Philadelphia, PA – 4.27.2002

Commentary is provided by Donnie B and Steve Corino.

The show starts with several backstage segments. Last month, Loc made a phone call to somebody saying he was going to make his own spot in ROH and ditched his referee shirt. We see earlier in the day DeVito arriving at the building and embracing Loc, confirming he was on the other side of that call. They talk about how “tonight’s the night”, and just for fun DeVito shoves one crew member into the wall and tosses another into multiple rows of chairs. Elsewhere, Divine Storm and Brian XL are stretching and Quiet Storm wants to try a submission on XL. XL turns him down, and Chris Divine questions XL not helping his partner. The Christopher Street Connection make out in front of the fans waiting in line outside of the building while wearing Da Hit Squad t-shirts until Da actual Hit Squad chases them off. Quiet Storm asks American Dragon to teach his partner a submission, saying he wants him to lock it in tight. He brings Dragon to XL, saying he is the partner who wants to learn, and Dragon puts him in a modified crossface while Storm laughs. DeVito then tells Boogalou to be ready. FRANK TALENT is back giving a speech to the crew, while Spanky once again has his headphones on during the speech. Talent yells at Spanky for not paying attention, and tells the locker room to give it 100% tonight for Eddy Guerrero.

Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. The Christopher Street Connection (Buff-E & Mase) vs. Prince Nana & Simply Luscious

DHS and commentary both use hate speech against the CSC before they’re even introduced. Before the bell, those two teams brawl ringside. Allison Danger is back after being powerbombed through a table on the first show and makes the match a three way with Nana and Luscious. Elax is unofficially in the match with them, and laughs at Mase rubbing his crotch in Mafia’s face. Mase and Luscious also get in attacks in the corner and stomp down Mack in the other corner. Danger flirts with Luscious, and when Nana puts a stop to it, the CSC gets in his face. DHS recovered and took out everybody with double spears. A spinebuster and Burning Hammer to Luscious gets DHS the pin at 3:54. This shit is the absolute worst and it’s amazing it didn’t tank the company. They put Elax through a table after the bell for fun. DUD

We get a recap of Jay Briscoe’s matches from the first two shows, where he lost in singles matches to The Amazing Red and Spanky. Backstage, Mark Briscoe gives him grief for these two losses. Jay shoves Mark, telling him to shut up, and that he has no room to speak as he hasn’t even wrestled on a show yet.

Jay Briscoe vs. Tony Mamaluke

Mark Briscoe is in Jay’s corner. This is Mamaluke’s ROH debut. The match is very even for the first few minutes, but Jay gets the match firmly in his favor by surprising Mamaluke with a leg lariat. He quickly goes for a pin after a pair of snap suplexes. Mamaluke quickly brings Jay to the mat in a Fujiwara armbar to escape a back suplex, and Jay gets his foot on the ropes to break it. Mamaluke hammerlock’s Jay’s arm in a suplex, and from there keeps his offensive focus on Jay’s arm. Jay trunks things back in his favor by countering a super plex into a super sit-out Gourdbuster. Mamaluke avoids the Jay Driller, leading to a series of pin attempts between the competitors. Jay rolls through a backslide, holding onto Mamaluke’s arms, and hoisting him up into the Jay Driller for the pin at 7:20. That was a great ending to a spirited match. Even though he had only incurred two losses previously, the goading from his brother made this win feel like a big deal for Jay. It was a solid debut for Mamaluke, who got a chance to showcase his technical prowess. **½

Backstage, the Briscoe parents congratulate Jay. Mark is still chastising his brother, and his parents tell him to knock it off. Meanwhile, James Maritato approaches Mamaluke as he comes through the curtain, telling him he needs to drop the FBI shtick and get serious. Maritato says if he wants to keep it up, he can do it alone.

