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
Teacher vs student here as Lethal faces off with his mentor Samoa Joe. I'll admit that I was honestly underwhelmed by this match. I felt like it would be an epic encounter since it was seemingly the blow off to Lethal turning on Joe however it came and went like a pretty average encounter with a few nice exchanges mixed in. Joe puts away Lethal and walks out victorious.
Match rating - **3/4
4) Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation - Supercard of Honor - 3/31/06
The highly acclaimed Dragon Gate six man that blew away American wrestling fans. Dave Meltzer gave this one five stars and while some people damper on that, you have to look back at the setting, the atmosphere, and the fact that this was 10 years ago. Nowadays a match like this would definitely be a MOTY candidate, but people probably wouldn't consider it a five star classic due to the amount of jaw dropping spot fest we've seen since. In the moment though, this was a match that blew the minds of all in attendance. The atmosphere was electric as the two top stables in Dragon Gate at the time threw everything they had at one another. The crowd roared with chants of "Please don't stop" during the breathtaking final few minutes that featured big move after big move and false finish after false finish. BAH GAWD!
Match rating - ****1/4
5) Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Roderick Strong - Supercard of Honor - ROH World Championship Match - 3/31/06
Being someone who typically has mixed feelings on longer matches, I was weary about how I would receive this after reading some other reviews. This battle took place during WrestleMania weekend and bridges off some matches these two add during the fall of 2005. Right off the bat, I can say this is better than the one match I saw from them during this time period, MUCH better. Considering it lasted 55 minutes, it starts kind of slow and there's a ton of mat work, but as the time goes on you realize how calculated everything is and it builds up towards some big moments/call backs. Danielson hit a breathtaking diving from the top rope into the crowd on Roddy at one point. They get back in the ring and go into an awesome finishing sequence. With Bryan & Roddy, you can always expect a stiff, calculated technical showcase and that's what we got here. Some thought it went long for the sake of going long however I thought this was really well put together and a pretty high quality match. You be the judge, but I loved it.
Match rating - ****1/4
6) Colt Cabana vs. Homicide - Chicago Street Fight - Better Than Our Best - 4/1/06
ROH had a number of brutal, grudge matches in 2006 and this was one of them. 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 back in 2004 which was a spectacle in it's own right. In the end, it was a slam off the top turnbuckle through a table into a barbwire board that finally allowed Cabana to put Homcide away. Great match.
Match rating - ****
DISC 2:
7) The Briscoes vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal - 100th Show - 4/22/06
After facing off earlier in the year, AJ Styles & Matt Sydal began teaming with each other out of mutual respect and admiration. That led to many good matches including this one against The Briscoes in April. The action really never slowed down and they gave you just about all you could want from a tag match involving these four. And in some case, they gave you even more than you could ask for as The Briscoes hit this fucking crazy variation of the Doomsday Device as Jay held up Matt Sydal while Mark ran and spring boarded from the mat to the top rope and kicked Sydal off his shoulders. With Sydal being Sydal, he took the hit like a champ and did a flip in mid air before hitting the mat. Really fun match.
Match rating - ***1/2
8) Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious - ROH World Championship Match - Ring of Homicide - 5/13/06
Not being a big fan of Delirious, I didn't have much interest in this match. However, Dragon really made me keep interest in this thing. Well, him and the reaction the fans had towards everything going on during the match. They gave Danielson hell and the champion ate it up and responded in kind. Danielson responded to "same old shit" chants with a smirk and a "yep, and what are you gonna do about it?" This made for a very nice heat sequence for Danielson which in turn led to the crowd exploding when Delirious would mount some offense. Delirious got several moments to shine here including a false finish where he reached the ropes while being locked in Cattle Mutilation. He even hit Bryan with Shadows over Hell for a two count. Things really started to get good at the end with Delirious firing up on the champion and delivering an array of strikes, but just like that Danielson pulled a 2006 Danielson and rolled up Delirious out of nowhere for a quick three count.
Match rating - ***
9) Team ROH (Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, BJ Whitmer, Ace Steel & Homicide) vs. Team CZW (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Necro Butcher, Nate Webb, & Eddie Kingston) - Cage of Death - Death Before Dishonor IV - 7/15/06
This is a match that's still talked about to this day. I saw it for the first time over a year ago and it's something you need to know the full context of to get the most out of it. The match itself is entertaining with a ton of action, spots, & blood however the real significance comes in moments like the revealing of each team's fifth man and Bryan Danielson turning on Samoa Joe mid-match thus leaving Team ROH down a man. Seeing Chris Hero bring in fierce rival Eddie Kingston to round out his team was an epic moment, but the reaction when Homicide's music hit and the lights went out make it fail in comparison. Every man in this match was covered in blood by the time this battle was over with despite this being, in some ways, a cheap imitation of CZW's usual Cage of Death. I'd say it's more just ROH's version of Cage of Death which some would say is better because despite it being less brutal, it makes up for it in storytelling. This match holds a special place with me for all the above reasons.
