Indepth ROH Do Or Die review

[LucharesuFan619 0]

I wrote this up for a site I work for and am posting it on a few boards I visit, including this and the ROH one. Like I say at the end, feel free to give feedback (polite, albeit). I'm really interested in some critique about my style. I think I go a bit too indepth during the PBP, so when I review my next tape, I think that's what I'm gonna focus on, but I'm open to any/all suggestions, assuming they're reasonable. Anyway, here it is, and a special thanks to ROH's Gabe for the tape and putting on an awesome product...

 

 

 

 

Ring of Honor - Do or Die VHS

May 31, 2003

Murphy Recreation Center

South Philadelphia, PA

 

REVIEW BY: John of NoHoldsBarredWrestling.com (completed on Sunday, 11/23/03)

 

- First up is a promo by Homicide, with his homie, Julius "J Train" Smokes. Homicide tells us some of his life story - that he was a street thug 10 years ago, but that all changed when he was married and had a son. Tonight, he has a sacrifice he wants to make and that's to win the ROH World Heavyweight Title from Samoa Joe.

 

- Special K is shown in the locker room acting all whacked out, as usual. They try to go out to the main ring area, but are told that the ring is still being set up and that if they want to have a rave, they'll have to wait till later tonight. They return to the locker room disappointed, but high, nonetheless.

 

- We head to the ring for our first match. Chris Lovey (sp?) and CM Punk (who will be wrestling twice tonight!) are on commentary.

 

MATCH 1: BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff (w/ Allison Danger)

 

Maff joined the Christopher Daniels' heel Prophecy stable at the previous show, if I'm not mistaken.

 

The two trade blows for the first minute or two before BJ blocks a chop and hits a t-bone suplex. Maff rolls out to ringside and starts heading backstage, but BJ chases after him. They both whip one other into the guardrail before re-entering the ring. Maff kicks and chops at BJ's back and then back elbows him down to the mat. A body slam and a Dick Togo-style running leaping senton follows. BJ fights out of a rear chinlock after awhile and chops and kicks at Maff's back, but is grounded by a surprise lariat. Maff sits BJ in the corner and hits a running BUTT attack, à la Rikishi, Vic Grimes, and some other big men. He tries the same move again, but BJ gets up and charges at him, delivering HHH's leaping knee lift for 2. BJ moves Maff into the corner and continues with some similar knee lifts, but Maff dodges a tipup and hits two consecutive half nelson overhead suplexes. Maff then attempts the Burning Hammer, but BJ flips out and although his super kick is blocked, his German suplex is not. BJ then climbs up top and signals for a moonsault, but Allison crotches him behind the ref's back. Maff lifts BJ off of the buckle and into a torture rack, allowing him to hit the Burning Hammer for the win.

 

WINNER: Dan Maff

 

Maff celebrates after the bout for awhile with Allison and puts over the Prophecy, but before he leaves, Julius "J Train" Smokes, comes out and enters the ring. Smokes berates Maff for joining the Prophecy and even uses the "n" word before they exchange some heated words. However, their confrontation is interrupted by Low Ki, who comes out wearing the cast that he had to wear due to being injured at the FWA-ROH Frontiers of Honor interpromotional show. Ki enters the ring and receives some crowd chants as Maff starts to leave, only to be berated by Ki for not only joining the Prophecy, but also for needing a woman to help him win this match. Ki vows that he'll get his hands on Maff one day and that when that happens, "May God help you (Maff)."

 

Maff leaves and Ki turns his attention to Smokes. He says that he's "standing in a ring for athletes, not thugs." and that "the streets don't belong here, and neither do you." Homicide comes out and settles them down so that they don't go at it. Ki takes off his cast, but surprisingly continues and puts over Homicide, saying that tonight is his chance to win it all. The commentators make an interesting point, saying that it seems as if Homicide's two worlds - wrestling and his thug life - are colliding right now, as Smokes and Ki both seem to be putting him over. Ki then leaves, but Homicide turns around right into a Yakuza Kick from Trent Acid, who has just ran out. Smokes immediately chases Acid backstage. Homicide runs out of the ring and backstage in pursuit of Acid. Cut out.