Christian York & Joey Matthews vs. Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm)

York and Matthews had a super generic promo before this match backstage that is hardly worth mentioning. They successfully defeated CW Anderson and Elax last month, while Divine Storm was the first team eliminated in a three team elimination match. Another member of that match, Brian XL, is in their corner. York and Matthews outsmart and overpower Storm. Divine picks up the pace, but ends up caught by York with a water-wheel slam out of the corner. Storm forearms York in the neck to break York’s pendulum stretch on Divine, so York uses a back handspring elbow to knock Storm off of the apron. Divine throws York to the floor out of a waistlock, and XL surprises him with a Fosbury Flop. It surprises Divine Storm too, who yell at XL for breaking the Code of Honor and send him backstage. Matthews is tagged in after York takes down Divine with a super atomic drop. He drops Divine with the Stroke and Storm with a neckbreaker. The Full Effect slam takes out Storm, but Divine pulling Matthews to the floor and then him and York fighting to the floor stops a pin from being attempted. Storm plays possum, getting in some strikes on Matthews before rolling him into a modified flat Crab for the submission at 8:47. This was a chaotic mess. Some solid offense now and again, but overall a real jumble of a match. *

James Maritato vs. Scoot Andrews vs. Xavier

Xavier defeated Andrews two months ago, and Maritato last month. Andrews and Maritato fend off Xavier as they go at it. Andrews inadvertently Irish whips Maritato into a dropkick from Xavier. Xavier attempts a headscissors on Andrews, who counters by dropping Xavier face and chest first into the mat. Maritato tries to steal a pin on Andrews when he turns Xavier’s neckbreaker on Andrews into a DDT. Xavier clubs Maritato in the neck. Maritato dropkicks Xavier to Andrews who looks for the Force of Nature. Xavier escapes, and when he looks for a super fallaway slam on Maritato, Andrews goes underneath and powerbombs Xavier at the same time. Maritato attempts a slingshot suplex on Xavier. Andrews instead pulls Xavier into the Force of Nature, and Maritato breaks up Andrews’ pin attempt. Andrews then powerslams Maritato for two. Andrews breaks free from a sunset flip attempt from Maritato and pulls him up into a reverse DDT. Maritato super Russian leg sweeps Andrews for two. Xavier leaps for Maritato, who catches him in a Fujiwara armbar. Xavier taps out at 6:29. Kind of interesting to give Maritato the win here, as it feels like they were getting somewhere with Xavier picking up wins. It was a solid way to tie up the loose ends of Andrews missing last month’s scheduled match with Xavier, but I’m ready for everyone involved to move onto something new. **¼

Simply Luscious approaches Rob Feinstein backstage, saying she deserves better than tagging with Prince Nana after driving 32 hours from Texas. Feinstein says he will give her something better. AJ Styles then says he and Low Ki will give the crowd what they want – a battle.

Low Ki vs. AJ Styles

This is Styles’ ROH debut. He is touted by commentary as a top guy in NWA Wildside. As they’re in a double knuckle lock, Styles quickly kicks Ki in the ribs. They challenge each other to throw harder kicks at one another’s legs, leading to Ki tackling Styles into a front facelock. Styles rolls free of a potential armbar and pummels Ki as he brings him back to his feet. They go back to grappling until Ki punts Styles in the forehead. When Styles goes for a double leg takedown, Ki kicks him in the back of the head. After a chest kick, Ki takes some time to posture. Styles pulls off a Frankensteiner from the mat and mows down Ki with a rolling clothesline. Ki stops a corner attack with a huge upright boot to the face and gets two with a flash elbow. Styles enzuigiri’s Ki to the floor where he cracks him upside the head with an enzuigiri. A savate kick follows, and Styles brings Ki back into the ring for a two count. He also gets two with a brainbuster. Ki reverses an Irish whip and delivers a Koppu Kick before booting Styles to the floor. When Styles avoids the Ki Krusher on the ring apron, Ki settles for a Dragon Sleeper in the ropes. Styles counters a second Ki Krusher back in the ring with a DDT. Styles breaks out of another Dragon Sleeper attempt with a lionsault into a reverse DDT. Ki powerbombs Styles to counter his Frankensteiner for two. Ki kicks Styles in the head repeatedly until he loses wind. Ki gets his bearings when Styles at a backbreaker, countering into a Tiger suplex for another two count. Styles cuts off Ki with a lariat before giving him the Styles Suplex Special for two. Ki catches his breath after countering a suplex with a Gourdbuster and then hits the Tidal Wave. Styles gets his knees up to block Ki’s Phoenix Splash. Styles gets a standing ovation after dropping Ki with the Cliffhanger, and is in disbelief when Ki kicks out. Styles goes for the Spiral Tap and Ki moves out of the way. Ki ends a strike exchange with a kick upside the head. Ki lifts him up for the Ki Krusher. Styles resists and goes for the Cliffhanger again. Ki counters into a small package, and it gets him the pin at 18:14. The crowd chants bullshit for that ending, and I do agree it was a really weak way to end an otherwise fantastic match. It was a good introduction for Styles, who took a beating from arguably the toughest person on the roster and gave it right back. With a better ending, and either of them showing some semblance of a game plan in their offense, would have made this even better. ***¾

