| Date: 03/30 | 5:24 PM |
| Views: 2,403 | |
Stevie J is phoning in these results live from tonight's ROH show at the Michigan State Fairgrounds.
(NOW UPDATED with live post-show notes.)
Adam Pearce def. Matt Sydal, Colt Cabana and Chris Hero in a Four Corner Survival Match. Hero gets the oddest/coolest reactions of anybody in the building - he comes out and gets booed and gets "FUCK YOU HERO" chants, but the minute he starts wrestling and doing his "whacky indie spots" the whole crowd goes nuts and starts chanting "THAT WAS AWESOME." Hero is one-hair's breadth away from turning face, and having Sweeney generate heat for him may be the only thing keeping him heel. Sweeney's "personal trainer" Tank Toland was at ringside for this match.
Erick Stevens def. Sugarfoot Alex Payne in a Do or Die Match. Massive squash as the Des Moines native barely got in any offense before Stevens killed him, much to the dissapointment of the Sugarfoot fan section at ringside.
Masaaki Mochizuki def. Davey Richards. Richards got a lot of No Remorse Corps heat which more or less made Mochizuki the babyface by default, and it didn't hurt that he was the more charismatic of the two either. Richards upped the ante by arguing with the crowd and Mochizuki got over huge; there were Dragon Gate chants by the crowd when it was all said and done.
Bruno Sammartino addresses the crowd. He says that he's not in the shape he used to be and doesn't follow wrestling as much as he used to, but Ring of Honor had the class to invite him and it was great to see a new generation of wrestlers who present "a real alternative." Larry Sweeney interrupts with Tank Toland and Chris Hero. He challenges Bruno to an arm wrestling match challenge. Bruno refused and said Sweeney was a coward, so "his man" should just kick his ass right now. Nigel McGuiness comes in and makes the save, then informs the crowd that's not the way we treat a legend like Bruno Sammartino and gets everyone to chant BRUNO BRUNO and give him a round of applause.
Jimmy Jacobs & Lacey def. BJ Whitmer & Daizee Haze in an Anything Goes Mixed Tag Match. Jacobs went after Whitmer with a spike early and drove it straight into the corner turnbuckle when he missed. Almost immediately Jacobs and Whitmer spilled into the crowd and started brawling on the other side of the building, completely out of view. While their noises indicated carnage and plunder, there was actual wrestling in the ring between Haze and Lacey and they got an initially reluctant crowd all the way into the action to the point that when Whitmer returned people were shouting "BRING THE CHICKS BACK!" Afterwards Lacey promised Jacobs "his reward" in the form of a hug, which prompted both "FEEL HER UP" and "SHE'S A WHORE" chants. Lacey said there was more of that to come.
Jay & Mark Briscoe def. Naruki Doi & Shingo to regain the ROH World Tag Team Titles. While performing a flip over the ropes to the outside Mark Briscoe came down wrong and landed right on his head. He was taken out of the ring on a stretcher. Many people were yelling "STOP THE MATCH" out of concern for Mark, but Jay continued on and eventually nailed the Jay-Driller to capture the belts. After the match, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley hit the ring to a big pop and a "WELCOME BACK" chant, particularly for Shelley. As the promo continues both a "FUCK VINCE RUSSO" and a "FIRE VINCE" chant break out to which Shelley responds, "I know, I hear you." Sabin & Shelley challenge Jay to a match on the April 28th card, and after a "MAN UP" chant he accepts - at which point Sabin & Shelley give him a beatdown and call ROH fans "shit". They remind Jay that his contract specifies he has to defend both belts if his partner can't wrestle, so he'd better find somebody by April 28th. Shelley takes the boos in stride and yells "THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME" and Team TNA departs because "we've got a plane to Orlando to catch."
YAMATO def. Pelle Primeau after interference. Primeau was actually something of a babyface in this match and got several pops and crowd chants, but it's fair to say YAMATO owned him here.
Larry Sweeney brings Brent Albright out to challenge Nigel McGuinness. Nigel accepts, and the match is on! Albright def. Nigel, due to interference from Chris Hero. Sweeney was wandering around ringside the whole time riling up the fans and yelling things like "YOU PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM" which prompted me to shout back "YEAH WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE, YOU'RE NICK HOGAN." Sweeney is one hell of a heat magnet.
Homicide def. Christopher Daniels. Daniels was sporting his vestments of ROH 2006 but still had the beard and the grease paint C. Daniels was getting chants all match long even though he tried to heel the crowd by spitting at them disdainfully and teasing a BME but not delivering on it. One of several matches easily worth buying the DVD for. Afterwards, Homicide gets a beatdown from Adam Pearce, Brent Albright & Jim Cornette. Cornette opens a bottle of mace and pours it into Homicide's eyes, then grabs the mic to cut a promo and remind him that he never forgives, he never forgets, and payback is a bitch. Colt Cabana & Delirious run in to make the save, too little too late.
Roderick Strong def. Jack Evans by submission. This was easily a 5-star match. Evans and Strong did near fall after near fall after near fall, and it was never in any danger of being one too many near falls - they all brought the crowd up another notch. Evans got a "THANK YOU JACK" chant afterwards out of respect. This could and arguably should have been the main event, but of course this was the night of Dragon Gate.
Eight Man All Star Dragon Gate Rules Match: CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito def. Austin Aries, Delirious, Rocky Romero & Claudio Castagnoli. One rather loud female Asian fan kept screaming "SAI-TOHHH" and "CI-MAHHHH," something she did all night long for every Dragon Gate match, and by this point the fans were drinking and having a good time so they started their own "RO-ME-ROHHH" and "CLAU-DI-OHHHH" chants. A lot of the fans in attendance in my section weren't familiar with Delirious (obviously WWE and TNA curiosity seekers) but were all big fans of his "bah bah bah" talk and whacky in-ring antics by the end. Lots of comedy spots, lots of triple and quadruple teaming, lots of flying around both inside and outside of the ring, but it was not a "TNA spotfest" by any means - there was psychology to it and it built and built and built to the big climax, with tons of "THIS IS AWESOME" and "DRA-GON GATE" chants along the way. A worthy sequel to last year's Supercard of Honor Disc 1 Dragon Gate match.