Michrome

Actually, I think Gibson will have a big match on both nights, just like they said he would. AJ vs. Rave will likely main event, so my guess for Gibson's weekend is: Gibson/Dragon vs. Romero/Reyes (Night 1) Gibson vs. Shelley (Night 2)

Yeah really. Some people see more in wrestling than others, and like to think about what they watch. It's no different than being really into anything, and in the time you take to tell people they're sad they can write a couple sentences about what they liked about a match. "Paragraphs upon paragraphs" generally takes 15 minutes, and it usually helps to understand why someone thinks that way rather than just throwing out "durrrr I liked it" and refusing to talk about it. Of course, if you do refuse to think while watching wrestling, that can help explain why AJ Styles is a favorite of yours.

Really? When? Which match?

They should stay in Orlando. They have a group of fans that are inexplicably rabid for crap. (See: "Let's go AJ" vs. "Let's go Scott Hall" dueling chants). I mean they're chanting best match ever and this is awesome. Might as well stay there.

Depends on what you like. I say get 7/24 and 10/2 definitely. For a third, if you like technical classic type matches get 4/24 for Dragon-Homicide. If you want a pretty fun overall mix get Reborn: Completion which has 2 stellar main events and 2 great angles. World Title Classic is good too, because it's the first Punk-Joe.

They have a new buy 3 videos or dvds, get 1 free sale. For those of you that checked stuff out on this sale, share your thoughts.

Here is a review I've posted. Thanks to a pretty good memory and paying close attention during the match, I remember a lot, but not many of the small details that made it so great. Fastest 31 minutes ever, it felt like 17. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: This was the best ROH match yet. Just phenomenal. Match starts with Punk going for headlocks, but Joe has foolproof counters. This was Joe's strategy going in, as hyped ahead of time. No headlock period this time, and it's a main reason the match will be shorter. Punk considers what's going on, and comes back in. After some feel-out type stuff, he locks in a headlock, but it's different--he absolutely rips at the head, wrenching it tight as all hell. He follows this up with like 5-7 super stiff dropkicks to the back of the head, just sick. There's a part here where he charges, but Joe lifts him over the top. Punk lands on the apron, hits a shoulderblock, and comes back in with a springboard dropkick. He works over the neck area some more with some submission stuff and strikes, if I recall correctly. Joe comes back with a huge flurry, but Punk fires back with a slap of his own and wins the first strike exchange. Punk is then up for another, and gets fucking owned by Joe with a kick that sends him to the floor and cuts him open. Joe rests and tries to loosen up his neck while Punk is recovering. In the ring, Joe's control segment is nice and focused. Punk's bleeding changes a lot, as it puts him in more trouble than he usually would be. Joe rips at the cut a lot, and beats the crap out of Punk with crossfaces. Joe gets bootscrapes, which are always better when your opponent is bleeding. Punk counters a corner sidewalk slam and tries another charge, only to take the sidewalk slam right on his head. He hits some of his usual offense, and there are a couple plays in this segment off the prior match, as well as a play off the rope shoulderblock from earlier, as Punk tries it again only for Joe to move and kick the shit out of him, followed by a beautiful dive. He hits one Ole kick, and the crowd calls for another. He obliges, but it takes too long, and Punk blocks. He goes up to the apron in position to hit the rana he went for after hitting his own Ole kick on 10/16, but he hits a dropkick instead, seeing as his outside rana has resulted in getting his head smashed into the rail in both of the draws. Great transition spot. Punk's offensive run was his best yet. He hits some of his trademark stuff--the swinging DDT from 10/16, as well as the Pepsi Twist and a Moonsault. He gets the DDT and the anaconda vice too. However, what was gold about this segment was the intricate sequence of rollups and counters to moves from the second draw. I can't remember them all, but they were stunning, and given the fact that Joe's main vulnerability is to pinning combinations, and Punk is the announcer, it works beautifully. One nice one was Punk countering the cross armbar into a rollup. Punk goes for the pepsi plunge, but Joe stops it like he did on the last show. He tries to bring him off with a superplex again, but Punk blocks that and tries to take Joe off the second rope with a powerbomb, only for Joe to counter with a rana just like Punk did to him in October. He follows through with a killer lariat for a fabulous nearfall. A lot of the details in the middle/stretch run are foggy, but the end is all about Joe's choke. Punk goes down in it, and gets his arm raised and dropped 3 times, but as the ref calls for the bell, Steamboat stops it because Punk's arm shoots up. He rallies to a massive pop, and at this point the crowd started feeling a Punk win was certain. Punk gets caught in the choke again soon after his comeback, which included a shining wizard for a great nearfall. He tries 2 jawbreakers, but that won't break Joe's choke, so he uses the Bret-Piper counter for a great nearfall. Soon after this, as Punk builds momentum, Joe does a pin using the ropes, showing his desperation to keep his title. Punk fans go nuts here, chanting "Fuck You JOE". Joe goes up to the top like he did in the last match, but Punk stops him to go for his reverse pepsi Plunge. Joe fights him off though, but after undershooting in the last match he overshoots here. Great overcompensation spot there. IN reality, Joe doesn't quite get enough air and the ends of his legs hit Punk. They both stagger up, and Punk does a wiastlock rollup off the ropes, but as he bridges back Joe catches him in the choke. Punk fights to his feet, only to get murdered by something Joe hasn't busted out in a while, the Chimera Suplex sequence. He doesn't use the last one, because it's a bridge and he's interested in the choke, so after dumping Punk on his head with the German and the Dragon, he locks on the choke for the win. It's also worth noting that the crowd was unbelievable for this, split 60/40 for Punk and at the throat of the guy they were against. The crowd was losing its shit over rollups, it was great. Just a briliant match, each guy comes in with a strategy, and they make it work. Punk's counters to Joe's stuff the whole match came via attacking the neck too. While the feud is over for now, it's certainly not over for eternity, which is why it was smart not to blow the pepsi plunge kickout. This is the best of their 3 matches, and the best match in company history. See it, believe it.

