ROH DVD Review: The Round Robin Challenge

Welcome to the latest in our continuing Friday night series of RING OF HONOR DEE-VEE-DEE reviews. For more information on Ring of Honor visit ROHWrestling.com. This DVD is inexplicably labelled "The Round Robbin Challenge" on the outer case and disc itself, but once loaded into a DVD player the main menu says "The Round Robin Challenge" so I'm going with the less insane name. For those not familiar with the term round-robin simply means "everybody challenges everybody else" which is exactly what they set up on the last ROH show The Era of Honor Begins. Tonight's show from March 30th, 2002 features 'American Dragon' Bryan Danielson, 'Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels and Low-Ki having a challenge series, with each man wrestling the other two once to determine who among them is really the superior grappler. It's such a simple concept really - "who's the better man" - and if this year's WrestleMania 23 build is any indication simple is often best when it comes to professional wrestling. Whether it's a real sport or sports entertainment we all want to know the same thing - WHO RULES THE YARD. It's the same reason they have NBA Finals, a World Series, and the Stanley Cup. All of them are professional athletes, but only one team each year gets to earn the designation "best of the best" along with a large trophy they can show off to their peers for the next 364 days. I'm not sure if any trophy will be awarded here tonight but the effect is still the same - the winner will have bragging rights over his peers and get to rub it in their faces, which will only result in more conflict, which at the end of the day is what all great pro wrestling is about.

The opening of this DVD confirms that the last event was indeed February 23rd, 2002 and shows us clips of all the wrestlers shaking each other's hands in respect - all except for Christopher Daniels, who snubbed both of his opponents in the three-way main event. Then we get footage of all the wrestlers making their entrances through a blue curtain, probably in the same small gymnasium "just around the corner from ECW" they were in last month. Some generic rock music plays in the background with a vocalist who is screaming more loudly and incomprehensibly than most thrash metal I've ever heard. Time for our first match!

* Christopher Daniels v. Bryan Danielson

Horshach introduces this match as one fall to a finish with a one hour time limit, and the first match in the "round robin series." Daniels is billed as being from Sin City, while Danielson is billed as the 'American Dragon' from Aberdeen, Washington. Daniels and Dragon circle each other warily and Daniels finally unloads with punches to the face, a dropkick and a quick pin, Lariat misses, Dragon smashes him in the mush, and Daniels gets up slowly. The two circle again and Dragon misses a take down attempt but connects on the second one, only for Daniels to reverse it and get his back. Dragon goes for a sleeper instead and gets it in but Daniels gets to the ropes and the crowd applauds the grappling action. Test of strength now and Dragon overpowers Daniels to the mat for a two count. Daniels gets back to his feet, hits a leg sweep and gets his own two count. Daniels puts Dragon in a painful neck bridge and keeps jumping on his chest, but Dragon counters into a backbridge crossface. Moves are countered into moves repeatedly and even though certain wrestling writers will say "parity sucks" it's great in this case because the implied story is that both men are so technically proficient it's a test of wills to see who can outsmart his opponent. Dragon has a sleeeper in, Daniels fights to his feet and grabs the ropes, Dragon leapfrogs over him as he charges in and dropkicks him for two. Daniels responds with a back to belly suplex and puts Dragon down on his head, which the announcers put over as the perfect set up for Daniels finishing move, wearing down the neck so he can perfectly execute the Angel's Wings. A series of two counts ensues. Knife edge chops are exchanged between both men in the corner until Daniels gets pissed off and clobbers the back of the neck with a lariat. Fall away suplex right on the head for another two count. Daniels sticks a knee in Dragon's back and yanks up on the chin, but Dragon fights to his feet and clobbers Daniels with a clothesline of his own. Daniels counters Dragon into a neckbreaker and gets another two count. Snapmare and another choke by Daniels, and the announcers put over that Low-Ki is watching the monitor to scout both of his opponents for later in the show. The crowd wills Dragon back up, he fights out with elbows, backslide attempt by Daniels misses and a belly to back suplex by Dragon takes both men down. Dragon gets up first and wails on Daniels with chops and knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Knee coming off the ropes turns Daniels inside out. Dragon throws him in the corner and nails a big forearm to the head. Vertical suplex gets countered and Dragon hits a DDT instead but it's not enough for a pin. Daniels hits a leg sweep and NAILS the BME, but Dragon still kicks out before 3. Then he kicks Daniels literally MMA style and knocks him off his feet for another two count. More chops are exchanged before Daniels hits an open hand judo slap and then knocks Dragon down again for another near fall. Daniels picks him up and does a spinning thunder driver for two. Daniels signals it's over and waits for Dragon to get up, but as Daniels charges in Dragon tries to go for Cattle Mutilation but is unable to apply it correctly due to his sore neck and Daniels gets to the ropes. Dragon suplex is blocked, Daniels hits a piledriver on Dragon and still only get a near fall. Daniels puts on a crossface and cranks on the neck and Dragon is forced to tap out. WINNER: FALLEN ANGEL CHRISTOPHER DANIELS. They shill this as the first time they've ever seen Dragon tap before Daniels grabs the mic: "American Dragon, Ring of Honor, they want us to shake hands after the match, but since I just made you tap, why don't you show me the respect I deserve and shake MY hand." Dragon takes the mic: "Unlike you after the last show, I'm gonna show a little bit of class." Danielson gives him the handshake and then Daniels poses on the ropes.

