Philadelphia, PA – 12.7.2002

Commentary is provided by Chris Lovey & Jeff Gorman.

The show begins backstage with Quiet Storm, Chris Divine and Trinity saying hello to Da Hit Squad. Storm and Divine say they’re going to make Shockwave and Mark Starr earn their spot in ROH during their match tonight. The five of them then go upstairs to workout. Special K enter their locker room and carelessly toss their bags aside to have a rave.

We then get a video playing dubbed over with “Trauma Squad” by J-Train aka Julius Smokes, which introduces us to the 5 Laws of Honor:

• Competitors must shake hands before and after each match.
• No interfering in matches or having others interfere on your behalf.
• No harming a referee or causing others to harm an official.
• No sneak attacks.
• If you are disqualified in your match, you have broken The Code of Honor.

The video ends with footage from tonight as well as previous ROH events. Back in the locker room, Michael Shane says he loves Ring of Honor and the Code of Honor, because nothing is better than when a defeated man has to shake the hand of a better man. He says that is the fate of his opponent tonight, Jeremy Lopez. Shane says his 2002 was great, as he pinned Spanky middle in the ring and carried Paul London to a match of the year street fight, but it’s nothing compared to what his 2003 will bring. He’s also learned that ROH has its cliques – Rudy Boy Gonzalez’s crew, The Prophecy, the New York guys, etc. He tried to associate himself with Bio-Hazard, but after losing their Street Fight at “Scramble Madness”, he’s out. He needs to associate himself with some winners. Nothing will keep him from becoming a champion in 2003.

Da Hit Squad and Divine Storm return to the locker room and find Special K raving inside. They yell at Special K, and Joey Matthews escorts Special K out, telling DHS and Divine Storm that they’re “killing their buzz.”

Michael Shane vs. Jeremy Lopez

Commentary mentions that Lopez would be off to Japan for three months after this match. If the Michael Shane promo didn’t telegraph the winner, that tidbit certainly did. Lopez actually controlled a significant portion of this match. Shane turned the match in his favor after poking him in the eyes early on, and then gave him an over the shoulder backbreaker for two after reversing an Irish whip. Lopez took down Shane with a double underhook DDT into a Tiger Driver. When he went for an elevated DDT, Shane escaped and superkicked Lopez for two. An elbow drop off the top and to the back of the neck gets Shane the pin at 10:52. This should have been much more of a showcase for Shane than it was. Shane was about to be pushed and the crowd just was not into Lopez whatsoever. Shane defeating him didn’t do much for him either, as he is so much higher on the totem pole than Lopez. The match was OK overall. Lopez would go on to wrestle for multiple companies in Japan and never be seen in ROH again. **

CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

This is Cabana’s ROH in-ring debut. Cabana scores big with a Japanese armdrag, so Punk wears down Cabana’s left arm in response. Cabana clotheslines Punk to the floor after evading a running facewash kick and then Asai moonsaults after Punk. Punk looks to pull off a tornado DDT back in the ring, which Cabana halts and counters into a tornado snap suplex. Cabana lands his signature double knees in the corner to a standing Punk. Punk uppercuts Cabana to block a second charge and then takes him out with a twisting crossbody for two. Cabana takes a yakuza kick, but is still able to counter Welcome to Chicago with a backdrop. Punk holds onto the double underhook, however, and pulls off Welcome to Chicago for two. Cabana catches another crossbody attempt and maneuvers Punk into a cradle DDT. Punk stops Cabana’s offensive stride momentarily with a neckbreaker, but Cabana wallops him with a lariat just a moment later. When Cabana tries for a second lariat, Punk slides through Cabana’s legs and spikes him with a reverse Frankensteiner. Cabana ducks a clothesline and tries an O’Connor Roll. Punk ends up escaping and instead landing a Shining Wizard for two. When Punk drops down, Cabana elbows him and calls for the Colt 45. Punk fails to escape via backslide, but does slide out of it when Cabana lifts him up for it. The third time’s the charm, with Cabana pulling off the move and getting the pin at 12:28. Putting these two against one another ensured a good first impression for Cabana. I was actually surprised he won, but in a good way. Just knowing where Punk is heading, though, it is surprising he lost his first two ROH matches. Good stuff overall. ***

Gary Michael Cappetta comes to the ring after this match and informs Punk and Cabana that they have been booked for a rematch on December 28th. He says the winner will be flown in going forward, while the other will continue to have to drive to future events. Punk says when he wins, he will cash in his plane ticket and spend the money on gas so he and Cabana can continue to drive to shows together and both be featured. Cabana says he hates driving, so he’s defeating Punk and taking the flights. Punk is displeased that Cabana would not make the same sacrifice he is willing to and undercut him.