Christopher Daniels says ROH has finally brought in someone of his caliber to wrestle him tonight – Donovan Morgan. Daniels is relieved he doesn’t have to deal with a triple threat or some BS round robin tournament. He will prove he is at the top of ROH when he defeats Morgan.

Dunn & Marcos vs. The Carnage Crew (DeVito & Loc)

This is the debut for all four competitors, excluding Loc serving as a referee on the inaugural event. The Carnage Crew come out with hubcaps, which commentary tells us belongs to Boogalou’s car. They beat the piss out of Dunn and Marcos as the fans chant “boring.” Marcos sneaks out a DDT on DeVito when he misses a moonsault. Dunn nails a missile dropkick, but it isn’t long til Loc and Devito take them out with double facebusters. Marcos takes a Razor’s Edge/neckbreaker combo and is pinned at 3:13. Little did we know the rivalry this would turn into later, but the long and tumultuous reign of terror that is the Carnage Crew starts now. *

Donovan Morgan says he appreciates the kind words from Christopher Daniels. He is going to prove tonight to Ring of Honor the kind of wrestler he is. Wait what?

Donovan Morgan vs. Christopher Daniels

This is Morgan’s ROH debut. After trading holds for the first few minutes of the match, Daniels dumps Morgan on his head with a Saito suplex to escape a side headlock. From there, Daniels focuses his attack on Morgan’s neck. Morgan ends up taking Daniels down with a neckbreaker of his own. He then decides to use Daniels’ own strategy of targeting the neck against him. Daniels takes down Morgan with a hard clothesline and a leg lariat for two. Morgan grabs a kneebar after kicking out of a sunset flip and Daniels uses the ropes to escape. Daniels fights out of the corner and lands a German suplex. He follows up with another neckbreaker for two. The STO leads to the BME right on the neck for two. Morgan evades an Iconoclasm and comes off of the top turnbuckle with a Flying DDT. Morgan does a little more damage to the neck, but when he schoolboys Daniels, Daniels counters into a crossface. Even though Morgan got his foot on the rope, Daniels remained in control. Morgan however was able to counter the Last Rites into the Golden Gate Swing, but Daniels himself uses the ropes to halt a pin attempt. A second Golden Gate Swing in the middle of the ring does Daniels in, getting Morgan the pin at 13:10. Morgan beating Daniels in his first match definitely makes him seem like a big deal right off the bat. I liked the story of the match and it was wrestled very proficiently, but the crowd just wasn’t that into it, and when they were, it was mostly for Daniels. Hopefully with more exposure Morgan will win them over too. ***¼

Daniels teases shaking Morgan’s hand after the match, and while hs still refuses to obey the Code of Honor, he respects Morgan. He warns Morgan that the ROH locker room is filled with backstabbers, and that if Morgan needs anyone to watch his back, he’s his guy. Morgan nods in appreciation.

