michrome (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} michrome) wrote,@ 2005-01-01 00:16:00 |
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RoH 12/4 Review
RoH 12/4 All Star Extravaganza II (I was at this live)
Cabana does “Good Times, Great Memories” with Heenan, and while it’s not hilarious or anything, there are some good lines. Cabana couldn’t pay his prostitute bill because Generation Next took him out. RoH added really corny clapping to these segments. What a production upgrade!
Special K vs. RoH Students: This was terrible live, and slightly better on tape. Don’t make any mistake though—it’s still pretty bad. I don’t hold it against the students or anything, they’re just starting, and the match got its purpose across. The loss to the freaking students finally triggers the turn we’ve been waiting for, and I’m thrilled they chose Angeldust for the more serious, babyface side. That kid has a huge upside. (4:54, DUD)
Jay Lethal vs. Weapon of Mask Destruction: Lethal is way over, and the mask was reportedly Flash Flanagan. The work is pretty solid, Flanagan isn’t a bad worker, but the crowd was let down by the lack of surprise. Lethal oversells a ton on the comeback, which is probably the biggest problem he has right now. He was selling like we were 25 minutes in here. If this happened on Velocity or Heat it would be praised a lot. (6:39, *)
Outcast Killaz vs. Ring Crew Express vs. Maff and Whitmer vs. Carnage Crew: I guess this is exactly what you’d expect from these four teams if everything went right. There are some clever spots, but it’s really just a ton of moves crammed into 10 minutes. The dive segment is okay, despite the goofy ass chop thing Whitmer and Maff do. Despite getting rub from Foley and being pushed like nuts, Maff and Whitmer are less over than the Ring Crew guys. It’s amazing how they do more ridiculous head drop stuff in these matches than the rest of the matches on the card combined. For some reason the ref decides you need a 4 count to win at some point during the match, and this leads to a brawl in the crowd between the 2 hardcore teams. Couldn’t see any of this live, and it looks like I didn’t miss anything. There was a REALLY cool double team done in the ring while everyone was distracted, if people had been paying attention it would have got a big pop. This was a very fun match, another I miscalled live. I really blame the crowd for my take on things. (9:21, **)
Jimmy Rave vs. John Walters: The start here is good and bad—the even matwork is just out of place in a Rave match given his gimmick, but it becomes clear later that they want to establish Rave as more than just a comedy character. The heel stuff from Rave is actually very good, he’s fun as fuck as a smarmy heel and tricking the ref into thinking Walters used a punch was a neat bit, even if it was unoriginal.
After a lot of meandering matwork, Rave starts working the neck, and the work isn’t bad or anything, but it’s almost as if Walters doesn’t know that’s what’s going on. Rave hits his reverse DDT, a saito suplex, some nice work on the floor, and more. His neck focus is good but Walters isn’t selling any of it. Walters gets a nice comeback in a sequence that looked better on tape than it did live, but then Rave gets a really nice run of moves on the neck including the tiltawhirl crossface, the shining wizard, and more. Walters gets submission comebacks, all focused on the back, leaving Rave with no more breaks. Rave gets the Ghanarea (seriously) for a long 2, but Walters comes back with a sharpshooter that was teased earlier. Rave rolls to the floor, but Walters holds the sharpshooter on the floor until the ref reaches 16 and rolls in for the countout win.
It fell apart a little at the end, but this match was honestly a hundred times better than I thought live. I don’t know what it is about the Rexplex, but the crowd hates mat matches, and the hate for it seems infectious, since I *hated* this match live. I don’t know what to say—I apologize to both guys for the ripping, this was a solid pure title match. If Walters had actually sold all the neckwork, and had the opening not meandered so much, this could have been something even more. (16:51, **3/4) You also see Walters heeling a little bit with a fan, foreshadowing next month’s turn.
Austin Aries vs. Low Ki: First-time match here, and both guys are heels going in. However it becomes clear in a hurry that this is the beginning of the face turn for Aries. The opening feel-out process is all about Ki treating Aries like he’s some young overhyped punk, while Aries shows that he’s not going to back down at all. Ki does some awesome stuff—like grab an arm wringer and then also slap Aries around just to be a dick.
Aries gets the first real bit of offense, hitting his dropkick counter from the headscissor, and following out with his awesome tope between the first and second rope. Aries is really a great face worker, because he brings a ton of fun shit in short flurries that really gets the crowd into it. I loved the transition here, as an apron suplex struggle leads to Ki settling for hanging Aries on the ropes, and then dropkicking him in the ribs off the apron. From here, Ki just destroys Aries. He rips apart his chest with chops, kicks the living shit out of his back, and hits a sick fucking stomp out of the corner. He uses the bodyscissors really well, and the best sign that the heat segment worked is how much more they rally Aries in the second scissors. The false transition stomp was really something to behold.
