Ring of Honor Show Report-
One of the few enjoyments of my summer came from being able to attend Ring of Honor shows. One of the problems of living in Toronto- aside from the SARS was that ROH didn’t run up there so I had to wait until the summertime to see ROH.
June saw Wrestlerave 2003 featuring Homicide killing himself, Punk tapping a gusher and me learning that Sumi Sakai does not speak English. I did meet Chris Daniels though and got to rave with Special K- I had a great time and couldn’t wait the three weeks to see DBD.
Death before Dishonour came around and I learned the value of getting there early as I got to meet the whole roster. The show was incredible and lived up to the hype. After the show I got to talk to my favourite ROH wrestler and WWE bound Paul London for a few minutes which was totally awesome and a dream to come true. To not sound gay- I also talked to Alexis Laree.
With college coming around the corner- my summer of Ring of Honor was coming to an end with August 16th in Fairfield being my last show. I was excited about the card as Homicide v. Corino, Low Ki v. Maff and Dunn and Marcos made know the show would be great.
I got to Fairfield at about 3 pm and walked in and saw Carnage Crew, Hydro, Dunn and Marcos and the Outcast Killahs. I was a bit shocked walking in and seeing all these guys but DeVito was cool and immediately broke the ice and started talking to me and enjoyed my Regal shirt. I talked to Dunn and Marcos and asked them about various tag teams. They said they’d like to kick Sylvain Grenier’s ass, enjoy WGTT but don’t like that they stole their gimmick and they don’t watch TNA but Loc was ragging on AMW. I think everyone was joking around.
Me: Who you guys booked against tonight?
D-n-M: We don’t know yet.
Me: You guys should face Alexis.
Dunn: That’s a great idea- you should be the booker. DeVito- He thinks we should face Alexis.
DeVito: I’d like to face her in a naked bed match.
Me: Does that violate the Code of Honour?
Dunn: Well not if you shake her hand.
Dunn and I laughed about how the Outcast Killahs were such losers cause they never win a match.
The Carnage Crew told me they would be going to the sleaziest, dirtiest nudie bar in town- after they went to the Waffle House first. I hung out with them for a bit more but then they left to go work out in the gym.
Xavier came in and I asked him about working TNA.
::Xavier looks at me:: Do you like TNA?
Me: Well it kinda sucks.
Xavier: Yea- So I don’t really want to go there.
Me: Yea- who wants to go to Nashville just to get hit in the guitar by Jeff Jarrett?
The SATs came in with their brother- Willie Maximo who is also training to be a wrestler. I figured Mikey was training him but then I found out that Willie was being trained by his brothers. I can’t wait till he debuts- get the You Fucked Up chants ready. They told me that Red is in Japan.
Low Ki and Maff came in at the same time. But to keep the spirit of kayfabe alive Maff stayed behind to talk on his cell phone. So we told Low Ki that Maff is afraid he was going to kick his ass right then and there. When Maff came in- We told him that Low Ki told us that he was scared and was preparing for the beating of a lifetime.
The Purists came in with John Walters being really cool. I saw J-Train and he was yelling BILL UP BILL UP BILL UP or something like that. He’s so funny.
Daniels, Punk and Joe all came in together. So much for kayfabe. Well Daniels was kayfabing and he was being heelish to us. We argued about a spot on TNA and then I told him to no sell Triple J. He said he would tell Jarrett and everyone in the locker room that.
Me: Hey Joe- after you beat Punk you should stick a joint in his mouth and light it up.
Joe: Dude- I’d probably end up smoking it myself.
I talked to Lit and Deranged of Special K for a while. I asked Deranged to please don’t piss of Low Ki again and he said he learned his lesson. Lit: We had to give him a lot of pills that night. I told Lit I wanted another rave and that they should crash TNA and do a rave.
Lit: The crowd would riot when they realised there was no banjo.
I saw Becky Bayless and was saddened to find out she wears a lot of makeup. Still got a HOT ass though. Gary Michael Cappetta told me he thought David Penzer was better then Michael Buffer.
