Pholby's ROH Reviews

[pholby]

I'll post the first 5 shows for now, and add more later. I'm not going to post the reviews in full here, I'll just post some highlights or a few words on each and link to them.

The Era of Honor Begins

EOHB is highlighted by the three-way between Christopher Daniels, Low-Ki, and American Dragon. It's a great, great match, one of the best three-ways I've ever seen, and better than the Daniels/Styles/Joe threeway from TNA. The review also features the beginning of my hate for Amazing Red/SAT/Divine Storm. This trend will continue for some time. Also, to learn about "RIGHT ON HIS BIG GAY HEAD" and "RIGHT ON HIS BIG GAY HEAD" accessories, read the review.

Round Robin Challenge

RRC is probaby the best of the early ROH shows. The three singles matches between the men from the aforementioned triple threat are all amazing matches. Ki/Dragon is one of my favorite matches ever. Also:

[pholby]

Honor Invades Boston


HIB is the first show ROH did outside of Philly. Since Mark Briscoe was under 18 at the time, that meant it was the first show he could wrestle on. So the tension that had been brewing between him and his brother Jay came to a head, and they had a match they've had a million times before between with each other. Of course, odds are you've never seen said match, so you'll think it's just swell. It also includes a very good Low-Ki vs AJ Styles match, a good OOOH THAT MICHAEL SHANE~! moment, and this:

[SundownMotel]

Hurry up and get to Punk: The Final Chapter, man! Geez!

Great stuff, Pholby.
_________________
And this is a promise, because this is true. This is real. This is Straight Edge.

[pholby]

Next 5:
Night of the Butcher

If you were a fan of Abby, this is an exercise in nostalgia. If you weren't, you'll find the main event hard to sit through. It's a lot of punches and forking. The show also features a good match between American Dragon and Paul London, which will serve as a precurser to their amazing match at Epic Encounter. Also, Amazing Red hits Joel Maximo with an F-5. This was great news for me, because I love to hate Amazing Red when he acts like a fucking moron.

Final Battle '02

The Prophecy, who won the tag titles at Unscripted, defend them in a 2/3 falls match against the SAT. The SAT run out of breath at about a fall and a quarter, and look like shit. Jody Fleisch takes on Amazing Red in a 'dream match', which sucks. And Paul London wrestles Xavier for the ROH title in one of the better Xavier matches, ever. And there's a damn good four corner survival match between Steve Corino, Samao Joe, Low-Ki, and American Dragon.

Revenge on The Prophecy

This was the show where I first noticed that if you look at him from a certain angle, he looks like a girl. The show also features a great match between Samoa Joe and American Dragon, and a good no holds barred match between The Prophecy and AJ Styles and Low-Ki.

One Year Anniversary

The Carnage Crew continue their streak of hitting people with hubcaps. The show features the third and final match between Mark and Jay Briscoe, and it's similar to the others they've had. Mark Yakuza kicks Jay so hard it gets a "Holy Shit" chant. It also features the first singles match between Steve Corino and Homicide, and a riot breaks out. There's a rematch between Dragon and Joe, and a threeway between AJ Styles, Low-Ki, and Paul London for a shot at the ROH title. London wins, and Xavier makes him take the shot immediatly. London does so, and puts on an admirable effort considering he's just wrestled a Breakfast Serious match with Styles and Ki. The main event on this show is a 35 minute scramble match. Scramble matches have their place, and that place is just about ten minutes long. This this is a "human car wreck." That's not my quote, that's the commentators. It's just a giant mess, and is routinely mentioned in any "Worst ROH match ever" conversation.

Expect the Unexpected

Amazing Red takes on Slim J, and he busts out his F-5 again. What's mroe, Slim J kicks out.

[pholby]

Night of the Champions

NOTC has a good match between Christopher Daniels and Doug Williams for the FWA title and the ROH #1 Contenders Trophy. It also features Samoa Joe vs. Xavier for the ROH World Championship, and I think you all know what happens there. It's a good match, and seeing Xavier finally get killed is fucking great.

The Epic Encounter

Paul London and American Dragon have 2/3 Falls match, and it's one of my favorite matches, ever. Few people sell as well as London, and London sells Dragon's offense even better than he sells everyone else's offense. There's also an 11 minute match between the Briscoes and AJ & Amazing Red, and that seems to be a really good length for them, because they pack it full of action, and remain smart about referencing past matches the two teams have had. Oh, and Dusty Rhodes is on the show.

Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II

This isn't nearly as good as the original RRC, but that one would be hard to live up to. Also, anything involving Amazing Red isn't going to be as good as anything not involving him. Still, the London/Daniels match is pretty good. CM Punk and Homicide have a good match for the #1 Contenders Trophy, and Samoa Joe makes his first defense in a good match against Doug Williams.

Do or Die

Do or Die was an attempt to freshen up the card by bringing in new wrestlers for tryouts. Iceberg, David Young, and Frankie Kazarian are some of the people who show up, and none of them come back ever again. There's some great mic work from CM Punk and Colt Cabana, with Cabana playing the part of 'abused lackey' perfectly. Jody Fleisch and Slim J have a match against the Backseat Boyz where they (Fleisch and Slim J), and I get pretty pissy about it.