1) Da Hit Squad vs. The Carnage Crew - Boston Massacre Match - Honor Invades Boston - 8/24/02
The two teams start brawling from the opening bell and barbwire is brought in after about 5 minutes of action. All four men end up bleeding courtesy of it. This was just a brawl for the most part. Not really any storytelling just four guys hitting each other with stuff. Two barb wire boards were brought into play near the end and one man from each team ended up getting put through both of them which led to the end of this match. Pretty sloppy brawl. Not much to it, but you'll be entertained.
Match rating - **3/4
2) Homicide vs. Steve Corino - Barbed Wire Match - War of the Wire - 11/29/03
I had only seen one barbed wire match prior to this and that was the infamous Terry Funk/Sabu match from ECW. Well, needless to say, this was way better than that one. Homicide and Corino told a phenomenal story here and I was on the edge of my seat the whole match. They came up with a lot of innovative ways to use the barbwire ropes against each other such as Corino hanging Homicide by his legs from the barbwire and Homicide nailing Corino with an ole kick in the corner only to get himself caught in barbwire. There was a table wrapped in barbwire that was broken when Homicide hit an exploder suplex on Corino through it. This was an amazing match that I'll never forget. The best barbed wire match I've ever seen. Classic.
Match rating - ****1/2
3) Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe - Steel Cage Match for the ROH World Title - At Our Best - 3/13/04
The intensity in this match was off the charts. Briscoe got busted open a few minutes in and he bled profusely throughout the match to the point that the blood began clotting. It was one of the most cringe worthy things I've ever seen in wrestling. These two beat the hell out of each other in this classic Steel Cage Match. The end came when Samoa Joe hit the muscle buster off the top rope which was just amazing to see. Awesome match. Bouts like this are what made early ROH so good and what gave the ROH Title so much prestige.
Match rating - ****1/4
4) The Carnage Crew vs. Special K - Scramble Cage II - At Our Best - 3/13/04
This match, if you can call it that, was the definition of insanity. A new person was supposed to be released into the cage every few minutes, but every time the cage door was opened, multiple jumped in. There were so many people involved in this that I couldn't even keep count. Some names invovled include Justin Credible and Masada. While this was just a chaotic brawl, this was still entertaining to watch because there were some absolutely breathtaking spots such as Masada cutting a flip off the top of the cage to the floor and one of the members of Carnage Crew hitting a piledriver off the top of the cage through two tables. Crazy spotfest.
Match rating - **3/4
5) CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff - Chicago Street Fight - Death Before Dishonor II Part 2 - 7/24/04
Here we have another ROH classic. The feud between The Second City Saints (Punk, Cabana, & Steel) and The Prophecy (Daniels, Whitmer & Maff) raged throughout 2004 and this was the blow off to it. Punk & Steel were the hometown favorites so it was no surprise that the atmosphere was amazing. These four men beat each other to shreds with a variety of weapons including ladders, tables, barbwire, and chairs. And when I say chairs, I don't mean just a few chair shots to the head, I mean probably 50-100 chairs that filled the ring thanks to the Chicago crowd. Yeah, that happened and it was a sight to see. The match had been raging on for nearly 30 minutes when this happened and the four competitors still kept fighting inside the ring on top of all the chairs and that wasn't even enough because a table became involved before Steel finally put Whitmer away. Amazing match.
Match rating - ****1/2
6) BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. The Carnage Crew - Boston Street Fight - Weekend of Thunder Night 1 - 11/5/04
There really wasn't any need for this match to be on the set because it's not anything special and it basically is just a lead in for the next match. Despite that, this was still an enjoyable brawl that had several weapons involved. And as I said before, it did a good job of preparing the viewer for the next match on this set.
Match rating - ***
7) BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. The Carnage Crew - Fight Without Honor - Final Battle 2004
The previous match was just a preview of what we were going to get here when these two teams went to war in a Fight Without Honor. This was a fantastic hardcore match that saw chairs, ladders, and tables used throughout. Mick Foley made a special appearance here to bring thumbtacks into the match and also to continue the story of The Carnage Crew trying to prove themselves worthy of Foley's respect. Very good match.
