Reported by Ben Hagen of WrestleView.com
On Friday, June 30, 2006 at 3:40 PM EST

Well, we’re passed the half way point . . . and I haven’t been entirely impressed by much of anything. Some good matches along the way, but I’m hoping the final four shows really deliver.

ROH Dragon Gate Challenge 03.30.06 (Detroit, MI)

Match #1 – Falls Count Anywhere Match: Homicide vs. Colt Cabana

The match begins as a slug fest that spills to the floor and into the crowd after a big lariat from Cabana. After fighting into the bleachers about three minutes in, Cabana throws Homicide back over the guardrail. They battle into the ring, using a ladder against each other. Five minutes in, Homicide sticks Colt’s head in it and crushes him with a chair shot to take the match unexpectedly at 5:23.

These two have perfected the art of hatred against each other up to this point. Their No DQ match at 11/19 and their Ghetto fight at “Fourth Anniversary Show" were both highlights of some iffy shows. Though it is confusing that the match would end five minutes in, it is a hard five minutes. The crowd is obviously disappointed at the abrupt ending, but the chair shot to the ladder is more than credible enough to put Cabana down. This is a sign of things to come: *1/2.


Match #2: Ricky Reyes vs. Chad Collyer

For those with good memories, Collyer had a good opening match in Chicago back in 2004 with Reyes’s old partner Rocky Romero. Let’s see how this does. After some decent “feel-out" work, Collyer nails a couple of nice drop kicks, but misses a third. Nearly two minutes in, Ricky catches him between the ropes and just drills him with a DDT to gain control of the match. Ricky dominates the next several minutes, drilling Collyer with some vicious knees and earning near falls here and there until Chad avoids a kick and nails a German for a near fall nearly four minutes in. The match is back-and-forth from here. Reyes counters a scoop slam into a triangle choke, but Collyer counters it into a Cloverleaf to a big crowd pop. Moments later, however, Ricky counters a bridging pin attempt into his Dragon Sleeper (great counter, if not an obvious one) for the tap out victory at 7:11.

Though this isn’t as good as the Romero match back at Death Before Dishonor 2 Part 2, it is a nifty little seven minute match that is much more solid than several matches I’ve seen in this series thus far. Though they don’t have much time to do anything superb, this match still managed to draw the crowd into a few great near falls. Thumbs up. I dug Collyer’s dead lift German suplexes although they didn’t elicit much of a response from the crowd. A perfectly decent mid-card match that is much better than, say, Jimmy Yang vs. Roderick Strong from “Arena Warfare," and just as good as some matches that one might think would be better, say, Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli from “Best in the World": **.


Match #3: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs

After a harmless couple of minutes, Whitmer fakes to go after Lacey drawing Jacobs into a dive attempt. BJ catches him and proceeds to just destroy him outside the ring with three vicious Irish whips to the guardrails. He continues to dominate back in the ring until about the five minute mark when a Jacobs headscissor takedown sends him into a corner. Jimmy follows up with some nice offense and, at one point, dropkicks BJ’s head against a ring post. Nearly eight minutes in, Jacobs attempts his big back senton, but catches Whitmer’s knees. When BJ gets to his feet, Jimmy rushes him but gets caught and drilled with a nice Exploder which allows Whitmer some time to recover. The action really picks up hereafter. Over ten minutes in, a brainbuster earns BJ a nice near fall moments before one of the major bumps of the year. Whitmer powerbombs Jacobs off the top rope sending him on a horrific ride! Dangerous indeed. Minutes later, Jacobs still manages to fight back and nails the Contra Code! However, Lacey insists that he put Whitmer through a table (I haven’t heard a “Please don’t die!" chant in a while), and he pays with a top rope belly-to-belly suplex when he attempts to do so. BJ decapitates him with a lariat, and a headless limp Jimmy Jacobs is finally put down for the three count at 15:14.

