Philadelphia, PA – 11.9.2002

Commentary is provided by Chris Lovey & Jeff Gorman.

Steve Corino approaches Low Ki in the locker room. He says the ZERO-ONE office wants the two of them to team up tonight to take on Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka. He asks if Ki is up for it, and Ki says it would be an honor to face them. Homicide tells Corino he has a lot of nerve showing up after ditching him in their tag team match last month. Corino says it was Homicide who elbowed him during the match. Ki keeps the peace, as Ki tells Homicide they need to also focus on winning the ROH Tag Titles later. Corino walks off and Ki tells Homicide not to worry about him.

In reality, Corino was originally to team with Spanky. Spanky signed with WWE and was pulled from the show. Why WWE allowed Eddy Guerrero to fulfill his ROH commitments and not Spanky is a mystery.

The show opened with a match between Homicide and Prince Nana, but that was cut from the video release. Live reports note it was a squash. It was also intended to be Homicide vs. Izzy, but as we see in the next match, Izzy’s arm was in a cast.

Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) vs. Special K (Dixie & Joey Matthews)

Trinity is in Divine Storm’s corner and Izzy is in Special K’s corner. We saw Matthews passed out last month in the locker room, with Special K watching from a nearby locker room, and it is heavily intimidated that his partying with Special K is what put him in that state. Da Hit Squad are the big bruisers in a sea of high fliers, which is made clear when Mafia turns Storm inside out with a lariat, and also powerbombed every competitor in the match in a giant Tower of Doom. Mafia also counters a one-man Spanish Fly from Joel Maximo with a Rikishi Driver from the second rope. Matthews escaped a Burning Hammer from Mafia at first, but was then taken out with a half-nelson suplex. Dixie impressively countered a slam from Mafia with a DDT, but then succumbed to Storm’s Spinal Shock. The SAT German suplexed Storm repeatedly, finally putting him away with a moonsault/super leg drop. They also powerbomb Storm into the corner to crotch Dixie on the top rope. The SAT backdrop Storm onto Da Hit Squad on the floor, giving them clearance to put away Dixie with the Spanish Fly at 9:14. As burned out as I am on these multi-man tags (and it will only get worse over the next few months), this was probably the most competent yet. This also seemed to have the mission of breaking the SAT out of the pack, finally, and it did just that. It also got the crowd energized, so mission accomplished. **¾

The Prophecy and Samoa Joe are backstage. Christopher Daniels says since they hold all the titles, there will no longer be handshakes in title matches. He sings the praises of the other Prophecy members, boring Joe in the background, who literally mouths “I hate you” at Daniels. Xavier tells Jay Briscoe he may have gotten lucky last month, but it will not happen again tonight. Daniels says with Joe by their side, they will take out the ROH Dream Team of Homicide, Low Ki, and Doug Williams. Daniels also says that Joe will not shake hands tonight. Joe clarifies that he is paid by Daniels to get the job done, but he is not going to compromise his integrity by violating the Code of Honor. Joe walks off, and Daniels shoos the cameraman away.

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy Gauntlet Match

This winner of this match will become the inaugural holder of the ROH Championship #1 Contender’s trophy, which has been created to ensure all ROH Title challenges going forward are earned.

CM Punk vs. Michael Shane

This is Punk’s ROH in-ring debut. He focuses his attack on Shane’s left arm. Shane nurses his arm as he stomps on Punk after taking him down with a back suplex. Punk regains control with more attacks to the arm, but Shane cuts him off with a jump-up enzuigiri. Punk flips up to his feet when Shane tries pulling him out of the corner. Shane cuts off his twisting crossbody in mid-air with a superkick. Shane misses an elbow drop onto his bad arm. Punk capitalizes with a Shining Wizard for two. Shane reverses the cradle from an O’Connor Roll and holds onto the middle rope to get the pin at 13:04. The crowd chants “bullshit!” at the outcome.

Paul London vs. Michael Shane

As you can imagine, this starts with an all out slugfest. Shane gets two on London with a brutal looking over-the-shoulder backbreaker. He then powerbombs him twice before putting him in a high-angle Boston Crab. London sunset flips his way out of another powerbomb but then is taken down with a clothesline. Shane then attacks London’s ribs. London surprises Shane with a leg wrap DDT when Shane pulls him off of the mat and rolls him up for the pin at 4:38. Commentary says this was just like when Shane feigned an injury at “Honor Invades Boston” to defeat London, but it didn’t come off that way.