Ki misses the top rope double stomp, and we get our transition when Aries counters the springboard back kick with a lariat. Aries brings a really great comeback, again showing why he’s so awesome as a face, but Ki cuts it off, countering a quebrada with…his feet. He follows with a bridging german suplex for 2, which was pretty out of place. Ki goes for the Phoenix Splash, which is logical, but Aries stops him and gets another short burst…..but Ki blocks the 450 with knees. With a minute remaining on the time limit, Ki goes for the Ki Krusher, but Aries counters to the crucifix bomb (sorta—Ki didn’t know how to take it). Aries hits the 450, but time runs out as the ref counts the fall. We have a draw. This match was so much better than *any* of the AJ-Ki matches. All of the opening matwork served a purpose, Aries brought all the nice offense when he needed to, and Ki’s heat segment fucking ruled. There is only 1 thing I’d change about this match: For one, I think after Ki countered the querbrada with knees, had he gone to the double stomp for a nearfall instead of the German bridge, it would have been an awesome nearfall. Then from there, the Phoenix block would have worked really well. The counter to the Ki-Krusher was a great payoff of the theme in the match, and a nice cherry on top of Ki's best match of his career. Aries leaves to a well-deserved standing ovation (20:06, ****)
Nigel Mcguinniss/Chad Collyer vs. Havana Pitbulls: This was another match that pretty much died live, and I didn’t think much of it at the time. I guess the crowd just influences me—if everyone around me is bored, it’s hard to focus. There’s a real nice early sequence with Romero and Collyer, and Punk calls Collyer the most underrated guy on the roster. He may be right on that. They do a cute bit where they rotate around Romero’s body doing various submissions, ending in the wishbone. The double team sequence on Reyes is ugly, mainly because he doesn’t know how to take either move done to him. The rope kick bit was neat, and they did a nice variation in this match. The main problem is probably the heat on Nigel, as the double teams don’t click all that well. They’re not bad or boring, and they do get across the theme of technical guys vs. bruisers, but for some reason it just wasn’t working live at all. Collyer’s face in peril segment was really good, and his blown dive was covered up pretty well on tape. They teased the cloverleaf here for later, and pay it off shortly later with a nice cloverleaf nearfall, ruined by a lame smokes interference bit. The Pitbulls win with the death sentence. This was, again, WAY better than I thought live. I pretty much hated this live and it ended up being really well structured and well thought out. I don’t know. I blame my negative section. Who knows, either way they did a good job establishing roles and doing a bunch of interesting stuff, even if the rube crowd (myself included) didn’t care. (16:25, ***)
However, finishes like this are not helping the Pitbulls. For one, they need a new finish, one that’s more flashy than a midcard Briscoes move. I think a Doomsday Device version of the Basaiku kick from Romero would work. They really need to have that breakout match to get over, and I think a match with Strong and Evans in Elizabeth will do the trick.
Cornette/Heenan Great debate: This was sooooo awesome. It starts out as a mutual lovefest, but then Cornette goes NUTS. He asks Heenan to have the decency to die so he can be the # 1 manager alive. His heel tirade was better than anything I’ve heard in a long long time. Just amazing. Cornette says he won’t hit Heenan with the racket, but he has 2 guys that will. Strong and Evans arrive, but Jacobs and Cabana run them off. Heenan proposes that he manage the faces and Cornette manage the heels later, and Cornette agrees. Gabe later says that Cornette got Gen Next to attack Heenan because they always want to make their name at the expense of a legend. Specious logic, fun booking anyway.
Trent Acid vs. Jerk Jackson: Whatever. Not going to review this, it was just a standard garbage post-intermission match. Only makes tape because it’s a double tape set. Match sucked, and the stalling after sucked too. (3:26, DUD) By the way, this is kind of worth watching to hear Punk ripping on Nulty as they announce this together. Some pretty funny shit.
Cabana/Jacobs vs. Strong/Evans: Instead of doing an opening babyface run of offense, they do a long run of effective cheating and comedy for the Heenan side, which works perfectly in this case. The crowd ate this shit up, and there were tons of amusing bits. It culminates in Bobby laying down in the ring, and avoiding a Jim Cornette elbow drop after promising not to move. Cornette is the greatest stooge heel ever. The heels get a control segment on Jacobs, and it’s mostly good barring a total whiff senton by Evans. Finish was perfect as Cabana murders Evans with the Colt 45, and Heenan nails Cornette with the racket. It’s hard to rate a match like this. As far as comedy matches go, I don’t think it possibly could have been worked any better than it was. It worked beautifully, and was fun as fuck. (17:34, ***1/2) That rating is pretty much for the whole angle earlier and match together. May have even worked better if they did it all at once honestly.
American Dragon vs. Homicide: The hype going into this match is that for the first time in his career, Dragon is going into a match for revenge. Dragon debuts a new look here with a scruffy beard, kneepads, and black tights. Anyone that says Danielson doesn’t know how to establish a story or theme with matwork really needs to see the opening 10 minutes of this match. The way he wrenches headlocks, the way he adds more to holds, the intense striking, all of it. One of Dragon’s right hands here was just awesome. Plenty of hate without sacrificing the good stuff. They do a couple teases early of Danielson wanting to jump off the top to the floor, but Cide is always moving too far away for Dragon to jump.