* Prince Nana & Eric Tuttle w/ Simply Luscious v. The Hit Squad

For those unfamiliar with Prince Nana, the gimmick is that he's a "real prince from Ghana" and that he considers himself royalty and all the rest of the wrestlers to be peons far beneath him, including his two valets who hold the ropes open for him - he blows them off and steps between the ropes above instead. After taking off his ceremonial robes he grabs a mic to cut a promo, but the shitty sound system and echoing gym halls make it nearly impossible to understand him, particularly since Nana is feigning a thick accent. As best I can make out it's something like "from you ignorant people, I demand respect." Nana demands Eric Tuttle get on his knees and shine Prince Nana's boots right in the middle of the ring, which he does. Nana says he won't be shaking any hands tonight and the Hit Squad has finally heard enough, as they hit the ring for an impromptu two-on-one beatdown of Nana. Mafia puts on a figure four leg lock while his partner Monster Mack does a frogsplash. Nana rolls out of the ring and Eric Tuttle tries to defense the Prince's honor but the Hit Squad go high-low and clean Tuttle's clock. Simply Luscious stands outside looking on as Mafia picks up Tuttle in a fireman's carry and puts him down in a burning hammer for the pinfall. WINNERS: THE HIT SQUAD. Christopher Street Connection hit the ring and apparently they want a little payback after what happened to them last month, firing off streamers on their way and running into Prince Nana. CSC exchange words with Nana while Hit Squad pick up Tuttle and launch him airborne towards all three. CSC feign they'll give Tuttle CPR while in the ring Hit Squad grab a handful of Simply Luscious' hair, argue about what they're going to do to her, throw her off the ropes and catch her on the rebound only to hoist her up and launch her airborne in the direction of CSC and the Prince Nana crew. Gangster rap plays as Simply Luscious is picked up by Prince Nana, then he decides that's too dignified and puts her on the ground to drag her to the back by her hair. CSC continue to "check on" Eric Tuttle, and Hit Squad come out to shake all their hands even as they slap them all in the face on the way out. CSC finally get up and they carry Tuttle to the back as their own personal souveneir. They both attempt to give him "mouth to mouth" before Prince Nana drags him off, so they practice on each other instead. You may want to fast forward through this part.

