ROH This Means War 2 DVD

The ROH World champion is of vital importance for Ring of Honor wrestling. Not only is he the figurehead for the company, but also the focal point for whatever style of wrestling the promotion wishes to showcase. For example when Samoa Joe and Low-ki were champs, it was all about great workrate and stiff kicks. When Bryan Danielson help the belt it was all about long, technical matches. Now we have Takeshi Morishima as ROH Champ then we see the Puro influences begin to come through in the ROH product and nothing could be more evident of this than that dream partner tag match which main events this show.

The British duo of Nigel McGuinnes and Doug Williams (both Pro Wrestling NOAH regulars) take on the ROH champ Takeshi Morishima and NOAH new boy, Chris Hero. As is so often the case, this match was about continuing issues from previous shows (McGuinnes vs. Hero) but also preparing for the next night's show and the world title match of Morishima vs. McGuinness. Unfortunately, this also gives the show a feeling of treading water. Although the match itself was a lot of fun (featuring some incredibly smarky moments where Hero would use the siuganture moves of NOAH stars like Misawa, Marufuji and Kenta), it never really got out of 2nd gear as all 4 men were clearly saving themselves for the next night's show.

Unfortunately the under-card did not offer the kind of blow-away match which often saves a show like this. Although Delirious and Colt Cabana have a rematch of their FYF:Finale comedy and Claudio and Jay Briscoe have a surprisingly enjoyable match (which sets up a future tag title shot for DOuble CC), there is very little that stands out on this show and makes it a must-see. The major angle coming out of this show involves the continuation of the faction warfare rivalry between Austin Aries new group The Resilliance (named at this show) and Roderick Strong's No Remorse Corps. This is the show that sees FIP stand-out Erick Stevens join Aries and M-Dogg Matt Cross, however it does make the group any more succesful as this storyline continues to be remarkably one-sided thus far. The 6-man tag which comes on before the main event is another fine match, but again feels like a step along the road of a longer journey rather than an essential moment to savour.

Overall verdict: C+"Nothing wrongf with this show, but nothing must-see either. Perhaps best recommended for completists only, however there are some good matches on here for those who want to take a chance on it"