Match rating - ***3/4
8) Homicide vs. Colt Cabana - Chicago Street Fight - Better Than Our Best 2006
Just like the previous Chicago Street Fight on this set, this was a crazy match. We saw a more vicious side of Cabana than we normally do and it was a nice change of pace. Homicide was the first to bleed in this match as Cabana rammed his signature fork into Homicide's head multiple times. That was brutal to watch! There was also a chair riot in this match just like in the other Chicago Street Fight, but it was a slam off the top turnbuckle through a table into a barbwire board that finally allowed by Cabana to put Homcide away. Great match.
Match rating - ****
9) Team ROH (Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, Homicide, & BJ Whitmer) vs. Team CZW (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, & Eddie Kingston) - Cage of Death - Death Before Dishonor IV
This match was one of the main reasons I bought this DVD. I had heard so much about the ROH/CZW war and wanted to see it for myself. Needless to say, it lived up to expectations. The action here was off the charts. These men made this feel like this was a real war between two promotions as they beat the hell out of each other in every way possible. From russian leg sweeps off the cage through two tables to brainbusters on chairs to a gringo killer into a barbwire board - this match was loaded with jaw dropping spots. Beyond the spots, there were alot of stories told throughout this bout. The first coming early on as Bryan Danielson turned on Samoa Joe and injured his leg in the process which left ROH down a member. Who would replace Joe? None other than Homicide! The crowd exploded when Homicide's music hit, so much so that I got chills when I was watching it. Amazing moment. This whole storyline was tremendous and this was the perfect final battle between the two promotions. Must see for any ROH fan because this was one of the best storylines they've ever done.
Match rating - ****1/4
Disc 2:
10) BJ Whitmer vs. The Necro Butcher - Barbed Wire Match - War of the Wire II
The first barbed wire match on this set was a classic so this one had alot to live up to and I'd say it did pretty damn good job of it. This was a fantastic match between Whitmer and Necro. They beat the hell out of each other here in a very brutal match that saw not only the wire come into play, but also thumbtacks, tables, and chairs as well. The most jaw dropping spot was seeing Whitmer get powerbombed off the apron through a table wrapped in barbwire although Necro being dropped feet first into thumbtacks was just as cringeworthy. Why did the Necro Butcher show up barefoot to a barbwire match?! None the less, great match. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first barbed wire bout on this set which is saying alot.
Match rating - ****
11) Homicide vs. Adam Pearce - Steel Cage Match - Chicago Spectacular Night 2
Pretty basic steel cage match here which isn't necesarilly a bad thing. It's just that compared to the other steel cage match on this set, it falls extremely short. Despite that, this was a solid encounter with some enjoyable moments such as the ref taking Homicide's fork only for Homicide to finally get it back from him and use it to bloody up Pearce. Decent match, but nothing special. Not sure it should be on a best of set. There are enough classics on here to make up for it though.
Match rating - ***1/4
12) BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs - Last Man Standing Match
I was really enjoying this one until the screwjob finish. There were some great spots and the match was building up quite well. Unfortunately, it ended in a screwy way which probably made since for storyline purposes at the time so I'm not gonna complain about the outcome. Just like the Homicide/Pearce Cage Match, I question why this would put on here. Although I did enjoy this bout more than the Cage Match, but the ending will make me drop my rating on this one a bit. Still an entertaining match for what it is though.
Match rating - ***
13) Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, Matt Sydal, & Rocky Romero vs. Austin Aries, Delirious, Erick Stevens, & Matt Cross - Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 - 8/11/07
Spots galore! That's the best way to describe this one. In this case, it's not a bad thing either because I loved this match. From Sydal being pushed off the bleachers to Matt Cross running on top of the bleachers & springing himself off the wall to dive onto the other competitors to the scaffold spot - this was so much fun. These eight guys went at it and put on one hell of an entertaining brawl. The closing exchange between Strong and Stevens is fantastic on its own and is a great ending to what was a crazy match.
