Wakefield, MA – 8.24.2002

Commentary is provided by Donnie B and Steve Corino. Thankfully, this is the last time we will ever endure Donnie B’s commentary, and the last of Corino on commentary for a long while.

Low Ki is somewhere in the building with the ROH Championship on his right shoulder. On July 27th, he gave everything he had over the course of an hour, withstanding pain and exhaustion in the 95 degree heat for the love of the sport. He says wrestling is his life, and the tears he shed on July 27th were genuine. Wrestling has brought him to another level of respect, discipline, and honor. He has the utmost respect for AJ Styles, but he didn’t give everything he had to wrestling just to let AJ take the ROH title from him. Ki makes the first ever ROH Title defense tonight, and he plans to prove that it isn’t about the size of the fighter, but the fight that they bring.

Outside of the building we see Izzy and Dixie messing around with a camera by a dumpster. Dixie debuted last month in a clipped match, and tonight will be Izzy’s ROH debut. They are real life brothers, trained by the Haas Brothers and Magic. Elax pops out of the dumpster and tells Dixie and Izzy that they’re wrestling tonight, and neither of them care. Well, then I guess I don’t care either.

The Amazing Red vs. Quiet Storm

Storm shows some attitude after the fast-paced opening exchange goes to a stalemate, so Red makes him pay with a tope con hilo to the floor and a couple of kicks to the spine. Storm wakes up after a basement dropkick to the back, leading to a forearm strike exchange. Storm ends up taking Red down with a neckbreaker and then a single armed Gory neckbreaker for a two count. The crowd goes nuts for Storm’s Destroyer, which makes me question if Petey Williams was indeed the innovator, or just the one who made it popular. Red cuts off Storm with an Ace Crusher in mid-air and then drops him with a flying Complete Shot. The Infrared and Red Star Press gets Red the pin at 6:05. This was a solid showcase match for both competitors, with Red clearly being the favorite of the crowd. It was also a good match to get the crowd energized for the evening. **¾

As both men adhere to the Code of Honor’s post-match handshake, they’re attacked by Brian XL, Elax, Dixie and Izzy. Divine Storm and The SAT come to Red and Storm’s rescue. A lower third tells us Brian XL’s team is known as Special K, and this fracas leads us into a six man tag team match.

The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) & Chris Divine vs. Special K (Brian XL, Dixie & Izzy)

Elax is in Special K’s corner. The SAT and Divine maintain control until Izzy wipes out everybody with a springboard twisting splash. Dixie follows up with a Swanton Bomb, XL follows that with a Fosbury Flop, and Elax even gets in a twisting senton onto the pile. This gives Special K the advantage, but a triple submission, including one where the SAT have XL and Dixie connected together in a pendulum stretch, turns things back into their favor. Jose also powerbombs Izzy and Dixie simultaneously off of the middle turnbuckle. Divine takes down the interfering Elax with a flying Skull Crushing Finale off of the top turnbuckle. The SAT then polished off XL with a double Spanish Fly for the pin at 9:06. I thought it was a strange choice for Special K to lose their first full-length match. It was also strange to put this right after the Red vs. Storm match, just because it was a lot of the same style of wrestling to digest at once. It was fun to watch, but I think putting something different between the bouts might have been helpful. Thumbs down to commentary for putting themselves over and straight up saying Elax is retarded. **½

Chris Divine grabs the microphone after the match. He mentions that on the NWA-TNA PPV three days prior, Low Ki defeated The Amazing Red and The SAT in a four way elimination match. He wants a chance to prove himself against Low Ki as well. With that, Ki makes his way to the ring for an impromptu match, which seems like a poor decision given his title match later in the evening.

Low Ki vs. Chris Divine

Divine gets in some chops. Ki kicks Divine’s knee out, kicks him twice in the chest, and then Kawada kicks him when Divine ducks another chest kick. The Tidal Krush and Dragon Clutch secure Ki the submission victory at 0:53. So what did this achieve exactly? Divine won a match only to lose in under a minute to the champion moments later, possibly breaking his nose in the process. Although I’m sure most fans in the crowd knew of NWA-TNA, it’s unlikely many saw the PPV, and if they did, what does that have to do with anything going on in Ring of Honor? This card is already massive as is, and there was no point to this.

We then get a video from Christopher Daniels sent in from Iwate, Japan, as he is currently on tour with Michinoku Pro. He may not be in Boston tonight, but the rest of the Prophecy will be there, and Daniels tells us we may see a new member added to The Prophecy as well. He then turns his attention to Low Ki, who he claims is the point man for all of Daniels’ troubles in ROH. He says it’s Ki’s fault that he was screwed out of the ROH Title. When he returns to ROH on September 21st, the Prophecy will destroy the Code of Honor and rebuild ROH in their image.