* Christopher Daniels v. Low-Ki

The second in our series of Round Robin Challenge matches, with the same stipulations of one fall and a one hour time limit. Low-Ki is put over as weighing 170 pounds and hailing from Brooklyn, New York which gets a tremendous response from the crowd. The two do a staredown to start off and then Low-Ki offers him a handshake, which Daniels slaps away, so Low-Ki slaps the shit out of him instead and nails him with a roundhouse kick. For the first time ever in the ROH DVD reviews I notice the infamous "Green Lantern Fan" watching right from the front row. Low-Ki continues to work with the feet, nails a rolling heel kick, and gets a two count. Low-Ki switches up to headbutts and clobbers the back of the neck repeatedly, goes for knife edge chops, Daniels tries to make a comeback but Low-Ki powers him down to the mat and wrenches up a side headlock on the neck. Daniels counters it into a roll-up for two. Low-Ki responds with a series of spinning roundhouse kicks and gets a huge pop from the crowd before getting a two count. Daniels is in a world of hurt as Low-KI works on the neck but Daniels bull charges him into the corner of the ring, which Low-Ki counters into an upside down hanging armbar. On the apron Low-Ki kicks him straight in the chops, but Daniels nails a charging Low-Ki with a set of leg sweeps and then drops the big elbow on him. Whip off the ropes into a big clothesline and another two count. Low-Ki is pulled up to his feet for a delayed vertical suplex and pinned for two again. Daniels with a suplex, cranking up on the neck of Low-Ki, and then disdainfully rubbing an elbow in Low-Ki's face. Daniels sets Low-Ki up on the rope rope and jumps off with a scissors right on the neck, then puts him in a boston crab as the crowd chants for Low-Ki to fight off the pain. Low-Ki starts to crawl for the ropes so Daniels puts on an STF instead. Low-Ki tries to crawl again so Daniels rolls him up into the bow and aarow. The ref warns him about something illegal in the hold so daniels goes over to argue before hitting another delayed vertical for a two count. Low-Ki is driven hard into the mat, Daniels misses with a BME, and Low-Ki comes rocketing off the ropes with a kick to the face. Low-Ki's blocked on a Ki Crusher attempt, sets Daniels up on the top ropes, but Daniels counters it, Low-Ki counters back, he ends up on the rop rope, Daniels hits him with a palm strike and suplexes him off the ropes for another two count. Daniels connects with the Angel's Wings but Low-Ki kicks out at 2.9. Daniels is in disbelief as he picks up Low-Ki for a second one but Low-Ki counters it into the Ki Crusher. Low-Ki is too hurt to take advantage though and Daniels crawls up the ropes back up to his feet. Tidal wave kick by Low-Ki knocks Daniels down but he kicks out before 3. Angel's Wings attempt blocked, and Low-Ki turns it into a Dragon Clutch submission and forces Daniels to tap out! WINNER: LOW-KI. One hell of a match. Low-Ki gets to his feet in the warrior stance, raises his arms in victory, and Daniels calls fora microphone. "Low-Ki earlier tonight I beat Dragon and made him shake my hand. You just made me tap out, so... I just wanna say... that doesn't prove a damn thing! You think I'm gonna shake your hand? You're out of your mind. This proves nothing I'm still the better man and I will not wrestle again until the ROH title is on the line." Daniels angrily hands for the lockerroom and the camera follows him as the Hit Squad gets in his face and says if you have a problem with Low-Ki you have a problem with everybody here, and you damn well better do what you're told. Spanky is seen dancing around in the back, totally oblivious to what's going on as he has his headphones on.

* Jay Briscoe (w/ Mark Briscoe) v. Spanky

Bryan Kendrick hits the ring to hip-hop music, and even over the shitty PA system it sounds like Jurassic 5. Jay and Spanky circle and Briscoe gets the better of it before Spanky slaps him in the chest. The announcers remind us Spanky won his contract at last month's show, and that even though he seems like a crazy free spirit the guy can win his matches because he's serious in the ring. Spanky puts Jay in a headlock and wrenches it up, Briscoe counters out and goes for a wrist lock, Spanky tries to roll through and can't escape, he tries an elbow to the head and still can't get free, but finally reverses to his own wristlock before Jay attempts a magistral cradle and Spanky gets under the ropes to break the hold. Test of strength now which Briscoe wins, Spanky escapes from a hammerlock into a wristlock, Mark offers Jay encouragement in the corner and Jay snaps off a couple of quick suplexes for a two count. Spanky counters another attempt, leapfrogs, holds the ropes as he gets thrown and crotches Jay as he charges in. Jay comes over the ropes and hits an Oklahoma roll attempt. Spanky's sliced bread attempt is blocked, Briscoe sets up for a Jay driller, but Spanky throws him off right onto his face and comes flying in the ring with a knee to the back before staggering over for a two count. Spanky knocks Jay down again and goes for a chinlock, but Briscoe gets back to his feet and unloads knife-edge chops. Fisherman buster blocked by Spanky, and he drops boots to the face of Briscoe and does a little dance before making the pin for a two count. Suplex by Spanky and he floats it over into another near fall. Leg sweep takedown and Briscoe sells the neck before another near fall. Spanky keeps working on the neck, goes to the second rope, and throws Briscoe off for another pin attempt. Sliced bread #2 is blocked and Spanky gets busted open on the steel post in the process. Spanky charges in, Jay unloads with chops and a high back bodydrop, a big dropkick, a sitout facebuster and a two count. Short arm clothesline knocks Spanky down as he continues to lose buckets of blood, Spanky manages to comeback with kicks, charges Briscoe and backflips off his chest, but Jay takes him down again and sets him up on the top rope for a fisherman buster, climbs the ropes, Spanky knocks him off with an elbow, jumps from one sides of the ropes to the other and knocks Briscoe down outside the ring. Spanky throws him back in, climbs to the top and goes for a splash but Jay gets his knees up and does a big powerbomb right on Spanky's neck, but Spanky hooks the ropes. He staggers to his feet, gets the sliced bread #2 on a stunned Jay Briscoe, and gets the pin. WINNER: SPANKY DAWG~! He holds up two fingers to celebrate his second victory, and then offers Jay Briscoe a handshake. A fine encounter, Spanky walks to the back punchdrunk and bleeding all over the place.

* Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) v. SAT (Joel & Jose Maximo) v. Amazing Red & Brian XL

Chris Divine and Brian XL to start. The two counter and counter-counter each other's moves repeatedly. Quiet Storm gets tagged in as does Joel Maximo. Series of roll-ups for a near fall by each man, big 'rana by Maximo, another one, arm drag blocked, Maximo slaps Storm in the face, roundhouse kick and forearms, now a series of slaps in each other's faces and the two shake hands before making tags. Amazing Red and Jose Maximo both come in. Maximo offers a handshake and Red slaps it away. The two slap each other so Red kicks Maximo in the face, goes behind, the two roll off each other like water on a duck's back, Red counters each hip toss, Maximo and Red go for slaps and fisticuffs, Maximo sets up a driver but Red gets to his feet and sweeps the legs. Both men stare off and Red makes a tag to Storm, who does a sucide dive to the outside on Maximo, which eventually leads to all the men but Joel Maximo ending up in a pile as they all hit their signature moves. Storm back in the ring now with Red, Storm nails a spinal shock, near fall. Blind tags all over the place and it's hard to keep up with who's legal, even for the announce team, and eventually they just scream "IT'S LUCHA STYLE" and imply that it's all being done tornado style. Topei to the outside on Brian XL, back in the ring Joel Maximo goes top rope with Quiet Storm, superplex off the tope but Red goes off the rop rope on the back of Maximo with knees, then jumps off his back with a moonsault and pins Quiet Storm. STORM & DIVINE ELIMINATED. Red goes behind Joel and nails him with a kick, picks him up for a suplex, ducks a clothesline and then nails another suplex right on the bean and gets a two count. Red goes for a rana so Maximo blocks it and hits the back drop driver for two. Brian XL comes in now, a driver attempt is blocked, sunset flip for two, Jose Maximo picks up Brian XL and drops him face first for a two count. Brian XL floats over the ropes, hits Jose with a kick, goes for a 450 but gets countered into a powerbomb for two. Brian XL picks up Jose and puts him down in an exclamation point for two. SAT throw Brian XL out of the ring and go after Red, Red ducks a charging Joel Maximo, nails him in the balls, sunset flip powerbomb off the ropes for a two count. Brian XL gets back in and nails a double kick, Red goes for a flip off the rop and misses, so Brian XL comes off the ropes instead to take him down, Red and Brian XL fight over who will get the pin, and the Maximos take advantage and Red gets schoolboyed into a pin himself. WINNERS: SAT. Brian XL and Amazing Red get into a fight outside the ring after the match.