This isn’t a traditional match though, they’re not going for an all-out classic since Joe-Punk is following. Instead, they do a worked shoot injury angle that legit fooled 90% of the building, including myself live. For some idiotic reason, Nulty continually contradicts himself about advantages for each guy throughout the match. Homicide sells a sprained ankle after a slam on the ramp, and even when he takes over on offense he sells it nonstop. Because of this “injury” he never really controls for too long, but eventually he gets Smokes to untie his boot, and then Cide nails Dragon with the boot for a nearfall.
Homicide shakes the foot to show he was faking, but for some reason the announcers don’t pick up on it at all. Dragon pays off those top rope climbs by jumping onto Smokes at one point near the end. The finish plays off the 4/24 finish, Homicide hits the low blow but Dragon blocks the lariat, getting the CM Pin for the victory. After the match, the Rottweillers kick his ass and destroy his arm. This is a really good match, and just 100% different than their april match. Dragon showed incredible brawling potential here, and even though the worked/shoot injury deal took away from the middle portion of the match, not every match needs to be an attempt at a classic and they got across their story really well. Dragon was amazing at being pissed off, and Homicide deserves credit for fooling everyone, including the announcers. (25:29, ***1/2)
At this point, there’s a real neat feature of Gabe and Punk looking back at the first 2 draws.
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: Alright, here we go. We start off right away with Joe showing he brought counters to the headlock for this match. This marks the first time Joe ever comes in with anything special—usually he just brings his awesome self and makes his opponents find a strategy. Punk bails, and once he gets back in, he goads Joe into a missing a strike and goes for the first flash pin just a couple minutes in, and then finally gets the side headlock after working for it, wrenching it in hard. He screams “I’ve got you now motherfucker.” In their first match, Punk used the headlock for rope a dope. In the second, he used it for control and to frustrate Joe's offense. In this one, he uses it for the sake of neck work, quickly moving to a series of dropkicks to the back of the head which were much nastier live than on tape. Punk gets more neck offense, and this is done, of course, to set Joe up for the Pepsi Plunge later, a move he was unable to hit in their last match. It also sets up a counter base for Punk for the rest of the match.
The story really starts to develop when Joe doesn’t give Punk a clean break in the corner. Instead he gives Punk a nasty flurry, but Punk responds in kind, nailing him with a series of strikes and a chop to the neck to take him down. Joe comes right back with another flurry in the corner, and this time follows up even further. He gives Punk a sick soccer kick right in the face, and Punk goes to the floor. Punk comes up bleeding from that, but Joe does not follow out. Instead, he sits in the corner and rolls out his neck, trying to alleviate the pain. This was much clearer live, and the camera barely picks up on it, but that’s what he was doing there. Punk bleeding is significant, as it just changes everything. Things he has thought of counters to in the first 2 matches hit the first time here, as you just can’t think the same way when you’re bleeding like crazy. It’s also a great way to show fans that this match isn’t going 60—Punk is bleeding 10 minutes in. Joe just rips at the cut, smashes at it, and nails Punk with crossfaces. Joe’s heat segment is really good, as he brings all sorts of appropriate stuff given the story. There’s no delayed vertical suplex or Boston crab here, he’s beating the shit out of CM Punk. This isn't the kind of offense Punk could watch tapes and learn reversals for, it's just brutality. Punk gets a quick irish whip reversal, but gets nailed with the sidewalk slam he reversed earlier. Punk is losing a lot of blood now, and Joe does the bootscrapes, which are always nicer when the other guy is bleeding. Punk starts fighting back by attacking the neck, but this gets cut off and Joe finally decides to follow Punk to the floor with the big tope. Joe hits one ole kick, and it makes sense for him to hit it the first time with Punk beaten and bloody the way he is. Joe goes for another, and the inconvenient placement of the timekeeper’s table actually helps the match, because it makes this take too much time. Punk counters, and goes up to the apron like he did in the first 2 matches, only to hit a dropkick this time. In the first 2 matches, he went for a rana off the apron, and got destroyed both times for it. This time he switches it up, and it’s a great transition into the final run.
