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RING OF HONOR IN LIVERPOOL, UK LIVE REPORT

I just attended Ring of Honor’s show at the Liverpool Olympia. My complete results and thoughts:

Homicide (w/ Julius Smokes) d. Davey Richards (approx. 15 minutes) .  Decent, if fairly unspectacular opener. Richards plays the role of the heel well and goes down for the three-count following a Cop Killa.

Sara Del Ray d. Allison Danger (approx. 10 minutes) .  A short, well-crafted womens bout going about 10 minutes in length. Del Ray escapes a rear body-scissors and hits a Cradle DDT for the pinfall.

Jimmy Rave & Jimmy Jacobs d. Colt Cabana & BJ Whitmer (approx. 15 minutes) .  Rave and Jacobs attack before the bell and they brawl around the building and into the balcony. Match goes about 15 minutes. Jacobs gets the pin on Whitmer with a top-rope Contra Code. Decent if unsubstantial action.

 Matt Sydal d. Delirious 2 falls to 1 in their Best-of-Three falls contest (approx. 25 minutes) .  The best match of the night thus far, featuring great comedy and crowd interaction from both men. Sydal really shines in the role of cocky heel; Delirious’ character is flawless in execution. Sydal gets the first fall about 10 minutes in with a low blow and inside-cradle. Delirious evens up at 17 minutes, hitting Shadows Over Hell and forcing the tap-out with his Cobra Stretch. Sydal takes the deciding fall in 24 minutes with the Cyclorama. Great match.

FIP Heavyweight Champion, Roderick Strong d. PAC (approx. 20 minutes) .  Another good contest, with Strong playing the role of heel and PAC the home country underdog. Lots of high spots and exchanges; the end came when PAC missed a twisting Shooting Star Press and Strong followed with an offensive flurry, capped off with a Tiger-Driver and pin. Strong hooked the Stronghold after the bell, then fled when Delirious made the save. Huge ovation and “Bring back PAC” chants for the loser after the match.

Shingo & Naruki Doi d. The Briscoes to capture the ROH World Tag Team titles (approx. 25 minutes) .  An absolutely awesome match, with too many spots and sequences to list. The crowd was going crazy for this and popped big for the title change. I don’t think anyone saw that one coming. The end to a thrilling battle saw Shingo pin Mark with a Pump-Handle Death Valley and Michinoku Driver combo. Fantastic stuff. Post-match, Jay lambasted himself and his brother for their recent streak of short title runs (they also lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles in their first defense). He said they’ve gone soft and “It’s time to man up”. He challenged his brother to a “one-night only” match for tomorrow. Mark duly accepted.

Samoa Joe d. Nigel McGuinness (approx. 25-30 minutes) .  Another career performance from Nigel in Liverpool . Another loss for Nigel in Liverpool . This was a good match up until the 20 minute mark. At this point Joe hit an insane Muscle-Buster onto the apron on Nigel. Then it got GREAT. The place erupted with the move, and officials quickly poured from the back. Nigel was helped away up the ramp. Back in the ring, Joe told Nigel to “end it the right way”, to return to the ring and shake his hand. When the officials continued to help Nigel away, Joe called him a “British p**sy”. The electricity from this point on was off the charts. Nigel hobbled back into the ring, then slapped Joe hard across the face. The fans were going crazy. Nigel looked like a man possessed as he battled on. He kicked out of a Muscle Buster, several lariats, then fought hard against the rear naked choke. Like last year against Bryan Danielson, Nigel eventually lost consciousness and the referee stopped the match. Just brilliant stuff. After the match, Joe made an impassioned speech. He said while he didn’t appreciate Nigel siding with Pro-Wrestling NOAH, he respected him for choosing the “hard path”. He called ROH “not a revolution, but a perpetuation of tradition”. He shook hands and embraced Nigel, in a great passing-of-the-torch type moment.

A first-rate night of action. The Tag Title change would seem the obvious choice for ‘Match of the Night’, but the sheer emotion in the closing contest drew them about level. An easy recommendation for the eventual DVD release.

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