*** ROH DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
August 11, 2007 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR V (Night 2)
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE
Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico: The second night of the Death Before Dishonor V weekend started with Jay Briscoe calling out “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen to have their scheduled “Light’s Out” match. Steen came out and said he promised he would call his mother, but sent El Generico to the ring for his scheduled “Falls Count Anywhere” match with young Mark Briscoe. They picked up right where they left off the night before after their brutal unsanctioned Boston Street Fight. Seriously, how do these guys get out of bed in the morning? The match ended after Generico planted Mark head-first into the concrete with a DDT and pinned him on the ringside floor. There was a brief scuffle after the match between Kevin Steen and Jay Briscoe to build heat for their match later on the card.
Jack Evans vs. Deranged: Tonight marked the long awaited return of former Special K member, Deranged. Okay I’m being sarcastic, but it’s good to see him back and healthy, even though he was just brought in to act as cannon-fodder for the ROH standout, “The Man from the Heavens” Jack Evans. I’d say the match lasted about five minutes, with Deranged working hard to impress ROH management, but ended when Jack Evans hit a 360 senton splash off the top rope. It should also be noted that just as the match was beginning, a “drunken fan” hopped the guard rail with a megaphone and started yelling “Project 161,” before getting taken out by ROH security.
Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero & Jigsaw w/Sweet & Sour Inc.: “Super Agent” Larry Sweeney enlisted the services of the masked Jigsaw to team with Chris Hero, which tells you exactly how they feel about Bobby Dempsey and Tank Toland, who up until this point have remained a ringside comedy act. All I can say is I hope Jigsaw got his money up front. McGuinness and Castagnoli make an impressive team, with their size and natural ability. Both of them belong in the WWE. Castagnoli did his patented Giant Swing on Jigsaw (grabbed him by the ankles and swung him around and around and around). The funny thing is Jigsaw’s pants started to come down and he desperately hung on to them as Double C continued to swing. The Sweet & Sour guys started interfering, so Nigel McGuinness chased them backstage. While the referee was distracted, Chris Hero whacked Claudio Castagnoli with the Race to the Top trophy and scored the pinfall to win. After the match, Hero and Sweeney busted Castagnoli’s forehead open and destroyed the Race to the Top trophy. Nigel McGuinness returned and cleared the ring to to make the save and check on Castagnoli’s badly injured eye.
SHIMMER TITLE MATCH
Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey: This was officially the first defense of the SHIMMER title on a Ring of Honor show. Lacey confidently walked to the ring pre-maturely declaring herself the new SHIMMER champion. Daizee Haze was shown watching the match from the sidelines with her arms crossed and her teeth clenched. I think Del Rey was caught off guard by Lacey’s increased aggression. This very intense match ended with Del Rey finishing off Lacey with her trademark Royal Butterfly finisher. Excellent match. SHIMMER fans be proud!
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush: This is what I would whole-heartedly consider a “DREAM MATCH.” Not a lot of people know or understand how awesome Mike Quackenbush is and how dedicated he is to wrestling and the history of wrestling – specifically Lucha Libre. This turned out to be a technical masterpiece that would make fans of that genre very proud. I think Quackenbush might be the first wrestler to really give Bryan Danielson a taste of his own medicine. Quackenbush put in a great effort, but the American Dragon scored the victory with the dreaded Cattle Mutilation. The ROH fans chanted “Thank you, both!” after the match to show their appreciation. This match probably got Quack over as a top star in Ring of Honor.
Surprise surprise, legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter showed up playing the roll that Gary Michael Cappetta used to play – backstage interviewer. Apter’s first assignment included interviewing Delirious. Rib?
LIGHTS OUT MATCH
Jay Briscoe vs. “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen: A “Light’s Out” match doesn’t mean they turn the lights out in the building. Don’t laugh, because that’s what I thought it was. It actually means your opponent has to be knocked out for a ten-count. The fans encouraged Jay Briscoe throughout the match, chanting “Man Up!” every time Steen put him down for the count. Eventually El Generico interfered, which I guess is legal since it’s Anything Goes. Kevin Steen hit a Package Pile-driver, which finally put Jay Briscoe down for the 10-count.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH
Takeshi Morishima vs. Brent Albright: Brent Albright is one of few wrestlers on the ROH roster who can come close to matching Takeshi Morishima’s physical stature. Albright became a fan-favorite by default, and had the fans praying to the wrestling Gods for a title change. Albright planted Morishima with a pair of Half-Nelson Suplexes and came within an eyelash of getting a three count. The fans became unglued, chanting “that was three! that was three!” but the match continued. A few minutes later, Morishima battled back and hit a vicious Lariat, followed by a Back-drop Driver and scored the 1-2-3 to retain his ROH World title. This was almost a carbon copy of Takeshi’s match with Claudio Castagnoli the previous night in Boston. As usual, Morishima stuck the belt between his teeth and walked backstage, leaving his fallen challenger to a loud standing ovation from the appreciative fans.
UNSANCTIONED PHILADELPHIA STREET FIGHT
The No Remorse Corps (Roderick Strong & Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) & Matt Sydal vs. The Resilience (Austin Aries & Erick Stevens & Matt Cross) & Delirious: Roderick Strong bragged that the NRC took out Austin Aries last night after they saw Delirious, Stevens, and Cross come out without their fearless leader. Just when the Corps thought they had the upper hand, Aries snuck in and attacked the heels from behind to get the party started. All eight men paired off and went to war in all four corners of the building. Matt Cross and Matt Sydal ended up scaling the bleachers – truly dangerous territory. Sydal fell backwards on top of the six other wrestlers below. Matt Cross then pulled a Jackie Chan and used the wall as a launch-pad and dove off on top of the pile of humanity below. There were a lot of stunts, not as dangerous as that, but I won’t spoil everything for you. Sydal later took a clumsy dive off the top rope, over the guard rail, putting Delirious through a table – sort of. Erick Stevens took two sick chair-shots to the head from Roderick Strong. The injured leg of Austin Aries was placed between a ladder, and Roderick proceeded to smash it with a chair. Erick Stevens emerged from the carnage with blood all over his face. The match took a physical toll on all eight men, plus the poor referee. The carnage seemed to go forever. It boiled down to Roderick Strong putting his FIP nemesis, Erick Stevens, in the Stronghold until he went limp and the referee stopped the match – awarding the victory to the No Remorse Corps. Erick Stevens really took the brunt of the punishment, as well as Austin Aries. Both of them were injured during the match but continued to fight for the Resilience.
If you would like to purchase this or any other ROH DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com —- if you need some convincing, you can check out streaming video of various ROH matches for free at www.ROHVideos.com