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DELIRIOUS - MASKED INSANITY DVD REVIEW: TWO DISCS OF DELIRIOUS' BEST MATCHES IN ROH, INCLUDING HIS LONG-RUNNING FEUD WITH MATT SYDAL, HIS HEEL TURN AND TIME AS A MEMBER OF AGE OF THE FALL, AND THE CAREER-MAKING SERIES OF MATCHES WITH BRYAN DANIELSON

It's so funny how my DVD reviews often seem to line up rather coincidentally with current events, such as this week when, as I was halfway through reviewing the Delirious DVD set, news broke that he had replaced Jim Cornette as the booker of ROH. I thought his original booking run from 2010-11 was excellent and was a return to the original spirit of ROH, and while I'm excited to see what he does this time around, watching this set makes me miss him as a wrestler. Even though he was never going to be the guy ROH was built around as their top star, he was still a unique character who connected with the fans and was often in the main event mix with some of the biggest stars to ever come through ROH.

Given that most of the latest DVD compilations ROH has released have had interview segments with the wrestlers talking about the matches and storylines, I wondered if we'd see these from Delirious and how they'd be presented. The set did indeed include these confessional segments, and Delirious did every last one of them in character, giving his thoughts in full on Delirious lizard speak. I'm still amazed at how well he can communicate by talking gibberish, as we get a good picture of Delirious' outlook on his ROH career.

Delirious vs Matt Sydal: Reborn Stage One (4/23/2004)

Delirious talks about how he and Sydal trained and often traveled together early on in their career, and how they got the shot to do this match and also got to come back and wrestle in Chicago the next night. Though it would take a while for both men to eventually become full time members of the roster and make a name for themselves, you could tell even then that they were both a step ahead of a lot of the guys you'd see getting these kinds of tryouts. Obviously Sydal was the one who stood out more from an athletic point of view and got the full time ROH gig first, and has since gone on to WWE as Evan Bourne, but Delirious showed a wonderful ability to blend his character with his technical skill to constantly come up with all kinds of completely novel ways of approaching otherwise mundane moves. Sydal got the win with his finish at the time, which was a one man Spanish Fly they simply referred to on commentary as a belly to belly moonsault.

Delirious vs Samoa Joe vs Ebessan vs Jack Evans: The Final Showdown (5/13/2005)

Delirious didn't have much to say about this one, but he immediately sets the tone for the match by going nuts when the bell rang and tearing around the ring as he would become known for. This match was hilarious because you had Joe trying to fight, Evans trying to do his flippy dips, and Ebessan and Delirious as the goofballs who are both out of their minds. There was one ridiculous exchange where they wrestled in slow motion, and the referee (a Japanese referee I believe was brought in specifically to work Ebessan's matches) getting frustrated trying to hold the whole thing together. Joe caught Ebessan in the choke, but Evans hit the 630 on Delirious and got the win.

Delirious & Alex Shelley vs Roderick Strong & Jack Evans: Nowhere To Run (5/14/2005)

Shelley had gotten kicked out of Generation Next and now had to fight his former teammates, but had screwed so many other wrestlers on the ROH roster that nobody wanted to watch his back or be his tag team partner. Shelley finally found Delirious, who was the only guy crazy enough to be Shelley's partner, and while Delirious was mainly there to be an extra in the Shelley-Gen Next feud, he nearly pinned Evans after hitting Shadows Over Hell. Gen Next quickly turned it around, as Strong powerbombed Evans onto the back of Delirious and then tapped him out to the Stronghold. Strong refused to release the hold until Shelley whacked him with a chair. Delirious talked about how he was hanging around in the bathroom when Shelley asked him to be his partner, and while he wasn't the best partner back in 2005, they would have won if it was the Delirious of a few years later.

Delirious & Bryan Danielson vs Alex Shelley & Jimmy Rave: Dragon Gate Challenge (3/30/2006)

This was the weekend that made Delirious a regular member of the ROH roster, as ROH management told him that if he didn't win a match that weekend, he was gone from ROH for good. He had already lost the night before, and would now team with the World Champion, whom Delirious says was a mastermind and an honor to team with. Shelley had turned heel since the last match, and had taken up with the Embassy since they were the only ones who would have him. Danielson and Delirious had great chemistry because they played it up like Danielson looked down on Delirious and basically treated him like this idiot who wasn't on his level, but then they'd go on to have these great technical wrestling matches that actually made Delirious look like a superstar. They weren't wrestling each other here, but they had the same dynamic where Delirious did an airplane spin, but that was Danielson's move, so Danielson came in and did an even longer airplane spin. Danielson got beat up for most of the match, but made the hot tag to Delirious, who came in and cleaned house before being forced to tap out to the Border City Stretch. He was still a loser, but they definitely made Delirious seem a lot more important in this match than he had previously.

Delirious vs Ricky Reyes: Better Than Our Best (4/1/2006)

It was do or die time for Delirious, because this was his last chance to win a match or face banishment from ROH. ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette reminded Delirious of his situation and said that the fans love him and want to see him succeed, so he'll get to pick his opponent that night and he'd better make it a good one, because if he loses then he's gone. Delirious issued the challenge to Ricky Reyes, who had been booked as a jerk who liked to take liberties on people like the student from the ROH Wrestling School. If you've never seen Reyes, he was one of these shooter type wrestlers who trained at the New Japan Dojo with guys like Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson, and incorporated a lot of hard strikes and submission holds into his repertoire. He was also a former ROH World Tag Team Champion, so it seemed like an big uphill battle for someone who had never won a singles match in ROH before. But this is Delirious' DVD set, so as you might imagine, he got his ass kicked for about ten minutes before catching Reyes in the Cobra Stretch and forcing him to tap out. Delirious talks about how Jim Cornette (who he called outdated) gave him an ultimatum, and after two years in ROH, debuted the Cobra Stretch and finally scored his first win and was able to move to the next level.