In the ring, Punk goads Joe into going for a big lariat out of pride, and Punk gets the tornado DDT for 2. Joe counters the shining wizard with the powerslam/Juji combo, but Punk counters that into a rollup for 2! Just a fantastic learned spot. Joe hits the powerbomb into the variation of the STF, but Punk is too bloody and slips out. Joe goes for the Dragon suplex a few times, but Punk blocks and hits the legsweep DDT into the anaconda vice. The vice makes sense here, but the hold is not over as a finish at all in Jersey and the crowd didn’t react to it at all. To tell you the truth, the people around me didn't even seem to know what it was. Punk hits the pepsi twist and a moonsault for a long 2, and then goes to the top again, presumably for his elbowdrop he hit in the first match. Joe stops him here, and this is one of my favorite parts of the match. In the last match, both battles at the top ended very badly for Punk, one ending in a superplex and another in a super musclebuster. Joe appears to be going for the superplex, so Punk thinks better of the situation. He uses a new weapon up top (his teeth), and then opts to go for a powerbomb instead, and Joe comes through with an amazing rana and a killer lariat for one of the best nearfalls in RoH history. I’m a huge fans of learned spots that actually fail—all we heard going into this match was that Punk was watching hours and hours of tape—maybe he watched it just a bit too much, and almost lost for it. That was also a nice play off Punk giving Joe a rana in Chicago to counter a powerbomb. Joe puts Punk up in the fireman's carry, but Punk knees Joe in the neck to get out, and hits the mule kick into the shining wizard for a long 2, blocking Joe from the ropes he used last time. Punk goes for the twist again, but Joe ducks and grabs the choke! Punk goes down in it, and the arm falls 3 times. The ref goes to ring the bell, but Steamboat, who’s sitting at the timekeeper’s table, sees Punk moving his fingers, and refuses to let the timekeeper ring the bell. This is a really rich spot, because back on March 13th, roles were reversed, and Steamboat did the same thing for AJ Styles, which allowed AJ to recover and cost Punk the match. That bit actually started the whole Punk/Steamboat feud. This was a great full-circle booking spot, and a fitting way to finish off the Punk/Steamboat stuff for good. Punk rallies bigtime with jawbreakers, but Joe REFUSES to let go. Punk tries to roll through, but Joe will not let go. Punk finally goes to the Bret-Piper counter for 2.9999. I can tell you live that the crowd had a near heart attack on this nearfall. Punk goes for a series of flash pins for 2, but Joe is able to counter the last one, which is really a great bit. Joe’s losses in RoH have almost all been to flash pins. Homicide, Danny Maff, American Dragon, and Colt Cabana (Punk’s partner) all hold flash pin victories over Joe. Punk is the color commentator, he’s seen this, and he brings a series of them here, but Joe is just that much more ready, and counters La Magistral for a very good nearfall, ending Punk's run. Joe goes for the backdrop driver he hit at the end of the last match, but Punk counters into a bodypress for 2. They trade blows, and Punk rallies, so Joe takes him down and puts his feet on the ropes for a pin in one of the best desperation spots I’ve seen in a long time, and the crowd fucking loses it, chanting “fuck you Joe.” It may seem basic to someone that doesn’t watch much RoH, but given Joe’s reign, that was a big deal. Punk puts Joe up top for the reverse Pepsi Plunge, the payoff of his decision not to go for the Plunge earlier. The plan here is to bring it from a different angle, but it still doesn't work. Joe blocks, and this is honestly the only small problem with the match. Live it was clear he was going for the plunge, but they just don’t struggle enough for it. I think Punk should have got up again and gone for it again, only to get knocked down again. It works fine as it is, but given all the work on the neck, you’d hope for more of a struggle for the move. Having knocked Punk off, Joe goes for a splash, but overshoots. Joe never had his balance there, and the end of his legs hit Punk. It’s a bit sloppy, but it still works considering the overshoot deal they were going for after Joe undershot Punk in Chicago. You can partially blame Punk for not moving, but Joe never even tried to get his balance on top and I doubt Punk was ready for it. Of course, it’s also possible it was supposed to be a pure overshoot without Punk moving. Punk goes for a waistlock rollup off the ropes, but as he bridges back Joe gets the choke again! Punk rallies, but Joe murders him with 2/3 of the Chimera combo, something he hadn’t used in over a year, and chokes Punk out to win.
This match is the pinnacle of RoH’s 2004, and the best match in company history. It really brings everything together into a fabulous 31 minute story about the importance of the title. Punk clearly wants the title more than anything in the world, but Joe just wants it that much more. Joe brings counters to the headlock, marking a clear change in roles. Where it was once Punk bringing strategies to unseat Joe, it’s now Joe bringing strategy to hold onto his title. He doesn’t give clean breaks, he doesn’t follow the better brawler to the floor, he bloodies Punk, he counters a rollup to cut off Punk's series of flash pins, he relentlessly holds onto the choke (which works much better ideally with a bloody opponent), he puts his feet on the ropes for a pin, and he even busts out a sequence he hasn’t used in over a year to finally put Punk away. In a match with so many teases, learned spots, and so much depth, the overriding story is about the importance of the title. Punk wants to win it more than anything in the world, he's so desperate that Joe will have to damn near kill him to keep the belt. And that's what Joe does. (31:33, *****)
Overall: The best RoH show ever, and it didn't feel like it live at all. Ki-Aries is tremendous, and Joe-Punk is out of this world. Most of the midcard matches are at least good, the Cornette/Heenan stuff is as fun as wrestling gets, and Dragon/Cide was a solid foundation for what I think could be the feud of the year in 2005, even if the announcers totally botched it.
