the SAT vs. Hydro & Deranged (w/Dixie & Hi-Jinks)- 4/10
And eh match at best. Fast Eddie took a lame looking phantom bump and Doug screwed up o commentary by calling Hydro â€"Jay Lethal†a whole year before he starting using that moniker in ROH. I got what Gabe was trying to get at with the finish, but if last time it only took Low Ki to kick all of their asses, they can’t be THAT much of a problem.
AFTERMATH- Jim Cornette comes out and poops on Special K and gets the crowd all fired up and behind him and says that he has a tag team he wants to bring out. Out come the super-over Dunn and Marcos to tell Cornette that they are Dunn and Marcos, that they are the top tag team in Ring of Honor, and that they will Rock everyone like a hurricane. At this point with Dunn and Marcos out there with him, having just pooped on Special K and just plain being himself, Cornette has the crowd completely behind him… then he brings out the Prophecy and they beat the crao out of Dunn and Marcos. Just a GREAT segment here.
BJ WHITMER PROMO- okay
HWA #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH: Nigel McGuinness vs. Chet Jablonski (w/Brock Guffman)- 5.25/10
Guffman cut an awesome pre-match promo putting over both men. This was a good wrestling match, but it ended too soon. It really made you want to see more of these guys.
CHRIS SABIN vs. HOMICIDE (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.25/10
A very good match marred by one low blow that there was no way that the ref could have missed. Sabin looked great here.
ALEX SHELLEY & JIMMY JACOBS vs. THE SECOND CITY SAINTS (Ace Steel & Colt Cabana)- 6.25/10
A good tag team match with a SICK-looking finish. Shelley looked legit hurt after it.
JUSTIN CREDIBLE vs. MATT STRYKER- 6.75/10
PROPHECY PROMOS- Daniels and & Cornette were awesome. Cornette tells Maff to shoo Les Thatcher away, then Corny tells the camera man to shut the camera off… and yet no one in the Prophecy comments that the camera guy sticks him camera right into their huddle?
SECOND CITY SAINTS BACKSTAGE- why does Lucy sound like a man doing a lame impression of a generic woman’s voice?
THE PROPHECY JUMP RED & THE SAT- good
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Scoot Andrews vs. Michael Shane vs. Hotsutff Hernandez vs. Slyk Wagner Brown (w/April Hunter)- 5.5/10
Why is Scoot Andrews allowed back in ROH? Didn’t he have to leave forever due to the stip at Crowning A Champion? The match was an entertaining spotfest, but with a few botches, both logical and physical brings it down.
WINNER ENTERS THE FIELD OF HONOR Jimmy Rave vs. Slim J- 6/10
A good showing by both guys.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Samoa Joe(c) vs. BJ Whitmer- 6.75/10
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles & Homicide(c) (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Dan Maff & Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger & Jim Cornette)- 7.25/10
AFTERMATH- bad. Cornette shakes hands with AJ and Cide, which pisses Daniels off. Daniels and Maff attack Cornette, effectively turning Corny babyface… but he crowd cheers! Red comes out to make the save but gets beat down. You might expect AJ to come back out to save his tag team partner… but AJ is nowhere to be found, and Joe makes the save instead.
HOMICIDE PROMO- good
SAMOA JOE PROMO- good
STEVE CORNETTE PROMO- I really hated this. Corino absolutely pissed on kayfabe here.
ACE & COLT FIND ROB FEINSTEIN- this just made Feinstein look like an idiot. He is angry at Colt and Ace (and Punk)… so he gives Colt exactly what he wants. Umm… okay. Way to keep your employees in line, there, Rob.
At the end of this segment, as Colt and Ace are walking away, Lucy (who has been holding the camcorder for all of their segments) gets taken out from behind by an unknown assailant. Apparently it only takes one shot to knock her out… and it was done so quietly that Ace and Colt (who had only started walking away about twenty seconds ago) didn’t hear the impact or a scream. That’s a pretty nifty trick there, Mr. (or Ms.) Mystery Assailant. We are then left with a cryptic note placed near Lucy’s body that says â€"Rust Never Sleeps,†so I guess the assailant is trying to frame Neil Young for this heinous attack.
Overall, this was a bad show from ROH. There were some logical silliness in multiple segments and the wrestling was just plain not ROH quality. Quite possibly the worst in ROH history until this point. It is between this and Night of the Butcher.
SEGMENT WITH ACE STEEL, COLT CABANA, HOMICIDE & JULIUS SMOKES- kind of pointless. This just made Colt look kind of dumb. It is, however, evidence that Gabe had planned to do the Rottweilers a lot earlier than he actually did.