There is some really killer action here that was unexpected. Though I don’t like that Whitmer’s German / Dragon combination were cut off with a roll up counter, Jacobs got dominated thereafter. In addition, I have issue with Jacobs’ selling after the big beautiful powerbomb botch . . . but can I really be angry with him for fighting back after a move that really and truly could have killed him? I mean . . . wow. Anyway, despite those little issues, this match ladies and gentleman thrilled the hell out of me. Whitmer’s character feels more confident. Jacobs’ obsession with Lacey gives him a reason to live. Both men, though they have different methods, kept pretty good control. When BJ’s comeback hit, the match kicked into another gear that brought the crowd alive (though they were pretty into it before), and the botch just added more insanity to an already high impact match that I never thought would deliver as much as it did. Granted, there are problems, but it is one of the best undercard matches of the series thus far. I could be overrating it just because of how fun this was to watch, but I really feel that even without the eye-popping spots near the end, this was good, good match. Well done boys: ***.


Match #4 – Dragon Gate Challenge Match #1: Ryo Saito vs. Jimmy Yang

Both men exchange control until a seated dropkick from Saito sends Yang rolling out to the floor nearly two and a half minutes in. Though Yang throws some nice kicks back in the ring, Ryo still catches him running in and suplexes him over into the corner. He controls the match for a while longer until Jimmy catches him running in, crotches him on the top rope, and nails him with an enziguiri sending him to the outside. Yang controls the match from here-on-out, answering a few hard chops from Saito with a great looking kick combination that puts Ryo down. He starts reversing things, however, when he catches Jimmy coming off the ropes with a dropkick to the stomach. He strings together offense until the ten minute mark where he pulls out the Fisherman Express for a near fall. After Yang sort of whiffs a kick catching Saito coming off the top, the match hits its back-and-forth finishing stretch that sees Saito eventually outmaneuver Yang by back stepping away from a moonsault attempt. He hooks a killer looking Dragon suplex (coined the “Premium Bridge") and takes the first match in the series at 11:53.

Nifty little match that, though a little lacking in crowd heat and a little heavy on the whiffs, at least is watchable. Saito is extremely solid; Yang not so much. The early cockiness of Yang countered by the talent of Saito worked pretty well, but the body of the match suffers a tad. I’m not exactly sure what happened on the Yang Time attempt (it looks as though Saito tries to move but gets hit anyway), but they held things together. Nothing special here, and I’m a little curious as to why Jimmy Yang got this match instead of someone more . . . important? Although it isn’t special, it is still better than quite a few of the matches on the earlier shows in the series: *3/4.


Match #5: Bryan Danielson / Delirious vs. Jimmy Rave / Alex Shelley

Delirious and Alex Shelley start things off. Around three minutes in they actually start wrestling (after some really fun stuff), but Delirious continues with the antics after Rave tags in. Nearly five minutes in, he begins chewing on the green part of the West Ghana flag as the crowd chants, “Eat it! Eat it!" The ROH Champ tags in moments later, and we get some more fun stuff with Danielson attempting the surfboard while Shelley crosses himself repeatedly. In another nice little moment, Delirious attempts an airplane spin on Rave before tagging out. Danielson, of course, comes in and says, “That’s not how you do it!" He picks up Jimmy, and while Delirious sits patiently in the corner like a good little schoolboy, Danielson spins Rave around (Delirious of course pops up eventually and begins doing laps around the ring). Rave and Shelley can’t pull it together until about the twelve and a half minute mark when Shelley kicks Dragon into the guardrail while Nana distracts him. They isolate Danielson for the next several minutes with some good basic heelish tactics until the seventeen minute mark where Danielson evades both men before nailing a double drop kick (though I’m wondering if his evasiveness was actually supposed to be his usual flip-up out of the corner? oh well). He makes the tag to Delirious who comes in able to get some good offense in on both Rave and Shelley. He misses Shadows over Hell and eats a superkick from Shelley, but he counters Sliced Bread #2 allowing the ROH Champ to destroy Alex with a missile dropkick from the top. After stereo Cattle Mutilations, Danielson nails a wild tope to Rave leaving Delirious alone with Shelley. Due to distraction, Shelley hits a low blow and Sliced Bread picking up the victory when Rave cuts off Dragon with a spear. The Embassy take it at 20:56.

