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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

Before we start the second disc, I have to point out that they skipped over two very important matches: first was Delirious winning Survival Of The Fittest, finally pinning Sydal in the finals to earn another title shot, and also the third match with Bryan Danielson where Danielson was again on the ropes before squeaking out a close win. I understand if they didn't have the space to include the entire matches, but I think they probably should have at least put in some clips since they were pretty important. But I digress...

Delirious, Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuinness & BJ Whitmer vs Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave, SHINGO & Jimmy Jacobs: The Chicago Spectacular Night Two (12/9/2006)

This match was not originally supposed to happen that night, but then-booker Gabe Sapolsky was so unhappy with the way the first night of the Chicago Spectacular came off that he rebooked almost the entire second night on the spot. There were a lot of storylines going on here, including the ongoing Whitmer-Jacobs issue, Rave and McGuinness were starting a feud of their own, and the entire babyface team was made up of some of Danielson's toughest challengers as champion. Insofar as Delirious went, the match came down to him taking on both Danielson and Rave, who had singlehandedly eliminated all three of Delirious' partners. Delirious hit Rave with Chemical Imbalance II and pinned him to bring us to one final showdown between Delirious and Danielson. Danielson had legitimately injured his shoulder pretty badly a few months earlier and was still far from 100%, and that was built into a storyline where he was starting to weaken and look more beatable as time went on. Danielson threw everything he had at Delirious, including the finishes from their first three matches, but Delirious was not going to lose to Danielson a fourth time. Danielson survived Chemical Imbalance II, escaped the Cobra Stretch, and avoided getting pinned by a Cobra Suplex, but Delirious got the Cobra Stretch again right in the middle of the ring and Danielson was forced to tap out.

This was an awesome match and a great way to end the feud. The Danielson matches made Delirious in ROH, and make no mistake, he came out of 2006 as legitimate a main eventer as anyone in that company and he 100% deserved it. Delirious said tapping Danielson out was one of the biggest matches of his career and, as he put it, the fans went apeshit when he beat Danielson.

Delirious, Roderick Strong & Austin Aries vs CIMA, SHINGO & Matt Sydal: Final Battle 2006 (12/23/2006)

Delirious talks about how he had spent some time working for Dragon Gate in Japan, and when they came to Final Battle it was a very fast paced, high flying match. It's really interesting whenever you see Dragon Gate matches included on these DVD sets given the heat between the two companies today, though ROH never uses footage with the Dragon Gate wrestlers to take shots at them. Plus, other than SHINGO, none of the Dragon Gate wrestlers were ever in as regulars or had any kind of feuds or storylines, so I always wonder why they include these matches when you could have cut it and included Survival Of The Fittest or the third Danielson match, for example. Don't get me wrong, the matches with the Dragon Gate guys are always very good, but I just don't get why they would want to promote their competition. Anyway, this match basically happened because they had CIMA and SHINGO for the weekend, and they wanted to put them in the ring with guys they'd have a really good match with. Mission accomplished, Aries played ROH Wrestler In Peril until making the hot tag to Strong, and then the match completely broke down into bedlam like most of these Dragon Gate six mans tend to do. CIMA finally hit his version of a package piledriver (I think he calls his the Pyramid Bomb or something like that) on Delirious for the win.

Delirious vs KENTA: Reborn Again (5/11/2007)

On the eve of ROH's first ever PPV taping, Delirious faced Pro Wrestling NOAH's KENTA, who had been in for a huge run in 2006 where he beat nearly every main eventer in ROH. Delirious talks about facing KENTA and how he defeated him years later in the Junior League Tournament, but that was in NOAH and this is ROH. This was a very different match for KENTA because he hadn't faced someone with such a bizarre character, and it led to some fun comedy spots at the beginning of the match. Before long, though, KENTA started kicking the crap out of Delirious to get things down to business, and I wasn't sure how well their styles would mesh together, but this turned out to be pretty good. KENTA hits Go To Sleep for what was probably a much tougher win than people expected.

Delirious vs Adam Pearce: Reckless Abandon (11/30/2007)

The battle of the ROH bookers! I honestly don't remember why this match happened, or why it was Falls Count Anywhere, but the announcers say it had something to do with Pearce talking BJ Whitmer into turning on Delirious and joining the Hangmen Three. Okay, if they say so. I think the Hangmen Three may be the most forgettable faction in ROH history, which is kind of weird to say considering how good all the guys in the group were. Pearce and Delirious wound up fighting on top of the scaffolding the hard camera sits on top of, and Delirious got Pearce caught in between the rungs leading up the ladder and put him in the Cobra Stretch, forcing Pearce to submit. Delirious leapt off the scaffold afterward and took out the other members of the Hangmen Three for good measure. Delirious says Pearce was a gentleman, but he never forgot the stuff with the chokes and the staples.

