Tuesday, May 22, 2007

ROH Supercard of Honor 2

Last year's Supercard of Honor featured the infamous, Dragon Gate 6 man tag between the groups of Do Fixer and Blood Generation. These 6 guys put on the kind of match that no-one in the US had ever seen live before and iIt was rightly hailed as the match of the year. Therefore, it made a lot of sense for ROH to attempt to capitalize on that show's success (as well as the fact that they were running Wrestlemania weekend in Detroit) and give the fans the rematch to this classic bout. Unfortunately, things in Dragon Gate have moved on the past 12 months and neither faction is still around (indeed, the match the year before was something on an anachronism seeing as the groups were not feuding at the time anyhow). As a result, the match lost something of it's magic and became an above average, Dragon Gate spot-fest. Not a patch on the 8 man Dragon Gate vs. ROH All-star match from the night before.

Fortunately the undercard more than made up for this lack of must-see action with an absolutely awesome, blood soaked cage match between Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer as well as a strong match between Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Whitmer and Jacobs have had a year long feud that has featured some brutal matches, however this took things to a new level and both men upped their stock in ROH with this effort - Jacobs especially must now be considered a main eventer in the making. As for Aries and Strong, this match and feud still feels like it has yet to hit top gear. Like Aries and Shelley in 2004, this felt like the first chapter of something bigger. I guess we'll have to wait and see where things go with this feud, however I was expecting much more fire and passion from both men (again the Evans vss Strong match from the night before was vastly superior).

The rest of the show is filled out with the usual high quality ROH action, including a great tag match between Jack Evans and Naruki Doi vs. the No Remorse Corps and a Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero match with a very surprising special guest star.

Overall verdict: B+
"Some excellent action, but the main event lacks that intangible x-factor that made the first Supercard of Honor so memorable. Having said that, Whitmer and Jacobs have the most brutal match of their career and steal the show away from the Japanese talent with an incredible, must-see cage match."

Thursday, May 03, 2007

ROH to debut on PPV in July - TNA talent pulled

ROH owner, Cary Silkin anounced today that ROH is set to debut on PPV in July which is fantastic news for all involved with ROH (fans and wrestlers alike). After more than 5 years in existence, ROH has carved itself a niche that is somewhere above the average independent show and has become a byword for great in-ring action and a consistent wrestling product that often puts the likes of WWE and TNA to shame. However it has not come without a price.

As a result of ROH anouncing this debut, it is looking like TNA talents like Homicide and Chris Daniels will be pulled immediately from up coming shows. ROH fans knew this was inevitable, however unlike his compatriots CM Punk and Samoa Joe, this means Homicide and Daniels won't get a chance to thank the fans for all their support and say goodbye properly. Fortunately ROH has always been very forward thinking about planning for the future with their talent, not relying on them always being there. However to lose guys like Homicide and Daniels so quickly (guys who have been with the company since the first show) will certainly leave a hole that has to be filled.

One final point is that it will be interesting to see what happens to Austin Aries. Currently suspended from TNA, Aries will be unable to work for ROH because of his TNA deal, yet won't be working for TNA any time soon either. Aries is perhaps even more important than Homicide and Daniels as he is currently in the middle of a faction warfare story involving his new group, the Resillience feuding with former tag partner Roderick Strong's group, the No Remorse Corps.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

WWE Backlash 2007

Good