We get a run down of the participants in the upcoming Heartbreak Gauntlet, all graduates of the Texas Wrestling Academy. Spanky calls them “a bunch of ding-a-ling jabronis” during Rudy Boy Gonzalez’s pep talk he’s called out by the others for being disrespectful. Everyone of course thinks they’re going to win the gauntlet.

Heartbreak Gauntlet Match

Paul London vs. John Hope

Hope called himself the dark horse of this match backstage. Well, this pairing was clipped, presumably because it was no good. We see a clip of London doing a somersault dive off of the top to the floor, Hope belly-to-belly suplexing him, and then London pinning Hope with a shooting star press.

Paul London vs. Michael Shane

Simply Luscious joins commentary for this bout, and she confirms that was what RF had planned for her to do. Shane counters a powerbomb with a facebuster. Shane also ducks with a spinwheel kick and blasts London with a gamengiri. London comes back with a Frankensteiner and dropsault, and then gets two with a Northern Lights suplex. Shane rolls through a Sunset Flip and puts London in the Haas of Pain. London breaks using the ropes and drops Haste with a double underhook facebuster. London misses a shooting star press, and Shane capitalizes with a top rope elbow smash for the pin at 3:42.

Michael Shane vs. Spanky

Although they obey the Code of Honor, Shane pie faces Spanky during the shake, and Spanky responds with a slap across the face. Shane has firm control over Spanky until Spanky crotches Shane on the top rope and slams his face into the ring post. He then sends Shane into the barricades which busts him open. Spanky low bridges the top rope to send Shane flying back to the outside and end his offensive stride. Shane asks for Spanky to hit him after kicking out of a high crossbody, so Spanky unloads with strikes on his open wound. Shane fires back, taking down Spanky with a backdrop and a flying forearm. Shane backdrops a charging Spanky over the top rope, and dropkicks him to the outside when Spanky attempts to skin the cat back inside. Shane follows up with a tope con hilo. In the ring, Spanky surprises Shane with a modified Acid Drop for two. Spanky ducks a superkick, but Shane hits it the second time. Spanky is too close to the ropes for Shane to get a pin from it. Spanky blocks a third superkick and ducks a clothesline. He ripcords Shane into the Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 10:24.

American Dragon vs. Spanky

Dragon dominates Spanky on the mat, with Spanky looking for a quick pin in the process. Dragon picks up the intensity with a hard shoulder block and a bodyslam. Spanky lands on his feet out of a German suplex and snaps Dragon’s neck across the top rope. Spanky fumbles a springboard and gets booted in the face by Dragon, but recovers quickly and strikes Dragon to the floor. Spanky uses the time to catch his breath. Spanky does a little damage to Dragon, but is then taken down with a cravate and enzuigiri. Spanky lands a forearm strike to the neck and suplexes Dragon, trying three times to pin him after the fact. Dragon comes back with another enzuigiri and big boot. Spanky resists a Dragon suplex and ends up dropping Dragon with Sliced Bread #2 for a two count. Dragon gets his boot up to block a corner attack and knocks down Spanky with a rolling forearm. That enables him to pull off the Dragon suplex, but Spanky is able to kick out. He sets up Spanky on the top turnbuckle, and Spanky counters his superplex attempt with a super Sliced Bread #2 to win the match and the gauntlet at 13:41. A really solid series of matches overall, saving the best for last. It made me want to see much more of London, raised Spanky’s stock in the company, and my indifference to Shane remains. ***

Commentary announces that four four-person tournaments will take place at the next ROH event (June 22nd). The four tournament winners will then meet in a four corner Iron Man match on July 27th to determine the first ever ROH Champion. Spanky says because of his Gauntlet victory he deserves a spot in the ROH title tournament. Dragon takes umbrage with this, saying tonight was the first time Spanky has ever defeated him, and he thinks he also belongs in the tournament. To that I say, so what? You lost to him in ROH, and it is an ROH title tournament, forget everywhere else. Christopher Daniels comes to the ring and says neither of them are in his league and states that he will be the first ROH Champion. Scoot Andrews appears behind Daniels and challenges him to an opening round match in the title tournament. After this, Xavier, Jay Briscoe, Prince Nana and Low Ki all come out to claim a spot in the tournament. Nana unwisely slaps Low Ki and gets knocked out with a punch for his troubles. Ki talks to the people in the ring, especially giving an earful to Daniels. Ki ends by telling everybody that on June 22nd, all they can do is be ready.

