Ring of Honor in Cambridge
by Joe Gagne
Note: This report will of course contain tons of extraneous crap. You have been warned.
Round four for ROH in Boston. My buddy Chris K, who attended the previous three shows, was unable to attend. So I roped my buddy Johnny into going. He's a wrestling fan, but pretty much only watched WWE, so he didn't know what to expect. I joked maybe Jamal will do a run-in tonight.
We head out to Cambridge and have a smooth trip, except for the 20-minute wait to get through the tolls (God, I hate Massachusetts sometimes).
We arrive and they don't charge $2 for parking like they did last time. Fine by me, though I gladly would've paid 2 dollars rather than try to find parking in Cambridge (God, I hate Massachusetts sometimes).
They start letting people in a little before 6:30. We grab our same spot from the last show over by the entranceway. However, they changed the setup this time so there was a huge speaker right next to us, so anytime they played someone's music or a wrestler cut a promo it was like being at a rock concert. I'll say this, it's a good thing I'm typing this rather than having an actual conversation with you.
They had a special Showcase card at 6:30, to, uh, showcase talent.
Showcase (Showdown) Card:
Thorn vs. Flatliner: I think the dude's name was Thorn. Sitting right next to the speaker made it hard to understand some names. He was an average looking dude who had some eyeballs drawn into the back of his shorts. Flatliner was a big black dude who got some Ahmed Johnson chants. Not good match, the low point being some miscommunication on a chokeslam where Flatliner only got Mr. Thorn a foot off the ground. Flatliner wins with a non-sucky chokeslam.
Jimmy Jack Cash (?) vs. Rip (?): Again, don't quote me on those. [ROHwrestling says Jimmy Jact Cash vs Lit - tcf] Cash was a pretty jacked dude. Rip is another member of Special K, making him the 88th member of that stable. Maybe the most unmemorable match in history--I do remember Cash won with a powerbomb/chokeslam deal.
Dunn/Marcos/Slyk Wagner Brown vs. Angel Dust/Slugger/Another member of Special K (Hydro? [Cloudy - tcf]): Whoever scores the fall here goes on to compete in the four-way later in the show. Brown competed a lot in New England indies so he was over, as were Dunn and Marcos. Just goes to show, like in MMA, it's better to lose and be interesting than win and be a stiff. Some really slick double and triple team moves from the faces, including a triple leapfrog spot. Slugger gets tagged in and just destroys D+M. At one point he picks up Marcos for a powerslam and Dunn comes off the top like he was going for a 'rana, but Slugger catches him too, while also holding Marcos, then falls forward for a powerslam/powerbomb combo. Yikes. Lots of shenanigans see Angel Dust pin Slyk after Slugger gives him a slam-into-a-diamond-cutter deal. I thought it weird Slyk did the jobski, especially since Dunn and Marcos were right there. I also thought it weird Angel Dust would be in the four-way, but that was certainly cleared up later.
They announce Steve Corino isn't there tonight, and Michael Shane will be taking his place. They had a new lighting setup where they could lower the house lights-it looks great in person and should look better on video. The regular show started a few minutes late, at about 7:45. I go to the bathroom but there are no angle advancements this time.
Christopher St. Connection vs. Carnage Crew: Johnny was no doubt wondering what he had gotten himself into by this point. I usually went up to the aisle when wrestlers made their entrance, but opted not to do so when the CSC came out. You can pretty much guess how this one went. CSC with all their regular spots. Crew tries their nutty second rope piledriver on Mase but it gets broken up. Crew eventually wins after a Devito moonsault. Good, I thought, they retired that crazy piledriver. Oops, guess not, as they give it to the CSC's valet after the match. Why why why why would you take that move when you're only getting a $20 payoff and an Arby's coupon for your troubles? Crew teases doing the move again but ends up just leaving.
Matt Stryker vs. Chance Beckett: Stryker works in Heartland Wrestling Association and worked last time ROH was in Cambridge. Chance made headlines by making it all the way to the finals of this year's Super 8. He also needs to get some sun, 'cause he's quite the pasty fellow. They billed this as a "Purist's Dream Match," and it was mostly mat based. Solid, if unspectacular. Stryker eventually got the tap out with a Trailer Hitch. Beckett took a hard open hand slap from Stryker to the back that left this handprint, like he was Barry Horrowitz 2K3 or something.
OK, time for the four way. Get this, Angel Dust comes out, but suddenly his music stops, and Prong's "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" starts playing instead. I think "Oh no, that's Justin Credible's music." And sure enough, Justin comes out, superkicks Angel Dust, and announces he's taking his place in the match, which doesn't seem very honorable, but what can you do? And people were going batshit for Justin, no joke. You'd think it was Dynamite Kid getting out of his wheelchair to wrestle a match from the pop Justin got.
Homicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. John Walters vs. Justin Credible: Sabin's the current TNA X Division champ, and this was actually the first time I've seen him. Walters is a local guy and the crowd was hot for him. To his credit, he put on a really good perfomance. Crowd was way into this. You know the drill, lots of innovative stuff, a big dive sequence to the floor, everyone hits finishers but someone else breaks them up. Sabin and Credible brawl to the back while Homicide gets the tap out on Walters with an STF (I think, I was watching Credible/Sabin brawling about 6 inches away from me).
CM Punk/Colt Cabana vs. Raven/BJ Whitmer: This was a no DQ tag match. Punk cuts a promo before about his straight edge soldiers and compares himself to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (uh, I don't think that X was for straight edge). Big brawl, Raven and Punk fight to the back and come out a minute later with Punk wearing the crimson mask. BJ was busted open too and both guys really tapped an artery. There was a big brawl on the floor away from my section and I saw none of it. I'd here the occasional sound of someone getting hit with a chair or garbage can but that was it. They finally take it back to the ring and Cabana pins Whitmer with the Colt 45 (same as A-Train's Train Wreck, but Colt double underhooks the arms and sits out rather that dropping to his knees). Punk and Cabana do a beatdown afterwards.
Intermission time. Alexis Laree comes out and I lend some people the pen I was carrying so they could get their ticket stubs signed. Ain't I great? I grab the last Cambridge show and the First Anniversary show from 2/03 at the merch table. Why oh why won't they make a Special K shirt? It pretty much designs itself.
Prince Nana vs. Diablo Santiago: Santiago's one half of the Outkast Killaz, I forget the name of his partner. Nana had a big wedgie when he took his robes off. The standard post-intermission quickie. Nana wins with a weird looking Impaler a few minutes in, then cleans house on both Killaz afterwards.
Mikey Whipwreck/Dixie (with the rest of Special K) vs. S.A.T.: The new Special K entrance in something to behold. Mikey looked thick-not really fat, just bulky. This was spotty but better than I thought it would be. Some stuff was blown, but other stuff looked good. Dixie took a Kryptonite Krunch from one of the Maximos on the ring apron. YE-OUCH. S.A.T.'s get the win with a Doomsday DDT on Dixie. Afterward the Carnage Crew comes out and attacks Mikey for some reason. Then they announce Justin Credible is the newest member of the crew, since he's as pissed off as they are.
AJ Styles vs. Paul London: AJ came out with both the NWA World Title and his ROH tag titles. This was for the #1 contender's Bowling Trophy. Hey, this match ruled, go figure. Crowd was pretty split over whom to root for. Basic story was London teasing going heel, using some questionable tactics. London spent a lot of the match working on AJ's leg, including doing a Shooting Star Press onto it. Styles was able to hit a Styles Clash but his leg prevented him from making the cover. Finish saw AJ hit a German, but both men's shoulders were down so it was a draw. Cruddy ending aside, the easy match of the night. I'm guessing TNA wouldn't want the NWA World Champ doing the jobski, so maybe they changed the ending to a draw? I dunno. London did shake AJ's hand afterward.
ROH is HOR: Samoa Joe, CW Anderson, and Michael Shane come out for a gab session. They call Low Ki out from the back (Ki's shoulder is injured, so he didn't wrestle, although ROH did advertise him as making an appearance). Ki comes out in a Jason Kidd Nets jersey-not a good way to babyface yourself in Mass. To make a long story short, Joe extends an invitation to join The Group (seriously, that's the name of their stable). Before Ki can answer, Christopher Daniels, Danny Maff, and Donovan Morgan (collectively known the Prophecy) come out to rebut. They say Ki would be better joining their stable since he'd never get a shot at Joe's title. Ki takes the mic and gabs about how much the title means to him, then slips up by saying "I gave my heart and soul for sixty seconds to win that belt." Wonder what he did for the other 59 minutes? (If you don't get it, Ki won the belt in an hour long four way iron man match). Ki, of course, doesn't align with anyone, and says whichever side loses must disband. What is he, the commissioner? Oh wait, he goads Joe and Daniels into the stip, then goes to the back for a Fresca or something.
Christopher Daniels/Danny Maff/Donovan Morgan vs. Samoa Joe/CW Anderson/Michael Shane: Weirdly, they didn't announce this as the main event. No heat early-we had been in the building for over four hours at that point and just sat through a long interview so we were burned out. Samoa Joe looks to start but Shane hops in the ring and says "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa" and insists he start. This guy in the crowd starts going "whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa" whenever Shane does something and it's pretty comical. This greatly upset this Asian kid, who yelled out "Hey redneck, shut up." This caused the redneck to respond "Shut up geek!" and I wonder if this will be our main event. This finally pick up near the end as Maff surprisingly pins Joe with a roll up, no doubt to set up a title match down the road. The Group must disband (no loss there) and Joe leaves the ring looking forlorn.
That's the show. We hang around for a while. I manage to talk to CM Punk, HC Loc, and AJ Styles and get their autographs. Cool guys. We take off at 11:30 and make good time home (no toll problems this late at night).
Fun show. The usual variety of matches and a hot crowd certainly helped. Well worth going out of your way to see a show if they come to your area.