I dug this one quite a bit more than I did the first time. A lot more. This match could have been quite a bit better, but overall, it still worked really well as a mid-card match (a long one at that). Danielson continues his little nifty tweener character as even in little things like being tagged in, he refuses to kick Shelley while Delirious holds him. Instead, he just takes over the arm wringer. The antics translated well into some nice work near the end involving all four men, and it is obvious they were grooming Delirious for something more here. He has evolved from the guy who is funny and gets his ass kicked to a guy who legitimately threatens his opponents in the ring (while still maintaining his insanity). I love all four of these guys so I might be a bit biased, but I don’t really see how either of the tags the night before were better than this. The Briscoes / GN tag might be a smidgen better, but this one is so much cleaner and just as entertaining without the fancy double team stuff (which I still love of course). Well done match that blows away most other mid card matches in this series. It isn’t as high impact as Whitmer / Jacobs, but I feel it is just as good. Oh yeah, and Nana’s dance at the end is adorable: ***.


Match #6: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shane Hagadorn

Even though the thought of this match makes me say, “Yuck," Hagadorn’s out-of-placeness is sort of endearing. He dominates Claudio for about two minutes before a springboard back elbow puts him down. Though Shane does get a boot in, the Alpamare Waterslide drowns him at 4:03.

This is fun enough given the ridiculousness of Hagadorn in the ring, but it isn’t much. At least it isn’t offensive. ½*? I dunno.


Match #7: Dragon Kid / Genki Horiguchi vs. AJ Styles / Matt Sydal

Sydal and Genki start things off with some nice work before Styles tags in about two minutes in. They drag arm drags before AJ indicates he wants Dragon Kid. On the lock up, Styles powers him to the mat, but gets taken over with a headscissors moments later. The Do-Fixer combination isolate Styles for a bit, but AJ powers Horiguchi into his corner about five minutes into the match. Later into the bout, Genki nails an enziguiri on Sydal and a vertical suplex allowing him to make the tag to Dragon Kid. He comes in with a missile drop kick to Styles and a spin kick to Sydal before attempting what turns out to be a botched Déjà vu. After some nice Do-Fixer dives, Styles catches Kid back in the ring and drills him with a hard back suplex. And we’re in the finishing stretch, folks, about eleven minutes in to strange chant of “This Is Awesome!" (considering that the match hasn’t really been that good up to this point). Styles manages to escape a Dragon Rana attempt (since Dragon Kid is not the legal man), and (after Sydal takes out DK with a nice dive) struggles to maneuver his way into a Styles Clash on Genki. He finally powers his way into it for the win at 12:32.

Sadly, what sort of kills this match for me is the botched Déjà vu from Dragon Kid as well as some other really messy spots. Otherwise, this match is entertaining, and watching Styles be a dick to Dragon Kid makes me excited to see what he does with Evans on the next show. I like that they kept legal man rules (I’m too much of a stickler sometimes but I don’t care) with Dragon Kid needing Horiguchi to attempt the pinfall after his Dragon Rana and Sydal needing Styles to attempt the pinfall on Genki after his standing moonsault. Still, that sort of nifty stuff isn’t enough to overcome a bad night for these guys. The crowd is more than happy though, and considering the other good stuff on this show, I’m not too disappointed either (as long as the next DG match delivers): ** (probably the worst match to receive the coveted *rolls eyes* “This Is Awesome!" chant).


Match #8: Blood Generation vs. Generation Next (Strong, Aries, Evans)

I’ll try folks, but six man tags are nearly impossible to properly do PBP for. Let’s suffice it to say that the six guys take turns going back and forth with some pretty good looking stuff (can I be any more general?) before Generation Next isolate Yoshino about four minutes in. At one point, Evans throws one chop, tags in Aries, who purposely nails a weaker looking chop before tagging in Strong. Masato tries begging off, but Roderick destroys him anyway. Generation Next continues the onslaught until the six and a half minute mark where he tags in CIMA. Evans attempts to fend of the returning Japanese wrestler but is almost immediately drilled with a beautiful ace crusher. Needless to say, this is the point in the match where Jack Evans gets mutilated. Running through all the nice looking double and triple teams is pointless. In short, they kill him until the twelve minute mark when Evans takes out Doi and Yoshino with an amazing looking springboard moonsault into a double back elbow which allows him to tag out. Hereafter, it is also pretty impossible to keep up with the action in words, so let’s suffice it to say that we’re treated to a really great looking and complicated finishing stretch. CIMA sets up Evans on the top, but eats a huge boot from Strong. Roderick hits the half-nelson on Doi, but Evans misses a 450 attempt and eats a super kick from CIMA. Yoshino yanks out Strong; Doi holds onto Aries; CIMA kills Evans with the Schwein for the victory at exactly 16:00.