Delirious vs Bryan Danielson: The 100th Show (4/22/2006)

Yeah, so I guess a shot at the ROH World Title was the next level. This match was not originally scheduled to take place that night, and was actually the second ROH World Title Match fo the evening. The first one was between Danielson and Colt Cabana, who had been rewarded with a title shot for winning his prolonged, violent, and emotionally taxing feud against Homicide. After the hell Cabana had gone through for eight months, he now got the biggest opportunity of his career...and blew it by getting cradled and pinned in under five minutes. Danielson came back out after intermission and said that he hadn't even broken a sweat, and was going to get his workout for the evening by defending against Delirious, who was still waaaaaaaaaaaaay below Danielson in the pecking order even though he had beaten Reyes. Danielson took great pleasure in destroying Delirious almost at will, tearing part of his mask open and making him bleed for one of the very few times I can ever remember. Delirious finally snapped and started unloading on Danielson, drilling him with repeated clotheslines in the corner that would eventually come to be known as the Neverending Story Clotheslines. Delirious continued the assault, but Danielson caught Delirious and began raining down the MMA elbows until the referee stopped the match. Delirious told the story of how the match came about, and said that he took a bad beating and still has a scar on his hand to this day from a bad bump he took, but he gained the respect of the ROH faithful that night.

Delirious vs Chris Sabin: Weekend Of Champions Night Two (4/29/2006)

Though Sabin is well known for his time in TNA, he also had a fairly long run in ROH before TNA pulled their contracted talent in early 2004. Sabin eventually returned in late 2005 after TNA relaxed their stance on ROH, and had made sporadic appearances since whenever ROH passed through the Midwest. Sabin was enough of a star by this time that his appearances were an attraction in their own right, but Delirious got a HUGE surprise victory by countering the Cradle Shock to the Cobra Stretch and making Sabin tap out right in the middle of the ring.

Delirious vs Bryan Danielson: Ring Of Homicide (5/13/2006)

Unlike the first time around, this match was planned, and it opened up with Delirious cutting a terrific promo on Danielson where he didn't speak a word of English, but was so heated that he had the entire crowd popping for him like he just beat Johnny at the All-Valley Karate Tournament. Delirious was a man on a mission, attacking Danielson right from the beginning and forcing the champion to seek refuge on the floor. This was very different from the first match because, instead of getting beaten up for fifteen minutes by a clearly superior opponent, Delirious took the fight right to Danielson, who found himself in deep trouble against a much more formidable opponent than he expected. Delirious survived the crossface chickenwing and came back with the Panic Attack and Shadows Over Hell, then got Danielson in the Cobra Stretch right in the middle of the ring. Danielson made the ropes, so Delirious went for Shadows Over Hell again, but Danielson caught him on the way down and went right into Cattle Mutilation. Delirious hung on for his life, and the crowd went NUTS when he made it to the ropes. Delirious escaped the MMA elbows and caught Danielson with a knockout kick to the face, but he ran to the ropes and Danielson caught him coming back with a small package for a quick three count. Danielson's experience advantage got him the win, but Delirious came out of this looking like a real World Title contender because of how well he had done, especially because it was almost presented like a fluke win. The crowd was so into Delirious at this point that you might have gotten away with giving him the title right then. Delirious says this is one of his favorite matches to this day, even though Danielson escaped by the skin of his teeth, because he took Danielson to the limit and proved he is a force to be reckoned with.

Delirious vs Nigel McGuinness: Time To Man Up (8/4/2006)

This may not be the best match Delirious ever had in ROH, but it is easily my favorite because it was for the Pure Title and therefore subject to different rules that Delirious didn't quite understand due to being insane. Delirious, not speaking human language and therefore ignorant to the concept of the three rope breaks, ran through all three of them within two minutes to break basic holds like armbars and headlocks. Nigel grew smugly confident at that point, but Delirious surprised Nigel in much the same way he surprised Danielson, making him use up all three of his own rope breaks and then catching him in the Cobra Stretch right in the middle of the ring. Nigel survived, but was unable to put Delirious away with the Tower of London or the rebound lariat, and ended up having to use Danielson's Cattle Mutilation hold to make Delirious pass out for the win. Delirious said maybe he didn't understand the rules, and maybe it mattered or not, but he didn't win the title and there's no more Pure Title. Or something like that.

Delirious vs Matt Sydal: Epic Encounter II (8/25/2006)

Delirious says that both of them grew and matured over their time in ROH, and now they met again in St Paul, Minnesota. We see clips of Sydal's wins over Delirious back in 2004, and I believe this is the first time they were in the ring together in ROH in over two years. They had both improved a lot in the two years since their last match and had a much closer match than before, but once again Sydal pulled out the victory yet again with the one man Spanish Fly to remain undefeated against Delirious in ROH.

The Delirious DVD retrospective continues on Page 2!

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