Match rating - ****1/4
10) BJ Whitmer vs. Necro Butcher - No Rope Barbed Wire Match - War of the Wire - 7/28/06
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?!
Match rating - ****
11) Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles - Time To Man Up - 8/4/06
Vintage Joe/AJ! I was gonna say classic instead of vintage to avoid sounding like Michael Cole, but this match was no where near the caliber of their previous bouts in TNA. It was still very entertaning though thus the label of it being vintage Joe/AJ. This was AJ Styles' last contracted match for ROH before going full time with TNA. It was serve as his last appearance with the promotion until 8 years later. He & Joe went out and just had a solid little fun match here. The final few moments were cool with Joe catching Styles with a crusher in mid air when he went for the spring board superman punch. Joe kicked out of the Styles Clash at one point and nailed Styles with a sleeper suplex (I think) to get the victory.
Match rating - ***
12) Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness - ROH World Championship & Pure Title Unification - Unified - 8/12/06
HAVE MERCY! This was an absolute fucking war. It started slow and it built. And it built. And it built and it exploded then they rebuilt it again only to tear it down. For a match of such important stature, Danielson & McGuinness did a phenomenal job of delivering a contest worthy of it's billing. It was held under Pure Title rules which is something I was never a fan of however they spent the first portion of the match getting those out of the way, for the most part as they worked on each other's limbs in prep for submissions which ultimately resulted in both men using all the rope breaks they had been allotted. This made the ropes unavailable for either man in the remainder of the match and from this point forward the intensity was taken to a whole new level. A level which was superceded by the moment in which Nigel McGuinness got busted open the hard way on the outside by the ring post. This led to the sensational moment of a barely conscious McGuinness climbing back into the ring just in time for the 20 count and firing up with his hometown England crowd behind him. Nigel charged the World Champion with head butts. Not just one head butt, not two head butts, but a flurry of head butts. Yes. It was cringe worthy. It showed how much the Pure Title AND World Title meant to Nigel. The crowd was beyond electric at this point as Danielson fired back with headbutts of his own, but Nigel hits the ropes, ANOTHER HEADBUTT FROM BRYAN, Nigel leans back under the top rope again, JAWBREAKER LARIAT TO DANIELSON! Epic, epic, epic ending here. Nigel refuses to tap to the Cattle Mutilation and eventually gets out of it. Nigel lays on top of Danielson - 1..2..BRYAN KICKS OUT! Nigel nearly came away with the victory there, but Danielson rolls him over and starts hammering him with vicious elbows to the side of the head. Nigel falls to the mat as Danielson continues to nail them. The ref calls for the bell, Nigel is out, Bryan Danielson wins and has unified the ROH World & Pure Titles. Must see match.
Match rating - ****3/4
13) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. The Briscoes - Glory By Honor V Night 1 - 9/15/06
KENTA had several altercations with The Briscoes prior to this match so he refused the Code of Honor and flipped off the brothers instead. This was the first time KENTA & Marufuji had teamed up in awhile despite being a highly regarded team in NOAH. That made this a dream match of sorts and it delivered. The hard hitting Japanese style of KENTA and GHC Heavyweight Champion Marufuji meshed well with the style of the Briscoes. The crowd got real fired up as time went on and the action got more intense. The moment of the match for me was The Briscoes going for the Doomsday Device only for KENTA to counter out and nail Jay with one of the most vicious tiger suplexes I've ever seen. Mark springboarded off the ropes to try to hit KENTA only to catch a kick to the chest in mid air from Marufuji. The momentum shifted from this point forward and led to KENTA hitting the Go to Sleep thus earning he & Marufuji the victory.
Match rating - ***3/4
14) Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (c) vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli - ROH World Tag Team Title Match - Glory By Honor V Night 2 - 9/16/06
The Kings of Wrestling were on fire in 2006 and here is their first appearance in a tag on this set and it was great. Hero & Claudio are such a fantastic team that no matter how many matches of their's I watch, they always give me something different every time out. This match was the perfect example as they did a number of combination manuevers that blew my mind including some sort of One Winged Angel that saw Hero drive Roddy's head into the mat off his shoulders with an assist from Claudio. The finish came off really good here as well considering I wasn't expecting it whatsoever.
Match rating - ***1/2
15) Bryan Danielson (c) vs. KENTA - ROH World Championship Match - Glory By Honor V Night 2 - 9/16/06
WOOOW. I've been wanting to see this match for awhile and boy oh boy, it certainly lived up to all the expectations I had for it. There was such an intensity here with the perfect atmosphere to match it. KENTA headed into this World Title Match undefeated in ROH with victories over Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, Roderick Strong, and even Danielson himself in a tag match. This made for an excellent dynamic because it actually made people think he could dethrone Danielson and stop his dominant reign as champion. Once the pace quickened around the half-way point, this match reached another level and it really just needs to be seen. So many heated exchanges and near falls that the crowd was biting on completely. It was so good that it had me on the edge of my seat nearly ten years later. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best matches of the year for ROH in 2006.
