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RING OF HONOR RISING ABOVE 2009 PPV REPORT: BRYAN DANIELSON VS. NIGEL MCGUINNESS, AUSTIN ARIES VS. JIMMYJACOBS: I QUIT AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2009-01-15 13:50:00
They aired a series of highlights set to music of the Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs feud before dissolving back to the crowd for Jacob's entrance.  The little things like the dissolve really create an organic feel to the event as opposed to making it feel like an edited tape.

Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs - I Quit Match

Aries took the mic and said he wasn't surprised that Tyler Black was Jacobs' backup and warned "the flavor of the month" to stay out of their business.  He said everyone was wondering who was going to be watching Aries back   He said he didn't need anyone to watch his back and that Jacobs would have to kill him to win.

They charged each other at the bell and ended up rolling under the ropes while locking up.  They returned to the ring and it happened again.  Jacobs dropkicked Aries on the floor and whipped him into the barricade.  Jacobs started setting up a table but Aries attacked him.  Jacobs overcame Aries, throwing him back into the barricade.  Austin came back and got Jacobs on the table.  He went to the top but Black pulled Jacobs off.

Aries returned to the floor and worked over Jacobs with punches.  He dragged him up to the apron and snapped his throat over the top rope.  The announcers talked about Jacobs running Lacey out of wrestling.  Aries teased a dive but was caught with a shot to the head by Jacobs.  Jacobs channeled Bruiser Brody, then wrapped it around his fist and began beating Aries with it, busting him open.  Aries refused to quit.

Jacobs began strangling Aries with the chain.  Aries escaped but Jacobs continued the beating dragging him to the floor.  He set up Aries in a chair on the floor to dive onto, but Aries stopped him.  Jacobs cut off Aries then speared him off the apron to the barriers outside.  Aries again refused to quit.  Jacobs then set up the chair dive to the floor. 

Jacobs kept working over Aries, tying him up with the chain while sitting in a chair.  Jacobs began digging into Aries' forehead, biting him.  Jacobs began strangling Aries with the chain but Aries refused to quit.  Jacobs grabbed another chair.  Lacey returned for the first time in months to a monster pop and pulled a towel out, teasing she was going to throw it in and end the match.  Aries screamed not to do it.  The place loved it live.

Jacobs pulled out a spike and threatened he was going to stab Aries in the throat with it to force Lacey to throw in the towel.  They teased it as Jacobs berated her but she wouldn't.  He threatened her with it and Lacey slapped him.  Jacobs went after Lacey, giving Aries a chance to escape and attack him with a series of punches.  He knocked Jacobs to the floor and nailed a dive. 

Aries drilled Jacobs with a brainbuster on a chair.  He wrapped the chain around his first and began busted Jacobs bloody with it.  Aries trapped Jacobs in the corner with the chain and began beating him.  The referee tried to see if Jacobs would quit but Aries ran him off.   The ref kept trying to ask and Aries grabbed the mic and said, "No!" for Jacobs.  That was awesome.  He began mocking Jacobs, asking him if he wanted to quit but not letting Jacobs talk into the mic.  Revenge is sweet.

Austin put Jacobs on a table outside, then slammed a chair on his chest.  He went to the top for a dive but Jacobs flung the chair in his face.  Jacobs climbed to the top where they exchanged punches back and forth before they crashed through the table.   The ref asked them if either wanted to quit and they refused.  They made their way to the ring where they battled back and forth.  They began exchanging submissions.  Aries locked in a crossface and began stabbing Jacobs with the spike.  Black went to throw in the towel but Lacey snatched it.  Jacobs finally quit.

Your winner, Austin Aries!

A beaten Aries looked to Lacey for approval but she just walked up the aisle and there was a question of what happened and if she was even with Aries to begin with or just wanting her own revenge.  Jacobs and Black had words afterwards and Black walked out.  The announcers wondered if we had just seen a split and the end of the Age of the Fall.

Brutal and bloody I Quit match.  I don't think you could ask for a better blowoff to their feud and the mystery of Lacey leads right into the next chapter that fans in NYC saw at Final Battle.  Really good, hard-hitting blood feud stuff here. 

ROH aired a video feature on the main event before giving full entrances to both competitors.   The announcers noted that Danielson claims to be the best in the world and he has to validate that by winning here. 

ROH champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson

They did some good wrestling early with Nigel playing heel and trying to stall a bit.  Nigel kicked Danielson low for heat.  Danielson came back and locked him in a Bow and Arrow position before stomping his knees.  Danielson began working on Nigel's bad shoulder with submission attempts.  Nigel ended up on the floor where Danielson teased a dive.  Nigel acted like he had outsmarted American Dragon, only to get a knee to the head while he had his back turned.

McGuinness made a comeback and began focusing on Danielson's knees.  He worked over them and locked in a figure four.  Daneilson made it to the ropes but was favoring his knee as he made a comeback.  McGuinness went for his handstand kick but Danielson grabbed the ankle and cinched in an anklelock.  That was cool.

Nigel escaped and Danielson began hitting several suplexes.  They began exchanging holds and pinfall attempts.  Danielson avoided an attempted lariat and cinched in a crossface chickenwing.  McGuinness got to the ropes but Danielson wouldn't back off.  He and the referee had words, allowing Nigel to nail his bad knee from behind.  Nigel placed the knee on the ropes and began working it over.  He hit a flying clothesline off the middle turnbuckle.

Danielson kicked off an attempted submission, knocking Nigel to the mat.  He hit a senton to the floor in the crowd.  ROH's new production allowed for an aerial shot of the dive, which looked tremendous.  Nigel grabbed a chair but the referee stopped him.  As this was going on, Claudio Castagnoli hit the scene and jumped Danielson, stomping a chair on his head the same way Danielson prevented Claudio from doing earlier to Alex Payne. 

Danielson was out on the floor but Payne came out and helped Danielson, bleeding back to the ring.  Payne shoved Danielson through the ropes just as he would have been counted out.  A nice way to give Payne, a student for the ROH school, something of a rub.  I don't know where it can lead but the idea was a good one.  McGuinness dragged Danielson to his feet, measured him and nailed a lariat but Danielson kicked up.  Nigel locked in a Boston Crab and pulled Danielson to the center just as his fingers reached the ropes.  Danielson fought back and finally made the ropes.

Nigel went right after Danielson but was stunned with a knee.  Danielson mounted a comeback and cinched in a crossarm breaker, then a triangle choke/  He began nailing the MMA elbows but Nigel escaped.  Danielson rolled up McGuinness into a small package but Nigel kicked out at the last possible second.  Danielson scored another near fall with a crucifix and rained elbows down on the champ.

Danielson locked in the cattle mutilation but Nigel escaped.  Danielson hit a suplex and locked in the submission but Nigel flipped it into his Tower of London.  Awesome!  McGuinness nailed a lariat and a series of elbows.  Danielson broke free and dared Nigel to come on.  They began exchanging strikes and blows.  Nigel came back with the jawbreaker for the clean pin.  I was shocked that finish was so clean.

Your winner and still ROH champion Nigel McGuinness!

A great main event.  Tons of innovative, strong wrestling here.  Nigel and Danielson never fail to disappoint when it comes to delivering the goods.

Overall, a strong PPV and well worth the money.  The first hour is solid to good but the second hour, with the focus on two main event caliber bouts of extreme importance, are worth far more than the $10-$15 price tag alone.  The new production takes ROH to a new level in terms of watching the show and making it feel like an actual ongoing event and not an edited videotape.   The second hour is easily the best hour of ROH on PPV to date.


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