Sydal is a good pick for Noble. Noble works great with smaller guys and should be able to reign him in.

It's pretty easy to find traders, but it's nice to support the company if you want the good matches to keep rolling. 4/24 for Danielson-Cide and the main. Danielson-Cide is a darkhorse motyc. 5/22 is the birth of Gen Next and is must-see for that angle, the good steamboat-punk angle, and the strong 8-man tag. You need 6/12 for the first Joe-Punk alone, as their series is probably what will be remembered from ROH 2004. The second match is way better, but this is still good and should be seen. 6/24 for the first Dragon-Aries, but there isnt much else worth seeing on it. 7/24 is a tremendous overall show, top to bottom awesome. 7/23 is very good too, I reccomend getting both shows of this weekend, the best weekend of wrestling anywhere this year. 8/7 is up to you. It has the 75 minute match if you like that kind of stuff. If not, pass on this. 10/2 is a great show, get this. 10/15 is a really strong undercard with weak mains, rare for roh. You can pass on this, but it's stilla very fun show. 10/16 is must-see for Joe-Punk II, MOTY all the way. Rest of the stuff is just icing on the cake.

Yeah, the match is amazing, I hope more people see it. The booking is very simple, but in today's environment, simple booking seems rare. It takes a lot of patience to create a title scene like they have--the belt was meaningless under Xavier, but they have been able to ignore the pressures to switch champs and create a great aura around the belt.

They were losing a ton, probably the same amount as now, putting on a 2 hour show each week and getting 6-8k buys. By "nice" you must mean "terrible."

CZW and 3pw have exclusive rights to Viking Hall. That nixes this conversation, but I'm sorry, TNA would have *no hope* of drawing 1500. They haven't ever been able to come close to 1000 tickets sold barring the Raven-Jarrett match, they have been papering crowds since forever. Philly wrestling is basically dead, the fans there would not show up for washed up wannabees and workers they can see in better matches elsewhere. They'd draw 600 paid.

This one is in Elizabeth. Only 5 matches booked so far. CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe (World Title, No time limit) Austin Aries vs. Low Ki (Winner gets a title shot) Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide Havana Pitbulls vs. Nigel Mcginniss/Chad Collyer Special K vs. ROH Students There's a lot more to be added but it's looking stellar so far.

I can't see it going to Punk right now. He has no hot feuds going at all, he is a total flop as a babyface besides the Joe matches. He needs to turn heel. Aries is the hottest thing they have going, and he's not all over all of the other east coast indies either. He's fresh, and there is a nice brewing feud with him and Shelley on the horizon.

I think the belt is going to Aries 12/26. I think they've gotta do Joe-Aries still, and frankly Joe is getting the biggest pops of the night and is getting great press all over. I don't see any reason to take it off him. There is also Joe-Lethal down the line I think.

Part of being a succesful indy is not pulling that kind of WCW bullshit. If they end the match with some kind of DQ or bullshit finish they will just alienate a lot of fans.

No it's not.

Just curious SoCalTF, when you say he overrated it are you sure you've seen this one? Or are you talking about the Dayton match. I think this match is the best match in ROH history, and on Meltz's scale deserves 5 stars.

Add Collyer vs. Romero (7/24), Dragon vs. Joe (10/2), Ki vs. lethal (10/2), Homicide vs. Nigel (10/2).

10/2/04 8/7/04 7/24/04

"Everyone" is apparently nobody. Keller gave it ***, which means it was average.

If they had booked AJ Styles vs. Jushin Liger, I would have bought the show. No chance now though.

Double post!~

Austin's asking price is pretty high, but I know that we was extremely close to signing onto coming in for another "small" group in July. Gordon and Austin probably know each other, it's not impossible.

It's probably Austin. I still don't think people would pay that much to see him, but I know some other promotions were talking with him months ago to come in.