Reported by Ben Hagen of WrestleView.com
On Sunday, July 2, 2006 at 6:53 PM EST

ROH Supercard of Honor 03.31.06 (Chicago Ridge, IL)

Match #1 – Four Corner Survival: Ricky Reyes vs. Delirious vs. Flash Flanagan vs. Shane Hagadorn

Well, before this match we get a little thing pitting Joe / Pearce against two masked ROH students posing as “hardcore" wrestlers. It is pretty fun, and pumps the crowd up. I’m feeling lazy so we’ll just pretend it never happened.

After a “losing his mind" skit from Delirious, the first section of this opening match sees Reyes tested against Flanagan and Hagadorn before Delirious tags in three minutes later. His antics continue to irritate the other wrestlers in the match, however, and all three guys stomp him down to the mat moments later. With Delirious taken to the outside, the match hits a strange section where all three guys just sort of keep hitting moves on each other at random. Six minutes in, Delirious nails Shadows over Hell on Flash but only manages a near fall (an illegal one since Hagadorn is really the legal man). Afterwards, Reyes nails a great looking neckbreaker before locking in his Dragon Sleeper for the tap out victory over Delirious at 6:53.

What started okay quickly got bad. The moves are okay, but the execution feels passionless, and the complete abandonment of the tag format is never a good thing for me (although the fact that only three near falls occurred during that whole awkward segment surprised me). This isn’t a matter of the referee forgetting. This is a matter of the wrestlers either being told not to worry about it (as in “Don’t take the time to do what is necessary to make those near falls legal") or the wrestlers being too lazy to take care of it. Get rid of these kind of matches if we’re only going to go back to the typical “first half: tag; second half: tornado" rules. Flanagan looked okay. Hagadorn is just too goofy to take seriously, but I think if used correctly he might have his place as some sort of character that really doesn’t deserve to be there yet still manages to stick around. Bad, bad opening match: 1/2*.

Match #2: Jimmy Rave / Alex Shelley vs. Claudio Castagnoli / Jimmy Yang

Shelley and Yang start things off with some really nice work (within thirty seconds the best Yang work of this series thus far). Team Face play around with the Embassy for a while, isolating Shelley after one particularly interesting sequence. Eight and a half minutes in, Shelley stomps on Yang’s foot, snap mares him, rakes his boots over his eyes, and drills him with a great looking basement dropkick to the back of the head before tagging the Crown Jewel. The Embassy isolates Jimmy with some really nice stuff. Twelve minutes in, Yang eats a clothesline / spear combination, but still manages to kick out after Shelley knocks Double C off the apron. Shortly thereafter, however, Jimmy makes the tag to Claudio after a top rope drop kick to Alex Shelley and a enziguiri to Rave. The closing sequences are quite good (better than I remember them) with Claudio stepping up, Shelley looking like a machine, and Yang’s offense at a minimum. The roll up exchange with which Rave ends up winning at 16:04 does feel a tad awkward though.

I don’t require a series of near falls or big moves, but the work just felt rushed, and Jimmy Rave’s pin over Castagnoli didn’t quite feel legitimately capable of earning the three count. Still, even though it feels abrupt, in a way it should. The work here is built a lot like the Embassy tag last night. It begins with some humor, goes smoothly into a nice Embassy control segment, and ends after some really solidly controlled exciting tag work. Had this been given just another minute for Rave and Claudio to build some more energy, it would legitimately be in the running for match of the night. But as is, it still really delivers better than I recall on a first viewing and I’m more than happy to take this as a second match of the night (though it probably should have been the opener). Shelley and Rave continue to look incredible as team, earning great heel heat, while Yang looked motivated and Claudio didn’t piss me off with his horrible “chain wrestling." Thumbs up: **3/4.

Match #3 – First Blood Match: Ace Steel vs. Chad Collyer

Ace Steel tosses a “Section B" seating sign into the ring like a javelin sending Collyer running to the outside. This is just goofy looking with Steel carrying around this contraption that is just falling apart in his hands. Hilarious. Anyway, Chad takes control after the referee distracts Steel. When Ace begins fighting back moments later, the crowd chants, “Bleed! Bleed!" while he pounds away at his forehead. The match is very focused around both guys trying to get the other guy to bleed with a lot of punches, strikes, and other various head-first slams into barricades and tables. About five and a half minutes in, Chad hits a bulldog onto a collapsed table on the floor for a nice . . . near fall? At eight minutes, Collyer sends Ace into a section of guardrail propped in the corner with a hip toss before ramming his head over and over again into it. Steel fights back moments later, slamming Chad off the top before countering a piledriver. He scoops up Collyer immediately thereafter and tombstones him into the guardrail! Crazy Ace waits for him to struggle to his feet and drills him with a steel chair to draw first blood at 11:51.