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy Tournament Semifinal Round Match
Paul London vs. EZ Money

Money is of course an ECW alumnus and this is his ROH debut. Money traps London in a parachute stretch and drops him into an elbow drop to the lower back. When it looks like London is about to dive, Money cuts him off with the Money Clip and lands a standing moonsault for two. Money misses a corner attack, crotching himself on the middle rope by accident. London dropkicks Money to the floor. London catches his breath before climbing to the top turnbuckle and landing a somersault senton off of the ring post and onto Money. London dropsaults Money for two back inside the ring. Money counters an Irish whip into a reverse brainbuster for two. When London tries a sunset flip out of the corner, EZ counters into the EZ Driver (belly-to-back piledriver) for two. London flips out of a suplex. Money catches a spinwheel kick and muscles London into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. London escapes a suplex and plants Money with a leg wrap DDT for the pin at 7:26. Just like the first match, it feels like the wrong person was dominant for too long. Don’t get me wrong, Money looked impressive, but this was not the time or place for him to get the spotlight. It felt like London got a lucky out-of-nowhere pin, and not in a way that makes me want to root for him in the tournament finals. Wrong place, wrong time for this bout. **¼

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy Tournament Semifinal Round Match
American Dragon vs. Chad Collyer

This is Collyer’s ROH debut. He was trained by Dean Malenko, was a regular in HWA, and has wrestled for Michinoku Pro, All Japan, and All Star Wrestling. When Dragon’s left knee buckles during a butterfly suplex, Collyer takes notice and attacks the left knee going forward. Dragon fights from underneath when Collyer looks for a cloverleaf, hobbling as he throws strikes at Collyer. Collyer snaps Dragon’s hamstring to shut him down. He also keeps hold on the leg when Dragon throws an enzuigiri, so Dragon throws a roundhouse kick to get Collyer off of him. Dragon pulls off a German suplex, but can only bridge with one knee when he attempts a pin. Collyer counters a victory roll from Dragon into a Gedo Clutch for two. Collyer ends a strike battle with a pop-up powerbomb, leading to him successfully applying the cloverleaf. Dragon gets the ropes to escape. Dragon forearms Collyer off of the second rope. Collyer catches Dragon coming off of the second rope in a waistlock. A standing switch leads to Dragon forearm striking Collyer in the neck and then giving him a dragon suplex for the pin at 19:39. This was a bit too long and a little repetitive in the early going. That said, it did effectively show Collyer’s proficiency and made me understand why he was in this tournament in his debut outing. He just might be a little too much of a Malenko clone – he needed to show something more to stand out as being his own man. Dragon’s win was well earned, but he will be entering the finals at a disadvantage, with a damaged knee and wrestling two and half times longer than London. ***¼

Scramble Match
Jay Briscoe & The Amazing Red vs. Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) vs. Special K (Deranged & Joey Matthews)

The winner of this match gets an ROH Tag Team title shot on December 28th. Trinity is in The SAT’s corner and Izzy and Angel Dust are in Special K’s corner. Special K pissed off Da Hit Squad earlier in the night by tossing their bags around backstage, but they would do even worse to the SAT. Angel Dust tripped Joel during the match, and Trinity came to his aid. Angel Dust and Izzy both attacked her, dropping her throat first on the barricades in the process, and bringing her backstage. While the other teams were certainly fine wrestling and slugging it out with one another, they got on the same page when it came to beating down Special K. For example, when Mafia and Jay were trading chops, Matthews and Deranged both tried interjecting, and when they did, Mafia and Jay stopped their exchange, attacked Matthews or Deranged, and then went back to their exchange with one another. You had Red superplexing Deranged onto everyone on the outside, everybody missing a top rope move back-to-back, culminating with a frog splash from Mack successfully landing onto Matthews. Red surprises the crowd with an F-5 onto Joel before landing a standing shooting star press. Jose breaks the pin and gives Red five consecutive piledrivers and a facebuster. Matthews breaks up Jose’s pin attempt after a frog splash. He pummels Jose in the lower back before dropping him face first onto the knee and giving him a reverse DDT for two. Deranged falls into Joel’s hands and is powerbombed four times before being given a Gory Special facebuster. The SAT put Special K in their “Taffy Machine” submission. Both Matthews and Deranged submit, giving SAT the win at 23:25. Like many scramble matches, it was fun to watch but too long. While I liked the element of Special K toying with Trinity (though that makes 11 out of 11 shows with man-on-women violence, if you’re keeping score), they feel more like a nuisance than a threat, and need some wins or something else to feel that way. Otherwise the wrestling was good as it usually is when these teams are involved (sans DHS). SAT vs. Daniels & Morgan should be good. ***