AJ STYLES & AMAZING RED PROMO- AJ was good, Red was not.
TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH: The Carnage Crew (Loc & Masada) vs. Fast Eddie & Don Juan vs. the SAT vs. Hydro & Deranged (w/Dixie & Hi-Jinks)- 4/10
And eh match at best. Fast Eddie took a lame looking phantom bump and Doug screwed up o commentary by calling Hydro â€"Jay Lethal†a whole year before he starting using that moniker in ROH. I got what Gabe was trying to get at with the finish, but if last time it only took Low Ki to kick all of their asses, they can’t be THAT much of a problem.
AFTERMATH- Jim Cornette comes out and poops on Special K and gets the crowd all fired up and behind him and says that he has a tag team he wants to bring out. Out come the super-over Dunn and Marcos to tell Cornette that they are Dunn and Marcos, that they are the top tag team in Ring of Honor, and that they will Rock everyone like a hurricane. At this point with Dunn and Marcos out there with him, having just pooped on Special K and just plain being himself, Cornette has the crowd completely behind him… then he brings out the Prophecy and they beat the crao out of Dunn and Marcos. Just a GREAT segment here.
BJ WHITMER PROMO- okay
HWA #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH: Nigel McGuinness vs. Chet Jablonski (w/Brock Guffman)- 5.25/10
Guffman cut an awesome pre-match promo putting over both men. This was a good wrestling match, but it ended too soon. It really made you want to see more of these guys.
CHRIS SABIN vs. HOMICIDE (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.25/10
A very good match marred by one low blow that there was no way that the ref could have missed. Sabin looked great here.
ALEX SHELLEY & JIMMY JACOBS vs. THE SECOND CITY SAINTS (Ace Steel & Colt Cabana)- 6.25/10
A good tag team match with a SICK-looking finish. Shelley looked legit hurt after it.
JUSTIN CREDIBLE vs. MATT STRYKER- 6.75/10
PROPHECY PROMOS- Daniels and & Cornette were awesome. Cornette tells Maff to shoo Les Thatcher away, then Corny tells the camera man to shut the camera off… and yet no one in the Prophecy comments that the camera guy sticks him camera right into their huddle?
SECOND CITY SAINTS BACKSTAGE- why does Lucy sound like a man doing a lame impression of a generic woman’s voice?
THE PROPHECY JUMP RED & THE SAT- good
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Scoot Andrews vs. Michael Shane vs. Hotsutff Hernandez vs. Slyk Wagner Brown (w/April Hunter)- 5.5/10
Why is Scoot Andrews allowed back in ROH? Didn’t he have to leave forever due to the stip at Crowning A Champion? The match was an entertaining spotfest, but with a few botches, both logical and physical brings it down.
WINNER ENTERS THE FIELD OF HONOR Jimmy Rave vs. Slim J- 6/10
A good showing by both guys.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Samoa Joe(c) vs. BJ Whitmer- 6.75/10
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles & Homicide(c) (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Dan Maff & Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger & Jim Cornette)- 7.25/10
AFTERMATH- bad. Cornette shakes hands with AJ and Cide, which pisses Daniels off. Daniels and Maff attack Cornette, effectively turning Corny babyface… but he crowd cheers! Red comes out to make the save but gets beat down. You might expect AJ to come back out to save his tag team partner… but AJ is nowhere to be found, and Joe makes the save instead.
HOMICIDE PROMO- good
SAMOA JOE PROMO- good
STEVE CORNETTE PROMO- I really hated this. Corino absolutely pissed on kayfabe here.
ACE & COLT FIND ROB FEINSTEIN- this just made Feinstein look like an idiot. He is angry at Colt and Ace (and Punk)… so he gives Colt exactly what he wants. Umm… okay. Way to keep your employees in line, there, Rob.
At the end of this segment, as Colt and Ace are walking away, Lucy (who has been holding the camcorder for all of their segments) gets taken out from behind by an unknown assailant. Apparently it only takes one shot to knock her out… and it was done so quietly that Ace and Colt (who had only started walking away about twenty seconds ago) didn’t hear the impact or a scream. That’s a pretty nifty trick there, Mr. (or Ms.) Mystery Assailant. We are then left with a cryptic note placed near Lucy’s body that says â€"Rust Never Sleeps,†so I guess the assailant is trying to frame Neil Young for this heinous attack.
Overall, this was a bad show from ROH. There were some logical silliness in multiple segments and the wrestling was just plain not ROH quality. Quite possibly the worst in ROH history until this point. It is between this and Night of the Butcher.