Wakefield, MA – 11.16.2002

Commentary is provided by Chris Lovey & Jeff Gorman.

The show starts with The Prophecy of Christopher Daniels, Xavier, and Simply Luscious along with their hired gun Samoa Joe backstage. Daniels says Boston will get to see the Prophecy in full force tonight, but none of their titles will be on the line. Xavier says that Jeremy Lopez came all the way from Georgia just to get his ass kicked. Daniels quiets Luscious after she reminds Xavier that he lost his last non-title match, and her comment makes Joe quietly chuckle. However, she also tells Joe to stop shaking hands, which changes his tone. He reminds Daniels that he is paid by him to beat people up for him in the ring, but not enough to break the Code of Honor or carry the Prophecy banner. As for tonight, Joe is only concerned about getting revenge against Homicide for what he did to his friend Steve Corino at “All Star Extravaganza”, since Joe was too busy working for Daniels to do anything about it. Daniels says they can talk about Corino later.

Daniels turns around and bumps into Dunn & Marcos, who ask when they are going to get a shot at the tag titles. After Daniels laughs in their face, he gives Joe the job of beating them up later tonight.

In the ring is Jay Briscoe and his tag partner for tonight The Amazing Red. Jay can’t wait any longer and demands his brother come to the ring for their match right now. Mark comes to the ring alone. He cues the sound guy to play his partner’s music. “Disposable Teens” by Marilyn Manson brings Christopher Daniels to the ring. Daniels says he is not Mark’s dream partner, but rather his new master, and introduces Mark as a member of the Prophecy! Mark takes a knee and Jay is beside himself at the revelation. Mark then attacks Jay to kick off the match.

Jay Briscoe & The Amazing Red vs. The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Mark Briscoe)

Although Jay is dazed by a spinwheel kick, he comes back quickly with a big boot to Mark to take the opening exchange. Red takes down Mark with an overhead suplex and Daniels with a headscissors and step-kick dropkick in the corner. Jay gets two on Daniels with a beautiful dropkick, but an eye rake from Daniels leads to Mark tagging back in. Mark attacks Jay’s left leg. He ends up being taken down with a Doomsday Complete Shot by Red and Jay. Daniels takes out Red on the floor by Irish whipping him into and dropping him throat first onto the barricades. The Prophecy pummel Red in their corner. Daniels antagonizes Jay to goad him into trying to interject, which distracts the referee and gives the Prophecy an opportunity to get in some cheap shots. Mark also distracted the referee when Red had Daniels hooked in a small package. Red finally takes down Daniels with a flying Frankensteiner and tags in Jay, who unloads his frustrations on Daniels. He gets two with a Gourd Buster, and again with a fisherman’s buster, but the latter was due to Mark’s interjection. Daniels saves Mark from a Jay Driller, and Mark then Cactus clotheslines Jay to the outside. Red wipes out Daniels with a missile dropkick and surprises him with a tornado enzuigiri. Red then gets two with the Code Red. The Briscoes fight on the floor as Daniels reverses an Irish Whip, sending Red to the corner. Red goes for another flying Frankensteiner. This time, Daniels stops him mid-swing, muscles him up onto his shoulders, and drops him down into the Last Rites for the pin at 15:45. This was a few minutes too long, thanks to them needing to beat down Red for eight straight minutes. That said, the match overall was very enjoyable, and starting off the show with something noteworthy is always a good thing. Mark being in the Prophecy adds a new, interesting wrinkle to his rivalry with Jay, and makes them feel a bit less anemic when Donovan Morgan is not flown in. ***¼

Joey Matthews is talking to fellow Special K members Izzy and Dixie backstage. Alexis Laree confronts Matthews for not being there for her when Mace attacked her last week. Her confrontation puts Matthews in a laughing fit. Laree says she wants nothing to do with Matthews if this is how he is going to act. Some new Special K members then come from off screen to eat what I think are nachos off of a paper plate to show they have the munchies. Sure?

