Backseat Boyz vs. Da Hit Squad
I wondered why this match was so early
in the show, but after seeing it the spot makes sense. It's a short
match and Hit Squad is just squashing the Backseat Boyz the whole
time. There's a bunch of spots where Maff or Mack are out of spot and
Kashmere or Acid have to stall until the move happens. Kashmere flips
out of a burning hammer and Maff slowly remembers he's supposed to
try and clothesline him and hit Mack, but Mack isn't in the right
spot so that's awkward. Then the Boyz hit the T-Gimmick on Maff and
get a three count. It wasn't good so at least it was short.
1/10
Special K vs. Carnage Crew vs. Dunn &
Marcos
This was a drag race of a match with
wall to wall high spots and tons of dives. No flow at all to this
match I bet I loved it the first time I saw it. Carnage Crew almost
get the win with a second rope piledriver, but other Special K guys
distract the ref and Mikey Whipwreck comes in an hits some stunners
and Hydro steals the pinfall.
3/10
AJ Styles & Amazing Red vs. The
Briscoes
A match with a story and some flow to
it. This is novel and exciting. Watching Amazing Red matches now is
weird because everything he did has become more refined and even
higher flying by the later wrestlers, but I remember how
groundbreaking his stuff was and a lot of it is still cool now. Red
is the face in peril for the match as you would imagine since he's so
very small. Cool dives and lots of big moves from both teams. AJ
boosts Red up to a top rope hurrincanranna that almost knocks Jay
backwards off the top, but its countered into a top rope powerbomb
neckbreaker combo. Mark clotheslines AJ out of the ring and
slingshots onto him for a 'ranna, but AJ catches it and hits a Styles
Clash on the floor. Red counters the Jay Driller into a Maximo
Explosion and hits the standing shooting star press for the three
count. This was a match I loved back in the day. Now I definitely
find it to be way too fast paced with a bunch of big moves that don't
mean anything. Is this what it feels like to be JR? I still like it,
but it's not as awesome as when I first experienced it.
7/10
CM Punk vs. BJ Whitmer
Good back and forth match although it
is a bit sloppy at times between the two guys. Classic early Punk
wrestling though. Some good groundwork at the beginning before
turning into a hard hitting affair. Ends with a double count out
after a german suplex off the apron through a table which I'm okay
with as it's a pretty midcard match and built to more stuff
afterword.
5/10
Homicide vs. Christopher Daniels
Another solid back and forth match.
This one was crisper than the last one, but they were really awkward
with the finish off back and forth submission and pinfall counters
that just looked rough.
6/10
Samoa Joe vs. Hotstuff Hernandez
Back and forth big man match here. This
was the first Samoa Joe match I'd ever watched and I couldn't figure
out why they made him champ. Not too bad on a rewatch though. Not
great, but good hard hitting stuff and Hernandez looked solid as
well.
6/10
Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Tom
Carter vs. Matt Stryker
A really good four way match here. Joe
doesn't do much in the beginning of the match, but everybody takes
some shots at the champ and he gives them right back when he wanders
in to break up pins or submissions. Everybody gets some good stuff in
and shows their wrestling acumen. Awesome finish as Joe locks in the
Coquina clutch and Carter hits a frog splash to break it up, but Joe
holds on anyway and gets the submission.
7/10
Paul London vs. Bryan Danielson (2/3
Falls)
This match is still awesome. It's one
of my favorites of all time and after all the other matches weren't
as good as I remembered I was kind of worried about this one, but it
was for nothing. They pace themselves slowly and really make
everything matter in this one. They build up every attempt Bryan goes
for the belly to back suplex off the top rope and it's a key part of
the match. London counters the first one and gets the first pinfall.
Early in the second Bryan knocks London off the top and traps his
legs in the ropes and goes to work on them. That sets up the story of
the second fall as Bryan goes to work on and eventually gets a
submission with a single leg crab. In the third fall it continues the
same way and eventually Bryan gets the belly to back suplex, but
doesn't get the pinfall with it. He gets the cattle mutilation, but
no submission, and the single leg crab again, but still London fights
out. London counters a fourth attempt at the belly to back suplex
with a tornado DDT off the top then hits a shooting star press to the
back of Bryan as he tries to get up and gets the three count.
This match is just so well done. It
tells a great story and is just two great workers having a great
match. Everything is executed crisply and is sold well. Nothing
happens without a reason and the wrestling tells a story and that's
the best you can get.
10/10
Dusty Rhodes, Homicide, Iceberg, &
Homicide's Crew vs. CW Anderson, Jack Victory, David Young, & The
Bar Room Brawlers
This is just a clusterfuck of a brawl.
They don't announce who's in it since the match is unsanctioned and
people just show up brawling until they play the music for the
Midnight Rider and Dusty finally comes out. He clears everybody out
with bionic elbows then everybody brawls around ringside and bleeds
and hits each other with weapons. Homicide then tries to gouge Jack
Victory's eye out with a fork and he says I quit. This is just so
pointless and meandering. With the heel group's leader in Steve
Corino missing it makes even less sense to have this match.
2/10
Overall
Going back and watching early RoH shows
might be even rougher than I had anticipated. I don't really regret
watching this show except the first and last match. A bunch of spot
matches building into mat based wrestling makes sense to me. Gabe is
fucking terrible on commentary and his biggest fault is he's always
trying to get over the stories he's booking without allowing for any
subtlety to take place. Danielson vs. London is fucking awesome and
unless you're going to buy a comp with that match on it that makes
the dvd worth a purchase if you find it. It's still the standard I
hold a 2/3 falls match to and is so good. The earlier stuff might not
be great matches, but it's a fun kind of mediocre and that's not bad.
Feel free to skip the main event bunkhouse brawl though.
7/10
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