 

ANALYSIS: Nothing excellent, but what can you expect from an opener? This bout was based mainly on strike exchanges with a couple of higher profile moves mixed in. I really would've liked to see it go on a bit longer because it seemed like it was just starting to get fun when it ended, but that's alright. Some of the suplexes used really seemed to come out of nowhere a bit too much and I would've liked to see some more Irish whip-based work off of the ropes. I did think that it was a good idea for the guardrails to be used during the bout, so as to get the fans into the show early. Fine stuff for an opener. *1/2.

 

- Some quick highlights from the showcase card's Special K (Slugga & Hydro) vs. Dunn & Marcos match are shown. The highlights feature some solid action and athleticism. I met Dunn at a recent show and he was a very nice fellow.

 

MATCH 2: Tony Mamaluke vs. Jason Cross

 

This is the ROH debut of Cross (who had some sensational matches in NWA Wildside while he worked there), while Mamaluke - of course - is best known for his work in ECW as a Full Blooded Italian, alongside Little Guido, currently known as Nunzio in WWE.

 

Tieup. They trade waistlocks before Tony - with the exception of a few brief sparks of offense by Cross - maintains control, using such basic moves as an armdrag, a snapmare, and a side headlock takeover. He applies a grounded headlock with an arm cradled. Cross escapes by kicking back up to his feet (he used the same move a few moments before, too) and swinging around into an armringer, but Tony does a roll on the mat and creatively counters into a hiptoss before applying a jujigatame. Cross uses a *very* cool counter where he does a back roll and then uses all the strength he has to lift Tony up into the air (while he still has the jujigatame applied!) and drops him with a modified backdrop/wheelbarrow-style suplex! The most recent time that I saw that move was while watching a Benoit/Malenko match from Japan. Tony hitails it out to the apron, but finds no safety there, though, as Cross knocks him out to ringside and flies out with an awesome *Multi-Rotation* Corkscrew Topè over the top ring rope! Only a few moments later, though, Cross re-enters the ring and hits another highspot, a Catapult Somersault Attack. Meh. Cross rolls Tony back into the ring and gets a 2 count. Tony flips out of a backdrop suplex attempt and hits a head drop/snap version of his own (a Saito Suplex). Tony now uses a front suplex and drapes Cross' feet on the top ring rope before pulling him off of the ropes into a DDT (Todd Sexton of NWA Wildside's Gamebreaker and Bull Pain [formerly of ECW and currently of IWA-MS]'s Pain Game) for 2. An Irish whip sequence results in Tony succeeding with a knee-to-gut smash. Some waistlock reversals follow and result in Tony hitting a rolling snap suplex into a picture-perfect bridging northern lights suplex for 2. Tony now uses a shinbreaker and a dragon screw leg whip before wrapping Cross' leg around his head (w/ Cross on his chest), but Cross makes it to the ropes. Tony grips Cross' leg now, but the youngster fights back with an inverted enziguri. The ref begins a 10 count and they eventually struggle back to their feet. Some punches are exchanged before Cross uses a kneecap dropkick and then runs off of the ropes and forward flips over Cross' body, hooking his arms in the process and delivering Christian's Unprettier, all in one motion! Very creative! 2. Cross follows with the Crossover Neckbreaker (Somersault Perpendicular Neckbreaker from the middle buckle) for the same result. Next, Tony counters an attempted suplex and is ready to apply a fujiwara armbar, but Cross messes up, so Tony immediately does an awesome move where he starts doing a run-the-ropes Tornado DDT, but instead of doing the DDT, he rotates his body awesomely and applies an awesome modified version of the squatting cradle bodyscissors that FMW's Chocoball Mukai once used regularly. It looks *very* cool, but Cross is able to escape it by overhead belly-to-belly suplexing Tony into the ringpost! Cross rallies up to his feet and hits TWO ROLLING BRAINBUSTER SUPLEXES for 2! Sweet! Another brainbuster follows and Cross attempts the Cross Fire (Flying Shooting Star Leg Drop~!), but Tony rolls away! The ref begins a 10 count and both men eventually rally to their feet. Tony immediately tries a gore/spear, but Cross sidesteps and Tony rams his head into the ringpost before bouncing backwards, right into a stiff SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX for 2! Ouch...Cross climbs back up to the top, but Tony pushes the ref into the ropes, causing Cross to be crotched. Tony hits his signature Superplex rolled into the Italian Sleeper (Grounded Bodyscissors/Front Facelock Hold combo) for the submission win.