Match rating - ***1/2
14) Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoes - Ladder War - Man Up!
Going into this bout, I had heard so much about it that I was afraid it may not live up to my expectations, but boy I was wrong. This was amazing and lived up to every bit of the hype. I've seen some awesome ladder matches in my day, several of them involving Steen & Generico, so I know what I'm talking about here. These four guys put their bodies on the line and delivered a breathtaking match. I won't even try to name all the things that took place here, I'll just describe this match in one word - Classic.
Match rating - ****3/4
15) The Briscoes vs. Necro Butcher & Joey Matthews - Street Fight - Take No Prisoners - 3/16/08
This one started off with a bang as the two teams fought their way INTO the building knocking over trashcans, tables, and anything else that stood in their way. Mark Briscoe got busted open badly early on and bled profusely throughout the match. There were alot of awesome spots here worth seeing such as a double chokeslam through some chairs and Mark Briscoe diving off the top of the stage onto Necro Butcher thus planting him through a table. Great street fight.
Match rating - ***3/4
16) Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Jacobs - No DQ Match - Take No Prisoners 2009 - 4/4/09
These two took the fight into the crowd and through the stands early on, but soon headed back down to the ring where chairs and tables became involved. Necro took a nasty suplex to the floor off the top turnbuckle which I think caused him alot of legit pain because he was a little sloppy for the remainder of the match. For instance, he hit Jacobs with a death valley driver through a table later on, but he took just as much of the impact as Jacobs did because he basically just fell off the apron. None the less, this was a solid No DQ match with enough spots to keep you entertained.
Match rating - ***
17) Kenny King vs. Jerry Lynn - No DQ Match - From the Ashes - 3/26/10
This bout was pretty underwhelming. Being a fan of Kenny King's abilities, I expected this to be fantastic considering how good Lynn is. Unfortunately, this turned out to be nothing more than an average match. The crowd was pretty much dead the entire time which didn't do these two any favors. There was some nice moments here and there where King would pull out an impress manuever such as driving Lynn through a table in the corner by nailing him with a running knee strike to the chest. King's spurts of athleticism wasn't enough to make this match anything special though as they botched a table spot at the end of the match which made it end a sour note despite Lynn recovering and hitting piledriver on King through the table. Decent match, but not as good as you would expect from these two.
Match rating - ***
18) Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana - Steel Cage Match - ROH on HDNet - Episode 80
Nice little TV match from the Steen/Generico feud here. This isn't anything noteworthy though as it didn't last long which could be expected from a TV match. Despite that, this was still a pretty entertaining bout although it's definitely not anything worth going out of your way to see. Decent match, questionable selection for this DVD though. Doesn't seem worthy of being on a "Best of" set.
Match rating - **3/4
19) Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus - Ladder War III - Death Before Dishonor IX - 9/17/11
Based off how good the Ladder War featured earlier in this set was, I had high expectations for this match. While it wasn't as good as the first Ladder War, this was still a damn good sequel as we got a match that felt like a war with multiple jaw dropping spots and alot of blood. Jay Briscoe and Rhett Titus bled profusely throughout the match, but still managed to pull out an awesome performance. Fantastic match and a great way to close this set.
Match rating - ****
Overall thoughts: I really enjoyed this DVD. As a newer fan of ROH, there were several classics on here that I heard were must-see's such as the Chicago Street Fight's, Joe/Briscoe, CZW/ROH Cage of Death, and the Ladder Wars. That's what made me buy this and if you're a newer fan of ROH, I highly recommend you pick it up as well. Those matches alone are worth the price. The barbed wire matches here were really good as well. There were some bouts that were just thrown together spotfests, but they're very enjoyable if you don't go in expecting a psychologically sound hardcore match. Lots of good stuff on here so I definitely recommend checking this DVD out. Especially if you haven't seen any of the matches named above.
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