Ring of Honor
CT Sports Center, Woodbridge, CT
07/16/2005
by Joe Gagne
This was my first trip down to CT since "The Conclusion" back in November ’03 (I was planning on attending "Back to Basics" in March but wimped out due to inclement weather). I was unsure of making the trip until four things changed my mind:
1. Due to a scheduling conflict, I won’t be attending the September show in
Massachusetts, so this was my only chance to see ROH live for a while.
2. They signed AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong
3. I was really curious to see how Matt Hardy would be received after his
appearance on RAW this week.
4. I love the whole CM Punk as champion angle, and thought there was a decent
chance James Gibson could win the ROH title. Even if Punk wrestles a few more
shows, this would likely be my last chance to see him live before he jumps.
Trip out was uneventful. We did see a deer though.
This was my first time in the Sports Center—I liked it. It was right by the highway, plenty of parking, and had nice facilities. Unfortunately, it wasn’t air conditioned, so it was roughly one billion degrees inside.
Place was packed. I’d say attendance was in the 600 range, definitely the highest for any CT show.
Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castignoli: This was billed as the first of three "Present vs. Future" matches. Curiously, they did the same gimmick the last time I saw an ROH show in CT. As God as my witness, the drums at the beginning of Claudio’s theme sounds like the "George of the Jungle" theme. A little slow to start, but a good opener. Claudio’s facial expressions are just awesome. Both guys did some wacky spots, but no headstand from Nigel tonight. Claudio had an interesting counter to a tornado DDT, namely throwing Nigel up in the air and belting him with a forearm. Claudio went up top, but Nigel cut him off and hit his Ace Crusher off the top for the win. Nice opener, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Claudio some more.
Austin Aries vs. El Generico: This would be the second "Present vs. Future" match. Crowd was pretty quiet for this one to start, basically because no one gave Generico a chance in hell. The funny part was, since we were right next to a field, you literally could hear crickets when it was quiet. Some very good work in this one, but I’m blanking on details. Generico tried a 450, but missed, which allowed Austin to hit a brainbuster and the 450 for the pin.
Homicide [w/Julius Smokes] vs. Dixie vs. Azrieal vs. "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen [Four Corner Survival Match]: And this would be the final "Present vs. Future" match. Homicide jumped Steen right at the bell and beat the Pop Tarts off of him outside the ring, leaving Dixie and Azrieal to work against each other for a while. This was like the Four Corner Survival from Weekend of Thunder Night 1 (which was Homicide vs. Fast Eddie vs. Dunn vs. Angel Dust/Azrieal), where Homicide was so far above everyone else you knew he was going to win. This match was a thousand times better than the WoT match, since everyone was hitting their spots and looked good. Smokes reused his "Cut your hair, you ain’t Jesus" line—he must be in summer re-run mode. Steen gave Azrieal a nasty blockbuster suplex on the floor into a guardrail. That allowed Homicide to hit the Cop Killa on Dixie for the win. Sucks to be "The Future." Dixie looked like he landed awkwardly on his shoulder taking the move, and had to be helped to the back afterwards.
CM Punk came out for a promo dressed like it was casual day. Fans chanted "Sunday Night Heat at him." He buried James Gibson, saying he’s a loser and the only reason he granted him a title shot was so he could fail again. Amazingly, he didn’t reference Stamford, even though we were in Connecticut. Gibson came out to rebut, and after a fight ended up with possession of the ROH title, saying he was going to hold onto it to make sure Punk showed up for their match. A ref tried to get the belt back, distracting Gibson and allowing Punk to nail him with a chain. Punk worked over Gibson and busted him open before taking off. Very strong interview segment.
Carnage Crew [c] vs. Dunn & Marcos vs. Fast Eddie & Excess 69 [w/Prince Nana] & Deranged & Cheech [w/Lacey & Cloudy] (Ultimate Endurance Match for the Tag Titles): This was an elimination style tag match, the first fall being a Scramble, the second being Anything Goes, and the last fall a straight up tag match. They didn’t do introductions, and I couldn’t place Eddie’s partner, so I guessed it was Matt Striker. Well, it turned out to be Excess 69. Oh well. Eddie was wearing jeans for some reason. First fall was pretty good as far as scrambles go, and aside from some phantom armdrags by Cheech and Dunn, everything was really crisp. Cheech was really over in the match; not sure if it was just this crowd or if he’s getting over as a cult type of deal. He did do a springboard headlock on Loc, which was just what it sounds like. Excess had some kind of tarantula move on someone, but Dunn broke it up with an elbow off the top. Dunn & Marcos hit their senton on Excess to eliminate the Embassy. Next fall was Anything Goes, and the Crew immediately brought out trashcans. Quick fall saw Lacey’s Angels get eliminated when Devito gave Deranged a Razor’s Edge onto Cheech, who had a trashcan on top of him. Ouch. We jump to the final fall, as Marcos gets worked over for a while before making the hot tag to Dunn. The RCE ran wild but got cut off and the Crew went for their spike piledriver, but Dunn fought it off and got a small package for a very close nearfall. Crew came back and hit a nasty spike piledriver for the win. A much better match than you might think. It’s worth noting that with his new haircut, Cloudy looks just like American Dragoncito circa 2002.
AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong: AJ got probably the biggest reaction of the night coming out, but once the match started Roderick had a good amount of support (I’d call it 60-40). There was a gorgeous spot early on where AJ was going to for his leapfrog/drop down/dropkick sequence, but Roderick grabbed the ropes before the dropkick, so AJ did a standing backflip and landed right on his feet. Different kind of Roderick match, as he just pummeled AJ for a lot of the match and didn’t go for any backbreakers until later on. I give AJ credit, since even though he’s working a TNA PPV tonight he busted his ass here. AJ reverses something into a Styles Clash for the pin. Maybe my favorite match of the night.
Intermission. I step outside and see Roderick leave by a side entrance, still in his wrestling gear, talking on a cell phone. Maybe he’s calling to let someone know he’s OK? I always wondered if wrestlers did that. I also saw Steven Richards, but he was just there to watch the show.
Samoa Joe [c] vs. Jimmy Rave [w/ Prince Nana & Jade] (Pure Title Match): Crowd wanted Joe to kill young Jimmy. The crowd got its wish, as Joe pummeled Rave for a good long time. Jimmy finally got the advantage with a low blow, and then choked Joe with a piece of wire while Nana distracted the referee. They got Joe to use his three rope breaks, and since Joe had used a closed fist earlier in the match, I thought we might get a title change by DQ. But while Jimmy was choking Joe and Nana was on the apron, Jade (apparently upset at the Embassy’s tactics) pulled Nana off the apron, allowing the ref to turn around and catch Jimmy with the wire. Joe finally hulked up, hit a DDT (yelling "Hashimoto" before doing so) and a muscle buster for the win. Fun match.
Afterwards Nana got on the mic and blamed Jade for the loss. He told her to go be a footstool so Jimmy can leave the ring, but she couldn’t support his weight and Jimmy wiped out. Nana dragged her back into the ring and was about to hit her when the lights went out, and when they come back on, Matt Hardy was in the ring. The Embassy bailed, and Matt got on the stick. He said he’s not here to talk about Adam Copeland or "that whore" Amy Dumas. He said he was glad to be in front of fans that appreciated wrestling, and a locker room that knew how to put on a good show. He took a shot at Johnny Ace, and got a "Fuck Johnny Ace" chant started. Crowd was very supportive of Matt, which actually surprised me a little. He called out Daniels for their match.
Matt Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels [w/Allison Danger]: Another huge pop for the return of the Fallen Angel (who wore this really weird oriental type of robe). This was a good, longish match—Daniels carried it but Hardy worked hard and looked like he belonged in ROH. Crowd was really split on whom to root for. Back and forth action for a while until CM Punk appeared, punched out Allison Danger, and then walloped Daniels with the chain. Hardy hit a Twist of Fate, but Daniels kicked out (place went nuts for the nearfall). Hardy hit a second TOF and locked in a guillotine with the arms butterflied (The Scar?) for the submission.
Punk came down to gloat after the match, saying now Daniels will never get a title shot after the loss. He also said that was the show was over, since Gibson was in no condition to have a match. But, shock and amazement, Gibson came down with his head bandaged for the main event.
CM Punk [c] vs. James Gibson (ROH Title Match): The show was at the 3.5 hour mark, and given that fans were about to melt into a puddle, the match didn’t have a lot of heat (the wrestling kind, anyway). We also figured that it would be Daniels and not Gibson who would likely unseat Punk for the belt. Pretty good to start, but the lack of heat hurt it. Gibson was bleeding pretty heavily from his head. Things started to pick up near the end as Gibson finally hit his Tigerbomb for a nearfall. Both guys traded nearfalls and submissions for several minutes until Punk rolled up Gibson and hooked the tights for the pin. Last few minutes were great, and this’ll probably be a lot better on tape.
Afterwards Punk said he’s done with ROH and called us all ugly. Then Christopher Daniels came back out and they got into a hockey fight. Punk went for the chain but got knocked out with a beltshot. Daniels said Punk can leave for the WWE, and he can appear on "Smackdown, RAW, Velocity, Heat, Afterburn, Experience, or Shotgun Saturday Night," but if he ever wanted to see the belt again, he’d have to face Daniels one on one.
As Daniels left and Punk was still down, a few fans threw empty plastic bottles into the ring. One of them must have upset Punk greatly, as he charged into the crowd and chased one specific fan into the parking lot. I left right afterwards but didn’t see anything. If they filmed it they should show it on the end of the tape and add the Benny Hill music.
So anyway, if there was a World title change, I could convincingly say this was the best ROH live show I ever saw. It still may be, but I’ll have to think about it. But I thought everything worked on some level tonight, from the matches to the booking to the promos. Definitely snag this one when it comes out on tape/DVD.