 

WINNER: Tony Mamaluke

 

ANALYSIS: Any fan of innovative mat-based exchanges will enjoy this bout. The opening chain wrestling sequence was flawless and Tony guided Cross to a very well-worked match. They timed when to apply submissions and when to keep to he mat stuff very well and there were several very nice manuevers from both men. Cross looked solid in this bout and Tony - as always - was fantastic (as were his suplexes). Tony really makes up his size well by compromising with a very unorthodox, yet entertaining, style. I love the way he rolls through with his suplexes and transitions into other moves, a quality that he exemplified in this match. My only two problems with the bout were 1. There really was no point for Cross (especially so early into the bout) to hit two highspots within a minute or so of each other. The first one was beautifully done, but I would've liked for him to have left it with that. 2. Cross' rookie mentality looked to have caused him to mistime dropping down to the mat to sell the fujiwara armbar, but - although it annoyed me for that to be the only botched spot in the match - I'm not going to complain any more than this because Tony quickly transitioned into another spot. Overall, this bout was very good and borderline great. **3/4.

 

- Backstage, NWA Wildside's 600 lb. Iceberg (the guy currently known in NWA-TNA as Edward Chastain) confronts ROH owner Rob Feinstein and thanks him for booking him tonight. Iceberg then turns around and walks out of camera range and we see that there are a ton of thumbtacks sticking out of his forehead that spell, "ROH!" Damn, yo! Anyway, the Outcast Killahs then confront RF and ask him why "that guy" is booked over them tonight. RF says that he's not telling Iceberg he's not booked, but they can if they want...by beating him in a match later in the night. RF walks off as the Thrillahs act hesitant at the thought of battling Iceberg.

 

MATCH 3: Oman Tortuga (one half of the Outcast Killahs) vs. Iceberg

 

Oman gathers the courage to attack Iceberg. Throughout the bout (which is about 3:00 or so in all), Oman getes in some sparks of offense (i.e. punches, kicks, and not much more than that), but Iceberg always ends up gaining back control. The big guy hits a massive sideslam followed by a running powerslam, after which he covers, but Oman kicks out at 2! Iceberg follows with a SICK Vertical Suplex into a Sheer Drop DDT, but yanks his foe up at 2. Oman dodges a running corner splash and falls victim to a leaping knee smash and a sleeper hold slam, but he counters an RVD-style running corner monkey flip with an Air Raid Crash/Kryptonic Krunch/Reality Check, followed by a Dick Togo-style running leaping senton for the win. A brief "Don't Come Back!" chant surfaces for the big guy. He must be ready to shit in his pants right about now, although hopefully he'll wait until he gets backstage.

 

Afterwards, Diablos (Oman's partner) tries to convince Iceberg to let him check on his pal, but Iceberg delivers a sloppy corkscrew German suplex on Diablos. He then grabs what the announcers call "a pointy stick," but before he can use it on his foes, Kevin Dunn & Marcos run out and deliver some dropkicks to the big man. Dunn gives him a super kick to little effect, but it provides he and Marcos enough time to drag the Outcast Killahs out of the ring.

 

WINNER: Iceberg

 

ANALYSIS: Obviously, this wasn't meant to be much and had the primary purpose of putting over Iceberg, so there's not really much to be said. No botched spots, but I'd sure hope there wouldn't be with that short of a match. LOL. I'll give it 1/2* for Iceberg's moves, but it doesn't really deserve any higher than that.