Alexis Laree vs. Mace

Allison Danger is in Mace’s corner. Commentary says Buff-E isn’t here because they found someone hotter to be with. Not a joke! This is the first one-on-one intergender match in ROH history. Laree has the upper hand until Mace hits Laree with what Lovey called “the gayest clothesline I have ever seen.” Laree grabs Mace by the balls when he crawls on top of her. As he’s recovering, Laree drills him with a flying tornado DDT for the pin at 2:35. Lovey had to get two comments about how hot Laree is in the final 15 seconds of the match. Danger then surprises Laree with a kiss, so Laree gives her a reverse DDT. It gets some polite applause. I can’t wait to be done with this shit.

Steve Corino is sitting alone backstage at the Murphy Rec Center (presumably this was filmed last week.) He says he has not been shown any honor so far during his ROH tenure. His partner nailed him with a forearm strike in his debut match, he was beaten down by two fat oafs, and now, he looks like a freak after being forked in the eye by Homicide. Corino turns his head to show us the bandage over his left eye. He’s a respectable pro wrestler with a full-time job in Japan, not a garbage wrestler like Homicide. He doesn’t care about the ROH wrestlers or fans, and it will be a long time before they see him again. Pro wrestling in the U.S. is a sham, as is Homicide, and one day, Homicide will pay for what he did to him.

Xavier vs. Jeremy Lopez

Simply Luscious is in Xavier’s corner and does his ring introduction. This is Lopez’s second appearance in ROH, last seen losing to Tony Mamaluke at “Crowning A Champion.” It’s matches like this that make me understand why Xavier’s title reign, and Xavier himself, were not well regarded. Having him go toe-to-toe with a non-regular competitor, who like Xavier is competent but unspectacular, does nothing to help Xavier. I get the argument that the point is to make him look less than to prove the point that he is an unworthy champion, and it actually turned into a pretty good match, but I do think perception is reality, and the perception he garnered during this time was very tough to shake later on. Not to mention that the title had not been established yet – Xavier is only the second champion, and Ki’s reign lasted two months and one defense. He isn’t really tarnishing anything since the prestige and legacy of the title was still forming. There really isn’t much to note about this match other than Xavier pinned Lopez with a nice looking 450 splash at 10:45. This was good, but there is not enough meat on the bone to recommend going back and watching this. **½

Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. Tony Mamaluke & Matt Thompson

This is Thompson’s ROH debut. He is a tall sumbitch at 6’ 8’’, which makes it all the more surprising when he pulls off a springboard crossbody and a headscissors takedown. Mafia lays out Mamaluke in the corner with a facewash kick and cannonball splash, but Thompson breaks up his pin attempt. Thompson also saves Mamaluke during Da Hit Squad’s lengthy beatdown, as when Mafia ends up on the floor after striking Mamluke into the ring from the apron, Thompson lays him out with a diving clothesline. Mamaluke takes down Mack with a tornado DDT. The crowd is very into Thompson and is especially impressed when he delivers a top rope moonsault to Mafia. Mamaluke locks Mafia in a Dragon Sleeper and Mack comes to his rescue. Mamaluke locks Mack in a guillotine. He is too focused on his submission to notice Mafia pin Thompson with a Burning Hammer at 9:50. Thompson is an anomaly that some ROH fans still bring up today. Having a super tall, inexperienced wrestler who inexplicably did almost all high flying offense was not par for the course in ROH. The fact that he never returned to ROH and that there is scant information about him online has only made his legend grow. The best part of this was easily the mat wrestling between Mamaluke and Mack that opened the match. The rest of the match was good, better than I expected, actually, but it’s only memorable for Thompson being such a unique one-and-done competitor. **

Scramble Match
The Amazing Red, The SAT (Joel & Jose Maximo) & Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. Special K (Izzy, Joey Matthews, Deranged, Slim J & Angel Dust)

