ROH A Night of Tribute
ROH A Night of Tribute (11/19/2005)- Long Island, NY
The show opens with a ten bell salute for Eddie Guerrero, who had died six days earlier. During intermission Gabe gave Eddie credit for being the major draw on The Era of Honor Begins.
SAMOA JOE PROMO- a beautiful promo weaving together his history in ROH. He originally came in as Daniels’ hired gun, only there to make money. Then, during the riot at the One Year Anniversary Show, he realized that there was more to life than just making money, and he came out to defend his friend Steve Corino. Because he was no longer loyal to Daniels, he decided not to waste his opportunity as the #1 contender and he beat Xavier for the ROH Title. He goes over his feuds with and feelings towards guys like AJ, Homicide, Punk, and Foley (and he was still hyping up the possibility of wrestling Foley, even though it was already confirmed that Foley was done with ROH at the time). He talked about facing Kobashi, then brought the promo around to talking about his protégé Jay Lethal, and about wanting to win the only title he hadn’t yet won in ROH: the tag team titles.
The promo dragged on a lot, put you really don’t mind because Joe makes everything feel like a relevant part of his story. The only real flaw in it is that Joe says that winning this third title would make him a â€"grand slam†champion. Apparently they’re not so big on baseball or tennis in Samoa.
JASON BLADE & KID MIKAZE vs. THE RING CREW EXPRESS- 4/10
Prazak then shows us a â€"fan-taken photo†of Jimmy Rave giving Jade Chung a pedigree in the parking lot after the last show, putting Jade out of wrestling forever. It’s a good thing Prazak told us what was happening, because I could barely event tell that the man in the picture was Jimmy Rave and it looked a lot more like he was taking off his jacket than giving someone a pedigree.
AUSTIN AIRES & RODERICK STRONG PROMOS- Aries says they need to focus on business tonight, and puts over Sydal’s chances of becoming the ROH World Champion. Aries leaves and Roddy cuts a horribly wooden about how much Jade Chung meant to him (in their limited interactions of the past month, it seems a lot more like she saw him as a savior and he saw her as just some Vietnamese chick), and tells the members of the Embassy, among other things, â€"I will give you backbreakers until you can walk no more.†Then he says he won’t let it affect him tonight. A typical painfully bad mid-2000’s Roderick Strong promo.
PRINCE NANA PROMO- he says that The Embassy will end Generation Next’s careers at Steel Cage Warfare in New York. He then says that Jimmy Rave is very unhappy at the way the fans have been treating him and warns the fans that if they throw one more roll of toilet paper at Jimmy Rave, he will leave ROH forever.
DAVEY ANDREWS vs. JIMMY RAVE (w/Prince Nana)- 3.5/10
The fans, of course, pelt Rave with toilet paper, but he doesn’t follow through on his threat to leave.
COLT CABANA PROMO- awesome
Instead of saying â€"leaving me in a pool of my own blood,†Cabana accidentally says â€"leaving me in my own pool of blood,†which put this hilarious image in my head of Colt Cabana lounging around at a lavish mansion with a giant swimming pool full of blood that he occasionally swims in when the mood suits him.
Other than that early gaffe, this was an awesome promo. Cabana talks about the differences between his life and Homicide’s, and says that although he grew in a rich white neighborhood, he could have done anything he wanted with his life, and he chose to fight for a living, so Cide shouldn’t underestimate him.
WINNER GETS AN ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH LATER TONIGHT: AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.5/10
Before the match we got some clips of Daniels vs. AJ matches from 2002 and no clips of Sydal at all, and this actually did a great playing into the story of the match which was that AJ and Daniels were concerned with each other, and no one, not even the fans, gave Sydal a chance. As the match progressed, though, he not only hold his own, but you could really see buy into him winning.
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI PROMO- he is angry at Nigel for making him bleed for the first time in his career and wants another shot at Nigel’s ROH Pure Wrestling Title. Also, he is wearing a very shiny, sparkly robe that I am certain he must have stolen from Jimmy Rave.
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. AZRIEAL- 3/10
Dragon cuts a pre-match promo saying that in the interests of fairness, he, too, will wrestle twice tonight so he isn’t fresh when Daniels’ isn’t. On commentary, the announcers played it off as if Dragon wasn’t sincere because he had chosen to face an undercard guy like Azrieal while Daniels had to face both Matt Sydal and AJ Styles, but I really didn’t get that feeling from Dragon’s promo.
The match itself was eh. There was a bit where Dragon completely no-sold some of Azrieal’s submissions and then mockingly sold his sleeper hold, and that whole bit really didn’t make sense. Allison Danger stopped by the commentary booth to tell us that Daniels would fulfill his destiny tonight and become the ROH World Champion.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes & some un-named guy with a baseball bat)- 7.5/10
Another bloody, violent feud in this match that ends when Homicide chokes the life out of Cabana with a coat hanger. Major props to Lenny Leonard’s announcing for getting over the horror of what was happening, but it almost made you wonder why no one came out to help Cabana until the match was over.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO- great!
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. MILANO COLLECTION AT- 6.75/10
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal- 6.75/10
Aries wins with an Eddie-tribute Frog Splash. Jimmy Rave attacked them on their way back through the curtain and gave Roderick a Pedigree on the ramp. Aries, referees and students carried Roddy backstage, where they found Matt Sydal barely conscious and hung upside-down from a ladder.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.5/10
SAMOA JOE & JAY LETHAL BACKSTAGE- Joe says that they suffered a setback tonight, but it won’t be long until he becomes the first grand slam champion in ROH history. Lethal gets frustrated, says â€"I can’t deal with this†and walks off.
