Paul London at ROH in Philly last night

[Guest scratch]

Last night, at the Philadelphia National Guard Armory, ROH returned to town and put on a hell of a show. Quick results are:

 

Havana Pitbulls over Izzy/Angel Dust

Jimmy Rave wins a 4 corner survival over Trent Acid, BJ Whitmer and Josh Daniels

Low Ki over Jay Lethal in a very stiff, very brutal match, which also saw Lethal's mom slap Low Ki.

Nigel McGiness over Homicide (yes you read that right)

Generation Next over CM Punk/John Walters/Ace Steel/Jimmy Jacobs in an 8 man elimination bout

Samoa Joe retained the ROH belt over Bryan Danielson.

 

What shocked me was that over at the ROH boards, NO ONE mentioned the fact that Paul London was in the house, presumably to catch up with old friends and such. He was just hanging out in the crowd, and was very approachable, and nice to everyone who came up to him. My friend and I were able to get a pic with him at the end of the night as he was about to leave. He was very cordial and a class act.

 

--Scratch

[Guest Dean and Foam]

See that's what's wrong with Philly wrestlers, socializing with the fans, bringing the business down. It's SoCal all over again. Philly will be a wrestling wasteland in two weeks, tops.

[Guest OSIcon]

The whole day was really great and probably the best time I had at any ROH event.

 

The mini-card in the afternoon featured mainly the first graduates of the ROH school. Honestly, considering they were all in their first match, they looked pretty good. Some stuff was sloppy and a few got lost occassionaly, but not too bad. Although, I think only few of them have a real future strictly in terms of look. The guy who wrestled Punk was the biggest of the six and also the best wrestler. There were a couple of other guys who seemed comfortable and looked a little bit like wrestlers. There were also a couple that didn't. The other matches on the card (Rockin Rebel/Greg Mathews vs. ???????, Dunn/Marcos vs. Cloudy/Deranged, and Walters vs. Shelley for the Pure Title) were alright for what they were. The show ran about an hour (from 2 to 3).

 

The Q&A with the Midnight Express started immediately after. For anyone it didn't go because of the 15 dollar price tag (to get into the mini card and the Q&A), it's their loss. This was well worth the the ticket price. When all four game out to the MX music and Cornette and Lane did their usual introductions, it had a real special/historical feel to it. The actual question and answer session was great. Cornette was sharp with the one liners as usual (ragging on some of the people askinjg questions, the sound guy, and starting off by saying: "Let me get this out fo the way right now: Fuck Vince Russo.") All the travel stories were funny and all their insights on the different wrestlers and/or matches were interesting and insightful. Cornette did most of the talking, though that isn't a surprise. Lane also did his fair share. Condrey would offer his opinions here and there but he was usually straight to the point. Eaton was quiet as usual. I've seen some people say 250 people were there. That could be about right, I really can't estimate crowds. Everyone was into it and the majority of the questions were pretty good. it ran about two hours and was entertaining the whole way. Most importantly, the MX said (and you could just tell by watching them) that they really enjoyed themselves and the experience.

 

As for the main show:

 

- Havana Pitbulls © defeated Special K (Izzy/Angel Dust) to retain the ROH Tag Team titles: In all seriousness, the Special K guys have really stepped it up in recent months. This was a good southern tag that was definitely better than I expected. Special K worked face here and connected with all their comeback spots. For the most part, the crowd was behind them/ They also sold well for the Pitbulls offense. The Pitbulls looks good working a standard tag match with their own style added in. Post match, Lacey and Becky almost go at it but they are separated. Dixie and Angel Dust stay with Becky in the ring while the rest leave with Izzy and Lacey.

 

- Jimmy Rave (W/ Prince Nana and the Outkast Killahs) defeated Trent Acid, BJ Whitmer, and Josh Daniels: Whitmer was over as a face here which if nothing else, shows me that the guys who aren't over right now can get over with the proper fine tuning. Rave is also a perfect example of this. He played a really good heel, which of course means that the fans that use to hate him, now cheered him (I still don't get that). Nana got on the mic near the end of the match and remined Rave how much he paid him and how he needs to win. Whether that worked or not, Rave got the pin following a 'Rave Clash'. Alison Danger was at ringside for most of the match. She got in the ring afterwards and from her knees, begged the Embassy to finish Whitmer off. They just left though. I am not usually a fan of Allison Danger, but she did a good job really seeming desperate and boderline crazy. Carnage Crew ran in and beat up Maff. They were wearing Foley 'Ring of Hardcore' t-shirts and said they were going to introduce Whitmer to the Canrage Crew 'Ring of Hardcore'. They proceeded to do the spot where they put the trash can on the guy's head and hammer the can with baseball bats. Whitmer was helped from the ring afterwards.

 

- Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal: Ki stills gets a huge pop. He does a good job playing the prick heeland while he gets some boos, most of the crowd still loves him. However, like the Ki/Homicide vs. Briscoes match on 8/7, Ki's opponent here was probably more over (or at least as over) than he was. This was intense and stiff. It was the same basic underdog concept as the Lethal vs. Punk from 6/24, only ten times better. Ki really is better off as a heel. Lethal's mom was going nuts for his son like usual and Smokes was constantly in her face. Ki got in her face a few times and eventually stooged for a slap from her. It seemed to be done impromptu and it definitely added to the match. Ki eventually beat Lethal with the Dragon Clutch. He was selling an injury afterwards and his mom lost it and began to cry. From what I could tell though, Lethal was okay. Better than expected and a really fun match. Both guys shine in their current roles.

