ROH Second Year Anniversary Show
ROH Second Year Anniversary Show (2/14/2004)- Braintree, MA
SAMOA JOE PROMO- Joe’s comments about having taken the belt from Xavier, a man who lacked honor, would have meant a lot more if the last show hadn’t ended with Joe blatantly breaking the Code of Honor by assaulting a referee. His comments about the Pure Title were great, though. I really wish TNA would have let AJ stay around and the title vs. title angle could have played out the way that Gabe had wanted. Then again, if it hadn’t we would have gotten Dragon vs. Nigel at Unified, so it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
PROPHECY PROMO- decent, although some of the things Maff and Danger said felt really, really, lame. Whitmer was good, though. If these guys eventually split, I’m damn sure going to be rooting for Maff. Also, Low Ki seems to have been randomly added to tonight’s ROH World Title match.
CM PUNK PROMO- Punk comes out dressed as Daniels, and the smug look on his face at fooling the crowd really makes you want to punch him. This was a nice (and much-needed) reminded that the Second City Saints are actually heels. Punk says that he has put Daniels out for good and that the Second City Saints are going to be going after all of the titles.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: CM Punk vs. John Walters- 6.25/10
Great opener.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Chris Sabin vs. Doug Williams- 6/10
DOUG WILLIAMS PROMO- great
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Matt Stryker vs. Josh Daniels- 5.25/10
MATT STRYKER PROMO- pretty good, though it would have been a lot better if he didn’t stumble so much.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave- 6/10
Great selling here by AJ on the leg. This did a great job of setting up the rest of the night.
AJ STYLES & JIMMY RAVE BACKSTAGE- good.
THE RING CREW EXPRESS vs. THE OUTCAST KILLAZ- no rating, fun segment.
This match was supposed to be Dunn & Marcos vs. two other guys but the other guys just ind of left when the Outcast Killaz showed up. The match never actually gets underway as the Outcast Killaz jump Dun and Marcos, but Dunn and Marcos’s music (We’re Not Gonna Take It) starts to play and they make a comeback.
JIM CORNETTE PROMO- Cornette says he has put a stipulation in the contract for the upcoming Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe ROH World Title cage match that allows you to win by escaping the cage. Well… they had to make it seem as if Jay had some chance in hell. I really didn’t like putting this promo here, though, as it gave away the finish to the World Title match. This would have fit in just as well at the end of the show, where it wouldn’t have spoiled the finish.
COUNTRY WHIPPING MATCH: The Carnage Crew (HC Loc, Tony Devito, & Justin Credible) vs. Special K- no rating, great segment.
This reminded me a lot of the match at Expect The Unexpected between Special K and Low Ki and Da Hit Squad. The match was mostly the babyfaces destroying the Special K, so while the one-sided-ness didn’t make it exciting… watching Special K get destroyed was certainly entertaining and satisfying…
Then they pull the rug right out from under you when Special K brings out Devito’s daughter, who they have convinced to join their raving lifestyle. Devito and Justin go to chase after her, leaving Loc alone with a bunch of Special K guys who kick his ass and give him a the Carnage Crew’s finish: a Spike Piledriver through a table.
GARY MICHAEL CAPETTA INTERVIEWS JULIUS SMOKES ABOUT HOMICIDE’S WHEREABOUTS- J-Train says that he doesn’t know where Cide is and pleads with Cide that, if he is watching, to give him a call. Smokes also teases that his group has a new member.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: CM Punk vs. Doug Williams- 6/10
An interesting finish, but I think it would have made more sense if Punk had been working over Williams’ neck, rather than his knee.
STEVE CORINO PROMO- okay.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: Matt Striker vs. AJ Styles- 6.75/10
I loved how AJ jokingly going after his unibrow in the beginning really pissed Stryker off and fired him up.
CM PUNK PROMO- AWESOME… although the way Punk seems to have been so willing to drop Lucy for Traci kind of flies in the face of some of the things Punk said during his search for Lucy’s attacker.
DEVITO PROMO- great, except that he was talking in the third person the whole time, which was really weird.
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Briscoe Brothers(c) vs. The Backseat Boyz- 6/10
Disappointingly short, but what we got was awesome
SPANKY PROMO- A Spanky return? HELL YEAH!
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Low Ki vs. Dan Maff (w/Allison Danger) vs. BJ Whiter (also w/Allison Danger)- 7.75/10
So apparently the rules here are that if someone pins Joe, they become the champ, but if they pin someone else, they become the #1 contender and will get a 1-on-1 match with Joe at a later date.
Ki’s interactions with Maff and Joe were great but I really wish they had done more with Maff and Whitmer.
JERRY LYNN PROMO- Jerry says he will be coming after the Pure Title
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: AJ Styles vs. CM Punk (w/Traci Brooks)- 8.5/10
An awesome match that built well on the rest of the night and with a built-in excuse for a rematch, too.
AJ & JOE SEGMENT- GREAT!
GOOD TIMES, GREAT MEMORIES WITH COLT CABANA- Colt has Aces Steel do a hilarious Dusty Rhodes impression… then Dusty Rhodes shows up!
GMC INTERVIEWS JULIUS SMOKES- we got the same thing as we got in the ring. Then one of the Special K guys shows up and asks if Smokes will sell him weed. Smokes puts him in a headlock and holds him until the Carnage Crew show up and start to torture him with a blowtorch and a hit piece of metal. This was just plain over the top.
Overall, a great show from ROH. Everything on the card was at least good, with the Pure Title tournament being a major highlight for me (though if I were booking it, I would have had the entire tournament be under Pure Rules). At three and a half hours the show is a bit long, but certainly worth picking up.
