ROH Steel Cage Warfare
ROH Steel Cage Warfare (12/3/2005)- New York, NY
JAY LETHAL PROMO- They started off by showing us a clip of Joe & Lethal fighting the Rotweilers in which Prazak's commentary informed us that Jay was Joe’s protégé. Then they showed us Lethal saying "I can’t do this anymore" and walking out on Joe during their backstage promo at the end of the last ROH show, A Night of Tribute.
Then Jay cut a promo about his history in ROH and everything he has accomplished, both with Joe’s help and without it. He then says that he needs to step out of Joe's shadow and so he challenges Joe to a match. This would have been an absolutely amazing promo if Jay hadn't cut it in an atrociously dull monotone.
JIM CORNETTE PROMO- he announces that the next time Nigel and Claudio are in the same place, they will have a Pure Title match with two referees to prevent Nigel from cheating. He then says that if anyone interferes in the Homicide vs. Corino match, they will be fined very heavily.
JASON BLADE & KID MIKAZE vs. DUNN & MARCOS- 5.5/10
A spotty opener. Blade and Mikaze get their first win and ensure continued bookings in ROH.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- good
PRINCE NANA PROMO- good
ROH TOP OF THE CLASS TROPHY MATCH: Davey Andrews(c) vs. Pelle Primeau- squash
RICKY REYES TAKES ON THE ROH WRESTLING ACADEMY STUDENTS- I think the goal here was for Ricky to look like a bully, but he actually started to look like a badass until he hit Davey Andrews with the trophy instead of beating him cleanly.
RODERICK STRONG PROMO- remember Roddy’s awful promo from the last show? "I will give you backbreakers until you can walk no more." Well he said it with more feeling this time, which was good. What was not good, though, was that he now added in "I'm gonna pound your face in, until your face is broken in pieces."
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- short and sweet.
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro(c) vs. Colt Cabana & Milano Collection AT- 5.75/10
Remember on the last show when Aries and Strong won #1 contendership to the tag team titles? Well apparently the tag champs can just circumvent that by putting out open contracts, so now they are going to take on who guys who have never teamed up before.
MATT SYDAL PROMO- great
ABYSS PROMO- there isn't one. There is a just a screen with a picture of Abyss on it that says "we tried to get comments from Abyss. Our cameraman ended up in the hospital. There will be no comments from Abyss." AWESOME!
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Rocky Romero (w/the Rotweilers)- 7.25/10
Dragon wins with the half-crab, which brings out Lance Storm. Storm puts Dragon over and says that if he ever decides to come out of retirement, it would be specifically to face Dragon. Dragon refuses a handshake, cuts a promo putting Lance over for being one of the first small guys to make it in the business, then says he will shake Lance's hand on "his terms." Yeah… Dragon wrestling his matches the way he wanted to and not listening to the fans was a good direction for the character, but when they tried to expand that to other areas like this whole thing about only shaking Lance's hand "on his terms," it just made it seem stupid
JACK EVANS PROMO- good
ALEX SHELLEY PROMO- GREAT!
SAMOA JOE vs. JAY LETHAL- 6/10
They have a good, respectful match until Lethal grabs a chair and goes nuts on Joe's knee. For some unexplained reason, there was no DQ called, despite this being right in front of the referee. Things got very good after that, but the lack of DQ really hurt this. Why not just call the damn DQ and save Lethal cheating to pin Joe for another show?
Lethal also attacked Joe's knee after the match. Unfortunately this feud really didn't go anywhere because Lethal signed with TNA in early 2006 and made his last full-time appearance for ROH at the Fourth Anniversary Show in February, where he lost cleanly to Joe.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Steve Corino vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.25/10
For the occasion of his return to New York and his first singles match against Homicide since their No-Ropes Barbed Wire Match over two years ago, Steve Corino's ring announcer has written a poem. This managed to be amusing, while still getting on my nerves for being a boring waste of time (which is what Corino's lists during his entrance in his first run in ROH used to be).
Early on in the match, a man wearing a ski mask comes out and destroys Julius Smokes' leg with a steel pipe. On commentary, Gabe theorizes that it might be the same person who took out Nancy Kerrigan.
They use some weapons, including a barbed wire-covered chair and Homicide's fork, both of which Homicide uses to go after Corino's ear. Homicide hurt his shoulder doing a dive early on, which severely limited his mobility. The masked man returned and hit Homicide with a lariat and then dragged Corino's body over Homicide’s for the pin. The lariat as a finish felt really lame after they had gone through so many weapon shots.
LACEY PROMO- she says that she is going to send Lacey's Angels after the ROH World Title.
STEEL CAGE WARFARE MATCH: The Embassy (Alex Shelley, Jimmy Rave, Abyss, & Prince Nana) vs. Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans. & Matt Sydal)- 8.75/10
A well-booked, well executed elimination-style War Games match. Abyss and Roderick both looked like complete and total tanks. Jade Chung came out and cut a fantastic promo, distracting the heels and buying time for Jack Evans to come out. Jack immediately did an insane dive onto the Embassy, but landed on his head. He seemed to be okay, though.
A great match, with the babyfaces finally getting their revenge on those despicable heels! Roddy did indeed fulfill his promise to completely ruin Jimmy Rave's back with backbreakers (including a f*cking T-Bone Suplex into a backbreaker!). Jade even gets her own revenge by standing on the back of the beaten Jimmy Rave. An awesome blow-off to an awesome feud.
A very good show from ROH, and a must-own for fans of Generation Next and The Embassy, as well as anyone who just loves War Games.
