Ring Of Honor
“Weekend of Thunder, Night One”
Greater Boston Indoor Sports Center
Revere, MA
11/5/2004
by Joe Gagne
ROH returned to Massachusetts on 11/5 with the first night of a double shot centered around the arrival of Japanese legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger. It’s Liger’s first match in the states in five years, since Juventud Guerrera hit him with a tequila bottle on an episode of Nitro (I know, I tried to forget that too). [Technically, Lyger's last match was when he won the title back from Psychosis but Vince Russo still sucks - thecubsfan]
Show was held at the Greater Boston Indoor Sports Center in Revere, the seventh building in ten shows they’ve run in MA. Let me be the first to say I hate the new building. Not only did we have to drive through Boston (always an adventure) to get there, the building was freezing, there were a whopping two toilets, the power went out a few times, and the show was held in a larger sports facility with soccer games going on simultaneously. We’d hear whistles and buzzers throughout the night, which lead to plenty of “The referee awards a yellow card to American Dragon” jokes. Although I can’t imagine what the soccer fans thought of the “Bullshit” and “Fuck TNA” chants.
Crowd looked to be about 700. Hard to tell if that’s a disappointing figure since they brought in Liger, although that’s the biggest Mass crowd they’ve drawn, as well as the biggest Friday night attendance.
I picked up a CTU (Control Terrorism Unit, the heel juniors stable Liger heads up in Japan) shirt. I continue to shatter my own personal records for dorkiness.
Prince Nana opened the show, accompanied by the Outcast Killaz. Let me tell you, any day you see Prince Nana live is a good day. He called Boston an “overgrown fish market.” I guess that’s what happens when the Red Sox win the World Series and the heels have nothing to make fun of. He pulls out some air freshener and makes the OCK spray around ringside for Jimmy Rave’s entrance.
Jimmy Rave (w/Prince Nana, the Outcast Killaz, and some girl that looked like Christina Aguilera) vs. Ace Steel: Nana made Rave’s mystery valet get down on all fours so Rave could climb on her back and get into the ring. Solid opener. Steel hit a Widow’s Peak but Rave got his foot on the bottom rope. Nana got on the house mic and reminded him about all the riches coming to him. Rave was able to crotch Steel on the top rope and hit a Styles Clash for the pin.
Homicide vs. Angel Dust vs. Fast Eddie vs. Dunn: Demented fans chanted “Marco” at Fast Eddie (as in the game Marco Polo, since he’s legally blind and all). Even he laughed at the fucked-uppedness of that. This was supposed to have Izzy instead of Dunn, but I guess he had transportation problems. Crowd was all over Homicide to start, since he from NY, busting out the “Who’s your Daddy?” chant. Match proper was a mess—maybe it was the last minute fill-in by Dunn, but it seems everyone was on separate pages, and Angel Dust, who had a real bad night, looked like he was on another planet. Homicide finally ends it with a Cop Killer on Dust. That was the other problem with the match—Homicide’s so far above the other three the outcome was never in doubt.
Afterwards Homicide rags on the Red Sox, and a fan runs in and gets the absolute shit kicked out of him by the Rotweilers. Low Ki even ran down to join the fun. Finally the guy gets corralled and escorted out by security. It looked real at the time but someone posted on the ROH board’s that it was one of Punk’s students at the ROH school. If so, why do they persist in these “shoot” angles that never amount to anything?
The Carnage Crew vs. BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff [Boston Street Fight]: Pretty much par for the course for these matches—lots of brawling outside the ring, chairshots, all four guys juicing. Just when it looked like Maff and Whitmer were going to win, Allison Danger (feuding with M+W since being dumped as their manager) came out with two trashcans. She tried to throw a can into the ring, but it ricocheted off the top rope right back at her. She tried again, same result. Boy, did this take the air out of the match. Finally BJ chased her around the outside and I think threw the cans into the ring, allowing the Carnage Crew to hit Maff with simultaneous shots in the head for the win. At some point (I think post-match) Maff threw a chair at Danger and beaned her in the shoulder. Ouch.
Low Ki vs. Chad Collyer: I was unprepared for Ki’s new look—his hair is growing in and he wore these huge pants. Ki also stalled like Larry Zbyzsko early on. Just when the match was getting going, Ki slumped to the mat and indicated he hurt his ankle. Everything stopped and the ref tossed the dreaded “X” signal to the back, and booker Gabe Sapolsky came out to check on him. Just when Collyer and the ref were helping Ki to the back, he stood up and waylaid Collyer with a kick. I’d say the ruse fooled most of the crowd, although I feel bad for the next guy who legitimately does injure himself in a match. Ki took over and was pretty funny antagonizing the fans, asking the crowd if they wanted a chop and then using an eye gouge instead, and setting up a table outside and then rolling Collyer back into the ring. Collyer manages to lock on the Texas Cloverleaf, but Ki makes the ropes. Rocky Romero runs out to distract the ref, allowing Ricky Reyes to interfere, which then allows Ki to hit his huge double stomp off the top for the pin. I agree with the guy in the audience who said he liked the old Low Ki better than Gangsta Ki.