* American Dragon v. Low-Ki

The third and final match in tonight's Round Robin Challenge. So far Daniels has won one match, Low-Ki has won one match, so either Dragon wins and nobody has bragging rights or Low-Ki wins and can say he beat both men on the same night. Before the match can start Ken Shamrock hits the ring to give Bryan Danielson and Low-Ki a handshake, then calls for a microphone. "Settle down boys, I'm not here to fight. Both of you guys, I've been sitting back there watching, and you've both shown incredible submission and wrestling skills. It would be an honor for me to be in the ring with the two of you guys and referee this match." The ROH referee takes off his stripes (fortunately he has an ROH shirt on underneath) and gives it to Ken. Ken puts on the referee's shirt and he's now our official ref for this match. He explains the rules to both men: he'll accept a pinfall, a tapout, or stop the fight if one man is unable to continue and declare the other a winner. Once they acknowledge acceptance of the rules he screams LET'S GET IT ON and the match is underway. Dragon gets the early advantage and works Low-Ki from an MMA style mount, goes for a cross armbreaker, then decides to crank the neck instead while Low-Ki tries to push him away with a hand to the face. The two roll around on the mat and Low-Ki gets the mount and goes for some ground and pound. Dragon grabs the neck to block it and the two roll again, Low-Ki gets Dragon's back and throws strikes to the head, then appears to be going for the rear naked choke but instead decides to soften up Dragon with headbutts first before locking it in. Dragon escapes and rolls through for a swinging cradle, then goes to Low-Ki's back for a chokeout of his own. This is by far the most MMA style professional wrestling match I've ever seen, and you have to think they had this in mind when they sent Shamrock out to ref the match. Dragon counters a backbridge into a near fall then grabs the nose of Low-Ki and tries to pull his face off from behind. He lays into Low-Ki with forearms and elbows then goes for another choke, which Low-Ki squirms out of before getting the North-South and laying in a series of knees to the head. They get to their feet and charge the ropes, each looking for a takedown, Low-Ki snaps off a kick to seperate the two and as they stare at each other there's a round of respectful applause. Low-Ki goes for the takedown again and gets mount on Dragon, almost seems to be looking for a superman punch, but ends up with his head trapped between Dragon's knees and Dragon manages to grab the arm and stretch it out for an armbar. The two roll into the ropes and Ken calls for a ropebreak and when they refuse to give it he simply drags both men back to the center of the ring with brute force.Dragon is on top now but Low-Ki works his legs up around, possibly for a triangle choke, so Dragon just picks him up and powerbombs him to the mat. Low-Ki and Dragon both get up slowly, Dragon having stepped through the rpes for a breather, and Low-Ki goes for the Royce Gracie style BJJ trying to work Dragon from his back, Dragon cluthces his hands to block Low-Ki from hyperextending his arm, and Dragon rolls through and wraps a muscular arm right across the side of Low-Ki's head, cinching it tight with the other hand. Low-Ki gets the ropes and Shamrock makes them break and seperate. Low-Ki stays on the ground and kicks up right into Dragon's head, and Dragon falls out of the ring to the floor, selling a flash knockout. Shamrock decides to give him a countout since he's outside the ropes and Dragon slowly recovers and gets back in the ring. Test of strength now, Low-Ki goes behind, grounds Dragon and bridges him to the back for a near fall. Dragon escapes and goes to the legs for a modified reverse figure four, and the announce team shills that AJ Styles will wrestle Low-Ki on the next show along with Eddie Guerrero's return next month. Back on the ground Dragon tries to stretch out Low-Ki but Ki still does the Frank Shamrock style kicks to the head, so Dragon tries to cinch up a leg instead and Low-Ki gets back to his feet hobbling. Sadly the video quality at this point on the DVD is shit and keeps skipping and repeating frames, but you can see from a series of Low-Ki strikes that Dragon got his head split open. Shamrock goes outside the ring to check on him and asks if he wants to continue, Dragon says yes, but Low-Ki catches him coming through the ropes only it backfires as Dragon turns it into an armbar and Low-Ki has to grab the ropes to break it. Test of strength again, Low-Ki with knees to the head in the clinch, both men hit the mat and Dragon ends up in the side mount. Low-Ki rolls through so Dragon takes the back and picks him up to his feet, Low-Ki goes for a rope break but Dragon turns it into a full nelson then nails a