After the match, the yet-to-be-named Slugger enters the ring from the crowd, gives the referee The Big Ending, and then goes back into the crowd.

We’re then treated to highlights of matches that took place during ROH High Impact TV Tapings this same evening:

• First, the debuting Paul E Normous defeated Christopher St. Connection member Mase. Mase did all the usual gay shtick to Normous. Normous looked like your stereotypical early 2000s developmental muscle head.
• American Dragon then made short work of Marcos, destroying him with repeated forearm strikes to the face and submitting him to the Cattle Mutilation.
• Special K member Angel Dust found himself getting pinned by Paul London after a cradle powerbomb.
• The Outcast Killaz of Oman Tortuga and Diablo Santiago returned after their infamous ICP bout at Glory By Honor and were beat down by Da Hit Squad.
• Jimmy Rave made his ROH debut against fellow NWA Wildside competitor AJ Styles. While Rave vs. Styles was only shown in highlights on this DVD, the full match was released on the first AJ Styles compilation ROH released in January of 2004. Let’s check it out.

AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave

This is Rave’s ROH debut. Again, only highlights of this match were shown on the Night of the Butcher VHS and DVD, but the full match was released in January 2004 on the “Evolution of a Phenom: The Best of AJ Styles” DVD. Rave goes for an early Fujiwara armbar off of the mat. When Styles rolls to his feet, Rave tags him with a few forearm shots, so Styles swings him onto his shoulders for a modified gutbuster. Rave comes back with From Dusk Til Dawn. Styles fights out of the armbar again. When Rave tries a tornado DDT, Styles counters into a Northern Lights suplex for two. Mark Briscoe is shown watching the match from ringside, scouting Styles before his match against his fellow prophecy member Xavier later on tonight. Rave counters a rolling clothesline into a reverse DDT and goes back to the Fujiwara armbar. Rave pulls Styles up to their feet. It takes Styles two tries, but he gives Rave a spinebuster out of a powerslam position for two. Rave initially counters the Styles Clash with a sunset flip. Styles rolls through that, powerbombs Rave, and then pulls Rave up into the Styles Clash for the pin at 3:29. Just like Cabana with Punk, there was nobody better for Rave to be put against in his debut match than Styles. Rave established his propensity for the Fujiwara armbar and looked very competent against one of the top performers in the company. Tough to say that’s anything but a win. **¼

What was only shown on the highlights, were Mark Briscoe and Xavier beating up Styles after the match and American Dragon and Paul London coming to his rescue.

Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. Jeff Starr & Shockwave

Commentary says this is more or less a tryout match for Starr and Shockwave. Spoiler, they are never seen again in ROH. The match is actually totally fine, but aside from the Transformers inspired trunks of Shockwave, there is nothing about them that stood out. Commentary also implies that Victoria stole the Widow’s Peak from Quiet Storm when he gave Shockwave the Spinal Shock. He then hits the Storm Cradle Driver on Shockwave for the pin at 3:40. Chris Lovey says he’d like to see Starr and Shockwave again – liar! *½

CW Anderson then makes a surprise appearance, his first time in ROH since teaming with Elax back in March, attacking both Starr and Shockwave from behind. Lovey makes a production note on his headset to Doug Gentry to “edit take before CW hits the ring. Edit this off.” So either Doug Gentry is a bad editor, or you decided to change your mind. I’d love to know if Gabe acknowledged this on the website or message board, because if we’re going to “shoot”, I think it would’ve been worth putting an editor’s note on the screen saying “we ultimately decided to keep this in because of XYZ.”

