From the ROH Board:
Hey, I just got back from the St. Paul show. There were about 450 people there, which isn't bad considering the WWE was in town and the "big names" cancelled. The ring looked sub-par compared to normal, as they had ghetto red, white, and blue ropes, plus a ghetto mat.
Matt Stryker beat Nigel Mcguiness: Good back-and-forth mat wrestling. About what you would expect from both guys. One problem: Stryker was a FACE here. He slapped people's hands and people chanted for him. I guess they are behind on their tapes. Finish came with a belly to belly from the top. **3/4
Carnage Crew beat Dunn & Marcos: Both teams did some wrestling, and it came out well. I thought Dunn & Marcos got WAY too much offense against a team that are supposed to be monster. Finish came with the piledriver from the top. **1/4
John Walters beat Justin Credible: Credible got a HUGE pop, which scared me. Your basic Credible match, but Walters did his best to get something out of this guy. Credible is a fan of the rest-holds, that's for sure. Better than the MES match, though. Finish came with the double-knees to the neck. **
6 Way Mayhem: Awesome stuff here, but who really thought there wouldn't be. Jimmy Rave and Masada did little here. Shelley and Jacobs did some great chain wrestling. Huss was VERY over. Evans was good, and did a crazy pheonix splash from the top to the outside. Daniels was pretty good too. Finish came when Shelley made Jacobs (I think) tap to the crossface. ***1/2
BJ Whitmer beat Cabana: I tried to get a "teatherball" chant over to no avail. Before the match starts, Punk attacks Steamboat, and he is taken out of reffing. Steamboat got a HUGE ovation, though. Caban came out wearing a "karate kid" outfit to mock Steamboat, plus he had a cabbage patch doll. Match was okay. I'm not a huge fan of Cabana in-ring wise, as he stalls a lot in his matches. They did a lot of brwaling, which I missed. It sounded like it was mostly chairs. Finish came with a wrist-clutch exploder from the top. ***
More to come...
Intermission: I discover that Nick Mondo is in attendence, which I guess makes sense since he is from Minneapolis.
Matt Sydal beat. Delirious: Okay stuff. Crowd was really into Sydal. Delirious was also impressive. I was yelling every US mask wrestler at him ("Get him Super Dragon"). Finish came with a moonsault belly to belly from the top. **1/4
Briscoes beat Havana Pitbulls: Excellent stuff by both teams. The Pitbulls were stiff as hell, jelled well together, and definitely meshed with the Briscoes. Sick spot when Mark got backdropped to the outside. Finish came with the Jay-Driller. ****
American Dragon beat CM Punk when he made him tap out to a arm-bar variation. Steamboat came out and announced he would ref., since he was payed to do so. Very good stuff (of course), but Punk played to the crowd a little too much for my liking. Dragon was pretty over with the crowd. In fact, most ROH wrestlers got a good reaction, even though they haven't wrestled in Minnesota before. Dragon took a sick backdrop suplex to the outside. Good mat wrestling by both. ***3/4
Samoa Joe beat Homicide via DQ. Streamers were thrown to Joe. Props to "Bob Backlund Fan" for prividing me with one. Very good match in-ring wise. It was pretty one-sided on the part of Joe (he was as stiff as I've ever seen him), but Homicide got in some offense, including a piledriver (!). Homicide was showing frustration throughout the match, throwing chairs and stuff. After the bell accidentally rang for a two-count, Homicide got pissed and knocked the ref down. The lights then went out, and then Homi hit Joe with a fireball. The match ended then. Afterwards, the whole locker room entered out to pull apart the two. This lead to a CRAZY segment where Mark did a SSP to the outside, Cabana did an Asai Moonsault, Dunn & Marcos did their stage dives, and Evans does a 360 Pheonix splash to the outside. Just psycho. If you're going to have a no-contest in the final, it's good to finish with a segement as crazy as that one. Also, Punk and Steamboat get into it, leading to Steamboat getting some offense on Punk. ***1/2