Shane says he refuses to shake London’s hand because of how he won and walks off. Tommy Dreamer meets Shane in the aisle and demands Shane head back to the ring. WWE was holding a House Show at the First Union Center up the road that night, so Dreamer was in town. Dreamer says there is no way in hell he is letting Shane leave the ring without shaking hands. Shane tries to shake Dreamer’s hand, but Dreamer waves it off. Dreamer says the Philadelphia fans helped give him the eight best years of his life. They used to come to the ECW Arena every month for something special, and now they come to the Murphy Rec Center for another special place. Shane better respect ROH, because he knows the people in the locker room work just as hard for the fans as those in ECW did. The speech ends with everyone shaking hands, but when Shane shakes London’s hand, he then turns him inside out with a clothesline. Dreamer gives Shane a DDT and then raises London’s arm. Dreamer then asks for “Man In The Box” to be played before he exits. The crowd was pumped for Dreamer and the speech for sure worked. Dreamer endorsing every Indie he wrestled on as the next ECW had not become passé by that point. That said, it was jarring for all of this to occur in the middle of a gauntlet match.

Paul London vs. The Amazing Red

Red continues the attack to London’s ribs with a tiger feint kick through the middle ropes. Red also DDT’s London onto the floor. London catches Red’s dropkick attempt through the ropes and swings him into the guardrails. Back in the ring, Red clobbers London twice in the head with tornado kicks and sweeps his legs out for the Red Star Press for two. London from the apron forearms Red. Red crotches London on the top turnbuckle and ascends to the top rope himself. Red brings down London with an Avalanche Frankensteiner for two. London reverses an Irish whip and drops Red with a Rydeen Bomb. London then pins Red with the Shooting Star Press at 5:50.

Paul London vs. American Dragon

Dragon is fresh off of his first tour with NJPW. Dragon ends the opening exchange with a stomp. He pitches London to the floor and then traps him in the ropes. He throws multiple chops before delivering a dropkick. London and Dragon exchange forearm shots until London takes down Dragon with a float over DDT. London flips out of a back superplex and takes down Dragon with a Russian Leg Sweep off of the middle rope. He wants the shooting star press, but Dragon brings him down with a superplex. Dragon locks on the Cattle Mutilation after a dragon suplex, and London taps out at 9:17. Dragon will now face AJ Styles later in the evening to determine the trophy holder. That is a bizarre thing to do with a gauntlet, and I can’t remember why Styles basically got a bye to finals. This final pairing was by far the best of the Gauntlet bunch, and it’s easy to see why this pairing would be revisited and featured a few months later. Punk vs. Shane went too long and was quite boring, while the other two match-ups were solid but unremarkable. The Dreamer segment taking place in the middle was bizarre, but it did get over in the building at least. A strange, uneven Gauntlet to be sure. **¾

ROH Tag Team Championship Match
The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan) & Samoa Joe vs. Doug Williams, Homicide & Low Ki