Delirious vs Rhett Titus: Age Of Insanity (8/15/2008)

Delirious says that Titus was a young boy who came out of the ROH Wrestling Academy and wanted to make a name for himself at the expense of Delirious, and he says Titus has come a long way, but he's a punk and a jabroni and Delirious takes credit for the run he's had in ROH. Delirious understates the issue, as this match happened because of a storyline where sweet, innocent Delirious had a crush on Daizee Haze and wanted to ask her out, but Titus totally C-blocked Delirious and moved in on Daizee himself. Daizee eventually saw the light, but she still didn't want to go out with Delirious because they're such good friends, the go-to BS line women like handing to guys they don't want to date, and it threw Delirious into a deep depression. Delirious came into this match empty inside and started beating the hell out of Titus, and then Jimmy Jacobs (at the time the leader of Age of the Fall) came out and started yelling at Delirious that Daizee never meant anything to Titus, and that she was just another notch on the bedpost of a jock idiot. Delirious absolutely lost control, beating Titus bloody and hitting one Panic Attack after another until the referee stopped the match. Delirious kept destroying Titus after the match, and Jacobs told Delirious that love doesn't save, the Age of the Fall saves, and they found each other so that Delirious can be a part of their family. Daizee came out to tell Delirious not to listen to Jacobs, but the crowd gave her the reaction she deserved, and Jacobs said not to trust a woman who lied to him and is lying to him right now. Jacobs left the ring so Delirious could make the decision for himself, and he left with Age of the Fall. Delirious said there was a lot going through his mind at the time, and everyone goes through dark periods, and he was being manipulated because Jacobs seemed like the voice of reason.

Delirious & Jimmy Jacobs vs Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn: Stylin' & Profilin' (3/13/2009)

A lot had changed by the time we got to this match, most notably the fact that Adam Pearce had replaced Gabe Sapolsky as booker and immediately set about neutering Age of the Fall. Tyler Black and Necro Butcher had been split off from the group and were given singles pushes, and Delirious exited the group as well after this match, which was competitive in the same way Dolph Ziggler is competitive with Randy Orton. Jacobs accidentally clobbered Delirious with a chair, allowing Black to pin him for the win, and Jacobs got mad at Delirious and went after him with the railroad spike. Daizee Haze ran in to try and stop Jacobs, but she got nailed with the spike instead, busting her open for the only time I can ever remember. The sight of his beloved Daizee in peril caused Delirious to finally turn on Jacobs like Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi, laying Jacobs out with a Cobra Suplex and drilling him with his own spike before hitting repeated Panic Attacks. Much like the Macho Man and Elizabeth at Wrestlemania 7, Delirious and Haze embraced after the match and all was right with the world, except that she still wasn't putting out.

Delirious vs Jimmy Jacobs: Tag Title Classic (4/18/2009)

This Markham Streetfight got an impromptu start when Delirious attacked Jacobs backstage during his prematch promo and they brawled out to the ring to start the match. I didn't realize that Markham was known for its streetfights, and it certainly didn't look the slightest bit seedy when I drove to this show, but there you go. Delirious was wearing his red and black outfit, which was basically Delirious' war outfit where he was pissed enough to go Braveheart on his opponent. Jacobs really didn't make his situation any better by going after Daizee Haze with the railroad spike, because Delirious stopped him by spewing the extra deadly black mist in his face, allowing Daizee to get the spike and jab Jacobs in the face with it. Delirious hit a Cobra suplex, then gouged the spike into Jacobs' face until he submitted.

Delirious vs Roderick Strong: Boiling Point (11/7/2009)

Though these two had some very violent matches back in 2007 when Strong was a member of the No Remorse Corps, both were babyfaces at this time and they had a much more standard match than their earlier encounters. I was at this show live and remember it being a very lackluster event, and thought this was the only match that night to really stand out from an in-ring standpoint. This also turned out to be the last event ROH ran in New Jersey for three years, a streak that ended this past Saturday night when they ran in Rahway. Good match with a solid build, and Strong (who was being set up for a World Title feud with Tyler Black) gets the win off a small package.

Delirious vs Austin Aries: ROH On HDNet Episode 74

This was Delirious' final match as a full time member of the ROH roster, as he had been made booker only days earlier and had decided to write himself out of storylines. They're in a cage because Aries had tried to end Delirious' career by crushing his throat, putting Delirious on the shelf for months (during which time he was mysteriously wrestling in Pro Wrestling NOAH with no apparent damage to his throat) . Delirious finally returned after his overseas convalescence and, clad once more in the poison red outfit, sought to exact revenge on Aries. A bloody Delirious survived another sadistic beating from Aries and interference from the All Night Express to force Aries to tap out to a Cobra Stretch on top of the cage. The ANX ran into the cage after the match and attacked Delirious again, delivering two spike piledrivers that put Delirious on the shelf FOREVER. Aries said he was going to end Delirious' career in the cage and had apparently done so, but Aries himself was gone from ROH only weeks later as part of a talent housecleaning that coincided with the change in the booking regime. Delirious says that Aries is one of the greatest technicians ROH has ever seen, but the ANX tried to make a name for themselves by putting Delirious out of action, and that he hasn't been the same since those spike piledrivers.

He closes by saying how grateful he is that he's been able to be a part of ROH and become the head trainer at the school and work his way up the ranks, and even though he's transformed into Corporate Delirious, it doesn't matter because ROH is in his blood and he thanks the fans for supporting him for all these years.

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I've always enjoyed watching Delirious wrestle, but I have to admit that I enjoyed this DVD set a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't feel like he was booked to his full potential as a wrestler during the last 2-3 years of his run as an active wrestler, and I think that comes through with a somewhat lackluster second disc, but overall I enjoyed this a lot as a longtime fan. Newer fans who don't already know his history might not get the same enjoyment and would prefer something with Davey Richards or Kevin Steen, so I'll go thumbs in the middle.

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