The Christopher Street Connection (Buff-E & Mace) vs. Dunn & Marcos

Allison Danger is in the CSC’s corner. The CSC pummel Dunn and Marcos while also doing a bunch of stuff to try and insight gay panic from the crowd. It sucked shit then and aged like a banana in the sun. Fortunately, the Boston crowd seems less bigoted than the Philly fans. Commentary also claimed they had never seen a Gory Bomb before which seems impossible. The “Gay Basher” (a Doomsday Seated Senton) gets the CSC the win at 3:41. DUD

Scoot Andrews vs. Mike Tobin

Tobin’s tag team partner Danny Drake is still injured and is in Tobin’s corner. Tobin kicks out of an Alabama Slam and cuts off Andrews with a Stroke. Andrews steps out of the way of a springboard Swanton Bomb and pops up Tobin into a Samoan Drop. The Force of Nature then gets Andrews the pin at 2:03. A nice dominant showing for Andrews, which should be the case given Tobin primarily wrestles in a tag team. ½*

Xavier comes to the ring and grabs a microphone. He says the last time they were in a ring together, Andrews busted his head open. Since Andrews is still fresh, Xavier challenges Andrews to a match right now to settle their rivalry once and for all. Andrews accepts.

Scoot Andrews vs. Xavier

The match is pretty even until Andrews cuts off a headscissors from Xavier with a facebuster. Xavier sends Andrews to the floor with an enzuigiri, and then wipes him out with a double jump Arabian Press. In the ring, Xavier looks for a running bulldog, and Andrews turns to clothesline him mid-move. Xavier evades the Force of Nature and goes for a sunset flip. Andrews pulls him up into a Roll of the Dice for two. Xavier avoids a backdrop and pulls Andrews up into a Razor’s Edge. Xavier then lands a 450 Splash for the pin at 4:04. With how much these two were intertwined on the first five shows, it seemed odd to blow this off in a new city in an unannounced match that didn’t even go five minutes. My impression is they had what was coming next month with Xavier in mind and wanted to put this rivalry in their rearview. It’s a shame, because these two had solid chemistry, and I think the Philly fans would have actually been into a final encounter with at least a month of hype behind it. **¾

Aside from a one off in August of next year, this would be it for Scoot Andrews’ ROH tenure. It’s tough to judge his reign, as he wrestled Xavier almost exclusively, and his matches were all pretty short. Given how highly many fans from the time period speak of him, it would seem we never got to see Andrews at his best in ROH. Based on what we did see, though, he was a logical choice to cut as they were fleshing out their core roster.

We see footage from earlier in the day where Michael Shane pulls up to the building with Bio-Hazard. He tells Bio-Hazard that if he sticks with him, he too could live the life of a wrestler with an ROH contract. He then leaves Bio-Hazard to park his rental car for him.

Paul London vs. Michael Shane

Rudy Boy Gonzalez is in London’s corner while Bio-Hazard is in Shane’s corner. Shane attacks London from behind after obeying the Code of Honor. After some of his own strikes, London backdrops Shane to the floor onto Bio-Hazard and suicide dives onto both of them. In the ring, Shane pulls the referee in the way so he can’t see him poke London in the eyes. London avoids being tripped when Shane drops down and lands a standing moonsault onto Shane’s lower back. Shane however shoves London off of the top turnbuckle and onto the guardrails, with the guardrail crumbling upon impact. London makes his way back into the ring and cuts off Shane with a leg lariat. London tries a tornado DDT, but Shane shoves him off and belly-to-belly suplexes him into the turnbuckle for two. London slams Shane’s face into the mat to counter a backdrop and then repeatedly drives Shane’s head into the mat. Shane ducks a spin kick and delivers a gamengiri, with London getting his foot on the middle rope to avoid being pinned. Shane trips London into a Haas of Pain, and once again London gets to the ropes. London flips out of a backslide attempt and counters a powerbomb into a huracanrana for two. London sends him back outside with a spinwheel kick and follows with a springboard twisting senton. Shane appears to have injured his knee or ankle, but it was a ruse to bait London into a small package and get the pin at 12:44. You could see that ending coming from a mile away but it worked for the crowd. London fighting back after taking significant damage and having the victory within his grasp compared to Shane faking an injury to get a win underscores just how different the two of them are from each other. London has not had the opportunity to have much of a spotlight put on him in ROH so far, so I appreciated him getting the chance to do so in this match. ***

Simply Luscious comes out and invites Michael Shane to join The Prophecy. Rudy Boy grabs her microphone. The audio is so horrific I can’t understand a word he said, but the gist is that he tried to convince Shane not to join The Prophecy. Shane thinks for a few moments before superkicking Luscious and then Rudy Boy. Bio-Hazard then suplexes London, who was still in the ring, and Shane lands a top rope elbow drop on London for good measure before leaving.

