Ring of Honor Final Battle 2004

[Tawren 0]

Wow. I can't believe it. I am seriously shocked here.

 

It's nuts to think that Aries wasn't even in ROH at the start of the year. And now he's world champ.

 

Wow.

[tpww7 0]

I cant believe I missed the title change live Stupid work on Sundays.

 

This brings up so many fresh things for 2005, I really am pumped.

[Detective Comics 0]

Since I've followed ROH I've always thought that they've put the title on someone a few months before they were ready for it. Xavier wasn't given enough time, but it was successful with Joe. The title got him over, and in return he got the federation over. Aries hasn't even worked a full year in ROH and he has the title. I'm not surprised though, since they billed the match against Cabana. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a rather show title reign, but I think the way ROH books the World Title scene is so strange.

[Guest I Just Want To Lurk]

This is like Andre pinning Hogan on The Main Event. Except without the screwy finish.

 

I'm guessing Joe didn't shake his hand afterwards?

[Tawren 0]

I'm guessing Joe didn't shake his hand afterwards?

He did. Joe shook his hand, delivered a speech about respecting the belt and being an honorable champion, then left.

 

CM Punk on the EWBattleground.com forums posted a review of the show:

 

I don't have a detailed report because I have a short memory.. so sue me. And interesting fact, for the first half of the show I was sitting next to "Rob Naylor" and "BarrMark" from various boards but I didn't say anything. But Naylor was pissing me off as he kept talking about his "insider" stuff behind me and I was trying to watch the match.

 

As I come into the Armory, I head right to the Merchandise table to pick up my AUSTIN ARIES t-shirt, along with the Briscoes t-shirt (hope they come back soon) and then go get a seat and wait for the start of the show.

 

Jimmy Jacobs vs Trent Acid

Acid did a long entrance to gay music, as he started smoking a cigarette and acted like he was a Sandman/Justin Credible clone. Everyone hated Acid and wished he was gonna lose but I had my doubts.

 

Acid didn't wanna shake the "HUSS" hand of Jacobs but he would high five him. Then low-fived but Jacobs stomped his hand, as Acid was holding it and he did the "HUSS" thing. The match itself was spotty at best because of Acid (who was wearing lifts! LIFTS AGAINST JIMMY JACOBS!!!) and the bright spots were Jacobs' comedy and Acid hitting a botched Cradle Breaker. Jacobs manages to pick up the win over Acid with the Contra Code to a HUGE POP.

 

Trent then declares to ROH and the World that he "FUCKING QUIT" and walked out. Everyone pops.

 

Mixed Tag Team Match: Angel Dust & Becky Bayless vs Deranged & Lacey (w/Cloudy & Cheech)

I loved me some Becky & Lacey, as they were both looking hot. It was very slow beginning but they hit some very neat spots, the highlight of which was Deranged hitting Angel Dust with what could only be explained as "Deranged springboards off the top rope, stomps his feet into Angel Dust's chest, who is standing and drives him down into the ground" to a nice pop. Ending comes with Lacey hitting a nice Elevated DDT on Becky for the win.

 

Special K then wanna beat Becky up some more but WE'RE NOT GONNA TAAAAAAAAKE IT! And Dunn & Marcos chase everyone from the ring but Cheech, who gets beat up by the RCE and then they help Becky up.

 

Rockin' Rebel vs Jobber

I had no idea Rebel was gonna be on the show, since I only thought he would be on shows that ROH had put on in Essington and he didn't have a match at MX Reunion. But sure enough a jobber comes out and we all know Rebel is coming.. AND HE GETS A POP FOR SOME REASON. I had to tell people around me that the only possible reason was that Rebel had 20 of his kids there. So we get a Rebel match and we all want it to end quickly but it doesn't. However, it was sort of a fun little match. The highlight (or VERY LOW POINT) was the jobber putting a bottle of water in Rebel's underwear and he procedes to take his pants off to take it out and the jobber slaps Rebel's ass. I'm gonna have nightmares.

 

Rebel picks up the win with a SECOND ROPE REBELIZER and DIDN'T break his hip. Rebel then took the microphone and wished everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays and he says he can't wait for the next time he's in town, so we can "fucking boo him some more" to a POP. Then as the jobber was leaving he gets a loud "JOBBER" chant.