JAY LETHAL PROMO- They started off by showing us a clip of Joe & Lethal fighting the Rotweilers in which Prazak's commentary informed us that Jay was Joe’s protégé. Then they showed us Lethal saying "I can’t do this anymore" and walking out on Joe during their backstage promo at the end of the last ROH show, A Night of Tribute.
Then Jay cut a promo about his history in ROH and everything he has accomplished, both with Joe’s help and without it. He then says that he needs to step out of Joe's shadow and so he challenges Joe to a match. This would have been an absolutely amazing promo if Jay hadn't cut it in an atrociously dull monotone.
JIM CORNETTE PROMO- he announces that the next time Nigel and Claudio are in the same place, they will have a Pure Title match with two referees to prevent Nigel from cheating. He then says that if anyone interferes in the Homicide vs. Corino match, they will be fined very heavily.
JASON BLADE & KID MIKAZE vs. DUNN & MARCOS- 5.5/10
A spotty opener. Blade and Mikaze get their first win and ensure continued bookings in ROH.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- good
PRINCE NANA PROMO- good
ROH TOP OF THE CLASS TROPHY MATCH: Davey Andrews(c) vs. Pelle Primeau- squash
RICKY REYES TAKES ON THE ROH WRESTLING ACADEMY STUDENTS- I think the goal here was for Ricky to look like a bully, but he actually started to look like a badass until he hit Davey Andrews with the trophy instead of beating him cleanly.
RODERICK STRONG PROMO- remember Roddy’s awful promo from the last show? "I will give you backbreakers until you can walk no more." Well he said it with more feeling this time, which was good. What was not good, though, was that he now added in "I'm gonna pound your face in, until your face is broken in pieces."
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- short and sweet.
ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro(c) vs. Colt Cabana & Milano Collection AT- 5.75/10
Remember on the last show when Aries and Strong won #1 contendership to the tag team titles? Well apparently the tag champs can just circumvent that by putting out open contracts, so now they are going to take on who guys who have never teamed up before.
MATT SYDAL PROMO- great
ABYSS PROMO- there isn't one. There is a just a screen with a picture of Abyss on it that says "we tried to get comments from Abyss. Our cameraman ended up in the hospital. There will be no comments from Abyss." AWESOME!
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Rocky Romero (w/the Rotweilers)- 7.25/10
Dragon wins with the half-crab, which brings out Lance Storm. Storm puts Dragon over and says that if he ever decides to come out of retirement, it would be specifically to face Dragon. Dragon refuses a handshake, cuts a promo putting Lance over for being one of the first small guys to make it in the business, then says he will shake Lance's hand on "his terms." Yeah… Dragon wrestling his matches the way he wanted to and not listening to the fans was a good direction for the character, but when they tried to expand that to other areas like this whole thing about only shaking Lance's hand "on his terms," it just made it seem stupid
JACK EVANS PROMO- good
ALEX SHELLEY PROMO- GREAT!
SAMOA JOE vs. JAY LETHAL- 6/10
They have a good, respectful match until Lethal grabs a chair and goes nuts on Joe's knee. For some unexplained reason, there was no DQ called, despite this being right in front of the referee. Things got very good after that, but the lack of DQ really hurt this. Why not just call the damn DQ and save Lethal cheating to pin Joe for another show?
Lethal also attacked Joe's knee after the match. Unfortunately this feud really didn't go anywhere because Lethal signed with TNA in early 2006 and made his last full-time appearance for ROH at the Fourth Anniversary Show in February, where he lost cleanly to Joe.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: Steve Corino vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.25/10
For the occasion of his return to New York and his first singles match against Homicide since their No-Ropes Barbed Wire Match over two years ago, Steve Corino's ring announcer has written a poem. This managed to be amusing, while still getting on my nerves for being a boring waste of time (which is what Corino's lists during his entrance in his first run in ROH used to be).
Early on in the match, a man wearing a ski mask comes out and destroys Julius Smokes' leg with a steel pipe. On commentary, Gabe theorizes that it might be the same person who took out Nancy Kerrigan.
They use some weapons, including a barbed wire-covered chair and Homicide's fork, both of which Homicide uses to go after Corino's ear. Homicide hurt his shoulder doing a dive early on, which severely limited his mobility. The masked man returned and hit Homicide with a lariat and then dragged Corino's body over Homicide’s for the pin. The lariat as a finish felt really lame after they had gone through so many weapon shots.
LACEY PROMO- she says that she is going to send Lacey's Angels after the ROH World Title.
STEEL CAGE WARFARE MATCH: The Embassy (Alex Shelley, Jimmy Rave, Abyss, & Prince Nana) vs. Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans. & Matt Sydal)- 8.75/10
A well-booked, well executed elimination-style War Games match. Abyss and Roderick both looked like complete and total tanks. Jade Chung came out and cut a fantastic promo, distracting the heels and buying time for Jack Evans to come out. Jack immediately did an insane dive onto the Embassy, but landed on his head. He seemed to be okay, though.
A great match, with the babyfaces finally getting their revenge on those despicable heels! Roddy did indeed fulfill his promise to completely ruin Jimmy Rave's back with backbreakers (including a f*cking T-Bone Suplex into a backbreaker!). Jade even gets her own revenge by standing on the back of the beaten Jimmy Rave. An awesome blow-off to an awesome feud.
A very good show from ROH, and a must-own for fans of Generation Next and The Embassy, as well as anyone who just loves War Games.