RoH 12/4 All Star Extravaganza II (I was at this live)
Cabana does “Good Times, Great Memories” with Heenan, and while it’s not hilarious or anything, there are some good lines. Cabana couldn’t pay his prostitute bill because Generation Next took him out. RoH added really corny clapping to these segments. What a production upgrade!
Special K vs. RoH Students: This was terrible live, and slightly better on tape. Don’t make any mistake though—it’s still pretty bad. I don’t hold it against the students or anything, they’re just starting, and the match got its purpose across. The loss to the freaking students finally triggers the turn we’ve been waiting for, and I’m thrilled they chose Angeldust for the more serious, babyface side. That kid has a huge upside. (4:54, DUD)
Jay Lethal vs. Weapon of Mask Destruction: Lethal is way over, and the mask was reportedly Flash Flanagan. The work is pretty solid, Flanagan isn’t a bad worker, but the crowd was let down by the lack of surprise. Lethal oversells a ton on the comeback, which is probably the biggest problem he has right now. He was selling like we were 25 minutes in here. If this happened on Velocity or Heat it would be praised a lot. (6:39, *)
Outcast Killaz vs. Ring Crew Express vs. Maff and Whitmer vs. Carnage Crew: I guess this is exactly what you’d expect from these four teams if everything went right. There are some clever spots, but it’s really just a ton of moves crammed into 10 minutes. The dive segment is okay, despite the goofy ass chop thing Whitmer and Maff do. Despite getting rub from Foley and being pushed like nuts, Maff and Whitmer are less over than the Ring Crew guys. It’s amazing how they do more ridiculous head drop stuff in these matches than the rest of the matches on the card combined. For some reason the ref decides you need a 4 count to win at some point during the match, and this leads to a brawl in the crowd between the 2 hardcore teams. Couldn’t see any of this live, and it looks like I didn’t miss anything. There was a REALLY cool double team done in the ring while everyone was distracted, if people had been paying attention it would have got a big pop. This was a very fun match, another I miscalled live. I really blame the crowd for my take on things. (9:21, **)
Jimmy Rave vs. John Walters: The start here is good and bad—the even matwork is just out of place in a Rave match given his gimmick, but it becomes clear later that they want to establish Rave as more than just a comedy character. The heel stuff from Rave is actually very good, he’s fun as fuck as a smarmy heel and tricking the ref into thinking Walters used a punch was a neat bit, even if it was unoriginal.
After a lot of meandering matwork, Rave starts working the neck, and the work isn’t bad or anything, but it’s almost as if Walters doesn’t know that’s what’s going on. Rave hits his reverse DDT, a saito suplex, some nice work on the floor, and more. His neck focus is good but Walters isn’t selling any of it. Walters gets a nice comeback in a sequence that looked better on tape than it did live, but then Rave gets a really nice run of moves on the neck including the tiltawhirl crossface, the shining wizard, and more. Walters gets submission comebacks, all focused on the back, leaving Rave with no more breaks. Rave gets the Ghanarea (seriously) for a long 2, but Walters comes back with a sharpshooter that was teased earlier. Rave rolls to the floor, but Walters holds the sharpshooter on the floor until the ref reaches 16 and rolls in for the countout win.
It fell apart a little at the end, but this match was honestly a hundred times better than I thought live. I don’t know what it is about the Rexplex, but the crowd hates mat matches, and the hate for it seems infectious, since I *hated* this match live. I don’t know what to say—I apologize to both guys for the ripping, this was a solid pure title match. If Walters had actually sold all the neckwork, and had the opening not meandered so much, this could have been something even more. (16:51, **3/4) You also see Walters heeling a little bit with a fan, foreshadowing next month’s turn.
Austin Aries vs. Low Ki: First-time match here, and both guys are heels going in. However it becomes clear in a hurry that this is the beginning of the face turn for Aries. The opening feel-out process is all about Ki treating Aries like he’s some young overhyped punk, while Aries shows that he’s not going to back down at all. Ki does some awesome stuff—like grab an arm wringer and then also slap Aries around just to be a dick.
Aries gets the first real bit of offense, hitting his dropkick counter from the headscissor, and following out with his awesome tope between the first and second rope. Aries is really a great face worker, because he brings a ton of fun shit in short flurries that really gets the crowd into it. I loved the transition here, as an apron suplex struggle leads to Ki settling for hanging Aries on the ropes, and then dropkicking him in the ribs off the apron. From here, Ki just destroys Aries. He rips apart his chest with chops, kicks the living shit out of his back, and hits a sick fucking stomp out of the corner. He uses the bodyscissors really well, and the best sign that the heat segment worked is how much more they rally Aries in the second scissors. The false transition stomp was really something to behold.