 

- Clips of Alexis Laree vs. Persephonie from the showcase card are shown.

 

MATCH 4: Matt Stryker vs. "The Technician" Tom Carter

 

The fans are split about 50/50 on who to chant for during the bout's first few minutes. Some waistlocks and hammerlocks are briefly exchanged. Stryker looks to have scouted Carter well in the early part of the match, as he counters several of Carter's holds via a grounded headscissors. They break the action for a moment and square off before tieing up again. A Greco-Roman knuckle lock leads to Stryker initially gaining control, but Carter soon drop toe holds his foe and immediately applies a grounded hammerlock. Stryker bridges up and transitions into a side headlock. He works over Stryker's wrist with some cool moves before applying a grounded armringer/headscissors-type combo hold. Stryker briefly escapes, but receives an ipponzei before Carter applies a jujigatame. Stryker grabs the ropes and another squareoff occurs. They tie up two more times, but each time they break it relatively quickly. The match truly begins a few minutes later, as a tieup leads to Stryker weakening Carter with a grounded abdominal stretch/wristlock combo. Carter escapes with the judo-style armdrag that he used before and applies a jujigatame, but Stryker eventually counters this into an anklepick and transitions into a bow-and-arrow hold until Carter fights out and they square off again, as Punk hypes his Scramble Match later tonight and says that he's scouted out each of the opposing teams. Another tieup sees Carter visibly mistime the selling of a drop toehold before fighting back and applying an STF. Carter plays up his heel persona by continuing to beat on Stryker even after he reaches the ropes and then hits a Half Nelson Lift into a Bulldog-style Gutbuster (a gutbuster version of Edge's crooked underhook bulldog/facebuster combo) and a running somersault senton for 2. He whips Stryker into the ropes and dropkicks him down for another 2 before weakening him with a grounded wristlock/crooked Indian deathlock-like combo and then a rear chinlock. Stryker escapes and uses a slightly botched powerslam for 2. Stryker does some uppercuts before getting frustrated and applying his own rear chinlock. Carter fights out, only to be knocked out of the ring. Stryker hits a Pescada, but Carter is relentless as he fights back with a DDT onto the apron. Carter rolls Stryker into the ring and signals for a Frog Splash, but Stryker chases him up top and belly-to-belly overhead suplexes him down to the mat! The ref begins the count as Punk - saying that he's putting his money on Stryker, but that he must prepare for his first match- leaves. Also, later on tonight, he says, he'll have a surprise for the fans. He leaves Lovey in a confused state as Ray Murro (sp?) joins Lovey for commentary. Meanwhile, the two competitors in the ring struggle back to their feet and trade forearm shots before Stryker catches Carter (who's running off of the ropes) with a surprise HHH-style leaping knee that turned into more of a heelkick as he descended down towards the mat. Carter, though, fights back and hits a *big* implant DDT a few moments later, dropping Stryker right on his leg from a sick angle! Carter follows with a 'Lo Down-style Frog Splash off of the top for a surprising 2 count. Another 10 count begins as the fans rally Carter back to his feet. A fun pinfall exchange occurs, as the two use combos including sunset flips, schoolboys, la majistrals, backslides, and small packages before Stryker forearms Carter down and then collapses himself. A 10 count ensues as Carter rallies to his feet and uses some headbutts. He fights off Carter's attempted comeback and eventually delivers a DVD for 2 after some failed attempts. He then tries the same move, but from a standing position on the middle buckle. As he falls back, though, Carter counters into an INVERTED DDT IN MIDAIR for a dramatic 2 count! When they get back to their feet, Carter catches Stryker's leg when he tries a kick and swings him into an inverted dragon screw leg whip flapjack-style move! This is basically the end of the bout, as Carter repeatedly tries to apply an *Inverted Texas Cloverleaf*, which Stryker counters after awhile of selling it into a victory roll pin for the win!