Dixie is still injured and in Special K’s corner. Trinity is in Red, SAT and Divine Storm’s corner. This is the ROH debut for Deranged, Slim J and Angel Dust. Chris Lovey claims they amass new members from raves they attend. In reality, Deranged and Angel Dust are Homicide trainees who had been working for Jersey All Pro, and Slim J was an NWA Anarchy regular. Commentary makes Eminem jokes at Slim J’s expense all match long. Matthews was seemingly clear headed in time for this match. While everyone else flew around the ring, Matthews slowed things down with a side headlock and turned the match in his team’s favor with a clothesline to Divine. Matthews was taken out of the equation by Storm with a Spinal Shock shortly after. Deranged was a one man wrecking crew for Special K until he was shut down with a spinebuster out of the corner by Red. Red tiger feint kicked Slim into a Storm Cradle Driver from Storm, but Izzy broke up the pin. Divine then slammed Izzy out of a Gory Special into a crossface. Matthews quickly helps Izzy escape. Deranged finds himself powerbombed by Jose Maxmimo four times before he hoists him up into the Maximo Explosion (Kryptonite Krunch). Dust attempted a wheelbarrow facebuster on Jose, but it was turned into a Doomsday Flying DDT by the SAT. Red then lands on Dust’s face with the Infrared for the pin at 17:45. While there are many complaints you could make about the contrivances of matches of these types, one thing that really helped hold this together was that both teams demonstrated that they actually wanted to win the match. You could tell both teams truly thought they were the better wrestlers. The dynamic of Matthews being non compliant with the style of everyone else helped to cement Special K as the antagonists of the bout. I would’ve kept Red out of this, just because putting him back in matches like these makes it more difficult to set him apart, but his inclusion also does make these matches better. This was a tight, crisp, enjoyable match, and as we will discover, should have been the end of the scramble in ROH. ***¼

Samoa Joe vs. The Ring Crew Express (Dunn & Marcos)

Joe was paid by Daniels to beat up Dunn and Marcos, and that’s exactly what he did, but not before toying with them a little bit. Marcos broke up Joe’s pin on Dunn, so Joe put Marcos’ own shirt over his face and dropped him with a modified Island Driver. The Island Driver then gets Joe the pin on Dunn at 1:50. Love me a good squash.

Boston Street Fight
Paul London & Rudy Boy Gonzales vs. Michael Shane & Bio-Hazard

Gonzales gets a good ovation from the crowd for locking Shane in a tarantula. Moments later, though, Shane busts him open with a DDT onto a barricade. Gonzales shuts him down a little later on by dropkicking him off of the turnbuckles and through the timekeeper’s table ringside. Bio-Hazard slams and Swanton bombs Gonzales onto a ladder, and London gets revenge for his trainer by moonsaulting a chair onto Bio-Hazard. London also helps Gonzales powerbomb Bio-Hazard off of the top rope. London then lands a running shooting star press to get the pin at 14:20.I also don’t think this story needed a blow off – the ladder match between London and Shane was plenty satisfying. Putting them against each other in a three way, a gauntlet, and this match the next three shows diluted their rivalry and I think hurt interest in both of them. As for this match, it was a heatless slog. The decision to make Gonzales the focal point was unwise. They also did very little with the street fight stipulation, including setting up a ladder between the guardrail and ring apron and NOT utilizing it. What a strange, disappointing ending to this feud. *¾

Alex Arion, Don Juan & Fast Eddie vs. The Carnage Crew (DeVito, Loc & Masada)

This is Masada’s ROH debut. Arion, Eddie, and Juan were very spirited taking on the larger athletes. They took over the match by picking up the pace and taking high risks with their offense. Masada would often be the difference maker for the match. For example, adding to their repertoire with triple team offense, or jumping in with a top rope leg drop to keep the match in their favor. When he tried that leg drop again, Eddie took him down with a super Frankensteiner, using Juan as a springboard. Arion then had him pinned with a top rope splash, but the referee was distracted and Loc clobbered Arion with a chair behind the referee’s back. Masada attacked Eddie from behind and assisted DeVito and Loc set Eddie up for the spike piledriver, earning the Carnage Crew the pin at 7:25. Commentary played this up as yet another warm up for Loc and DeVito going into their match with Abdullah The Butcher and Homicide next month, but Masada and Eddie clearly stole the show. Arion also contributed his fair share, but everyone else was just there. This was way more enjoyable than I anticipated. **¼

