We kick off the dvd with a nice promo by Jim Cornette which gets the crowd nice and hot for our first match...
1. Beef Wellington vs. Paredyse
**
Fairly bland inoffensive match from two guys that are new to me. Beef Wellington seems like a generic guy and Paredyse has a gimmick very similar to the Christopher Street Connection (lol). Short match that contained some ok action but really nothing stood out.
2. OVW Southern Tag Team Title Match: The Elite vs. Sucio & Fang
**1/2
Wow do Sucio & Fang remind of that 2002-2004 indy/almost cruiserweight style a lot of the smaller guys had. They were fun to watch but I think that may have just been due to them being juxtaposed against The Elite, a team totally without any special about them. Match was so short The Elite couldn't lose anybodys interest which was good and it was just bags of fun watching the little guys do their thing while the Elite bounced around for them.
3. Women of Honor: Sara Del Rey vs. Daizee Haze
**
It's womens wrestling...what can I say? It was ok and crowd seemed into it at times but ultimately I just didnt get into it.
4. Delirious vs. Mike Mondo
**3/4
This is a pretty cookie-cutter type match but you can't deny that Mik Mondo is a hard worker. They have some nice back and forth action however it just wasn't too engaging. Mondo's improved by leaps and bounds since his WWE run that's for sure!
5. Pick 6 Series Match: (4) Chris Hero vs. Colt Cabana
***3/4
Wow this exceeded my expectations! Very good mid card match with so really neat chain wrestling and the awesomeness that is Chris Hero in 2010. Both guys sell for each other really well and the crowd seem to love them both which adds a nice atmosphere.
6. Austin Aries, Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Roderick Strong & The House of Truth
***1/4
This match could well have sucked the momentum right out of this show on paper. Surely nobody wants to see this match? That's what I was thinking being as at this point its 2 heel teams going at it. And then as it progresses it just gets better and better to the point where at the end I say to myself "Damn I wish they had 5 more minutes". Hot tag onwards the match is just HOT. Aries looked fired up in this one!
7. Non Title Match: ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. Claudio Castagnoli
****
It shouldn't be surprising to anybody who follows ROH that these two had a very good match. Black keeps that roll of very good - great title defenses going here and Castagnoli just seems so refreshing in singles competition. His unique offense is something he often does not get to demonstrate fully when teaming with Chris Hero so it's fun to see him here. Both seem to have good chemistry together although this match feels a tad odd as they play a kind of big man vs little man story to start and obviously Black is not a small guy at all. It works ok though as Claudio reminds us PLENTY of times during the match he has the better physique. All in all a very good fun non title match with an unpredictable winner.
8. The American Wolves vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe
****1/4
Seen any of the previous matches between these two? If you have then you know what to expect! As this matched began I actually was almost not wanting to watch it as they've already faced each other enough for my liking. However they wrestle a very smart match that's captivating enough and is very enjoyable. Both teams are very over with the crowd but seem to play subtle heel when in control which works as it helps the crowd get into the action.
So, to summise this show in a nutshell...this is OK. But that's just it. Two very good matches, a good match and the rest is totally forgettable. However that's not to say it's not worth checking out. The Davis Arena is a great little venue that looks very professional. The crowd enjoys their night of 'rasslin so there's no quiet dead matches, although I must say we are quite clearly in the south as they chant USA USA USA at Claudio when he's not even playing up to nationality gimmick in particular (he's working the fact he's bigger than Black in their match). The OVW talent used is refreshing also even if the matches they were involved in were not anything to write home about.
So for the show itself 6.5/10
However ROH kindly included two bonus matches from New Frontiers which was way back in June 2005 and is a totally forgotten gem of a show.
- ROH Pure Title Match: Samoa Joe vs. James Gibson- New Frontiers 6/4/05
***3/4
Ah the Pure title, I do miss the unique matches and stories that were told due to the Pure title rules. This match uses the rules to tell a good story with each competitor forcing the other to use their rope breaks. Joe is adding prestige to the Pure title whilst James Gibson is on a great run in ROH having classic after classic.
- ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries vs. Spanky
****
Ah ROH 2005. Gabe is very much booking things over many shows at this point and here we are in the midst of the first Austin Aries title run where he undergoes a strenuous schedule in order to show the world he's going to be the best ROH World champion in history. Some very good story telling in this match as Aries neck was injured a few shows back so we keep up the continuity as Spanky takes advantage of that. What's good about this match is the pace, they work so hard so fast and still don't make it spotty or take it to overkill levels. The finish is great too. Totally forgotten classic here!
The addition of these two archived matches bumps the rating of this DVD as the whole package.
7/10
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