ROH Fueling The Fire
ROH Fueling The Fire (8/1/2008)- Manassas, VA
AGE OF THE FALL PROMO- good
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. ADAM PEARCE & SHANE HAGADORN (w/Sweet N’ Sour Inc.)- 5/10
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- good
NIGEL MCGUINNESS & RHETT TITUS BACKSTAGE- Rhett shows Nigel some mystery footage of a girl (don’t worry, this would pay off at the next show).
PELLE PRIMEAU vs. REX STERLING- 4/10
RHETT TITUS vs. DELIRIOUS- 5.5/10
Good storytelling, good fun. After the match Daizee calls Delirious â€"dependable†and kisses Delirious on the cheek, which got a big pop.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Necro Butcher vs. Roderick Strong- 6.25/10
THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. BRYAN DANIELSON & AUSTIN ARIES- 8.5/10
Did you expect anything less?
After the match Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black came out and attacked Aries and Shelley but were then driven off by Danielson and Sabin. Aries then picks up the mic and offers to bury the hatchet with Shelley but Shelley ignores him.
RODERICK STRONG TRIES TO PICK UP DAIZEE HAZE- good segment. Afterwards, Daizee notes that many of the male wrestlers have been acting very strangely towards her recently.
SWEET N’ SOUR INC. PRE-MATCH PROMOS- Sweeney says he will go to the limo and watch the match from there (he is afraid of Albright, but obviously will never admit such a thing). He says he will watch on â€"closed captioned†TV. I assume he meant closed circuit. Hero then cuts a kind of odd-sounding promo about being a â€"conqueror.â€
BRENT ALBRIGHT vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Sara Del Rey)- 6.5/10
POST-MATCH BRAWL BETWEEN PEARCE AND ALBRIGHT- short but vicious-looking. Good hype for their NWA World Heavyweight Title match tomorrow night.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness(c) vs. Ruckus- 4.25/10
Eight minutes is just not acceptable for an ROH World Title match, and the fact that Ruckus tapped so quickly really spelled his end in ROH. This could have been a breakout performance if it was given time, but instead it was booked and executed in a way that killed Ruckus’ credibility with the fans.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Age of the Fall(c) vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Go Shiozaki- 8/10
An awesome main event, and a great bit of booking by Gabe here. There seems to be no chance that AOTF will lose… until you realize that their next scheduled tag team title defense will be in Japan, and that this makeshift team happens to consist of two Japanese guys… and that Go’s angle has been that he needs to win an American title for his tour to be considered a success… and then Go and Marufuji winning doesn’t seem so unlikely.
After the match, Alex Shelley attacks Jimmy Jacobs, but the combined might of Jacobs and Black is too much for him and he gets beaten down until Austin Aries comes out to make the save. Then Aries and Shelley finally bury the hatchet after more than three and a half years of hate.
This show is generally considered one of ROH’s worst (and certainly in the pre-Cornette era), but I fully disagree with that. The undercard might not be the best and the ROH World Title match is certainly disappointing, but the two awesome tag matches and the great moments like Aries and Shelley burying the hatchet and Daizee giving Rhett a kiss (albeit on the cheek) make for a very good show.
AGE OF THE FALL PROMO- good
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. ADAM PEARCE & SHANE HAGADORN (w/Sweet N’ Sour Inc.)- 5/10
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- good
NIGEL MCGUINNESS & RHETT TITUS BACKSTAGE- Rhett shows Nigel some mystery footage of a girl (don’t worry, this would pay off at the next show).
PELLE PRIMEAU vs. REX STERLING- 4/10
RHETT TITUS vs. DELIRIOUS- 5.5/10
Good storytelling, good fun. After the match Daizee calls Delirious â€"dependable†and kisses Delirious on the cheek, which got a big pop.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Necro Butcher vs. Roderick Strong- 6.25/10
THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. BRYAN DANIELSON & AUSTIN ARIES- 8.5/10
Did you expect anything less?
After the match Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black came out and attacked Aries and Shelley but were then driven off by Danielson and Sabin. Aries then picks up the mic and offers to bury the hatchet with Shelley but Shelley ignores him.
RODERICK STRONG TRIES TO PICK UP DAIZEE HAZE- good segment. Afterwards, Daizee notes that many of the male wrestlers have been acting very strangely towards her recently.
SWEET N’ SOUR INC. PRE-MATCH PROMOS- Sweeney says he will go to the limo and watch the match from there (he is afraid of Albright, but obviously will never admit such a thing). He says he will watch on â€"closed captioned†TV. I assume he meant closed circuit. Hero then cuts a kind of odd-sounding promo about being a â€"conqueror.â€
BRENT ALBRIGHT vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Sara Del Rey)- 6.5/10
POST-MATCH BRAWL BETWEEN PEARCE AND ALBRIGHT- short but vicious-looking. Good hype for their NWA World Heavyweight Title match tomorrow night.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Nigel McGuinness(c) vs. Ruckus- 4.25/10
Eight minutes is just not acceptable for an ROH World Title match, and the fact that Ruckus tapped so quickly really spelled his end in ROH. This could have been a breakout performance if it was given time, but instead it was booked and executed in a way that killed Ruckus’ credibility with the fans.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Age of the Fall(c) vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Go Shiozaki- 8/10
An awesome main event, and a great bit of booking by Gabe here. There seems to be no chance that AOTF will lose… until you realize that their next scheduled tag team title defense will be in Japan, and that this makeshift team happens to consist of two Japanese guys… and that Go’s angle has been that he needs to win an American title for his tour to be considered a success… and then Go and Marufuji winning doesn’t seem so unlikely.
After the match, Alex Shelley attacks Jimmy Jacobs, but the combined might of Jacobs and Black is too much for him and he gets beaten down until Austin Aries comes out to make the save. Then Aries and Shelley finally bury the hatchet after more than three and a half years of hate.
This show is generally considered one of ROH’s worst (and certainly in the pre-Cornette era), but I fully disagree with that. The undercard might not be the best and the ROH World Title match is certainly disappointing, but the two awesome tag matches and the great moments like Aries and Shelley burying the hatchet and Daizee giving Rhett a kiss (albeit on the cheek) make for a very good show.