Ki misses the top rope double stomp, and we get our transition when Aries counters the springboard back kick with a lariat. Aries brings a really great comeback, again showing why he’s so awesome as a face, but Ki cuts it off, countering a quebrada with…his feet. He follows with a bridging german suplex for 2, which was pretty out of place. Ki goes for the Phoenix Splash, which is logical, but Aries stops him and gets another short burst…..but Ki blocks the 450 with knees. With a minute remaining on the time limit, Ki goes for the Ki Krusher, but Aries counters to the crucifix bomb (sorta—Ki didn’t know how to take it). Aries hits the 450, but time runs out as the ref counts the fall. We have a draw. This match was so much better than *any* of the AJ-Ki matches. All of the opening matwork served a purpose, Aries brought all the nice offense when he needed to, and Ki’s heat segment fucking ruled. There is only 1 thing I’d change about this match: For one, I think after Ki countered the querbrada with knees, had he gone to the double stomp for a nearfall instead of the German bridge, it would have been an awesome nearfall. Then from there, the Phoenix block would have worked really well. The counter to the Ki-Krusher was a great payoff of the theme in the match, and a nice cherry on top of Ki's best match of his career. Aries leaves to a well-deserved standing ovation (20:06, ****)
Nigel Mcguinniss/Chad Collyer vs. Havana Pitbulls: This was another match that pretty much died live, and I didn’t think much of it at the time. I guess the crowd just influences me—if everyone around me is bored, it’s hard to focus. There’s a real nice early sequence with Romero and Collyer, and Punk calls Collyer the most underrated guy on the roster. He may be right on that. They do a cute bit where they rotate around Romero’s body doing various submissions, ending in the wishbone. The double team sequence on Reyes is ugly, mainly because he doesn’t know how to take either move done to him. The rope kick bit was neat, and they did a nice variation in this match. The main problem is probably the heat on Nigel, as the double teams don’t click all that well. They’re not bad or boring, and they do get across the theme of technical guys vs. bruisers, but for some reason it just wasn’t working live at all. Collyer’s face in peril segment was really good, and his blown dive was covered up pretty well on tape. They teased the cloverleaf here for later, and pay it off shortly later with a nice cloverleaf nearfall, ruined by a lame smokes interference bit. The Pitbulls win with the death sentence. This was, again, WAY better than I thought live. I pretty much hated this live and it ended up being really well structured and well thought out. I don’t know. I blame my negative section. Who knows, either way they did a good job establishing roles and doing a bunch of interesting stuff, even if the rube crowd (myself included) didn’t care. (16:25, ***)
However, finishes like this are not helping the Pitbulls. For one, they need a new finish, one that’s more flashy than a midcard Briscoes move. I think a Doomsday Device version of the Basaiku kick from Romero would work. They really need to have that breakout match to get over, and I think a match with Strong and Evans in Elizabeth will do the trick.
Cornette/Heenan Great debate: This was sooooo awesome. It starts out as a mutual lovefest, but then Cornette goes NUTS. He asks Heenan to have the decency to die so he can be the # 1 manager alive. His heel tirade was better than anything I’ve heard in a long long time. Just amazing. Cornette says he won’t hit Heenan with the racket, but he has 2 guys that will. Strong and Evans arrive, but Jacobs and Cabana run them off. Heenan proposes that he manage the faces and Cornette manage the heels later, and Cornette agrees. Gabe later says that Cornette got Gen Next to attack Heenan because they always want to make their name at the expense of a legend. Specious logic, fun booking anyway.
Trent Acid vs. Jerk Jackson: Whatever. Not going to review this, it was just a standard garbage post-intermission match. Only makes tape because it’s a double tape set. Match sucked, and the stalling after sucked too. (3:26, DUD) By the way, this is kind of worth watching to hear Punk ripping on Nulty as they announce this together. Some pretty funny shit.
Cabana/Jacobs vs. Strong/Evans: Instead of doing an opening babyface run of offense, they do a long run of effective cheating and comedy for the Heenan side, which works perfectly in this case. The crowd ate this shit up, and there were tons of amusing bits. It culminates in Bobby laying down in the ring, and avoiding a Jim Cornette elbow drop after promising not to move. Cornette is the greatest stooge heel ever. The heels get a control segment on Jacobs, and it’s mostly good barring a total whiff senton by Evans. Finish was perfect as Cabana murders Evans with the Colt 45, and Heenan nails Cornette with the racket. It’s hard to rate a match like this. As far as comedy matches go, I don’t think it possibly could have been worked any better than it was. It worked beautifully, and was fun as fuck. (17:34, ***1/2) That rating is pretty much for the whole angle earlier and match together. May have even worked better if they did it all at once honestly.
American Dragon vs. Homicide: The hype going into this match is that for the first time in his career, Dragon is going into a match for revenge. Dragon debuts a new look here with a scruffy beard, kneepads, and black tights. Anyone that says Danielson doesn’t know how to establish a story or theme with matwork really needs to see the opening 10 minutes of this match. The way he wrenches headlocks, the way he adds more to holds, the intense striking, all of it. One of Dragon’s right hands here was just awesome. Plenty of hate without sacrificing the good stuff. They do a couple teases early of Danielson wanting to jump off the top to the floor, but Cide is always moving too far away for Dragon to jump.