A very good show from ROH, but not worth the exorbitant price you will likely have to pay for it on the secondhand market.
The show opens with a ten bell salute for Eddie Guerrero, who had died six days earlier. During intermission Gabe gave Eddie credit for being the major draw on The Era of Honor Begins.
SAMOA JOE PROMO- a beautiful promo weaving together his history in ROH. He originally came in as Daniels’ hired gun, only there to make money. Then, during the riot at the One Year Anniversary Show, he realized that there was more to life than just making money, and he came out to defend his friend Steve Corino. Because he was no longer loyal to Daniels, he decided not to waste his opportunity as the #1 contender and he beat Xavier for the ROH Title. He goes over his feuds with and feelings towards guys like AJ, Homicide, Punk, and Foley (and he was still hyping up the possibility of wrestling Foley, even though it was already confirmed that Foley was done with ROH at the time). He talked about facing Kobashi, then brought the promo around to talking about his protégé Jay Lethal, and about wanting to win the only title he hadn’t yet won in ROH: the tag team titles.
The promo dragged on a lot, put you really don’t mind because Joe makes everything feel like a relevant part of his story. The only real flaw in it is that Joe says that winning this third title would make him a â€"grand slam†champion. Apparently they’re not so big on baseball or tennis in Samoa.
JASON BLADE & KID MIKAZE vs. THE RING CREW EXPRESS- 4/10
Prazak then shows us a â€"fan-taken photo†of Jimmy Rave giving Jade Chung a pedigree in the parking lot after the last show, putting Jade out of wrestling forever. It’s a good thing Prazak told us what was happening, because I could barely event tell that the man in the picture was Jimmy Rave and it looked a lot more like he was taking off his jacket than giving someone a pedigree.
AUSTIN AIRES & RODERICK STRONG PROMOS- Aries says they need to focus on business tonight, and puts over Sydal’s chances of becoming the ROH World Champion. Aries leaves and Roddy cuts a horribly wooden about how much Jade Chung meant to him (in their limited interactions of the past month, it seems a lot more like she saw him as a savior and he saw her as just some Vietnamese chick), and tells the members of the Embassy, among other things, â€"I will give you backbreakers until you can walk no more.†Then he says he won’t let it affect him tonight. A typical painfully bad mid-2000’s Roderick Strong promo.
PRINCE NANA PROMO- he says that The Embassy will end Generation Next’s careers at Steel Cage Warfare in New York. He then says that Jimmy Rave is very unhappy at the way the fans have been treating him and warns the fans that if they throw one more roll of toilet paper at Jimmy Rave, he will leave ROH forever.
DAVEY ANDREWS vs. JIMMY RAVE (w/Prince Nana)- 3.5/10
The fans, of course, pelt Rave with toilet paper, but he doesn’t follow through on his threat to leave.
COLT CABANA PROMO- awesome
Instead of saying â€"leaving me in a pool of my own blood,†Cabana accidentally says â€"leaving me in my own pool of blood,†which put this hilarious image in my head of Colt Cabana lounging around at a lavish mansion with a giant swimming pool full of blood that he occasionally swims in when the mood suits him.
Other than that early gaffe, this was an awesome promo. Cabana talks about the differences between his life and Homicide’s, and says that although he grew in a rich white neighborhood, he could have done anything he wanted with his life, and he chose to fight for a living, so Cide shouldn’t underestimate him.
WINNER GETS AN ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH LATER TONIGHT: AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.5/10
Before the match we got some clips of Daniels vs. AJ matches from 2002 and no clips of Sydal at all, and this actually did a great playing into the story of the match which was that AJ and Daniels were concerned with each other, and no one, not even the fans, gave Sydal a chance. As the match progressed, though, he not only hold his own, but you could really see buy into him winning.
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI PROMO- he is angry at Nigel for making him bleed for the first time in his career and wants another shot at Nigel’s ROH Pure Wrestling Title. Also, he is wearing a very shiny, sparkly robe that I am certain he must have stolen from Jimmy Rave.
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. AZRIEAL- 3/10
Dragon cuts a pre-match promo saying that in the interests of fairness, he, too, will wrestle twice tonight so he isn’t fresh when Daniels’ isn’t. On commentary, the announcers played it off as if Dragon wasn’t sincere because he had chosen to face an undercard guy like Azrieal while Daniels had to face both Matt Sydal and AJ Styles, but I really didn’t get that feeling from Dragon’s promo.
The match itself was eh. There was a bit where Dragon completely no-sold some of Azrieal’s submissions and then mockingly sold his sleeper hold, and that whole bit really didn’t make sense. Allison Danger stopped by the commentary booth to tell us that Daniels would fulfill his destiny tonight and become the ROH World Champion.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes & some un-named guy with a baseball bat)- 7.5/10
Another bloody, violent feud in this match that ends when Homicide chokes the life out of Cabana with a coat hanger. Major props to Lenny Leonard’s announcing for getting over the horror of what was happening, but it almost made you wonder why no one came out to help Cabana until the match was over.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO- great!
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. MILANO COLLECTION AT- 6.75/10
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal- 6.75/10
Aries wins with an Eddie-tribute Frog Splash. Jimmy Rave attacked them on their way back through the curtain and gave Roderick a Pedigree on the ramp. Aries, referees and students carried Roddy backstage, where they found Matt Sydal barely conscious and hung upside-down from a ladder.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7.5/10
SAMOA JOE & JAY LETHAL BACKSTAGE- Joe says that they suffered a setback tonight, but it won’t be long until he becomes the first grand slam champion in ROH history. Lethal gets frustrated, says â€"I can’t deal with this†and walks off.
A very good show from ROH, but not worth the exorbitant price you will likely have to pay for it on the secondhand market.