 

- Homicide vs. Nigel McGuiness: The crowd was a little burnt out from the previous match. They built nicely though, cumulating in nearfalls that drew a good reaction. Some people were worried that this would be a styles' clash, but they worked well together. Nigel targeted the right arm of Homicide. Homicide sold the correct arm the whole time, always showing pain after striking with it and sometimes using his left arm to strike instead. Homicide brought some of his neck-related offense also, but didn't really target a body part. When Nigel was putting together a string of moves near the end, Smokes frantically called for backup from the back. Before anyone could arrive though, Nigel got the upset win with a roll up. Homicide started throwing stuff around at ringside following the upset. Nigel breifly celebrated with the fans and then high-tailed it to the back.

 

- Generation Next (Alex Shelley/Roderick Strong/Jack Evans/Austin Aires) vs. CM Punk/Ace Steel/Jimmy Jacobs/John Walters (w/ Ricky Steamboat): This was the first match after intermission. Steamboat cut a promo before the match, setting himself up opposite of Foley. Steamboat talked about the 'honor' in ROH (which is opposed to Foley's 'Ring of Hardcore' thing). He then did some last minute build to the elimination match. They went about 20 minutes without an elimination. A ton of great work in this opening part. Generation Next brought A LOT of triple teams and four man moves. All of them worked, although some were more smooth than others. The face team also brought a few team moves. Jacobs was worked over for a while and was eventually pinned for the first elimination. Walters pinned Evans a few minutes later. Steel went via a roll up soon after that. Generation Next brought a chair into the ring, but Punk intercepted it. Unfortunately, the ref caught him with it and he was disqualified leaving Walters as the sole man on the face team. Roderick was eliminated either right after this or before (my memory is hazy). Walters was the least over of the faces, so the reaction they got was probably less than what they were going for in the "face tries to overcome the odds" thing. Even so, Walters was the correct person to use in that role. Roderick eventually returned and brawled with Steamboat to the back. This left Walters all alone and after five minutes or so, he fell to Shelley and Aires. Post match, Shelley said there is only one spot left to take: Samoa Joe's. He said he is coming after him and the title. Aires then took the mic and said that HE is going to beat Joe for the championship. They teased tension, but Aires said he knows where his loyoalty lies and they shook hands and left together. This was a really good match both in terms of wrestling and booking. It had the feel of an M-Pro match it some points with all the multi-man moves. On any other show, this would almost definitely have been the match of the night. Definitely better than the 5/22 8 man.

 

- Midnight Express Ceremony: The Midnight Express came out to the ring and one by one, thanked everyone for the great day. They put over the company and the fans. Cornette also took a moment to remember Ray Traylor (he also did this at the Q&A). The fans were all into this. They gave their thank yous and were about to leave when Nana came out. Nana and Cornette sparred verbally. Nana then brought out the "newest member of the Embassy". Most people were thinking Stryker, but Ricky Morton of all people came out. Morton got a good reaction. Morton played the heel and did a surprisingly good job on the mic. He put over Rave and the rest of the Embassy. The Embassy and Morton than attacked the MX. For as old as these guys are, they still looked great throwing punches and doing their signiture spots. Lane and Condrey combined for a flapjack on Rave. Eaton and Lane did the goozle. Cornette got shots in with the racket. With just Nana and Morton standing, Morton shoved Nana into the MX. They took him down in the center of the ring. Bobby started climbing the turnbuckle. The moment and the reaction gave me chills. He got up top and Condrey AND Lane assisted him with a rocket launcher while Cornette held Nana in the center of the ring. THe MX soaked in the cheers and then left. The whole segment was awesome and one of my favorite moments in ROH.

 

- Samoa Joe © vs. 'American Dragon' Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship: The great was more than ready for this even after everything else. I don't want to go to in depth on the match, but it was VERY good. I'll have to see it on tape but it is way up there in terms of ROH match of the year. They start of working a grappler verses striker story. It evolves from there and cumulates in an incredibly heated nearfall sequence at the end. A lot of people wanted Danielson to win, but the reaction was more of a "Who will win?" anticipating rather than a "I want this guy to win and I won't be happy unless he does" reaction. The crowd was really into the whole thing. The match ran about 40 minutes or so and didn't disappoint at all.

 

Overall, a great day. Definitely check out the night show when it is released. The show is solid from top to bottom and the last two matches are really great. If you are an MX fan, also make sure to pick up the Q&A.

[bob_barron 0]

How did Nigel win OSI?

 

Did he do the handstand spot?

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I'd have loved to see The MX beating the shit out of Ricky Morton.

[Guest OSIcon]

How did Nigel win OSI?

 

Did he do the handstand spot?

 

He did the handstand spot. Homicide was pretty close to the corner when he did it, so he didn't stay up there as long as usual.

 

I am fairly sure that Nigel won with a roll up. Nigel kicked out of a Homicide lariat because Homicide's arm had been "injured" so it didn't have a lot of force and he was slow to make a cover. Nigel had put together a string of nearfalls (including his turnbuckle-assisted ace crusher), so Smokes was flipping out and calling for help from the back. Nigel then got some sort of pinning combination (I can't really remember exactly) for the three count. The upset got a big reaction and I don't think it will be long before Nigel is the Pure champ.