This isn’t a traditional match though, they’re not going for an all-out classic since Joe-Punk is following. Instead, they do a worked shoot injury angle that legit fooled 90% of the building, including myself live. For some idiotic reason, Nulty continually contradicts himself about advantages for each guy throughout the match. Homicide sells a sprained ankle after a slam on the ramp, and even when he takes over on offense he sells it nonstop. Because of this “injury” he never really controls for too long, but eventually he gets Smokes to untie his boot, and then Cide nails Dragon with the boot for a nearfall.
Homicide shakes the foot to show he was faking, but for some reason the announcers don’t pick up on it at all. Dragon pays off those top rope climbs by jumping onto Smokes at one point near the end. The finish plays off the 4/24 finish, Homicide hits the low blow but Dragon blocks the lariat, getting the CM Pin for the victory. After the match, the Rottweillers kick his ass and destroy his arm. This is a really good match, and just 100% different than their april match. Dragon showed incredible brawling potential here, and even though the worked/shoot injury deal took away from the middle portion of the match, not every match needs to be an attempt at a classic and they got across their story really well. Dragon was amazing at being pissed off, and Homicide deserves credit for fooling everyone, including the announcers. (25:29, ***1/2)
At this point, there’s a real neat feature of Gabe and Punk looking back at the first 2 draws.
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: Alright, here we go. We start off right away with Joe showing he brought counters to the headlock for this match. This marks the first time Joe ever comes in with anything special—usually he just brings his awesome self and makes his opponents find a strategy. Punk bails, and once he gets back in, he goads Joe into a missing a strike and goes for the first flash pin just a couple minutes in, and then finally gets the side headlock after working for it, wrenching it in hard. He screams “I’ve got you now motherfucker.” In their first match, Punk used the headlock for rope a dope. In the second, he used it for control and to frustrate Joe's offense. In this one, he uses it for the sake of neck work, quickly moving to a series of dropkicks to the back of the head which were much nastier live than on tape. Punk gets more neck offense, and this is done, of course, to set Joe up for the Pepsi Plunge later, a move he was unable to hit in their last match. It also sets up a counter base for Punk for the rest of the match.
The story really starts to develop when Joe doesn’t give Punk a clean break in the corner. Instead he gives Punk a nasty flurry, but Punk responds in kind, nailing him with a series of strikes and a chop to the neck to take him down. Joe comes right back with another flurry in the corner, and this time follows up even further. He gives Punk a sick soccer kick right in the face, and Punk goes to the floor. Punk comes up bleeding from that, but Joe does not follow out. Instead, he sits in the corner and rolls out his neck, trying to alleviate the pain. This was much clearer live, and the camera barely picks up on it, but that’s what he was doing there. Punk bleeding is significant, as it just changes everything. Things he has thought of counters to in the first 2 matches hit the first time here, as you just can’t think the same way when you’re bleeding like crazy. It’s also a great way to show fans that this match isn’t going 60—Punk is bleeding 10 minutes in. Joe just rips at the cut, smashes at it, and nails Punk with crossfaces. Joe’s heat segment is really good, as he brings all sorts of appropriate stuff given the story. There’s no delayed vertical suplex or Boston crab here, he’s beating the shit out of CM Punk. This isn't the kind of offense Punk could watch tapes and learn reversals for, it's just brutality. Punk gets a quick irish whip reversal, but gets nailed with the sidewalk slam he reversed earlier. Punk is losing a lot of blood now, and Joe does the bootscrapes, which are always nicer when the other guy is bleeding. Punk starts fighting back by attacking the neck, but this gets cut off and Joe finally decides to follow Punk to the floor with the big tope. Joe hits one ole kick, and it makes sense for him to hit it the first time with Punk beaten and bloody the way he is. Joe goes for another, and the inconvenient placement of the timekeeper’s table actually helps the match, because it makes this take too much time. Punk counters, and goes up to the apron like he did in the first 2 matches, only to hit a dropkick this time. In the first 2 matches, he went for a rana off the apron, and got destroyed both times for it. This time he switches it up, and it’s a great transition into the final run.