The Prophecy have been champions since 9.21.2002 and this is their first defense. Commentary explains that defending the titles in a six man match was the Prophecy’s edict, given that they have a trophy to symbolize the Prophecy stable as champions. That is a sufficient enough explanation. Simply Luscious is in their corner. Apparently Mike Modest was originally on Team ROH but got sideways with ROH management. The crowd is salivating at Joe and Ki going at it again, but a blind tag from Daniels takes that away from the Philly faithful. Ki gets the better of Morgan, Williams sends Joe scurrying to the ropes for surrender, and Homicide ends up having to fight off all of the Prophecy despite Daniels being the legal participant. Homicide’s partners help him sequester Daniels in their corner, where they do considerable damage to the Fallen Angel. Williams has Daniels in a modified Gory Special and is setting up Morgan for a Boston Crab at the same time when Joe blasts Williams with a big boot. Daniels drags Williams to the corner and officially tags in Joe. The Prophecy turned the match in their favor by beating down Williams in their corner. Eventually, Williams knocks down Morgan and Daniels to avoid a double backdrop and tags in Homicide, who gets two on Daniels with a Hamachan Cutter. Williams takes out Morgan on the floor with a dive off of the second turnbuckle, and ends up wiped out with an Arabian Press from Daniels. Daniels and Morgan catch Homicide’s tope con hilo, but Ki dives onto them to help out his partner. Joe then takes out everyone with a twisting splash. Ki saves Homicide from being pinned by Morgan’s Golden Gate Swing. Daniels then saves Morgan from Homicide’s STF. Ki blocks the Last Rites from Daniels. He sends him to the corner but misses the Tidal Crush. Daniels brings him off of the top turnbuckle with a high speed prawn hold, sending Ki crashing hard onto his neck into the canvas. Ki kicks out of the subsequent pin and also blocks the Angel’s Wings. He passes Daniels into the Cop Killa from Homicide. Joe saves Daniels and looks for the Island Driver on Homicide. Williams attacks from behind to save his partner. Morgan prevents Williams from giving Joe the Chaos Theory. Ki puts Morgan in a Dragon Sleeper. Daniels saves Morgan and then with Morgan gives Ki a powerbomb/beckbreaker combo. Williams breaks up the pin and then gives Daniels the Choas Theory for two. Morgan then gets two on Williams with the Golden Gate Swing. Homicide drops Williams with a brainbuster. Joe enters and unloads several Kawada kicks to Homicide. Homicide’s lariats have no effect on Joe, so Homicide kicks him low and goes for the Cop Killa, Joe fights out and swipes at Homicide’s head with chops. Joe powerbombs Homicide into an STF, and then converts into the Coquina Clutch. Homicide raises his middle finger but eventually referee Mike Kehner calls for the bell at 23:45. The pacing of the match and the constant rotation of characters made it so the match didn’t feel its length. Everyone also worked together really well, and it finally felt like we were getting somewhere with this Prophecy vs. ROH story. Joe’s role is terrific, and in just two shows has become the stand out competitor for the company. ***½

After the match, Joe shakes hands with his opponents and checks on Homicide, which angers The Prophecy.

Alexis Laree vs. Alison Danger

Mace is in Danger’s corner. Lovey is very excited about the prospect of these two women touching each other. Dreadful. After Laree sends Danger into the barricades with a baseball slide dropkick, Mace tries to interject. Laree forearm strikes him to the floor and then crossbodies out onto him. We cut ahead to Danger in control after attacking Laree from behind. Danger kicks her into a neckbreaker. Danger forces a kiss onto Laree and then sensually crawls over her. This angers Laree, who spears Danger and drives her head into the mat. She pins Danger with a reverse DDT at 3:30. The actual wrestling here was solid for the time given, but the overt perversion from “Chris” ruined anything possible positivity you could glean from this. Mace takes out Laree with an exploder suplex after the match. ¼*

Bunkhouse Match
The Carnage Crew (DeVito & Loc) vs. The Ring Crew Express (Dunn & Marcos)

The Carnage Crew batter the Ring Crew Express with hubcaps. Other nameless ring crew members try to help and get laid out by chairs. The Ring Crew Express try to attack as the Carnage Crew have a ring crew member in a double Boston Crab, but Loc and DeVito catch them and drop them. They double underhook back suplex Dunn before pinning Marcos with a spike piledriver 2:40. This match was called a warm up for The Carnage Crew who are set to face Homicide and Abdullah The Butcher on December 7th in Hamburg, PA, and I suppose it was successful in that respect. It didn’t make me more excited for the forthcoming tag match, but it was pretty fun watching the Carnage Crew wallop on the RCE. *

Gary Michael Cappetta is in the ring and introduces ECW Original JT Smith to the crowd. Smith is quickly cut off by a giggling Special K. Joey Matthews says it’s Special K party time. Matthews pie faces Smith, leading to Smith taking Matthews and Izzy out with strikes. Dixie attacks Smith’s knee with a gardening hoe, and Matthews uses it to clothesline Smith. The Outcast Killaz chase Special K out of the ring. Slugger then bursts through the barricades and takes out Diablo Santiago with a chokeslam. He drops Oman Tortuga with a Big Ending and shakes JT Smith’s hands. He then posts up against the building’s back wall and folds his arms. Okay then.