 

Homicide (w/J-Train) vs Josh Daniels

I was hoping for another match like Homicide had with Nigel, which is vastly underrated but it kind of let me down. It was a decent enough match but I was too distracted by J-Train's antics to really watch the whole match but from what I saw, Daniels was pulling out some good moves.. I hope he does better with his next match.

 

Homicide gets the win with an armlock-esque submission hold, as he worked over Daniels arm through the match.

 

Pure Title Match: John Walters vs Jimmy Rave (w/Nana & The OCK

Everyone started shitting on the match, well on Walters, before we even began and I have no idea why. I find Walters to be a pretty damn good wrestler but most ROH fans treat him like Matt Stryker. It was a pretty basic match with some spots being rough but everyone uses up their three rope breaks after awhile. I though Rave might win coming in but then I guessed a Walters heel turn finish..

 

Walters picks up the win narrowly as he had a tree of woe/headlock submission on the outside and Rave taps before the ref reaches a 20 count for Walters being on the outside. Which leads to Nana fucking up on the mic and basically offers Walters some cash to join the Embassy. As I called the heel turn, I was right and even shouted out Walters' answer to "YOU THINK YOU CAN BUY ME" before he even said it. Walters joining the Embassy is meh to me.. I guess they figure if it got Rave over it will get Walters over.

 

Fight Without Honor: BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs The Carnage Crew

Going into the match, I wasn't expecting something to blow the roof off the place and as expected, they didn't but it was still an good match. They brawl around and outside of the ring for along time and Danger comes down to do absolutely nothing but run around and freak out. DeVito was blading like crazy and did it in PLAIN VIEW OF EVERYONE IN THE ARENA LIKE 20 TIMES. Then MICK FOLEY comes down and adds some "Christmas Cheer" of thumbtacks in the ring. Then we get guys trying to put someone in the tacks for five minutes.

 

Whitmer & Maff score the win when Whitmer hits an awesome Wrist Clutch Exploder into the thumbtacks. It wasn't a great match but it was a good one. This lead right into the meeting between Foley & Steamboat.

 

Ring of Hardcore vs Pure Wrestling

This basically lead to Foley saying that he knows ROH was built on Pure Wrestling but Hardcore Wrestling can be in any promotion for "dessert" as he put it and told people not to make fun of his weight. Foley then takes some shots at WWE saying that Steamboat could help all the guys in WWE except for Heidenreich, Snitsky & Luther Reigns. laugh.gif Foley then talks about how the Flair incident at RAW and he said that they were both in the wrong and he disrespected a legend, and he's sorry. This leads to Foley calling Joe out and tells him that he should show Foley some respect. Joe shakes his hand and does but then nails Foley with the microphone and Steamboat seperates Foley/Joe. Joe then leaves and Steamboat says "I'm sorry about that Mick but you gotta admit, that was HARDCORE" to a smirk from Foley.

 

And we get to intermission, where I scope out some babes around the Armory until I see a Becky and Jacobs hanging out by the food table. I do a loud "HUSS" to which Jacobs laughs and does it back. I stand around there for a few minutes and talked to some kid (ROH worker) by the table, then Becky comes over to talk to him and I manage to score a HUG. wub.gif

 

Jay Lethal vs Weapon of MASK Destruction #2 (w/Nana & The OCK)

I was hoping that the WOMD #2 wouldn't be Acid or Stryker in a mask and I was right. People were saying it was El Generico but I doubt it. He was wearing a Green Phantom mask and was actually pretty good from what I saw. Lethal & WOMD #2 have a nice little match but nothing breath-taking.

 

Lethal hits the Lethal Injection to score the win. He then tells Nana that he wants Rave again but Nana laughs, heading to the back.

 

Alex Shelley & Roderick Strong vs CM Punk & Steve Corino (w/Brian T Reigal, Corino's Students, Punk's Students & Tracy Brooks)

I was looking forward to this match second most (behind Aries/Joe) because it has four of my favorite wrestlers involved plus Tracy Brooks' BOOBIES. Everyone comes down to the ring and it's time for the STEVE CORINO RING ANNOUNCEMENT SPECTACULAR.