Gary Michael Cappetta comes into the ring and tells CW that he thought he was fired. For those wondering, CW was going to be booked in an angle with York and Matthews after “Round Robin Challenge”, but, allegedly, he had ZERO-ONE dates in Japan that conflicted with ROH’s dates and did not tell ROH until after the angle had begun. That’s enough to be fired I guess. He says he is back in Philadelphia and that he just might join The Prophecy. He calls ROH a piece of shit indie promotion. So why would you want to come back to it? He makes a note that the ROH booker is an “internet mark” and the same guy who used to kiss his ass in ECW while he sold programs. CW warns Gabe Sapolsky to not be too much like Paul Heyman, who ran a promotion into the ground. He also slights Gabe for not having taken “one bump in the business.” If you believe all of these things, why would you want to work for him? CW says he’s back to show everyone in Philadelphia who he is, but also that he quits. What are you talking about? You were fired, so what are you quitting, exactly? Ignoring that, you said you wanted to be back, and then moments later quit? Which is it?

CW then tells Rob Feinstein, who is now in front of the curtain, that he has no heat with him or Doug (Gentry). He wants Gabe to come out and face him, but instead, Joey Matthews and Da Hit Squad come out to try and calm CW down. CW ends up leaving the ring and stomping towards the backstage area. We see and hear Gabe yelling at CW that “he’s fucking finished” and telling him to “get the fuck out of here” as only Gabe can. Mack takes Gabe into one area of the locker room, while Matthews and Mafia get CW to another. The second hand embarrassment I felt watching this. Was this effective at the time? I can’t imagine it was.

ROH Championship #1 Contender’s Trophy Tournament Final Round Match
Paul London vs. American Dragon

The winner of this match gets an ROH title shot on December 28th. Two separate lock-ups end with each competitor chopping one another. Dragon turns a cross armbreaker from London into a leg lock, with Dragon throwing repeated inside forearm shots to London’s face. London backs Dragon to the corner to escape. London then lights up Dragon with chops before snapmaring him into chinlock. He snaps off an arm drag when Dragon escapes. He also side steps an arm drag from Dragon and Magistral cradles him for two. London wrenches on his wrist after a Japanese arm drag and tries pinning him with a double knuckle lock. While in a double knuckle lock, Dragon bridges up, and London slams his legs on to him to break the bridge. Dragon rolls to the floor angry, as that attack agitated Dragon’s knee. Dragon responds by lighting up London with chops upon entering the ring, and keeping on London with submission holds, hard uppercuts, and straight up stepping on his face. London fights back with a pair of dropsaults and a flying forearm. London gutwrench suplexes Dragon and hits a standing moonsault for two. Dragon ducks a clothesline and straightjacket German suplexes London for two. Dragon crunches London in the corner with a running forearm smash before suplexing him mid-ring. Dragon follows up with a diving headbutt for two. London ducks a rolling forearm strike and gives Dragon a side neckbreaker. Dragon ducks a clothesline and goes for a belly-to-back suplex. The momentum causes both men to spill over the top rope and to the floor. London evades Dragon and superkicks him before rolling him back into the ring. After only getting two with a flying crossbody, London trades chops with Dragon before surprising him with a cradle for another two count. Dragon prevents London from climbing the ropes. He brings down London with a belly-to-back superplex, aggravating his knee in the process. That isn’t enough for a pin, so Dragon turns him over and puts on the Cattle Mutilation. London gets his feet underneath the ropes to escape. Dragon muscles London back up to the top turnbuckle, hoping for another belly-to-back superplex. London this time elbows his way free. Dragon asks “is that all you got?”, causing London to ramp up the strikes and knock Dragon down. Dragon scurries back up. London forearms Dragon repeatedly and pummels him on the back, knocking him back down. Dragon comes back one more time. London headbutts and forearms Dragon repeatedly, knocking him down once again. This time, London is able to land the London Star Press for the pin at 18:36. To nobody’s surprise this was great. Dragon did what he does best in beating the crap out of London, while London did what he does best in taking a beating and fighting back valiantly. I think this is a title match that ROH should’ve capitalized on immediately after Unscripted, when London was at his hottest. London not doing a whole lot since that match happened has cooled him off considerably. Him getting beaten down but fighting back against the relentless Dragon definitely helped get some of the momentum back. ****

Paul London says he believes American Dragon is the best wrestler in the country. Everyone knows it, and he has what it takes to be the best wrestler in the entire industry. It sucks that there aren’t two #1 Contender’s Trophies, and he hopes one day to be everything that Dragon is. That was maybe the most earnest promo I’ve heard. Dragon says sometimes it’s not about being the best. Tonight, London had the heart, and the victory belongs to him. London and Dragon shake hands as the crowd applauds them.