ROH Championship
Xavier vs. Jay Briscoe

Xavier has been champion since 9.21.2002 and this is his first defense. Jay earned this title match by defeating Xavier in a non-title match last month at Glory By Honor. A kick from Xavier to Briscoe’s shoulder blades raises the intensity of the bout. When Jay hooks Xavier for the Jay Driller moments later, Xavier instantly scurries to the floor. Briscoe is able to keep his advantage with a dropkick, facebuster, and a clothesline that sends both himself and Xavier to the floor. Briscoe tries to suplex Xavier back into the ring from the apron, only for Xavier to reverse it and Briscoe crashing to the floor. Xavier also sends Jay careening into the barricades. Xavier goes after his throat, with some assistance from Simply Luscious who chokes Jay on the middle rope. She also gets Jay to the floor, which leads to Xavier taking him out with an Arabian Press. Xavier busts open Briscoe by booting a chair into his forehead and smashing him head first into the ring post. He wears down Jay with a sleeper back in the ring. Xavier climbs to the top turnbuckle after slamming Briscoe, but misses an elbow drop. Jay pulls Xavier into the Jay Driller, which Xavier counters using a waterwheel slam. Briscoe does take down Xavier with a superplex to reset the match. Briscoe puts him down with a Death Valley Driver. When he’s beginning to climb to the top rope, Simply Luscious slides a chair into the ring, and Mike Kehner gets rid of it. Xavier fights out of another Jay Driller and drops Briscoe with a Cobra Clutch suplex. Briscoe kicks out Kiss Your X Goodbye. Briscoe counters the X Breaker into a powerbomb. He calls for a moonsault and once again Luscious uses a chair to distract the referee. She crotches Jay on the top turnbuckle. Xavier brings Jay down with an X Breaker variation to get the pin at 20:52. So now I’m wondering if Luscious throwing in the chair the first time was a screw up, like she did it too early, because it didn’t do anything for the moment in the match. This was a rock solid defense, which Xavier desperately needed. You can say that Xavier still needed interference to win, but, he also got to show his ruthlessness during the course of the match as well. He also counter wrestled out of the Jay Driller multiple times, which helped put that move over as a match ender in a big way. It says a lot about the confidence ROH had in Xavier for his match to be featured below a #1 Contenders match for the very title he held. I understand why, but it the optics are strange. Nevertheless, the Xavier seems to be accomplishing what they want it to, while simultaneously elevating people other talent like Jay. ***¼

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy Gauntlet Match Finals
American Dragon vs. AJ Styles

The winner of this match gets an ROH Title match on December 7th. The contest is very evenly matched until they’re out on the floor. Styles hops over the barricades and into the crowd when Dragon whips him in, and stuns Dragon with a superkick when he comes charging in. Even though Styles is able to string a backbreaker and gut buster together back inside the ring, Dragon gets advantage of the contest when he kicks away Styles’ left shoulder from the mat. Dragon keeps hold of Styles’ left wrist and emphasizes his left shoulder during his attacks. Dragon also counters a Phenomenon attempt into a fisherman’s suplex for two. Dragon is busted open above his eye during a strike exchange, which gives Style the opening to deliver a brainbuster. The referee forces them to break apart a double chinlock which started as Styles having Dragon in a Muta Lock. Dragon counters a prawn hold with a German suplex, then snap suplexes Styles before landing a flying DDT to Styles’ injured arm. Styles comes back with a facebuster for two. When he goes to the top turnbuckle, Dragon brings him down with a back superplex, with Styles landing on his face. He is just conscious enough to place his foot on the bottom rope and avoid being pinned. After blasting each other with stereo discus clotheslines and an onslaught of forearm smashes, Dragon unloads with an uppercut and forearm flurry in the corner. Styles back elbows Dragon to stop a charge and then successfully pulls off the Phenomenon for two. Dragon also kicks out of the Styles Clash. Dragon’s desperation bridging Dragon suplex may only have gotten him a two count, but it got him into a position where he could easily pivot Styles into the Cattle Mutilation. Bryan then turns that into a seatbelt pin for another two count. Styles stops Dragon on the top rope. HE pulls Dragon down into a Styles Clash position. Dragon is holding onto the top rope to try and evade it, so Styles drives him chest first upside down into the ring post pad. Styles then powerbombs him twice before pulling him up into the Styles Clash for the pin at 22:29, becoming the first #1 Contender’s Trophy holder and earning a shot at Xavier on December 7th. Dragon may have had rest, but Styles came into this fresh and still had to fight tooth and nail to earn his title shot. It made Dragon look tough as nails, and feel like Styles had truly earned something by coming out victorious. This was two awesome wrestlers doing awesome wrestling for over twenty minutes. If you want an early example of the ROH house style, look no further. ****