We’re shown the clip from “A Night of Appreciation” where backstage, American Dragon and Low Ki gave Spanky a stern talking to for not appropriately respecting Eddy Guerrero that night, and Donovan Morgan and Christopher Daniels calling Ki and Dragon marks. A brawl ensued, and Spanky was unhappy with Daniels interjecting, because now it meant he had heat with Low Ki.

American Dragon vs. Donovan Morgan

This was originally set to be a 2 out of 3 Falls between Dragon and Spanky, but Spanky ended up on tour with ZERO-ONE during this event. Commentary makes no mention of this. Dragon does a lot of damage to Morgan’s left shoulder and elbow. Morgan Saito suplexes Dragon to end his offensive stride, and throws him into the barricades twice for good measure. In the ring, he puts Dragon in a full nelson using his legs, which Dragon turns into a grounded parachute stretch. Dragon picks up momentum with an enzuigiri. He strikes Morgan repeatedly before pinning him with a bridging Northern Lights suplex for two. Morgan gets his foot up to block a corner attack and drills Dragon with a Flying DDT for two. Dragon recovers from a belly-to-belly suplex, and during a forearm strike exchange, Dragon cuts open Morgan’s left eyebrow with two rolling forearm strikes. Dragon exacerbates the open cut with a diving headbutt, and an angry Morgan takes down Dragon with the Golden Gate Swing. Dragon backdrops his way out of a double underhook and brings Morgan to the mat in the Cattle Mutilation. The 15:00 time limit expires, resulting in a draw, the first draw ever in ROH history. Once again the story highlighted the difference between the competitors. While both are technically proficient and tough, Dragon is more focused on being the better wrestler, while Morgan incorporates more strikes and brawling to get the job done. Dragon’s method was more successful, but time was not on his side. I came away from this match wishing to see them wrestle again, so mission accomplished. ***¼

Dragon says that Morgan proved how great of a wrestler he is and says he is above the Prophecy. He invites Morgan to uphold the Code of Honor by shaking his hand and to “be a real wrestler.” Morgan responds by kicking Dragon and dropping him with a Pedigree.

Da Hit Squad are outside leaning on a school bus with a broken windshield. Mafia says the Carnage Crew bit off more than they can chew by challenging them to a Boston Massacre Match. Mack asks The Carnage Crew rhetorically if they’re willing to make the sacrifice that they are. Separately, we see a clip of The Carnage Crew from the last show beating up the ring crew after the show and pretending that they’re Da Hit Squad. I imagine that was supposed to be on last month’s show but was cut for time.

Boston Massacre Match
Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. The Carnage Crew (Loc & DeVito)

Mack overhead suplexes Loc in the ring while Mafia and DeVito fight on the floor. Mafia sends DeVito into a guardrail and then German suplexes Loc back in the ring. DeVito uses barbed wire against Mafia while Mack uses it against Loc. Loc grinds the back of Mack’s head against the guardrails before DeVito dropkicks a chair into Mafia’s face against the guardrails. Mack then digs barbed wire into Loc’s head. The Crew takes control with multiple chair shots in the ring. Da Hit Squad retrieve giant plywood boards with barbed wire on them from the backstage area. DeVito and Mafia set them up in adjacent corners. They both avoid being thrown into the boards, and Mack then gives Loc an enzuigiri to avoid being put through one. Mack misses a frog splash and DeVito whips him back first into one of the boards. DeVito tries hitting Mack with a hub cap, but Mack ducks and spears DeVito through the other barbed wire board. Mafia then gives Loc the Burning Hammer for the pin at 11:06. This was not for me, and honestly, it didn’t feel like the crowd was very into this either. Even if you are into this kind of wrestling, I think the Bunkhouse match from last month was a better hardcore match. Pass. ½*

Don Juan vs. Bio-Hazard

Juan debuted last month in a TWA Showcase tag team match. Michael Shane is in Bio-Hazard’s corner. Bio-Hazard throws Juan around using various suplex attempts and ends up pinning him at 2:19 with a half hatch suplex. Juan got in very little offense, and I suppose if Bio-Hazard is going to be linked with Shane going forward, that makes sense.