This match is better than it is given credit for. It really feels like a first blood match with both guys’ offense very focused around targeting their opponent’s face and head (while not necessary to win the match, both guys are clear that they want to bust the other guy’s head open; a scratch on the arm won’t do). I’m not sure what some were expecting, but it is a lot more solid than I first thought it would be. What were people demanding from this match? Barbed wire? Gosh, I hope not. It would have been nice if Collyer really got opened up at the end, but a win is a win and blood is blood. I felt they brought the hatred (albeit goofy at times) and the necessary offense with a sprinkling of mild eye-poppers that kept the show moving along nicely and the crowd happy. Good effort at a local feud from two guys who pulled it off nicely: **.

Match #4: AJ Styles / Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries / Jack Evans

Jack Evans and Matt Sydal start things off trading holds and counters before Sydal drills Evans with a nice drop kick. At this point, Styles gets tagged in and just tosses Evans to the corner demanding the former ROH champion. Though the crowd wants Styles and Aries to tear it up, Sydal tags himself in to test himself once more against Austin. They go back and forth with some nice work reminiscent of their earlier matches before Sydal counters an Aries headscissors with a headstand / drop kick combination! After returning the favor with a hard kick, Aries tosses Sydal to his corner as if to say, “Okay, I’m done with this guy. Nice warm up. NOW, bring it Styles." After a quick stalemate, Styles / Sydal attempt to isolate the tag champion unsuccessfully as Aries counters a standing moonsault with his knees moments later. This in turn leads to the GN team isolating Sydal with some really good looking stuff (most combinations of Generation Next never seem to run out of things to do). Just over ten minutes in, however, Sydal counters a vertical suplex and kills Jack Evans with a nasty German suplex before tagging AJ. Jack tries fending him off, but Styles military presses Evans and just dickishly sends him hurtling toward the mat with a spinebuster. As he was the night before, Jack Evans is and ever shall be: isolated by the opposing team. Fifteen minutes in, Jack Evans makes a miracle tag (avoiding a double back drop beautifully). The closing sequences here are just gorgeous so I won’t give much away. Suffice it to say that Evans gets murdered with a Styles Clash on the floor. Sydal manages to fend off Austin Aries back in the ring and nails a Shooting Star Press after AJ rolls a lifeless limp Jack Evans back in the ring for the victory at 17:46.

Absolutely my favorite tag of the Milestone Series thus far. Styles looks grumpy. Evans feels a need to prove himself. Evans is cocky and gets destroyed. Austin Aries brings the goods as he has this whole series (despite being surrounded by disappointing matches). They wrestled at their pace. Though the crowd wanted Styles / Aries right away, they saved it and saved it allowing the other two guys to really deliver and add so much to this match. The structure is quite good with Sydal proving himself Evans’ equal before suckering in Aries by tagging Styles. He attempts to prove himself once more, but Aries is more than up to the challenge. They tease a control segment on Aries who turns the tables on Sydal who eventually turns the tables on Evans who has to rely on his speed to try and give his team one more chance. The closing sequences followed legal man rules all the while just building and building and never disappointing all the way up to the end where Aries bullet topes Styles getting revenge for the Styles Clash on Evans, but in doing so also costing the match for his team as Sydal is allowed to hit one more big move to get the win for his team. Such an exciting and intelligent and seamless tag match that kills Styles / Sydal’s tag match with Do Fixer the night before and is better than either big tag match from Best in the World. Best mid card match of the entire series: ***1/2.