This is a really good match. I mean . . . really good. Evans is a perfect little kick bag, and the closing sequences were so complicated that they would have needed more cameras to catch it all (and we would need more televisions to see it all). It is amazing how well these six worked together considering the speed of the match and the language barrier that separates them, but they more than made up for the poor execution of the previous match. Jack whiffs a springboard hurricanrana early, but that is really the only bad spot in the match. I’m not a fan of these sorts of matches where tags aren’t necessary, but I think this match indicates why ROH should never hold another Scramble match or Six Man Mayhem again. Any attempt to do so would only pale in comparison to something like this. Great effort by all guys to really put an exclamation point at the end of this three match series. I look forward to their matches on the next two shows. Regardless of how Daniels / Joe turns out, Dragon Gate Challenge is easily the best show of the series thus far. This, the Embassy/Dragon/Delirious tag, and Whitmer/Jacobs along with other work that looks more motivated than on other shows, ROH really impresses me here. This match in particular delivered on all fronts. The more I watch it, the more I really, really love it. Poor Jack: ***3/4.


Match #9: Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe

First off, sometimes I feel that the hype for some of these matches is just so goofy and cliché that I can’t help but laugh. The video package before this match ends with the question, “Who is the better man?" Is this even a question that makes sense? Even if Joe loses tonight, he has beaten Daniels three times in singles matches very decisively: once for the ROH Title, once for the ROH Pure Title, and once in a match where Daniels pretty much took away one of his wheels. If Daniels beats Joe here, I don’t think he has a good claim to say that he is the “better man." Eesh. Anyway.

Joe rushes Daniels on his entrance since the Fallen Angel taunts him with the TNA X-Division championship claiming, “The champ is here!" They brawl for several minutes before entering the ring. With Joe in command, Sinclair rings for the bell. Though Daniels avoids a high knee to the corner, he can’t dodge a nice sweep kick before getting drilled with a flying knee moment later. Joe grabs Daniels by his left ear in the corner and props him up for an early Muscle Buster attempt. Chris, however, manages to block it before flipping Joe up and over the ropes to the outside following up with an Arabian Press to the floor. Daniels stays on offense for a couple of minutes, but Joe counters a second headscissors attempt into a reverse sit-out powerbomb. Daniels attempts to fight back, but the former ROH champion continues cutting him off with a back elbow and an ST-Joe at one point. As usual, Joe dominates the body of the match really well. After finally nailing his high knee to the corner ten minutes in, Joe attempts the Muscle Buster for a second time. The Fallen Angle wiggles free, however, nails some quick shoulder blocks to Joe’s stomach in the corner before drilling the Iconoclasm to earn some recovery time. The closing sequences of this match sees Daniels struggle to nail all his signature maneuvers while surviving Joe’s offense in between. Near the end of the match, Daniels, in a last ditch effort to escape the choke, nails a quick jawbreaker. Joe survives the Angel’s Wings immediately thereafter, but falls to Daniels when he eats three moonsaults in a row. Christopher Daniels takes it in 15:36 (plus a few minutes of brawling before the bell).

This had some great fire to it, but overall the match still feels like it lacks some element of believability in the feud. Joe does a great job of looking pissed, and Daniels should look desperate in relying on punches, pulling out every move he knows, and relying on Danger but I don’t really feel it. The match itself is fine, but disappointing as one of Joe’s few main events this year. He’s the best wrestler in the company, and I’ve yet to really see him be given much room to show that. Still, the crowd is into this, there are some nice little touches (like Joe continually grabbing at Daniels’ ears and such since he doesn’t have hair), and Daniels struggling to string together the necessary high impact moves to wear down Joe enough is done pretty well. All in all, not a great match, but a pretty good one all the same: **3/4.


Closing Thoughts

This is more like it. There isn’t a MOTYC or anything, but with four good matches hovering around three stars (one inching close to four) “Dragon Gate Challenge" is easily the best show of the series thus far. I’m hoping the next three can continue this momentum after three shows that could arguably be called disappointing. Until next time . . .