2006 is one of the most highly regarded years in Ring of Honor history. This DVD encompasses the best matches from that year which includes moments from Bryan Danielson's record breaking reign as ROH World Champion, the promotional warfare between ROH & CZW, and much more.
1) AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal - Hell Freezes Over - 1/14/06
This match is extremely interesting to look back on considering it was a decade ago and both men are now looked upon as veterans. However, here, Sydal was the newcomer and this was a big match for him against AJ who had already made a big name for himself. As always with a contest involving either of these two, it was fun to watch although things didn't really pick up until the final few minutes which were top notch. The finish is pretty unique as well!
Match rating - ***1/2
2) CM Punk & Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Pearce & Jimmy Rave - Unscripted - 2/11/06
CM Punk returned to Ring of Honor for one final time here in February of 2006 despite still being under contract with WWE. He teamed with ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson against former rival Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce, a man he also has history with. Both Pearce & Rave are members of the heel stable The Embassy so the crowd was obviously behind the champion and the returning Punk. This wasn't a blow away match, but it was certainly a good tag contest worth taking the time to see for the historical significance alone. Beyond that, the action was solid throughout, as said before. Seeing Punk & Rave lock up again gave me flashbacks to their feud which was awesome and the crowd was hot much like they were all the time during this time period. Punk & Bryan pick up the victory and both men give a nice speech afterwards.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal - 4th Anniversary Show - 2/25/06
1) Eddie Kingston vs. Shane Storm - Two Eyebrows Are Better Than One - 1/28/08
This was extremely intense. Apparently it took place on the pre-show of this particular event which blows my mind because I'm not sure anything else could've followed it. Storm ends up bleeding and his mask is soaked with blood during the bout. Both men took an absolute beating from each other here. Sick headbutts, back drop drivers, dangerous suplexes. Just an awesome brawl with alot of mark out moments. Crazy start to the set.
Match rating - ***3/4
2) Team IWS (El Generico & The Super Smash Bros) vs. The F1rst Family (Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin, & Ryan Cruz) - King of Trios Night One - 3/1/08
Just by looking at Team IWS, I'm sure you can tell this match was a ton of fun. It was pretty much just an exhibition for both teams with the action never slowing down which made for a highly entertaining contest. It had one of those insane closing sequences with a bunch of nearfalls which ruled if you're into that kind of stuff. Both trios displayed a number of great combination manuevers here as well. This delivered!
Match rating - ***1/2
3) FIST (Chuck Taylor, Gran Akuma & Icarus) vs. Da Soul Touchaz - King of Trios Night One - 3/1/08
The trios fun continues here. FIST do what they do best and isolate Marshall Rockette of the Soul Touchaz. He was the youngest and most inexperienced member of the team so that made alot of sense. Nice little heat segment which leads to Willie Richardson getting the hot tag and cleaning house. Chuck goes for a crossbody and Willie nails him - "NO DICE CHUCKIE T!!" proclaims Mike Quackenbush. After the two teams traded momentum for a bit, FIST ends up stealing another victory after Chuck nails a member of the Soul Touchaz with the Awful Waffle which got a huge pop from the crowd. Very fun match.
Match rating - ***1/4
4) Mike Quackenbush, Shane Storm, & Jorge Rivera vs. El Pantera, Lince Dorado, & Incognito - King of Trios Night Two - 3/2/08
This was a mixed bag. You had guys who were unbelievably smooth like Quack, Lince, & Pantera then you had Incognito & Storm. Jorge, the former Skayde, was solid here although certainly not his best performance. Shane Storm grew on me in watching the Best of 2005 & 2006 sets, but this match showcased his negatives as he tried to do things he had no business doing and nearly botched. He didn't though, which IS a positive, there were just several things that weren't so smooth. All in all, this was enjoyable for what it was. As I said before, it had a few rough moments in some exchanges although for the most part it was a good lucha exhibition that's very easy on the eyes.