Match #5: Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer

Yoshino and Horiguchi start things off with some nice feel-out work, but as with the Blood Generation match the previous night, this leads to some quick pairings while both teams look to gain the advantage. Three minutes in, Ryo Saito counters a head scissor into a nice side slam on Masato Yoshino before tagging in Dragon Kid to attempt to isolate him. The isolation attempt fails, however, as Yoshino muscles Dragon Kid into his own corner moments later. Saito and CIMA isolate the Kid for a few moments while Yoshino recovers, but fail themselves as Saito gets the tag a little over seven minutes in. The match remains back and forth until Doi struggles with Genki back to his corner. From here, Blood Generation successfully isolate Horiguchi while Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito keep themselves fresh on the apron in wait for a tag or an opportunity to replace Genki. The same great double and triple teaming comes into play here as it did last night against Jack Evans until the thirteen minute mark where Horiguchi hits the vertical suplex he attempted earlier in the match that lead to his isolation. Though we aren’t quite in the finishing stretch yet, Saito and Dragon Kid take turns trying to fend off Blood Generation while Horiguchi gets some much needed recovery time. He reenters the match about three and a half minutes later with a corner drop kick to Doi, but eats a Doi-Five (is this right?) for a near fall. Now we’re in the finishing stretch which would probably double the length of this play-by-play. Suffice it to say that Dragon Kid survives CIMA’s Schwein before taking it home with a huge ace crusher on Doi followed by the Dragon Rana for the win at 20:34.

The transition from quick exchanges to teased isolations to the major body of the match where Blood Generation destroys Genki to the closing minutes of near fall after near fall before Dragon Kid finally earns the victory over Doi is just fantastic, and it is unbelievable that we got two tag matches in a row that turned this crowd molten. The crowd tries to start a “This is Awesome!" chant two or three times, but the action doesn’t allow them to keep it up which is something I appreciated. I didn’t like the hurricanrana spot on Doi off of Saito’s shoulders, but one in a series of eye poppingly rapid spots is hardly worth complaining about. This isn’t the best match ever. This isn’t the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not freaking out after watching it. It isn’t five stars, but it is an incredible match and pretty fantastic nonetheless. It shows a level of athleticism mixed with great careful and precise story telling that allowed for little no selling and maximum action packed into twenty minutes. No scramble in the history of ROH has or ever will touch something like this because American workers that participate in them just don’t have the ability (or aren’t give the rope) to work a match at this pace without sacrificing what these six men maintained. Genki’s near annihilation, Blood Generation’s guts in maintaining focus even after the hot tag, and Dragon Kid’s ability to suck it up and flip all the necessary switches for the win at the right time all played together beautifully. I’m not sure which 6 man Blood Generation match I like more since I feel that the two are ultimately very different. But this one is still a great match. Well done: ***3/4.

After nearly forty minutes combined of intense tag action, I think this crowd needed a major intermission. Perhaps the best back-to-back match combination in ROH history.

Match #6 – Six Woman Mayhem: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger vs. MsChif vs. Rain vs. Cheerleader Melissa

I’m glad the referee at least signaled for the bell before counting Melissa’s school boy on MsChif. Anyway, the ladies run through some awkward roll ups to start the match before Daizee Haze and MsChif really start things off. I think I’m just going to list some neat things:

(1) Daizee Haze straight booting Lacey in the face when Lacey attempts a splits-drop down thinking Haze would hop over the top of her. Fun.

(2) MsChif’s bridge countering Melissa’s roll-up attempt.

(3) The name of Danger’s step up enziguiri: Shimmering Warlock (it looked pretty okay too).

(4) Haze’s heart punch on Lacey followed by a Yakuza kick.

(5) MsChif’s standing moonsault: very nice.

(6) The green mist. I’m a sucker.

(7) MsChif’s “Desecrator." Nifty move I guess. She takes it with that armlock-DDT variation at 8:44.

Bad, bad match. A lot of half-hearted sections here with sprinklings of stuff that makes me interested to see a singles match between random pairings here. The match isn’t bad because the women aren’t talented but because it is stupid booking to try and “show off" the talent of a new promotion in this sort of match. I understand that exposure is an issue, that there is only so much room on a show and throwing them all in one match allows fans to get to know a lot of them, but I think a singles match that is given a decent amount of time would do even more. Anyway, a lot of stuff here is annoying from the roll up attempts early on to the five woman pyramid of submission to Rain to Lacey’s overacting (though she did a good job getting kicked in the face). Even so, there’s a few things still worth taking a look at that might interest some viewers into buying a SHIMMER DVD. Daizee Haze still seems like the greatest female talent that I’ve seen out of the two “SHIMMER" matches in this series. I may pick up one of the DVDs just to see what she (or any of these women for that matter) can do in a singles match: ½*.

Match #7: Homicide vs. Mitch Franklin

Mitch Franklin is four feet tall. I feel legitimately sorry for him. Homicide easily dominates him, but gets surprised with a cross body for barely a two count about a minute and a half in. The Notorious 187 gets distracted by the crowd, however, when going for a top rope head butt and eats nothing but canvas. Franklin tries, but gets caught with the Cop Killa (Homicide’s usual finisher against opponents half his size). Mitch Franklin’s done at 2:35.