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is seeking vengeance for Corino, who Homicide fork stabbed in the eye on last week‘s show. Joe also choked out Homicide with the Coquina Clutch in a six man tag team match on that show. This is also Homicide’s first singles match in ROH. Joe wastes no time ripping at and biting Homicide’s left eye. He also gives that side of his face two hard facewash kicks. Joe bails to the floor when Homicide drop toeholds him into an STF attempt, so Homicide follows him out with a tope suicida. Homicide then gives Joe his own facewash kicks and some running knee strikes into the corner. Joe cuts him off with an STJoe and sends him crashing into the barricades. In the ring, Joe avoids a low blow and Dragon suplexes Homicide right onto his neck. Homicide comes back with a super Franknesteiner, followed up by a lariat to the neck and chest. As Homicide comes off of the ropes, Joe pops him up into a Death Valley Driver. He then turns Homicide out with a short-arm lariat, but Homicide puts his foot on the ropes to prevent Joe’s pin. Homicide blocks the follow up lariat and weaves Joe into a Saito suplex for two. Joe fires up from Homicide’s running boots to the head. He clobbers Homicide in the side of the head before powerbombing him into an STF. Homicide gets his foot on the bottom rope again, this time to escape the Coquina Clutch. Homicide blocks another lariat and schoolboys Joe for the pin at 10:00. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it worked in terms of Homicide continuing to be a thorn in Joe’s side, and would establish the pattern of Joe being susceptible to quick pins. I just think Homicide could have done a bit more before the pin to make it more believable. They both brought an intensity we had not seen yet on the show (outside of Joe’s squash) and they both came off looking like badasses because of it. This is not their best match, but a good one, and a harbinger of things to come. ***¼

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Simply Luscious is in Daniels’ corner. Styles is the current trophy holder, and if he makes it past Daniels, he challenges Xavier for the ROH Title at “Night Of The Butcher.” The opening exchange ends with a double crossbody that leaves both men laying. Daniels monkey flips Styles into the corner and further wears down his back by driving him into the ring frame. Daniels attempts to whip Styles into the barricades. Styles hops over the barricades, however, and superkicks Daniels when Daniels comes charging after him. Styles stretches out Daniels and gives him a wheelbarrow facebuster before ascending the ropes. Daniels knocks into the ropes, and Styles bounces down into a DDT from Daniels. Daniels continues to attack Styles’ neck and back. Styles gets to his feet to avoid a moonsault, only to be pulled back down by a Complete Shot for two. Styles kicks Daniels to avoid a backdrop. Styles dropsaults off of Daniels out of the corner and then takes him down with a rolling clothesline. Styles’ back handspring attempt is thwarted as Daniels counters into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Daniels successfully lands the BME for two. Daniels also blocks the Phenomenon. He tries to counter into the Last Rites, only for Styles to counter Daniels’ counter and land the Phenomenon for two. After trading multiple pinfall attempts, Styles rolls through a sunset flip and pulls Daniels up into the Styles Clash for the pin at 15:10. The premise of the faction leader trying to protect his champion from a formidable challenger is a great one. I also like that they teased the “Road to the Title” finish again, and that this time Styles had learned to counter the counter. That was a better match, partially due to the crowd and them having the main event slot, but this was still a fun, smooth, and engaging match. What I dislike is that they failed to explain why Styles had to do this. Both he and Xavier were on this show – why didn’t Styles get a title shot tonight? It did make me look forward to Styles vs. Xavier, so that is something I guess. ***½

Mark Briscoe and Xavier sneak attack Styles after the match. He fights them off, but when he has Xavier hooked for the Styles Clash, Daniels blindsides him with an enzuigiri. Mark and Daniels hold onto Styles so Xavier can pummel him. Jay Briscoe comes to Styles aid and ends up being taken out too. The Amazing Red and The SAT then come out and clear the ring of the Prophecy. They hand off Xavier to Styles, who then lays him out with the Styles Clash. The Prophecy retreat with Daniels telling the people in the ring that this isn’t over.