In the ring, Punk goads Joe into going for a big lariat out of pride, and Punk gets the tornado DDT for 2. Joe counters the shining wizard with the powerslam/Juji combo, but Punk counters that into a rollup for 2! Just a fantastic learned spot. Joe hits the powerbomb into the variation of the STF, but Punk is too bloody and slips out. Joe goes for the Dragon suplex a few times, but Punk blocks and hits the legsweep DDT into the anaconda vice. The vice makes sense here, but the hold is not over as a finish at all in Jersey and the crowd didn’t react to it at all. To tell you the truth, the people around me didn't even seem to know what it was. Punk hits the pepsi twist and a moonsault for a long 2, and then goes to the top again, presumably for his elbowdrop he hit in the first match. Joe stops him here, and this is one of my favorite parts of the match. In the last match, both battles at the top ended very badly for Punk, one ending in a superplex and another in a super musclebuster. Joe appears to be going for the superplex, so Punk thinks better of the situation. He uses a new weapon up top (his teeth), and then opts to go for a powerbomb instead, and Joe comes through with an amazing rana and a killer lariat for one of the best nearfalls in RoH history. I’m a huge fans of learned spots that actually fail—all we heard going into this match was that Punk was watching hours and hours of tape—maybe he watched it just a bit too much, and almost lost for it. That was also a nice play off Punk giving Joe a rana in Chicago to counter a powerbomb. Joe puts Punk up in the fireman's carry, but Punk knees Joe in the neck to get out, and hits the mule kick into the shining wizard for a long 2, blocking Joe from the ropes he used last time. Punk goes for the twist again, but Joe ducks and grabs the choke! Punk goes down in it, and the arm falls 3 times. The ref goes to ring the bell, but Steamboat, who’s sitting at the timekeeper’s table, sees Punk moving his fingers, and refuses to let the timekeeper ring the bell. This is a really rich spot, because back on March 13th, roles were reversed, and Steamboat did the same thing for AJ Styles, which allowed AJ to recover and cost Punk the match. That bit actually started the whole Punk/Steamboat feud. This was a great full-circle booking spot, and a fitting way to finish off the Punk/Steamboat stuff for good. Punk rallies bigtime with jawbreakers, but Joe REFUSES to let go. Punk tries to roll through, but Joe will not let go. Punk finally goes to the Bret-Piper counter for 2.9999. I can tell you live that the crowd had a near heart attack on this nearfall. Punk goes for a series of flash pins for 2, but Joe is able to counter the last one, which is really a great bit. Joe’s losses in RoH have almost all been to flash pins. Homicide, Danny Maff, American Dragon, and Colt Cabana (Punk’s partner) all hold flash pin victories over Joe. Punk is the color commentator, he’s seen this, and he brings a series of them here, but Joe is just that much more ready, and counters La Magistral for a very good nearfall, ending Punk's run. Joe goes for the backdrop driver he hit at the end of the last match, but Punk counters into a bodypress for 2. They trade blows, and Punk rallies, so Joe takes him down and puts his feet on the ropes for a pin in one of the best desperation spots I’ve seen in a long time, and the crowd fucking loses it, chanting “fuck you Joe.” It may seem basic to someone that doesn’t watch much RoH, but given Joe’s reign, that was a big deal. Punk puts Joe up top for the reverse Pepsi Plunge, the payoff of his decision not to go for the Plunge earlier. The plan here is to bring it from a different angle, but it still doesn't work. Joe blocks, and this is honestly the only small problem with the match. Live it was clear he was going for the plunge, but they just don’t struggle enough for it. I think Punk should have got up again and gone for it again, only to get knocked down again. It works fine as it is, but given all the work on the neck, you’d hope for more of a struggle for the move. Having knocked Punk off, Joe goes for a splash, but overshoots. Joe never had his balance there, and the end of his legs hit Punk. It’s a bit sloppy, but it still works considering the overshoot deal they were going for after Joe undershot Punk in Chicago. You can partially blame Punk for not moving, but Joe never even tried to get his balance on top and I doubt Punk was ready for it. Of course, it’s also possible it was supposed to be a pure overshoot without Punk moving. Punk goes for a waistlock rollup off the ropes, but as he bridges back Joe gets the choke again! Punk rallies, but Joe murders him with 2/3 of the Chimera combo, something he hadn’t used in over a year, and chokes Punk out to win.
This match is the pinnacle of RoH’s 2004, and the best match in company history. It really brings everything together into a fabulous 31 minute story about the importance of the title. Punk clearly wants the title more than anything in the world, but Joe just wants it that much more. Joe brings counters to the headlock, marking a clear change in roles. Where it was once Punk bringing strategies to unseat Joe, it’s now Joe bringing strategy to hold onto his title. He doesn’t give clean breaks, he doesn’t follow the better brawler to the floor, he bloodies Punk, he counters a rollup to cut off Punk's series of flash pins, he relentlessly holds onto the choke (which works much better ideally with a bloody opponent), he puts his feet on the ropes for a pin, and he even busts out a sequence he hasn’t used in over a year to finally put Punk away. In a match with so many teases, learned spots, and so much depth, the overriding story is about the importance of the title. Punk wants to win it more than anything in the world, he's so desperate that Joe will have to damn near kill him to keep the belt. And that's what Joe does. (31:33, *****)
Overall: The best RoH show ever, and it didn't feel like it live at all. Ki-Aries is tremendous, and Joe-Punk is out of this world. Most of the midcard matches are at least good, the Cornette/Heenan stuff is as fun as wrestling gets, and Dragon/Cide was a solid foundation for what I think could be the feud of the year in 2005, even if the announcers totally botched it.