Not quite as fun as the Pelle squash by Rave at Best in the World, but still quite good. Homicide never looks in trouble, but Mitch surprises with a sprinkle of offense and hope before Homicide just pulls the trigger with his biggest offensive maneuver. The psychology behind the Cop Killa is strange. Unlike a move like, say Kobashi’s Burning Hammer, which in the past was reserved only for big match situations, Homicide pulls out the Cop Killa against very minor opponents (like Marcos or Mitch Franklin) willing to take the move. He never uses it “in case of emergencies," but rather like a man using a brick as a fly swatter. If he ever wins the World Title, I hope it is with this move. I’m not a fan of how dangerous it is, but I think it’d be a great cap to his success in ROH.

Oh, and just so you are all aware the brawling between Homicide and Cabana is pretty fantastic here.

Sadly, the CZW stuff isn’t all that entertaining since the Necro / Pearce brawl in the crowd is too dark to see anything. Still fun at times though, and any time Samoa Joe comes out looking ready to tear the head off of grizzly bear, I’m a happy man.

Match #8 – Three Way Dance: Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Jacobs

After the CZW “rebels" get ran out yet again by the ROH students (seriously, is anyone else getting sick of this?), Joe is still angry, spits out his gum, and wants to fight. As one would expect, Daniels and Joe ignore Jacobs and start brawling. Jimmy finally gets in some offense when he stomps on their feet and nails a double drop kick sending Daniels down and pushing Joe back into the corner. A little over two minutes in, Daniels, frustrated at not being able to knock down Joe, tosses Jacobs into him, ducks a clothesline, and takes him over with a snapmare. He lifts the former ROH champion for the Last Rites, but catches a charging Jacobs and slams him down on top of Joe as he executes a reverse DDT (rather nifty little contrived spot). About six and a half minutes in, Jacobs avoids a high knee from Joe in the corner and pulls a Myspace joke by yelling “Top 8!" He tries to mount Samoa Joe in the corner and punch away, but keeps getting shoved away. He eventually jumps at Daniels who picks him up for a Death Valley Driver only to get booted in the mush by a charging Joe who follows up with his killer senton for a near fall. Eight and a half minutes in Jacobs counters the Angel’s Wings with a hurricanrana before attempting the Contra Code. The Fallen Angel shoves him off, though, right into the choke from Samoa Joe. Joe releases the hold and nails a beautiful super kick on Daniels before Jacobs attempts a Contra Code on the big man. He fails, however, and gets pulled to the mat quickly with the Kokina Clutch. Samoa Joe earns the tap out victory at 9:12.

This was quite good. Much better than the horrible Orton / Angle / Mysterio match the next night at Wrestlemania. It gets the same amount of time, doesn’t rush through anything, and still manages to maintain excitement and drama and fun. It didn’t attempt to get too clever (though some spots were contrived . . . the nature of these matches) and kept things basic. Joe plays the big guy, Daniels plays the talented main event guy, Jacob plays the typical underdog who can hurt Daniels but has much more trouble with the Joe. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular, just really solid and fun wrestling with really great execution. I love little touches in this match like Jacobs not being able to hurt Joe in the beginning, only being able to knock Daniels down with the first dropkick while needing a second to bring Joe down, etc. His antics with Lacey were perfectly timed allowing for the opening near the end with the spear on Daniels, the big senton splash on Joe, and the attempted Contra Codes. Mix in there that Joe is the best wrestler in the world and you got one nifty little match that really delivers between the great tag matches earlier, the intense brawling immediately before and the long main event to come afterwards. Great effort from all three guys: **1/2 (which might sound low, but don’t be fooled, it is fun).