Match rating - ***
5) Eddie Kingston, Ruckus & Joker vs. Team Japan - King of Trios Night Three - 3/2/08
1) Matt Sydal vs. Ronin
The show kicks off with the sound of TARO cracking open a coke to mix with his Jack Daniels. If that's not a sign that this will be a wild one, I'm not sure what is. Here we have a match that looks to be quite good. It may look like a waste of Matt Sydal on paper when you consider all the other people he could have faced, but as I've said before, Ronin is capable of having a solid match and I think the speed/size dynamic with Sydal will make for just that. The crowd is hot to start and they do some shenanigans with Ronin sitting in the front row to take a breather and Sydal following it up by taking a chair from a fan and sitting in the ring to watch him. They don't messs around long before getting right into the action and it never slows down. It's fast paced and pretty well done aside from being a bit awkward at times. A sloppy small package is made up for by Ronin TURNING SYDAL INSIDE OUT AND ONTO HIS HEAD WITH A LARIAT! FUCK! Sydal makes it up and gets death valley drivered. Ronin wins. Well then. Fast paced, action packed opener that only went a few minutes.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Davey Richards vs. Rocky Romero - WXW 16 Carat Gold Qualifying Match
Date: November 8th, 2006
Commentators: Excalibur & Disco Machine
PWG World Champion - Joey Ryan (since Astonishing X-Mas: December 2005)
PWG World Tag Team Champions - Davey Richards & Roderick Strong (since All Star Weekend IV Night One)
1) Human Tornado (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Petey Williams
It's Human Tornado so this was a lot of fun. Crazy to think Petey, a guy who was a top TNA X Division star at the time, was in the opening matches of both ASW shows on this weekend, but he did a good job with it. The crowd is hot just like on the previous night which always adds to things. Basic opener with Tornado getting the win. Petey was still unable to hit the destroyer during this match so he nails Tornado with it after the fact for a huge pop.. wha? Tornado is the most over guy at this point, why'd they do that? Just as I'm thinking this, Joey Ryan sneaks in and grabs his World Title belt back after Tornado stole it from him a few shows ago. Makes some sense now.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Christopher Daniels vs. Colt Cabana
This was pure comedy and in that regard, it was phenomenal. Easily the most entertaining Daniels match I've seen from that aspect. They do a ton of shenanigans here, many involving the referee. Foot stomps, eye pokes, three person waist locks, yeah.
Match rating - ***
3) Arrogance (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost) vs. Frankie Kazarian & M-Dogg 20
Date: October 26th, 2006
Commentators: Disco Machine & TARO
PWG World Champion - Joey Ryan
PWG World Tag Team Champions - Super Dragon & B-Boy
1) Rocky Romero vs. TJ Perkins
It's the third match in what has become a pretty good series of contests between these two men who trained together for years. I can't really say anything about a match between TJ & Rocky that I haven't already said. They have great chemistry and the result is a very solid technically based contest. I wouldn't say this was their best match however it lived up to the quality of their previous meetings and was a good way to start the show.
Match rating - ***
2) Ronin vs. Shingo Takagi
SHINGOOOO! It's his PWG debut here. He's only been in the sport for three years at this point so he's on a US excursion to gain experience. I'm just bummed that they chose Ronin as his opponent. This wasn't bad at all though. The crowd really got into Shingo, especially for fighting spirit spots like the one near the end where Ronin nailed him with two death valley drivers for the victory.
Match rating - **1/2
3) Chris Bosh vs. Human Tornado (w/ Candice LeRae)
You can't really go long with either of these men. This wasn't high in quality, but it was entertaining which is expected. Bosh cut a promo beforehand and blames the tag title lost from a few weekends ago at Self Titled, on Scott Lost. Bosh says his path back to the PWG World Title starts here. There's not much to really talk about when it comes to the match aside from the fact that Bosh took it upon himself to suplex Candice into the chairs in the crowd. That was pretty crazy. Candice has been giving it her all in PWG for nearly 10 years now, so it's crazy to look back this far and see her still be willing to do spots like this.
Match rating - **1/2
4) Matt Sydal vs. Scorpio Sky (w/ Jade Chung)
I figured this would be fun and while it had it's moments, I'd say it was an overall disappointment. The interference and heel heat stuff was what it was, but the match just didn't seem to flow well. The best part was Sydal's comeback run at the end when he started hitting some of his stuff. Jade slid her boot in it at one point and Sky tried to hit Sydal with it only to nearly hit Jade which leads to her using to break up a pinfall. This was all unbeknowst to referee Aaron Hasaan that Disco & TARO have been ribbing on commentary all night.
Match rating - **1/4
5) Davey Richards vs. Scott Lost
The undercard had been underwhelming to this point after the opener, so I hoped these two would save it. At first, it looked like we'd be getting an average little match. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if Davey nearly squashed Scott since this was his first appearance since winning BOLA. Well, I was delightfully wrong as these two went into an awesome 8 minute sequence of events near the end that turned this contest immediately around. Hard hitting, crisp counters, and several nearfalls. Matches like this remind me of something I say in nearly every review involving him - Scott Lost was SO good. Talk about misused. Not by PWG as much as the independent scene and ROH as a whole. None the less, Davey ends up getting the win after a good match. Had they produced a more intriguing opening half, this would probably on the higher end of three stars because that last section was great.
Match rating - ***1/4
6) Super Dragon & B-Boy (c) vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli - PWG World Tag Team Title Match
I almost forgot about this match and I have no clue how. On paper, it looks great. First off, it's KOW, they rule. Hero & B-Boy also have chemistry from their matches in IWA MS. And Claudio is Claudio and Dragon is Dragon. All these guys are extremely versatile for the most part which made for a match that never really got dull. You had heat segments, lucha exchanges, strike exchanges, traditional wrestling, high flying cheap heel tactis, and even a fighting spirt spot near the end. Essentially, a little bit of everything. Dragon & Claudio, of all people, had a lucha exchange early on that was crazy to see. Dragon ends up slinging himself over the top rope and immediately nailing a flip off the apron to the floor on Hero. Innovative spots like that made this one even more enjoyable. Near the end, Claudio got on fire and nailed a flipping slam on B-Boy off the top rope then hit a massive dive on Dragon on the outside that sent him into the crowd. Hero & B-Boy are back in the ring going at it while Dragon slings Claudio towards the ring apron. Claudio bounces up and springs his back off the ropes and nails Dragon. This was just highly entertaning from start to finish. Match of the night.
