ROH The Chicago Spectacular: Night 1
ROH The Chicago Spectacular: Night 1 (12/8/2006)- Chicago, IL
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- Albright says he is here to make money, starting his â€"gun for hire†gimmick
BRYAN DANIELSON PROMO- Dragon introduces Jimmy Jacobs as one of his partners for tomorrow night’s tag team match. Lacey then tells Jimmy that’s he wants him to destroy Colt Cabana tonight.
TANK TOLAND vs. KIKUTARO- 0.5/10
Barely any comedy from Kikutaro, followed by a not very dominant squash by Toland. Normally I wouldn’t rate this, but I am so disappointed at the waste of what could have been an awesome comedy match.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. IRISH AIRBORNE- 5/10
PELLE PRIMEAU PROMO (from the pre-show)- good hype for Pelle’s shot at the Top of the Class Trophy tomorrow night.
HOMICIDE vs. BRENT ALBRIGHT- 5/10
I didn’t like Cide not shaking hands here, and I really didn’t like the fact that he was a dick about it. Albright works over Cide’s shoulder and refuses to release the Crowbar when Cide makes it to the ropes. Albright leaves the hold on even after the DQ is called for and Joe comes out and makes the save. Dragon comes out to the ramp and pays Albright off for injuring Cide’s shoulder heading into their ROH World Title match at Final Battle 2006. Dragon looks like a crafty, douchy heel, Joe looks like a babyface, Albright looks dangerous and loses without really losing while Cide looks vulnerable going into Final Battle without actually losing. Good booking by Gabe.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Davey Richards vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Matt Cross vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.25/10
Tons of great athletic spots here and a nice little story with Whitmer and Daniels working together in the beginning. Everyone had the chance to look good (especially Allison Danger in that cheerleader outfit again!) As expected, Matt Cross does a lot of flips in his debut.
JIMMY RAVE vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS- 6.25/10
Nigel twists his knee early on, so Jimmy busts out a new finisher, the Heel Hook, to get the win.
BRYAN DANIELSON PROMO- he puts over the main event and says that Jimmy Rave will also be a part of his team for tomorrow night’s main event.
ACE STEEL & DELIRIOUS vs. ADAM PEARCE & SHANE HAGADORN- 4/10
On commentary, Gabe explains the angle going into the next match as â€"a long story; too to document here. Basically your bullet points are:
- Jimmy Jacobs loves Lacey
- Colt Cabana got to do Lacey
- Colt Cabana dumped Lacey
- Jimmy Jacobs spiked Cabana in the eye with Lacey’s high heel and Cabana bled all over the place.â€
LOVE IT! Even Gabe himself will likely tell you that commentary is definitely not his strong suit, but things like this make up for it.
COLT CABANA vs. JIMMY JACOBS (w/Lacey)- no rating, great segment
We get a short brawl that ends when Lacey throws powder in Cabana’s eyes. Lacey starts kicking Cabana until Daizee Haze comes out to make the save, but she winds up getting literally speared out of her boots by Jimmy Jacobs. Cabana then grabs Lacey but Brent Albright comes out to make the save. Albright and Jimmy hold Cabana’s legs open and Lacey stomps on Colt’s nuts. BJ Whitmer comes out and fights them off and the heels leave with Lacey saying that she has finally found someone she can depend on to get things done right. Delirious then comes out and then and asks BJ Whitmer to be on his team tomorrow night in the big tag team match against Danielson’s team. Nigel McGuinness then comes limping out and volunteers his services as well.
DRAGON GATE RULES TAG TEAM MATCH: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal & Shingo (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10
We got some good character moments before the match with Sydal showing the first signs of the cocky almost-heel he would become during this tag title reign and Shingo being an asshole and shoving Roddy.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Samoa Joe- 7.5/10
Nowhere near as epic as it should have been, and the very weak win didn’t help it, either. I assume it was meant to set up for the title shot Joe would get at Battle of the Icons, but not giving Dragon a decisive win in this feud felt very cheap. Dragon needs to look strong going into Final Battle for his big showdown with Homicide.
DAVEY RICHARDS PROMO- Based on his promo, it is clear that Davey meant â€"orbital bone†but he accidentally said â€"oral bone.â€
ADAM PEARCE PROMO- good.
Overall, a very disappointing show from ROH. The undercard was mostly weak and the main event cage match blow-off between Dragon and Joe was not the epic affair that it should have been. â€"Spectacular†this was not.