 

WINNER: Matt Stryker

 

After the bout, after Stryker struggles back up to his feet, Carter refuses a handshake, so Gary Michael Capetta enters the ring and tells him that what he saw was one hell of a match and that Carter knows the routine - you shake hands with your opponent before and after the match. He says that Stryker won via a "cheap pin" and that Stryker doesn't know who he is - He acts arrogant, insisting that - just like how he "pioneered the junior style" that is so popular in ROH, he's going to reinvent the technical style that is also highly regarded in ROH. He then challenges Stryker to a Tapout Match at the next Murphy Rec Center show.

 

Stryker says that the fact that Carter pioneered the junior style (which Stryker admits Carter did do) doesn't change the fact that he was pinned cleanly tonight. He finally accepts Carter's challenge for a rematch, but the segment is cut short by Allison Danger, the leader of the Prophecy. She enters the ring and offers Carter a spot in the Prophecy stable if he doesn't shake hands, but he decides against that and decides to shake hands with Stryker before leaving the ring. The commentators put the rematch for the next show over.

 

ANALYSIS: Great match. 90% or more of it was submission work, yet they were still able to keep the fans very excited, which is quite an accomplishment in today's day and age of wrestling. Both men - especially Stryker - looked very seasoned (which is a bit surprising considering that Carter has more experience than Stryker). What I really didn't like was the ending, as it seemes as if Carter played out his attempted Cloverleafs a bit too long. I would've liked to see the finish actually finish (if that makes any sense) quicker than it did. Besides that and a few miniscule mistakes regarding the execution of some of the non-submission moves, I was very pleased. ***1/2.

 

MATCH 5: Scramble Tag Team Match - Special K of Izzy & Dixie (w/ the rest of Special K) vs. The Carnage Crew (HC Loc & Tony DeVito) vs. The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) (w/ Lucy Furr a.k.a. Daffney, formerly of WCW) vs. The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe)

 

The bell rings, but all we get is a tieup and a break from Colt and Jay before cutting to the backstage area, where ROH World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe enters Dan Maff's locker room and attacks him, leaving Gary Michael Capetta (who witnessed the assault) to console Maff and yell for some help as Joe leaves.

We cut back to the ring, where Colt and Jay execute a very nice Irish whip sequence that eventually results in Colt obtaining 2 via an excellent leaping 'rana. Colt is knocked out of the ring soon thereafter and Jay takes him out with a Pescada. Back in the ring, DeVito delivers a stiff lariat to Dixie, but Dixie fights back a few moments later with a Sabu-style slingshot swinging DDT off of the middle buckle. DeVito quickly regains the advantage, however, by back body dropping/northern lights suplexing Dixie into the ringpost. Izzy breaks up the count at 2 with a catapult elbow drop. Mark enters and receives Loc's funky signature combo - a DDT onto his knee that is immediately transitioned into a Swinging Neckbreaker (all in one motion). Izzy hits a really fake-looking move backflip kick that takes out both C.C. members before hitting a fantastic looking *Standing Sitout Sliced Bread #2* on Mark for 2! Mark fights back a few moments later with a t-bone suplex, causing Izzy to roll out to ringside. A six-way brawl ensues and results in everyone ending up at ringside except for Izzy and Punk. After lariating Izzy, Punk trades forearms with Jay (who just re-entered the ring) and delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to him. Punk follows with a backdrop suplex hold into a swinging lariat and then absorbs a running leaping heelkick from the re-entering Loc before - with Colt - hitting a backbreaker (Colt)/catapult somersault senton (Punk) combo. Izzy and Dixie now re-enter the ring and botch their attempted spots, but the camera misses the mistakes, luckily for them. Colt tosses Dixie out of the ring and the Saints perform on Izzy a modified Doomsday Device where Punk does a missile dropkick instead of a flying lariat. Izzy absorbs the kick, but he makes it look as if he - in the process of falling backwards - holds onto Colt's head via his legs and takes him over with an inverted 'rana, sparking a "Holy Sh*t!" chant! DeVito enters and dropkicks Punk out of the ring before he and Loc hit their awesome 180º Horizontally Swinging Backdrop Suplex (Loc)/Swinging Neckbreaker (DeVito) combo on Izzy. The Briscoes enter and and Jay Yakuza Kicks Loc following a t-bone suplex on DeVito by Mark, sparking a "Briscoes!" chant. Loc fights back with a head drop backdrop suplex on Jay, after which Dixie saves Izzy from a Super Spike Piledriver attempt and helps him Super 'Rana DeVito. Dixie hits a Plancha on Jay and that's followed by a Running Backwards Leaping Moonsault Attack by Mark! "Holy Sh*t!" chant. And...Holy F*ckin' Sh*t! DeVito hits a f*ckin' Moonsault off of the top buckle that takes out another bunch of guys! WOW! Meanwhile, back in the ring, Colt hits the Colt .45 on Dixie and Punk then hits the Pepsi Plunge on Izzy, planting him right on top of his partner, Dixie! Punk covers Izzy for the win.