John Walters & Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal [Dream Partner Match]: Continuing the “Samoa Joe thinks the Pure title is dumb” angle, this was Joe and Walters, as ROH’s two singles champs, choosing a partner for this tag. I thought they’d put this higher, but right before intermission was a good spot. I was psyched to see Nigel live, and he didn’t disappoint, pulling out his cool chain wrestling and even the headstand on Lethal. Joe tagged in and he and Nigel repeated a few of their spots from the Ted Petty Invitational, namely Nigel reversing Joe’s corner slam and Joe kicking Nigel in the face during the headstand. Nigel and Walters both took turns playing the face in peril. Broke down at the end with a lot of nearfalls. Nigel finally got Lethal to tap out to an arm submission for the win. Excellent match, really the first standout of the show. Joe shakes Walters hands afterwards and challenges Nigel to a match at the next Revere show. Nigel agrees with a hideous promo that I pray to God makes the tape. Words won’t do this justice.
Intermission. I saw Jay Lethal’s parents. That’s about it.
The Outkast Killaz (w/Prince Nana) vs. Davey Andrews & Shane Hagadorn: Andrews and Hagadorn are recent graduates from the ROH wrestling school. The rookies get some quick offense to start but the Killaz soon take over and dominate the rest of the match. Oman and Diablo have to be psyched that they’re not the biggest jobbers in the fed anymore. Oman pins Andrews after a dropkick/suplex double team. Short match that served its point.
Austin Aries vs. C.M. Punk [Grudge Match]: Punk ragged on a guy in a TNA shirt in the crowd, first asking how they’re going to make any money on Sunday, then mocking his haircut and unibrow. Then he promised to get revenge on Aries for injuring Colt Cabana’s shoulder the last time they were in Mass, and then he was finally going to win the belt from Samoa Joe. Anyway, this match was very similar to their Ted Petty match a few weeks back, with Punk missing a Shining Wizard on the floor and hitting the post, and Aries going to work on the leg. The power went out briefly during the match, and the tech guys improvised by turning on the spotlight (there were also about six hundred “This must be a dark match” jokes made). Punk hit a desperation Pepsi Plunge but couldn’t follow up. Aries hit his 450 on Punk’s leg and got a half-Crab for the tap. Very good match, although not as good as the TPI due to the technical gaffes and the crowd not being as hot. Aries got on the mic afterwards and demanded a shot at Samoa Joe.
The Havana Pitbulls [c] vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans [ROH Tag Title Match]: Lots of innovative double teams (and breakdancing) from the challengers in this one, most of which consisted of Strong throwing Evans at the ‘bulls. Evans tries a dive on one of the champs and ended up in the front row. Evans finally got cut off and the Pitbulls just dismantled him. He finally made a tag to Strong and GenNext make their comeback. Evans hit the 630 off the top and Ref Hanson counted three, and the whole building exploded thinking it was a title change. But Hanson signaled that it was, in fact, only a 2 count, eliciting the expected “bullshit” chant. Evans and Strong go for another double team, but Evans accidentally hits Strong with a dropkick. Reyes finishes Evans with a hyper scary tombstone that probably left the erstwhile Canadian a few inches shorter. Match was tons of fun and I really like Evans and Strong as a tag team, and I’m sure a rematch is imminent.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. American Dragon: Here we go. Dragon comes out first wearing his amazing cape. It was a treat to see him as well, since we haven’t seen him in MA in two years (not since his half-hour Iron Man match with Doug Williams at Scramble Madness). Liger comes out and, of course, gets the mega-huge pop. Dragon did everything to get booed except hold up a sign that said “I’m a heel.” Didn’t have to, since no way anyone was going to boo Liger. Liger ran through all his trademark moves, including the palm strike, brainbuster, and running Liger Bomb. Dragon did some quick arm work to set up the Cattle Mutilation, but Liger escaped and went on to win with top rope brainbuster. Liger and Dragon shook hands afterwards. Match wasn’t a classic, just a very good bout I watched with a huge smile on my face.
Show started slow, but started rocking with the Dream Partner match. And seeing Liger live was one of my top moments as a wrestling fan. ROH returns on January 15th with Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness, Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries, and a confrontation between Ricky Steamboat and Mick Foley.