30 Minute Iron Man Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams

Commentary teased this change last week, but American Dragon is now officially going by Bryan Danielson, his real name. He is still using “American Dragon” as a nickname. For quite awhile, the two men exchange control on the mat. The intensity picks up when Williams goes to throw Danielson across the ring and Danielson instead rolls through each time. Dragon then tosses Williams across the ring and chops him in the corner. Back on the mat, Danielson holds on intensely to a side headlock and throws strikes at Williams’ head in the process. He wears down Williams’ neck with chops before applying a cravate at the fifteen minute mark. Williams looks for a backslide and then pulls Danielson down into a crucifix pin variation for two. Williams hoists Danielson into a vertebreaker position and drives Danielson stomach first into the corner. Danielson reverses position and does the same, leaving Williams hanging upside down in the corner. He uppercuts Williams into a seated position on the top turnbuckle and then brings him down with a superplex. They trade full nelsons until Danielson pulls off a dragon suplex for two. A second bridging dragon suplex earns Danielson the first fall at 18:22. Danielson Dragon suplexes Williams as soon as the rest period is over but fails to get another pin. Williams wins a strike exchange, knocking Danielson to the floor, and following with an elbow suicida. Williams swings Danielson around in a Cobra Clutch back in the ring. Danielson pulls off a snap suplex to end another forearm exchange and then comes off of the top turnbuckle with a diving headbutt for two. Danielson immediately pulls himself and Williams to the floor when Williams grabs a waistlock so he can avoid the Chaos Theory. Back in the ring, Williams blocks yet another Dragon suplex, and tornado DDT’s Danielson for two. Williams pulls off the Chaos Theory for two, stunning Willams. Williams pivots and slams Danielson before landing the Bomb Score for two. Williams German suplexes Danielson twice before giving him another Chaos Theory. However, Danielson’s feet land so close to the ropes that even bridged back he is able to touch them and avoid being pinned. Williams goes for another pin after a brainbuster for two. The announcer notes that only one minute remains as Danielson hoists Williams to the top turnbuckle. Danielson brings him down with a belly-to-back superplex and pins Williams at the forty five second mark. Williams reverses that into a schoolboy and then applies a crossface. Danielson is able to withstand the hold up to the 30:00 time limit, making him the winner 1-0. I was hoping that with more time these two would be able to deliver a better match than their initial encounter. While they didn’t do that, they did tell a good story and kept things interesting for the entire thirty minutes. The Boston crowd was also not nearly into this match as much as the Philly crowd was at “Road To The Title“. A good match, but you definitely would expect more out of these two. ***½

Later, Danielson puts over Williams as a tremendous wrestler, but also says that nobody beats him twice. He says somewhere down the line, they need to have a rubber match to determine who the best mat wrestler on the Indies is. He then says “dig it!” and winks at the camera. Danielson rules. In a different part of the building, Williams is frustrated at the loss. Williams says he may not have won tonight, but he is confident he could beat Danielson in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match.

The entire Prophecy is with Samoa Joe. Daniels is unhappy that Simply Luscious is on the phone with Steve Corino. He’s also unhappy that Joe didn’t come to their rescue when they were getting their asses beaten by the SAT. Joe says Daniels only paid him for one job tonight, to beat up Dunn and Marcos, and with that, he realizes he doesn’t have to stand around and listen to Daniels babble. Daniels re-starts and welcomes Mark Briscoe, a man shunned by his own family, into the Prophecy. He then compliments Xavier by saying he proved why he is the top singles wrestler in Ring of Honor by defeating Jeremy Lopez. Xavier says he will prove he is the all around best against AJ Styles next month. Daniels says he won’t be at the show for his defense, but Simply Luscious will be there as an insurance policy. Daniels then asks Luscious if she knows where “they” are and the Prophecy goes off to find “them.”

Elsewhere, AJ Styles asks Alexis Laree to be in his corner for his title match against Xavier to neutralize Simply Luscious. Laree agrees. The two of them are then attacked by the Prophecy and left lying, with Luscious telling Laree to stay out of the Prophecy’s business. Daniels tells them the belt is going nowhere.

This show is better than I think people remember, mostly because it lacks a match or moment of high quality to make it stand out. The crowd was also fairly dispassionate, which is probably the last match in this building. Let’s see if ROH can end the year strongly.