 

WINNERS: The Second City Saints

 

Afterwards, Lucy enters and dances with Punk before the participants in the match (besides Special K, whose two representatives are still laying on the mat) shake hands with one another. Punk then cuts a promo, insisting that he is leading a "revolution" of straight edgers. He shoots on Special K and puts over the "straight edge" concept before berating those in the crowd who don't accept this idea, gaining himself a lot of heat in the process. He also shoots on Raven and lambasts former-ECW personality "Hat Guy," who is sitting at ringside(!). Punk warns Raven that he's going to destroy him in their upcoming match on 6/28. Cabana then takes the mic and puts over his "goof" gimmick, while Lucy does the same thing with her "I love to scream at the top of my lungs" gimmick. A great promo by Punk, which furthered his credibility and also put over Cabana's personality.

 

ANALYSIS: Alright match, considering the time alotted. I say this because I would've liked to see it have been given a bit more time, even with the knowledge that Punk had to work a second match later on. He did very little, so I don't see why they couldn't have gone a few more minutes, especially considering that Punk had been pushing the match during his commentary earlier. The participants did pull off some cool spots during the match, however, and although it didn't last exceptionally long, this match made it quite obvious that both C.C. members can work very well for their sizes. It's unfortunate that few companies (if any) besides ROH have booked them as a team because they work quite well together. The Special K boys gave me little to complain about, which is a pleasant surprise. The match seemed to be mainly based around the C.C. and Special K, so the Saints and the Briscoes unfortunately didn't get in too much offense. I reiterate, however, that the C.C. looked very impressive in this bout. **.

 

Backstage, Gary Michael Capetta interviews BJ Whitmer about his recent string of losses and what he's going to do this, but before BJ can really answer, Christopher Daniels interrupts the interview and tells G.M.C. that Dan Maff is going to the hospital. He criticizes Samoa Joe for breaking the Code of Honor by attacking Maff backstage. He makes a challenge to Joe for not a match, but a fight - an Empty Arena Match. Daniels leaves as G.M.C. sends it back to the ring. CM Punk, by the way, has returned to the commentary position.

 

To read the rest of the review, please click the below link:

 

http://noholdsbarredwrestling.com/columns/.../71644888.shtml

 

Like I said above, feedback is welcome and can be posted in this thread, PMed to me, or emailed.

Edited November 24, 2003 by LucharesuFan619

[PsychoDriver 0]

Good review,

 

I really liked this show. CM Punk really stole the show in many different ways and Homicide/Joe is awesome.

[Guest ToddRoyal]

Um, the chant the fans gave Iceberg was anything but "Welcome Back!" It was "Don't Come Back", which is much less flattering.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Um, the chant the fans gave Iceberg was anything but "Welcome Back!" It was "Don't Come Back", which is much less flattering.

Was it? Damn, LOL. I'll edit it. LMAO at the mistake. Sorry about that.

 

I changed it to "A brief "Don't Come Back!" chant surfaces for the big guy. He must be ready to shit in his pants right about now, although hopefully he'll wait until he gets backstage."

 

LOL.