Match rating - ***3/4
7) Joey Ryan (c) vs. El Generico - PWG World Title Match
Ahhh. These Joey Ryan title defenses from 06 are a mixed bag. Many HATED them because of the interference you pretty much expected and while that hasn't bothered me thus far, it has reduced my excitement and interest in the match because I know what's eventually coming. This one was pretty fun. Joey had been messing with a girl in the crowd so when Generico got control after a huge floppy dive, he carried Joey around and let her & other fans slap him. The bout got carried back into the ring and Generico started running through his stuff. Joey kicks out of the helluva kick/half & half combo, regains control, and goes for the duff drop. It's time for the brainbuster as Generico reverses, but Joey fights out. Generico looks to go for a hurricanrana at this point and JOEY REVERSES WITH A POWERBOMB for a nearfall. They do some stuff with Knox stopping Joey from cheating and inadvertantly putting him in pinning predicaments which made for a few close falls THEN came the interference as Generico accidentally helluva kicks Knox. Jade Chung & Scorpio Sky run down. Joey gets some sort of spray and shoots it in Generico's eyes. Chris Bosh comes down dressed as El Generico and Knox is dazed so he counts the three as Joey has the faux El Generico covered. Sigh.
Match rating - **3/4
Human Tornado runs down after the match and nails Joey with a chair. Tornado gets a nice ovation, picks up the title, and seemingly leaves with it. Cool little cliffhanger to end the show with.
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Show after this: All Star Weekend IV - Night One
Show before this: Self Titled
Thanks for reading!
Date: November 17th, 2006
Location: Legion Hall - Reseda, CA
Commentators: Excalibur & Disco Machine
PWG World Champion: Joey Ryan (since Astonishing X-Mas - December 2005)
PWG World Tag Team Champions: Super Dragon & B-Boy (since Self Titled - October 2006)
1) Colt Cabana vs. Petey Williams
Man, this crowd is hot. It's almost like a modern day Reseda crowd. Cabana does some good comedy early on. Petey plays the cuntish character he's been playing in PWG by continuing to tease the Canadian Destroyer, but never hitting it. This was a decent enough opener. The crowd was hype, they did a little comedy, and had a few nice exchanges. Cabana wins.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Ronin vs. M-Dogg 20 (Matt Cross/Son of Havoc)
What the fuck is this crowd on?! Jeez, they were on fire here. M-Dogg set Reseda ablaze as he ran through his stuff on Ronin after being dominated for a short period of time. This only lasted a few minutes unfortunately however it still ruled thanks to how well the crowd responded. Ronin has been getting a ton of heat for just being Ronin and M Dogg came in with a bunch of flashy stuff that wowed the crowd. It was a pretty great dynamic. Ronin wins with a vicious death valley driver after kicking out of a phoenix splash.
Match rating - **3/4
3) Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs (w/ Lacey)
After the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles, PWG returned to Reseda on October 6th, 2006 for "Self Titled"! Davey Richards took his BOLA win and used it to get himself & Super Dragon another shot at the PWG World Tag Team Titles that belong to Chris Bosh & Scott Lost. That match goes down in the main event of the evening.
Disco Machine & TARO are on commentary. The lighting is much better than at BOLA. The legion hall looks exactly like it does currently in 2015. This is cool.
Quicksilver is in the ring for some reason to start the show. I'd find out later that he was named "interim commissioner" for the evening. He doesn't say anything of note aside from joking with a few fans before going to the back.
1) Ronin vs. Chasyn Rance
The crowd is being just as hard on Ronin as they were at BOLA by chanting "Fuck him up, new guy!" towards Chasyn Rance. Things were a little rough to start out, but this ended up being a fairly decent opener. Rance got to put his offense on display which was nice and included a driver variation, a dive, and a spikerana. Ronin ends up putting him away with a death valley driver if I remember correctly.
Match rating - **1/4
2) TJ Perkins vs. Rocky Romero
If you've seen these two face off before, you already know this was superb. They are so familiar with other and have such talent in the technical/scientifc aspect of wrestling that this was just a clinic. Lots of mat work and awesome counters. It wasn't a match with a story so to speak. It came off more as a clinic between two skilled technicans and the out of nowhere ending with a pinning combination played off that. Good little contest.
Match rating - ***1/4
3) Murder City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Cape Fear (El Generico & Quicksilver)