NECW Special Attraction Match
Alex Arion vs. Maverick Wild

NECW is New England Championship Wrestling. Arion is their heavyweight champion. He goes for a Fujiwara armbar early and armdrags Wild when it doesn’t go his way. Wild gets a nearfall with a suplex and dropkicks Arion in the back of his head. He then does a weird thing where he drives his news into the corner and then falls back for a back senton. He misses a double knee strike in the corner and Arion superkicks him for two. Arion gives him a reverse waterwheel slam. Wild blocks a diving splash and pulls him up in a double underhook. Arion counters into a victory roll for the pin at 5:50. Totally basic showcase match, one that probably could’ve been left on the cutting room floor. Arion would get invited back to ROH a few more times, and we’d never see Wild in ROH again. **

The Natural Born Sinners (Boogalou & Homicide) vs. James Maritato & Tony Mamaluke

This match came as a result of an exchange backstage last month. As a reminder, Maritato wants to leave the FBI gimmick in the past while Mamaluke still chooses to embrace it. Based on their body language during their entrance, Maritato successfully convinced Mamaluke to tone down the FBI schtick and be more serious. The Natural Born Sinners are also in pursuit of being taken seriously as wrestlers, and show off their technical acumen against Mariatato and Mamaluke on the mat. Mamaluke endures some double team offense from the Sinners. He ends up sending Homicide to the floor and sends him face first into the top turnbuckle when he looks to re-enter the ring. Maritato and Mamaluke isolate Homicide, focusing their attack on his left knee. Homicide reveres a scoop slam from Mamaluke into a pair of t-bone suplexes and tags in Boogalou. Maritato quickly looks for a Fujiwara armbar when countering a suplex, and Boogalou gets the ropes to escape. Boogalou also avoids an Unprettier by shoving him into Homicide for an Ace Crusher. Mamaluke superplexes Homicide into a guillotine choke. Boogalou breaks it and pitches Maritato to the floor. Homicide escapes a victory roll from Mamaluke and spikes him with the Cop Killer for the pin at 12:31. This was easily the best thing the Sinners have done in ROH so far, and for a company like ROH, it makes perfect sense to me that even though they’re these supposed maniacs that they would want to be viewed as credible wrestlers. It was also a solid way to show that Maritato and Mamaluke aren’t on the same page without going into all the typical tropes (refusing to tag, arguing leading to the finish, etc.) I’m interested in where it goes. This was much better than I expected. ***

Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe

This match was set up last month in Philadelphia. It is Mark’s in-ring ROH debut, as Massachusetts does not have the 18 year old age restriction that Pennsylvania does. Mark intentionally angers his brother with slaps to the face, an elbow to the ear, and paint brushing the back of his head. Jay escapes his cross armbreaker attempt and clobbers him with forearm strikes to the face. Jay tries a sleeper, only for Mark to turn that into a grounded parachute stretch. Mark ends their follow up exchange with a Northern Lights suplex. Jay big boots Mark to the floor, but Mark gets the upper hand by throwing Jay between the ring apron and barricades, and then into the ring post twice. This busts Jay open, and Mark pummels the wound before bringing Jay back into the ring where he does more of the same against the ropes and on the mat. Mark gets two with a DDT, but then Jay rolls under a clothesline and dropkicks Mark’s right knee out from under him. Jay goes to the top turnbuckle after dropping Mark with a sit-out Gourdbuster. Mark climbs up with Jay and brings him down with a springboard Ace Crusher. Mark further attacks Jay’s wound with a couple of knee drops to the head and a tombstone piledriver. Mark misses a super knee drop, and Jay takes him down with a pair of dragonscrew leg whips. Mark’s knee gives out when he looks for a springboard to the floor, so he pivots to a pescado, and Jay thrusts him in the throat on the way down. Mark low blows Jay to keep control, and he fights through the pain to pull off a springboard dropkick back inside the ring. Jay elbows out of a chinlock and looks for the Jay Driller. Mark slips out, but Jay quickly takes him down with a jackknife powerbomb. Mark is able to come back with a dragon suplex for two, but misses the subsequent moonsault. Jay turns him inside out with a lariat and gets two with a Death Valley Driver. Mark fights out of another Jay Driller and looks for the Cutthroat Driver. Jay however instead pulls him up into a modified Rikishi Driver. Jay’s super back senton misses, and as Jay recovers against the ropes, Mark blasts him with a step-up knee strike. Mark then drops a Cutthroat Driver for the pin at 16:53. I was way too harsh when I reviewed this about a decade ago. This was more nuanced than I gave it credit for, and the crowd was very into it. Mark has been such a shithead to Jay for months, and now he can hold it over Jay’s head that he is both undefeated and that his sole victory was over his older brother. They would go on to have more important and at least one better singles match down the line, but this was pretty dang significant for them at this time, and quite enjoyable. ***½