 

Brian T. Reigal comes down to announce for Corino and the theme is "Famous Philly Wrestlers" and we run down a list of good and oddball names that include: Johnny Hotbody, Don E. Allen, Spider, JT Smith (HUGE POP) and random other names until we get to a SHOOT COMMENT with "The recently released from jail, James "Sandman" Fullington" and the crowd cheers & boo's. Then we get two FUCKING GREAT COMMENTs of Reigal saying "CM Punk, a man without Corino's help would probably be opening the show right now" and "Weighing in at 110 kilos.. or 242 lbs. for the virgin in the Green Lantern jersey" to a loud POP from the crowd and "YOU GOT PUNKED" chants.

 

The match begins with alot of comedy spots between Corino & Punk, including shouting out "STEAMBOAT" as they armdraged Shelley and/or Strong. We then get Punk tagging in & out with Corino, who's getting frustrated. It goes along slow for awhile until the match picks up with Shelley & Strong hanging with Corino & Punk pretty well. It breaks down into a RUCKUS with people going in & out. Shelley nails a Shellshock on Punk but only gets two. Punk nails Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker but only a two count. Strong breaks out some wicked Backbreakers but only gets a two count.

 

I don't remember the finish of the match.. SORRY. But I know Punk & Corino pick up the win and they celebrate inside the ring but a long handshake takes place between Punk/Corino.. so something might be up there.This leads to..

 

Austin Aries/Alex Shelley/Roderick Strong confrontation

Austin Aries making his way down to the ring and tells Shelley that they made a promise three months ago to go after the ROH Title and then Shelley told him to remember where his loyalty lies. But Aries calls Shelley out for missing the shows because of more "important" business and "FUCK TNA" chants come out. Aries then tells Shelley that he wants to take his spot as the Generation Next leader and says Shelley has five seconds to step down or get beat down. Shelley takes the mic but Aries jumps him right off the bat but Strong breaks it up. Aries then stares down both men until Strong attacks Shelley with a WICKED BACKBREAKER and sends Shelley from the ring. Aries then grabs the mic and tells Shelley "You may have Talent on Loan from God but I'm YOUR Personal Jesus" to a huge mark out from me and cheers from the crowd.

 

Grudge Match: Bryan Danielson vs Low Ki

I was expecting these two to deliver in the match and boy did they ever. It starts out with both men in the ring and Low Ki takes his pants off, showing that he has on black tights (just like Daniels) and we get a "mirror" match with the outfits. This was a great mat-based and technical wrestling match for the first fifteen or so minutes until they take out to the crowd and start brawling around the Armory. The ROH staff guys kept shouting and pushing everyone to get back but more people kept coming. Then Homicide & J-Train come out of nowhere to start beating down Danielson with chairshots and we get a No Contest.

 

The match ends in a No Contest when the faces come out to get Homicide & J-Train away from the two. This sends Low Ki into a fit, as he hits the ring and starts choking out THE WHOLE REFFIN' SHOW Sean Hanson and Homicide & J-Train come down to help out. Homicide wants Low Ki to KILL Hanson but he just chokes him out with a belt and NO HELP FROM ANYONE FOR THE REFEREE. Everyone boo's as The Rottweilers head to the back and refs come out to help Hanson.

 

ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries (w/Roderick Strong) vs Samoa Joe (w/Jay Lethal)

And we come down to the match of the fucking night and I strap myself into someone else's fourth row seat for one hell of a ride. My Aries shirt worn proudly as everyone makes their way down to the ring and the bell sounds with Aries pummeling the fuck out of Joe right from the beginning. Stiff shots exchanged from the start as they go back & forth until Joe starts to get the advantage, working over the smaller man in Aries. Toying with Aries for a few minutes until Aries starts to come back and he begins to weaken the big man down with forearms and kawada kicks, along with working on Joe's right knee. They continue to go back & forth until Joe & Aries go to the outside and we get geared up for some OLE MOTHERFUCKING OLE kicks. Joe proceeds to beat the fuck out of Aries with 3 Ole Kicks but then Aries turns the tide, getting some a ARIES RUNNING OLE DROPKICK OF DOOM to a nice pop.