SAMOA JOE PROMO- Joe’s comments about having taken the belt from Xavier, a man who lacked honor, would have meant a lot more if the last show hadn’t ended with Joe blatantly breaking the Code of Honor by assaulting a referee. His comments about the Pure Title were great, though. I really wish TNA would have let AJ stay around and the title vs. title angle could have played out the way that Gabe had wanted. Then again, if it hadn’t we would have gotten Dragon vs. Nigel at Unified, so it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
PROPHECY PROMO- decent, although some of the things Maff and Danger said felt really, really, lame. Whitmer was good, though. If these guys eventually split, I’m damn sure going to be rooting for Maff. Also, Low Ki seems to have been randomly added to tonight’s ROH World Title match.
CM PUNK PROMO- Punk comes out dressed as Daniels, and the smug look on his face at fooling the crowd really makes you want to punch him. This was a nice (and much-needed) reminded that the Second City Saints are actually heels. Punk says that he has put Daniels out for good and that the Second City Saints are going to be going after all of the titles.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: CM Punk vs. John Walters- 6.25/10
Great opener.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Chris Sabin vs. Doug Williams- 6/10
DOUG WILLIAMS PROMO- great
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Matt Stryker vs. Josh Daniels- 5.25/10
MATT STRYKER PROMO- pretty good, though it would have been a lot better if he didn’t stumble so much.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave- 6/10
Great selling here by AJ on the leg. This did a great job of setting up the rest of the night.
AJ STYLES & JIMMY RAVE BACKSTAGE- good.
THE RING CREW EXPRESS vs. THE OUTCAST KILLAZ- no rating, fun segment.
This match was supposed to be Dunn & Marcos vs. two other guys but the other guys just ind of left when the Outcast Killaz showed up. The match never actually gets underway as the Outcast Killaz jump Dun and Marcos, but Dunn and Marcos’s music (We’re Not Gonna Take It) starts to play and they make a comeback.
JIM CORNETTE PROMO- Cornette says he has put a stipulation in the contract for the upcoming Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe ROH World Title cage match that allows you to win by escaping the cage. Well… they had to make it seem as if Jay had some chance in hell. I really didn’t like putting this promo here, though, as it gave away the finish to the World Title match. This would have fit in just as well at the end of the show, where it wouldn’t have spoiled the finish.
COUNTRY WHIPPING MATCH: The Carnage Crew (HC Loc, Tony Devito, & Justin Credible) vs. Special K- no rating, great segment.
This reminded me a lot of the match at Expect The Unexpected between Special K and Low Ki and Da Hit Squad. The match was mostly the babyfaces destroying the Special K, so while the one-sided-ness didn’t make it exciting… watching Special K get destroyed was certainly entertaining and satisfying…
Then they pull the rug right out from under you when Special K brings out Devito’s daughter, who they have convinced to join their raving lifestyle. Devito and Justin go to chase after her, leaving Loc alone with a bunch of Special K guys who kick his ass and give him a the Carnage Crew’s finish: a Spike Piledriver through a table.
GARY MICHAEL CAPETTA INTERVIEWS JULIUS SMOKES ABOUT HOMICIDE’S WHEREABOUTS- J-Train says that he doesn’t know where Cide is and pleads with Cide that, if he is watching, to give him a call. Smokes also teases that his group has a new member.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: CM Punk vs. Doug Williams- 6/10
An interesting finish, but I think it would have made more sense if Punk had been working over Williams’ neck, rather than his knee.
STEVE CORINO PROMO- okay.
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: Matt Striker vs. AJ Styles- 6.75/10
I loved how AJ jokingly going after his unibrow in the beginning really pissed Stryker off and fired him up.
CM PUNK PROMO- AWESOME… although the way Punk seems to have been so willing to drop Lucy for Traci kind of flies in the face of some of the things Punk said during his search for Lucy’s attacker.
DEVITO PROMO- great, except that he was talking in the third person the whole time, which was really weird.
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Briscoe Brothers(c) vs. The Backseat Boyz- 6/10
Disappointingly short, but what we got was awesome
SPANKY PROMO- A Spanky return? HELL YEAH!
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Low Ki vs. Dan Maff (w/Allison Danger) vs. BJ Whiter (also w/Allison Danger)- 7.75/10
So apparently the rules here are that if someone pins Joe, they become the champ, but if they pin someone else, they become the #1 contender and will get a 1-on-1 match with Joe at a later date.
Ki’s interactions with Maff and Joe were great but I really wish they had done more with Maff and Whitmer.
JERRY LYNN PROMO- Jerry says he will be coming after the Pure Title
ROH PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: AJ Styles vs. CM Punk (w/Traci Brooks)- 8.5/10
An awesome match that built well on the rest of the night and with a built-in excuse for a rematch, too.
AJ & JOE SEGMENT- GREAT!
GOOD TIMES, GREAT MEMORIES WITH COLT CABANA- Colt has Aces Steel do a hilarious Dusty Rhodes impression… then Dusty Rhodes shows up!
GMC INTERVIEWS JULIUS SMOKES- we got the same thing as we got in the ring. Then one of the Special K guys shows up and asks if Smokes will sell him weed. Smokes puts him in a headlock and holds him until the Carnage Crew show up and start to torture him with a blowtorch and a hit piece of metal. This was just plain over the top.
Overall, a great show from ROH. Everything on the card was at least good, with the Pure Title tournament being a major highlight for me (though if I were booking it, I would have had the entire tournament be under Pure Rules). At three and a half hours the show is a bit long, but certainly worth picking up.