The Amazing Red & Eddy Guerrero vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo)

After the last show, Eddy Guerrero returned to the WWF and won the Intercontinental Championship. He wears the title to the ring for this match. Jose dropkicks Red to the corner. Guerrero blind tags in and assists Red with a headscissors on Jose, and then cuts off Joel with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Joel takes down Guerrero with a Frankensteiner, but Guerrero then rolls through a sunset flip and applies a sharpshooter until Joel gets the ropes. He lands a slingshot senton for two. Joel backdrops Guerrero and tags Jose. The SAT double drop toe holds Guerrero into a Parachute stretch/Dragon Sleeper combo. Red tries to make the save, but Jose throws him to the floor and dropkicks Guerrero out of the stretch. Although the SAT takes down Guerrero with a pair of suplexes, he cuts off Jose with a superplex and tags out to Red. Red headscissors Joel into a tornado DDT and then a standing shooting star press. Jose counters a Frankensteiner with a sit-out powerbomb.The SAT manage to keep Red isolated longer than they did Guerrero. Red tornado kicks Joel as Joel comes off of the second rope and tags in Guerrero. He unloads with punches on Jose and weaves him into a brainbuster for two. We see the ROH locker room watching the match as Guerrero lifts up Jose into a Razor’s Edge. Jose counters into a huracanrana for two, and then immediately tries a prawn hold. Guerrero cuts him off with a clothesline, but when Guerrero begins to climb to the top turnbuckle, Joel cuts him off. The SAT regroup and set up for a Spanish Fly, but Red dropkicks Joel to the floor and wipes him out with a twisting pescado. Guerrero then launches Red up to the top for a super Frankensteiner to Jose. Guerrero tumbles mid-air when he notices Jose move out of the way of a frog splash and ends up dropping Jose with a Splash Mountain powerbomb for the pin at 13:12. It’s pretty wild just how much Guerrero outclassed everybody in this match. The SAT and Red played their roles just fine, but this was the Eddy Guerero show, which is fitting and acceptable given the theme of the night. His presence will be missed. ***

Brian XL interrupts the post-match moment, presumably out of jealousy. He gets in a fight with Guerrero, who quickly puts him in his place with a powerbomb, a brainbuster, and a frog splash. Referee John Finnegan counts to three and Stephen DeAngelis declares him the winner, but this was not a match. The SAT then dispose of XL so Eddy can give a farewell speech. He’s moved by the crowds “we will miss you” chant, and tells them the feeling is mutual. It’s hard to make out exactly what he is saying due to bad acoustics and the mix not being fed into the camera, but he says the people in the locker room are his brothers and that Philadelphia played an important role in his wrestling career. He embraces the SAT and Red and places the Intercontinental title on Red’s shoulder momentarily.

Backstage, American Dragon and Low Ki realize Spanky wasn’t out with the rest of the locker room to show their respect to Eddy. Ki tells the both of them that they pay to see him and not Eddy Guerrero. Christopher Daniels approaches with Donovan Morgan by his side and calls Ki and Dragon marks. This results in a brawl that is broken up. Spanky is angry at Daniels for the attack, saying he now has “heat” with Low Ki for what he did. Morgan tells Daniels he sees what he was talking about earlier, and Daniels notes if he still had hair, “this place” would make it go grey.

Some rotten and offensive stuff still permeates these shows, but the addition of AJ Styles to the roster will surely be a boon, and we have a focus for the next two shows revolving around the first champion being crowned. The send off for Eddy was also really nice, and even though he only made two appearances, his inclusion in ROH’s first few shows provided validation to the company throughout its entire history.