Match rating - ****1/2
16) Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. KENTA & Davey Richards - Honor Reclaims Boston - 11/3/06
This was an absolute barnburner! With all of these guys being extremely hard hitting, you knew they would tear the house down. KENTA was once again as smooth as ever with Aries & Strong being the perfect counterparts for him. KENTA hit some sort of insane michinoku driver variation off the top rope at one point which was just the start of a crazy finishing sequence where all four men busted out all their biggest moves. Aries looked phenomenal here as well as he did a bunch of stuff I'd never seen him do before. Great match all around.
Match rating - ****
17) Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal - ROH World Tag Team Title Match - Dethroned - 11/25/06
Hero & Claudio are still the champs at this point and they are getting good heat from the crowd which was only increased when they completely shut down Daniels & Sydal by isolating Daniels and never letting Sydal get into the match. This made for the awesome hot tag to Sydal which led to the finishing run of action. Claudio & Sydal is a perfect pairing and it's exemplified by the finish that has to be seen to be believed as KOW goes for KRS One only for Sydal to pop out and snap hurricanrana Claudio right onto his fucking head for the three count. New champions!
Match rating - ***1/4
18) Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Samoa Joe - Steel Cage Match for the ROH World Title - Chicago Spectacular Night One - 12/8/06
Different match than you'd expect here. The crowd reaction was odd which I think was because of the track record Danielson had developed of amazing matches despite being the villanious champion. This made for a pretty mixed reaction that sometimes came off as no reaction. You'd have "Best in the World" chants for Danielson or no chants at all because the crowd didn't want to boo Joe because of how much they like him as well. Bryan got busted open early and Joe used Homicide's fork to further open the wound. They did some cool cage spots including Joe hitting an enziguiri from the top rope and Bryan hitting his signature back drop suplex off the top rope. The finish was filled with drama as Joe locked Danielson in a choke as he was hanging off the side of the cage. The first gasp-worthy moment of the match would soon come to an end as an unconscious Danielson drops to the floor and gains the victory in kind. I liked that finish, but this match just wasn't booked at a good time. Still a solid encounter, though.
Match rating - **3/4
19) Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. The Briscoes - International Challenge - 12/22/06
This was billed as Claudio Castagnoli's last match before heading into WWE however as most of us know, due to complications he would be back in ROH just months later. None the less, this was a very fun match. It's rare that either of these teams are not entertaining so that probably doesn't come as a shock to you. Things got pretty heated in the final few minutes before Larry Sweeney came down to the ring to cause a distraction which allowed Chris Hero to roll up Jay Briscoe for the win. They didn't show the post match angle with Sweeney & Hero turning on Claudio which I was bummed about. It was good seeing Sweet N Sour though, even if it was only for a minute. I miss that guy!
Match rating - ***
20) Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Homicide - ROH World Championship Match - Final Battle - 12/23/06
I can't think of a better match to close out 2006 in ROH than this one. You've got the hated champion who's had the belt for over a year and the most popular guy in the company that deserves this match more than anyone from a fan's perspective. On top of that, the stipulation of Homicide leaving ROH if he loses was very smart booking considering he was a vital part of TNA at the time, so for all we knew, this could be ROH's way of writing him off storylines. The drama was high heading into this one, as you can tell. Danielson & Homicide feel each other out in the opening minutes with mat work and submission. Both men have injured shoulders so this makes sense. Around 8-9 minutes in, Adam Pearce and company run down to attack Homicide which causes a DQ. The crowd chants "bullshit" as Danielson starts walking up the ramp with his title. They announce Homicide as the winner via DQ, but Danielson is still the champ. Then Todd Sinclair grabs the mic and says he's restarting the match which makes the crowd roar and brings a whole new life to the rest of this match. From that point forward, it was A+ stuff. Probably 12 minutes or so of awesome, back & forth wrestling with a bunch of close finishes that really made this feel unpredictable. Homicide escaped the cattle mutilation & the fiery elbow strikes, Danielson kicked out of the cop killa, a move that got a MONUMENTAL pop when it was hit, by the way. The crowd really thought that was it! They did some great false finish spots, like I said before. For instance, Danielson low blowing Homicide when he had his back turned contemplating whether he should use the ring bell or not. This incident happened after both men had nailed their finishers so a cheap Danielson victory felt plausible, so he when he did that and rolled him up, it made you leap to your feet. It wouldn't be the end however, as Homicide would swing back, hit the ropes, and turn Dragon inside out with a lariat for the three count. Massive pop for a new champion being crowned as the roster rushes the ring. Picture perfect ending to 2006.
Match rating - ***3/4
No comments:
Post a Comment