belly to back suplex. Ki rolls to the ropes again but Dragon brings him back in, snapmares him and kicks the back, then gives him chops in the chest and the back of the neck and gets a near fall. Dragon gets kicked in the face and both men are down. God damn, if it weren't for the shitty quality of this Takedown Masters DVD, this would be a five star match for sure, but it's hard to enjoy this when it keeps skipping frames - not so hard I'm not enjoying it anyway but it makes five stars into four and a half. Still it's interesting to note that the ROH in-house DVD's are by and large better produced than these ones that actually ended up in retail. Green Lantern Fan looks on as Low-Ki goes for a Dragon Ki Clutch and ends up with a two count. Now he rolls Dragon over for a chokeout and avoids having his shoulders on the mat in the process. Dragon gets to his feet, Ki stays on his back for the choke, so Dragon ends up spilling outside to the floor. Ki still won't let go even after taking a tumble and Dragon fades away. Low-Ki throws him back in and goes for a pin but only gets two. He does the warrior's way stomp and stands on Dragon's chest but Dragon bows up to get him off. Low-Ki gets blocked on a Ki Crusher and Dragon nails him with an elbow and his the dragon suplex into a bridge for a wo count. The video quality finally recovers as Danielson hits a double underhook suplex and goes outside to the top rope, signalling for a flying headbutt, and both men are down as Dragon connects. Low-Ki crawls over for a cover and gets two. Dragon whipped to the corner and Low-Ki hits a tidal wave so hard he nearly flies through the ropes. Dragon suplex by Ki gets a two count. Ki does a Cattle Mutilation on Dragon but he counters with the Dragon Ki Clutch and now each man is doing the other's moves. Ki escapes but Dragon still seems to have an arm trapped and Ki fights and fights to get the ropes, finally getting a foot in and Dragon is forced to break as the crowd respectfully applauds again. Dragon suplexes Ki onto his head and goes for another near fall. Ki whipped to the corner, Dragon charges in for a punch, nails a northern lights suplex and Ki kicks out again. Series of chops on each other, Danielson goes for elbow strikes, Ki goes for the ropes and Dragon blocks him coming with a dropkick, and it's another near fall. Dragon blocked on a couple of brainbuster attempts but one finally connects and both men are down so Low-Ki crawls over for the near fall. Low-Ki goes to kicks and knocks Dragon down, sets up and connects with the Ki Crusher, but Dragon kicks out at 2 and 9/10ths. Ki is stunned. He nails a knee to the back and goes top rope for a phoenix splash but Dragon gets the legs up. Dragon suplex by Danielson for another near fall. Dragon puts Ki on the top rope and goes up for the top rope belly to back suplex, and once again both men are down. Dragon crawls over for the cover and hooks the leg but still can't get 3 on a series of attempts. Dragon sets up Ki on the ropes again for another belly to back but Ki fights out with chops and shots then cinches up a top rope Ki Crusher and connects to a big HOLY SHIT chant from the crowd. Dragon rolls towards the ropes and falls outside for a breather to prevent Ki from getting a pin. Low-Ki crawls across the mat as the crowd goes nuts and the announcers note we're hitting the thirty minute mark. Ki throws him back in for a pin but Dragon puts a foot on the ropes. Ki with a slap to the face and some chops, tidal wave gets countered into a full nelson, backbridge by Dragon into a near fall, then a Cattle Mutilation is applied and Ki is screaming in pain. Low-Ki squirms around and manages to escape but Dragon immediately goes behind and sets up for a second one, and Low-Ki simply refuses to tap even though Shamrock keeps checking to see if he's unconscious as the camera gives us an uncomfortable shot of Dragon's crotch. Finally Ki just passes out and Shamrock declares the match over. WINNER: AMERICAN DRAGON. So the series ends tonight with one win apiece, but I'm not upset that nobody went 2-0 and neither is the crowd as they start a huge RING OF HON-OR chant. If there's an ROH Video release of this event that's much better quality than the Takedown Masters DVD, I urge you at all costs to GET THE DISC because this is some of the best pure wrestling you'll ever see. Low-Ki and Dragon shake hands, Ki bows to both Dragon and Shamrock, Shamrock shakes both of their hands, and does the MMA style victory, giving the official raise of the hand to Danielson as this shitty Takedown Masters DVD continues to jump and skip but mercifully it's the last match so the DVD is over. Still even for the shitty quality during one of the best matches I've ever seen, this release was $10 well spent. See you here next week for another RING OF HONOR DEE VEE DEE review~!