Match #9 – World Title Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong

Nearly three minutes in the match, after some nice feel-out work, Danielson nips up out of headscissors but gets caught with a chop after showboating. Unlike previous matches between the two, he doesn’t roll outside, but attempts to take Strong down. He fails and gets caught with a dropkick that does send him rolling out to the floor in frustration. He’s sent out to the floor one more time near the eight minute mark and threatens to leave the building before Strong calls him back to the ring with an f-bomb. Danielson re-enters the ring very aggressively, but Strong maintains his cool. Though he fails to maintain any sort of advantage over the champion, Roderick continually manages to keep things level (countering out of the Mexican surfboard and Japanese stranglehold for instance). Danielson, however, must also be given credit. Even after getting nailed with three chops in a row nearly seventeen minutes in, he eats a few boots to the face and still manages to take down Strong and control him on the mat. Though the champion looks confident hereafter, Strong manages to sneak in a couple chops and catch Danielson with a leg lariat and stiff clothesline for a near fall nearly twenty minutes in. Yet Danielson fights back yet again, nailing a diving European uppercut minutes later, and nailing his diving headbutt for a near fall twenty-four and a half minutes in. Several moments later, Dragon goes for another diving headbutt, but misses allowing Roderick time to slip in some flash pin attempts before nailing a leg-cradle backbreaker for a near fall. Strong stays on offense with a great superplex and a Stronghold attempt before following the World Champion to the outside. Moments later, however, the champion returns to offense and begins attacking Roderick’s right leg. The tag champ has to fight through a gauntlet of leg submissions before he sends Danielson crashing out to the floor with a vertical suplex from the apron at the forty minute mark. He follows Danielson around the ring just laying into him with stiff forearms and chops until Danielson ducks out of the way sending Strong’s right hand splatting into the ring post. The champ switches up his focus onto the wrist and hand of Strong until about five minutes later when Roderick fights back using left-handed chops and hard forearms. He gets sent over the guardrail on the outside, however, and the Danielson follows up with a killer springboard plancha out into the crowd at around the forty-seven minute mark. Back in the ring, Dragon remains dominant but gets his USB Elbows countered KENTA style into a fireman’s carry. Strong nails his gutbuster which injures his knee again, but gives him some times to recover. After two huge big boots, the tag champ nails the Gibson Driver for a very close near fall. The match is back and forth from here, but echoes the Gibson / Strong match from “Unforgettable" when Roderick struggles to nail a second rope gutbuster! He locks in the Stronghold and all appears over for the champion when he performs a miracle counter for three count at 56:02.

I am so biased when it comes to these two that no one should trust me. Seriously, every time I watch these two I am so thrilled, I feel like a five year old with a big bag of candy. Luckily, when I’m done watching the match I’m not sick. There are some problems here obviously. Danielson’s a bit too quick to come back on offense here and there (purposely I’m sure, but not always believably) and the set up to his dive out to the crowd was very contrived (his mule kick was certainly not powerful enough to send Roderick over the guardrail and into the crowd). Strong’s selling was at times over done (after the first gutbuster) which in turns makes it feel under done in other portions, but otherwise he did a pretty good job with a complicated match up. The stuff I love here is how difficult it was for Danielson to control the match he wanted to wrestle. Strong kept bringing the counters, bringing the chops at the right moment, and kept surviving all the dickish stretches and holds. Bryan’s opportunistic offense (going after the leg and hand only after they were injured when avoiding contact) is great. While it is obvious the match will go long and doesn’t quite have the “peak / valley" effect of their previous Chicago match, I don’t quite see how anyone could really be uninterested with this match. Dragon’s character really comes through, Strong shows he is learning but still not quite up to the champion as of yet, and Danielson’s sell job after the match really communicates how close he was to tapping. I think some stuff is unnecessary here, and having the match go so long was risky given how long the show already was. However, the crowd is with it the whole time. They’re tired. They’re quieter than the 11/5 crowd, but their vocal interest near the end increases and reveals that they’ve been enjoying it the whole time. I don’t think it is their best match. My favorite might still be their first title match on 10/29/05 and their best may still be their second at 11/5/05. But for being as long as it is, Danielson continues to amaze me with just how easily he can fill up an hour with his bottomless bags of tricks. And Strong continues to show that he’s learning and will only getting better. With that said, I still don’t think this is the best match of the night (the two tag matches mid-card still hold those spots) nor do I think this is the best Danielson defense of the series. The Alex Shelley defense from the worst show “Arena Warfare" still holds that spot (but barely). This is a great, great match though and well worth seeing if you enjoy these two guys pulling out yet another very entertaining, very high-quality match up: ***1/2.

Closing Comments

Wow. Border to border, this may be the best ROH show ever and certainly the best show of the entire series (though some of the in between stuff might not be your cup of tea). With three matches ***1/2 or better and two more inching toward *** and other matches and brawling rounding out the card well, Supercard of Honor is the first show that truly feels worthy of being hyped as a “Milestone." Buy this show. Until next time . . .