Then the show began:
I was buy the entranceway the whole night.
Homicide v. Nana-
This was a short inoffensive match. The crowd went nuts when Homicide called Rob a fruitcake.
Purists v. Dunn and Marcos-
A fun match. The Purists are a great tag team and do some sick double team moves. The best was when D-n-M got in control and posed in mid-ring and did some AIR GUITAR!~ I’d love to see the Purists v. AJ and Red as they could stretch Red into oblivion. My friend went to slap Mamaluke’s hand and he just looked at him and got all pissed- funny stuff.
BJ Whitmer v. Matt Stryker-
Okay- I’m sold on Matt Stryker now. This match was incredible and easily 2nd MOTN. Both guys just killed each other getting near fall after near fall. The divided crowd was a nice touch and made the match much more special a la Dragon v. London. After the match I turned and saw Gabe and mouthed 5 more minutes- but he just shrugged his shoulders and said sorry. I hope these two hook up again- I want a rematch now!
Scramble-
Same old, same old. Honestly- I’ve seen so many scramble matches that they don’t really stick out anymore. This served its purpose and was a fun match.
Alexis Laree v. Becky Bayless-
Alexis comes out to the White Stripes which makes her that much more cool. I don’t know if Becky was playing her gimmick or she just sucks but yea- she sucks. This was just to calm the crowd down and I had no problem with it as it was silly and gave me a good laugh.
Christopher Daniels v. Xavier-
I think the heel v. heel aspect of the match kind of hurt it as neither guy could really work as a face. It was still a fun match which included some really nice spots. The ending reminded me of Angle v. Benoit from Unforgiven 2002. Daniels v. Joe should rock on September 20th.
INTERMISSION-
I go backstage (well kinda not really) and see GMC and John Walters. John praised Regal and said he was a good choice for a favourite wrestler.
Gary and I started talking and I told him I was going to school in Canada for journalism and he immediately got interested. He started talking to me about being a good writer and gave me some tips on being a journalist. We ended up talking for a long time and he was just incredibly cool for taking the time out to help out a budding journalist. So if I ever make it big- I owe Gary Michael Cappetta.
After talking to Gary I saw ALEXIS LAREE. Alexis was wearing a sports bra and you could see a bit of her thong. (Take that Malibu) I praised her for her choice in entrance music and she shook my hand. I talked to her for a few seconds and then shook her hand again. She’s still going out with Joey. Alexis is incredibly hot in person and very nice.
SECOND HALF-
Four Corner Match-
This was the usual fun four corner match with everyone hitting their spots to impress the crowd. The funniest spots were at the beginning when Deranged and Hydro tried to get out of the match by fingerpoking each other. Slyk looked good and the match got the crowd into the show.
Joe v. Punk-
Punk cut his usual intense prematch promo. It’s funny how at first no one was throwing up the ‘X’ and now the guy actually has a fanbase and a lot of people in the crowd were throwing up the X. Joe and Punk just beat the fuck out of each other and Joe did all his usual spots. Joe stretching Punk with the Boston Crab was a unique finisher. I guess they gave up on getting the Triangle choke over.
Homicide v. Corino-
What more needs to be said? This was incredible. It started out slow and then kept building and building. The ring introductions were hilarious as were the streamers. Homicide’s CRAZY MOTHERFUCKING TOPE was just that. Corino just took the beating of a lifetime and these two men left it all in the ring. Just insane. After the match one of Homicide’s friends kept asking that water be brought out- so I guess both men were just dead. Corino looked in rough shape.
Low Ki v. Maff-
We all thought it was a work at first- but then I heard DeVito being told it was a shoot- and Hydro looked really concerned. The match was great while it lasted and I would love to see a rematch. I just hope Maff ducks next time.
This was an incredible show and I had a great time. For only FIFTEEN DOLLARS I got to see some amazing work and some of the best talent in the world. ROH makes sure that every show is special and the fan friendly atmosphere and the fact that the wrestlers are so personable makes going to a ROH show a fantastic experience.
I can’t wait to see ROH live again- I know it will rock.