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- Albright says he is here to make money, starting his â€"gun for hire†gimmick
BRYAN DANIELSON PROMO- Dragon introduces Jimmy Jacobs as one of his partners for tomorrow night’s tag team match. Lacey then tells Jimmy that’s he wants him to destroy Colt Cabana tonight.
TANK TOLAND vs. KIKUTARO- 0.5/10
Barely any comedy from Kikutaro, followed by a not very dominant squash by Toland. Normally I wouldn’t rate this, but I am so disappointed at the waste of what could have been an awesome comedy match.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. IRISH AIRBORNE- 5/10
PELLE PRIMEAU PROMO (from the pre-show)- good hype for Pelle’s shot at the Top of the Class Trophy tomorrow night.
HOMICIDE vs. BRENT ALBRIGHT- 5/10
I didn’t like Cide not shaking hands here, and I really didn’t like the fact that he was a dick about it. Albright works over Cide’s shoulder and refuses to release the Crowbar when Cide makes it to the ropes. Albright leaves the hold on even after the DQ is called for and Joe comes out and makes the save. Dragon comes out to the ramp and pays Albright off for injuring Cide’s shoulder heading into their ROH World Title match at Final Battle 2006. Dragon looks like a crafty, douchy heel, Joe looks like a babyface, Albright looks dangerous and loses without really losing while Cide looks vulnerable going into Final Battle without actually losing. Good booking by Gabe.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Davey Richards vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Matt Cross vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.25/10
Tons of great athletic spots here and a nice little story with Whitmer and Daniels working together in the beginning. Everyone had the chance to look good (especially Allison Danger in that cheerleader outfit again!) As expected, Matt Cross does a lot of flips in his debut.
JIMMY RAVE vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS- 6.25/10
Nigel twists his knee early on, so Jimmy busts out a new finisher, the Heel Hook, to get the win.
BRYAN DANIELSON PROMO- he puts over the main event and says that Jimmy Rave will also be a part of his team for tomorrow night’s main event.
ACE STEEL & DELIRIOUS vs. ADAM PEARCE & SHANE HAGADORN- 4/10
On commentary, Gabe explains the angle going into the next match as â€"a long story; too to document here. Basically your bullet points are:
- Jimmy Jacobs loves Lacey
- Colt Cabana got to do Lacey
- Colt Cabana dumped Lacey
- Jimmy Jacobs spiked Cabana in the eye with Lacey’s high heel and Cabana bled all over the place.â€
LOVE IT! Even Gabe himself will likely tell you that commentary is definitely not his strong suit, but things like this make up for it.
COLT CABANA vs. JIMMY JACOBS (w/Lacey)- no rating, great segment
We get a short brawl that ends when Lacey throws powder in Cabana’s eyes. Lacey starts kicking Cabana until Daizee Haze comes out to make the save, but she winds up getting literally speared out of her boots by Jimmy Jacobs. Cabana then grabs Lacey but Brent Albright comes out to make the save. Albright and Jimmy hold Cabana’s legs open and Lacey stomps on Colt’s nuts. BJ Whitmer comes out and fights them off and the heels leave with Lacey saying that she has finally found someone she can depend on to get things done right. Delirious then comes out and then and asks BJ Whitmer to be on his team tomorrow night in the big tag team match against Danielson’s team. Nigel McGuinness then comes limping out and volunteers his services as well.
DRAGON GATE RULES TAG TEAM MATCH: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal & Shingo (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10
We got some good character moments before the match with Sydal showing the first signs of the cocky almost-heel he would become during this tag title reign and Shingo being an asshole and shoving Roddy.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Samoa Joe- 7.5/10
Nowhere near as epic as it should have been, and the very weak win didn’t help it, either. I assume it was meant to set up for the title shot Joe would get at Battle of the Icons, but not giving Dragon a decisive win in this feud felt very cheap. Dragon needs to look strong going into Final Battle for his big showdown with Homicide.
DAVEY RICHARDS PROMO- Based on his promo, it is clear that Davey meant â€"orbital bone†but he accidentally said â€"oral bone.â€
ADAM PEARCE PROMO- good.
Overall, a very disappointing show from ROH. The undercard was mostly weak and the main event cage match blow-off between Dragon and Joe was not the epic affair that it should have been. â€"Spectacular†this was not.