 

I'll hit Fast forward to the good parts, as Aries continued to work Joe's leg over but then Joe comes back strong with a FURY OF SAMOAN POWER. Slaps and punches to Aries before he sets him on the top rope, looking for his Muscle Buster but Aries shoves him off and hits a 450 Splash to a huge pop. Cover on JOE FOR FALSE FINISH #1. We then get some more brawling until Aries goes for a Brainbuster but it's blocked. Aries gets Joe in the FISH HOOK SUBMISSION HOLD for FALSE FINISH #2. Joe then gets to take control, as he hits an Island Driver for FALSE FINISH #3. By now, the whole crowd is going crazy and more & more people want Aries to win. We then get more SAMOAN POWER as Joe stiffs Aries and goes for a LARIAAAAAAOOOOTOOOOO but Aries ducks it. Tries a Brainbuster but then gets thrown over the ropes but he lands on the apron. Joe comes charging but Aries hits a shoulder and SUNSET FLIP for FALSE FINISH #4! But then Aries pulls Joe right over into a modified Boston Crab for FALSE FINISH #5! They then begin to brawl back & forth until Joe goes for another Lariat but Aries hits him with four charging attacks in the corner. Joe then catches Aries on the fifth try and goes for the Muscle Buster but Aries gets him in a Crucifix Cradle position but turns it into some kind of slam! Aries pumps up and gets Joe to his feet and he FINALLY hits a BRAINBUSTER! The fans are going fucking nuts and I'm losing my voice. Aries makes it up to the top rope and hits a SECOND FOUR FIFTY SPLASH AND GETS THE WIN!!! MARK OUT CITY!!!!

 

AUSTIN ARIES IS THE NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW ROH WORLD CHAMPION AND EVERYONE IS LOVING IT!!! BAH GAWD! This leads to massive "Aries" to "Joe" to "ROH" to "THANK YOU JOE" TO "ARIES" chants all around and I lose my voice from all of this.

 

.. Yeah, my review is a giant clusterfuck. Read through it if you DAAAAARE.

 

All-in-all it wasn't a GREAT show and certainly not the best that I've been too. Some of the matches were off but the atmosphere was electric and you couldn't NOT get into Ki/Danielson and Aries/Joe, especially with all the build up and I KNEW Aries had to walk away with the belt and obviously Gabe did as well. I definately recommend you get the tape/DVD because I'm gonna snap that shit up quick when it comes out.

[bob_barron 0]

Aries v. Joe was insane.

 

I still can't believe Joe lost

[Garth 0]

It just feels plain weird thinking that Joe isn't the champ anymore. I'm excited to see what Aires can do with his title reign though.

[Guest OSIcon]

Joe vs. Aires was very well done. They essentially built up and teased three key moves:

 

- Dives from both guys

- Joe's Musclebuster

- Aires' Brainbuster

 

The crowd totally bought all the teases. It left you with a feeling that if any of those moves were hit, that the match would be over. Several *really* great nearfalls down the stretch that the crowd ate up. Everytime Aires attempted the brainbuster or Joe attempted the musclebuster, the crowd went nuts in anticipation because they had done such a good job establishing and teasing the moves.

 

The crowd really wanted to see a title change. Not so much because they were anti-Joe, but more because they wanted to see the "historic" title change live. Basically the same as the reaction to Punk on 12/4. The place went nuts as soon as Aires hit the brainbuster as they *knew* it was over then. After Aires hit the 450 for the win, everyone exploded. Really good match and the perfect match for the title switch.

 

The rest of the show was just okay. Punk/Corino vs. Strong/Shelley was really fun. I've seen a lot of people (especially those who didn't attend the show) say that this had too much comedy. I don't think they really got the dynamic between Corino and Punk. When Corino and Punk had their singles match in 2003 and their short lived alliance that followed it, they had a weird relationship that was built around some sort of mutual respect and constantly trying to out do one another. That is exactly how they wrestled here. Ki vs. Danielson was good. Weapon of Mask Destruction II looked really good and his match against Lethal was a lot of fun. The mixed tag was better than expected. Everything else was just okay or worse.