ROH Championship
Low Ki vs. AJ Styles

Ki has been champion since 7.27.2002 and this is his first defense. Ki did not like the fact that he defeated Styles with a small package back in April, and granted Styles this rematch prior to winning the title. Now that he is champion, the title is on the line as well. Styles and Ki control one another by their legs, resulting in Styles getting Ki in a Muta Lock. Ki swivels out and kicks Styles square in the jaw. Ki also wins a battle of kicks with an enzuigiri. Ki fails to hit another enzuigiri from the mat, and Styles kicks him upside the head instead. Ki Judo throws Styles into a side headlock and throws uppercuts and chops when Styles gets to his feet. Styles attempts a Frankensteiner from the mat, only for Ki to kick him in the lower back. Styles pulls it off on his second attempt after being knocked down with a thrust kick. Styles clobbers Ki before taking him down with his own thrust kick. Ki reverses a whip and dropkicks Styles’ knee out. He throws several chest kicks, and Styles sweeps out his legs when Ki goes for a third. Ki kicks Styles in the nose to break out of the Styles Clash, resetting the match. Styles temporarily stuns Ki with a knee to the side of the head. Ki responds with a headbutt and a Kawada kick, with Styles cutting him off using a rolling clothesline. Styles’ suicide dive is halted with a jump-up enzuigiri from Ki. In the ring, Styles ducks a Tidal Wave and german suplexes Ki before rolling him up into a wheelbarrow facebuster. Ki counters a Style Clash attempt with a huracanrana. Ki side steps Styles’ charge and sends him face first into the turnbuckle, and then locks in a tree of woe Dragon Sleeper. Upon recovering, Styles pulls Ki from behind up into the Cliffhanger. Styles misses the Spiral Tap and Ki locks the Dragon Sleeper back in after a back kick. Styles crotches Ki on the top rope and delivers a Phenomenal Forearm while Ki is hanging upside down in a tree of woe. Ki ends a strike exchange on the mat with an enzuigiri and pulls Styles up into a brainbuster. Styles gets his knees up to block Ki’s Phoenix Splash and then drops Ki with his own brainbuster for two. Styles misses a corner dropkick and falls onto his neck. Ki tries the Ki Krusher, which Styles blocks with a cradle. Styles fires up when Ki throws Kawada kicks, only for Ki to counter his Frankensteiner with a powerbomb for two. Styles manages to fight out of a Dragon Sleeper, but Ki pulls off the Ki Krusher for the pin at 19:49. The tenacity shown by both of them helped make the ROH title feel important. Even without the title on the line, you could tell it was important for Ki to prove April wasn’t a fluke win. This had the physicality and athleticism that helped define ROH in this first year, and still holds up over two decades later. ****

The camera follows Ki backstage where Xavier is waiting for him. He tells Ki that he hopes that he is a man of his word and that he will give him a title shot September 21st. Ki says he is a man of his word and that he will be glad to fight Xavier. All Xavier can do is be ready. Xavier says Ki will need to be ready for “The All Around Best.” I spoke about how absurd this “promise” from Ki was last month, considering giving Xavier a World Title shot despite Xavier losing in the first round of the ROH title tournament, but fine. I suppose exploiting someone’s pride for a title match is a solid heel tactic.

Michael Shane is talking on a balcony overseeing the floor as the ring is being taken down. Shane says he’s done with Rudy Boy Gonzalez. As for the Prophecy, he doesn’t need anyone watching his back. He doesn’t mind if they don’t follow the Code of Honor, but he likes shaking hands, because he likes the feeling of an opponent he has beaten shaking his hand and knowing that he is the better man, which is exactly what Paul London had to do. Shane still takes issue with Spanky calling himself the new Showstopper, and soon enough, he will show Spanky just how pissed off he is.

Dunn and Marcos are then on the balcony, and Marcos tells us that they are going to rock ROH like a hurricane. This promo saved them from being beaten down by The Carnage Crew, who attacked a couple of different ring crew members at this time.

Of the six shows so far, this seemed to suffer the most from too many matches. The crowd was definitely burned out by the main event. We still have a few more events before ROH would tighten things up, and I am very much looking forward to reaching that point.