As Dragon heads backstage, commentary mentions that he is considering using his real name, Bryan Danielson, going forward. Once he gets backstage, he is immediately assaulted by The Prophecy of Christopher Daniels, Xavier, and Donovan Morgan. They then run into the ring and attack Styles as well. Jay Briscoe and Dragon come to Styles’ rescue and send the Prophecy packing.

Low Ki & Steve Corino vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka

ZERO1 president Yoshiyukui Nakamura is acknowledged in the crowd before the entrances. Samoa Joe is in Ki and Corino’s corner. Ki is wearing tights for this match rather than his usual shorts. Tanaka ends his opening exchange with Ki with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Otani gives him two baseball slide dropkicks as Ki is hanging in a tree of woe. Ki bites Otani’s finger when Otani digs his hand into his face. Ki walks to his corner where Corino tags in and pummels Otani against the turnbuckle pad. Otani snapmares Corino to his corner, and with Tanaka takes him down with a modified Dream Sequence. Corino backs Tanaka to the corner where Ki blasts him with a yakuza kick. Tanaka is able to turn a grounded headscissor from Ki into a Camel Clutch. Otani wears down Ki in a chinlock with a bodyscissors. Ki chops and uppercuts Otani to his corner where Corino takes him down with a running back elbow. Otani gets revenge for earlier when he bites Corino’s fingers to escape a cross armbreaker. The Philly crowd gets loud for Otani’s signature boot scrapes and facewash kick. Corino kicks Otani low when Otani misses a yakuza kick and then chokes him with his wrist tape. Ki chokes Otani with a Dragon Clutch in the ropes. When he misses a Tidal Wave, Otani wipes him out with a roundhouse kick to the chin. Ki immediately Koppu kicks Tanaka when he enters the ring and follows up with a Tidal Crush. Tanaka cuts off Ki with a spear. When Corino enters, he gives him and Ki a stunner/DDT combo. He then frog splashes Ki for a two count. Both Otani and Tanaka tornado DDT Corino. Corino gets multiple nearfalls on Otani, including an Old School Expulsion that Tanaka had to save him from. Corino holds Tanaka for a Tidal Wave, but Tanaka moves and Corino eats the kick. Tanaka takes out Ki with a lariat. Otani springboard dropkicks Corino in the back of the head and then pins him with a spinning powerbomb at 15:25. ROH has had Japanese talent on other shows, but the presentation of Otani and placing this match in the main event is the first time it felt like a big deal that ROH was working with a Japanese company. While I understand why this match was on last, flipping this and the previous match would have been for the best. The crowd was actually quite receptive during the high points, but getting a bit weary in others. It’s a good match that probably helped sell a few more copies at the time, but in the grand scheme of ROH, it doesn’t serve much of a purpose. ***¼

Backstage, Da Hit Squad are distracted by Homicide, who is sharpening a fork against the wall as he continues to mutter bad things about Steve Corino. They decide it’s probably best to follow Homicide when he leaves the room they’re in. He goes to an adjoining room, where Corino is chatting with Simply Luscious, and blindsides him with a fork attack. Monsta Mack gets Homicide out of the room while Maff and Luscious tend to Corino laid out on the floor.

This is the first show from 2002 I would recommend as a whole. It’s the breeziest show to watch so far, thanks in large part to them cutting back significantly on the amount of backstage promos featured, but also keeping the bad and tasteless stuff short. It’s the first show from 2002 I would recommend watching in its entirety. It’s also the first show where I think you can begin to see the parts of the ROH we all fondly remember begin to appear.