[Guest DeathBecomesYou]

Anyne know who Weapon Of Masked Destruction 2 was? I've read that it was El Generico, is this the case?

As for Aries/Joe, while it's a huge shock that Joe lost, i'm looking forward to seeing how Austin goes with the belt, hopefully he gets a decent run with the belt and isn't used as a transitional champ.

[Precious Roy 0]

I didn't see this as a shock at all, in fact I was 90% sure that Joe would drop the belt. I would have been more shocked (pleasantly, I might add) if he'd retained.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like Aries, and I think he has the potential to do quite well with the title, and it was also about time for Joe to drop it, but I'm not seeing this as a shock at all, kind of a let down actually.

[Guest OSIcon]

The concensus seems to be that it was El Generico. He was wearing a Green Phantom (IWS) mask, so that would make sense. I really haven't seen enough of him to be able to tell if it was El Generico or not. If it was, he should be given a full time shot. He didn't work spotty at all, was clean and crisp in his execution, and worked a fun, basic match.

[Guest Rob Naylor]

"NAYLOR kept talking about his "insider" stuff behind me and I was trying to watch the match"

 

The above is hilarious.

I totally was not even talking INSIDER stuff at all. I was sitting with Phil and Tom from Death Valley Driver and talking about old 1987 WWF tapes between matches and pointed out stuff and cheered things that I enjoyed....

Guess now that gets you labeled as a "EVILLLLL ROH fan nowdays..."

Too funny.

 

I love how fans go to shows to listen to what other fans do. I certainly didn't ever go..."Er, he didn't sell the arm..." like some assholes....or "this is boring...." or anything else.

 

The closest INSIDER thing I could have possibly talked about is whether or not the Weapon vs. Lethal was El Generico or Excalibur...which was a legitimate wonder of everyone near me....since he was very talented and looked familiar.

[Tawren 0]

Naylor man, just to make sure, I didn't say that, it was just from the guys review (which was the first actually detailed one posted anywhere). I've got nothing but respect for someone like you.

[Guest Rob Naylor]

Naylor man, just to make sure, I didn't say that, it was just from the guys review (which was the first actually detailed one posted anywhere). I've got nothing but respect for someone like you.

Oh no prob Tawren...I love reading your posts also..I knew it wasn't you.

I just find it weird that someone would go out of there way on a board I never ever went to....to just kinda bury me like that.

I mean...if I actually WAS being a dickweek...I'd understand...but they don't serve beer at the Armory...so I'm PRETTY sure I was cognizent of what I was talking about and I totally hate fans that call attention to themselves with smart comments or loud heckling....

I admit I was cheering like a madman at the end of the show and talking alot to the people around me....but I would NEVER have imagined me BOTHERING someone else. Weird....lol.

 

I just wanted to point out that I wasn't being a dickweed!!! I'm not even mad at the original poster of that, actually...just think it was weird that someone A) knew who the fuck I was... and B) was listening to me and taking notes of my dialogue!!! Ah well...what can ya do.

[Guest dropkickguy]

Does anyone know what the reason for the title switch is? Because Meltzer makes reference to it in this weeks Observer Newsletter. Seems to me that aries is a perfect candidate for defeating Joe, just wondering if maybe there was more to the title change.

 

Also, does anyone know where the best place to get ROH videos? I'm in California.

[Guest Evenflow4:20]

Does anyone know what the reason for the title switch is? Because Meltzer makes reference to it in this weeks Observer Newsletter. Seems to me that aries is a perfect candidate for defeating Joe, just wondering if maybe there was more to the title change.

 

Well guys like Punk, Danielson, and Joe don't need the title to be over and Aeris does. It makes perfect sense.

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

There's alot of speculation that Joe is headed to WWE by end of 2005 and is going to be working NJPW alot this year as well; so it's mainly to get the title off him but mostly Gabe felt it was time for a change.

 

Punk is above the title in the sense he's ROH's dreamer. Always over. Danielson and 'Ki aren't able to work enough to justify it.

 

Aries is pretty much a ROH bred superstar.

 

Best site? ROHWRESTLING.COM