ROH Championship
Xavier vs. AJ Styles

Xavier has been champion since 9.21.2002 and this is his second defense. Simply Luscious is in Xavier’s corner and Alexis Laree is in Styles’ corner. Xavier spits his gum at Styles, resulting in a fired up Styles lighting him up with strikes and dropping him with a Styles Clash right away. When Styles does go for a pin, Luscious puts Xavier’s foot on the bottom rope. Laree disposes of Luscious with a reverse DDT, and Prophecy member Mark Briscoe helps her to the backstage area. An exchange on the mat ends with Styles suplexing and dropkicking Xavier before pitching him to the floor. Styles brings him back into the ring for a two count after landing a slingshot pescado. Xavier catches a roundhouse kick and gives Styles a one-armed powerbomb for two. On the floor, Styles evades an Irish whip into the barricades and cracks Xavier with a dropkick to the chin. Xavier keeps control by slamming Styles face first into the ring apron and rolls him back into the ring. Styles recovers from a belly-to-back suplex and brings down Xavier from the top turnbuckle with a superplex. Styles ends a chop exchange with an enzuigiri and gets two with the Phenomenon. Xavier waterwheel slams Styles to block a Styles Clash. After trading multiple pin attempts, Xavier cuts off Styles with a wheelbarrow suplex. Xavier wears down Styles’ shoulder, but Styles is able to use Xavier’s momentum to pull off a piledriver. Xavier does some damage to Styles’ knee before muscling him up into Kiss Your X Goodbye (barf) for two. Styles evades a 450 splash. Xavier rolled to his feet, only to be met with a superkick from Styles. When Xavier goes for a superplex soon after, he flubs ascending the ropes which is met by jeers from the crowd. When Xavier attempts a super Frankensteiner, Styles counters into a super Styles Clash. Styles’ aggravated knee makes it so moments pass it before he goes for a pin, and when he does, Xavier grabs the bottom rope to escape. Xavier slips out of a regular Styles Clash and kicks Styles’ knee. Xavier figure sevens Styles’ legs and jackknife pins him at 17:07. Maybe if Styles’ knee had been a focus of the match for more than a few minutes, that ending would have been more effective. It felt so tacked on and disconnected from the rest of the action that preceded it. While they had some nice sequences and a couple of solid false finishes, there wasn’t much to sink your teeth into beyond just wanting Xavier to lose, which was not enough after the great match that came before it. This was just slightly below the Jay Briscoe defense from last month. ***

Bunkhouse Match
Homicide & Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Carnage Crew (DeVito & Loc)

Lovey on commentary says “he’s marking out” calling an Abdullah match, which makes me not want to be around anymore. Abdullah forks Loc a whole bunch around ringside as Homicide and DeVito fight. Abdullah then forks DeVito and bashes Loc with his own hubcap. Everyone’s bleeding, everyone’s using chairs and/or hubcaps, and Abdullah just continues on using his fork. Abdullah finally gets in the ring and a chain is introduced into the proceedings. Eventually, Homicide gives Loc a Cop Killer for the pin at 9:25. Homicide chokes DeVito with a noose and threatens to kill him. A bunch of lower level people run out to save him, and Da Hit Squad comes out to save Homicide from that beatdown. Dunn and Marcos are amongst the fray, as are J-Train/Julius Smokes and Lowlife Louie Ramos. For a match that produced so much blood, this sure was boring. They all just stumbled around hitting each other until they decided it was over. I’m sure Abby sold some extra tickets and tapes, and isn’t that what really matters? I would love to know if someone bought this tape just to see Abby and how they felt after watching this match. DUD

Backstage, Homicide says he proved himself in the Bunkhouse Match, and on December 28th, he is going to become the #1 contender for the World Title. The Carnage Crew are shown elsewhere smiling and bloody from the match. They say Abdullah is pathetic and can barely move. You just lost to him, so, good job. He also runs down internet fans, saying they don’t wrestle for their approval. They take out the frustrations of their everyday lives in the ring. This will be the Carnage Crew’s mantra for the rest of their ROH tenure.

We then see CM Punk and Colt Cabana driving around Philadelphia after the show. Cabana thought he looked great tonight and goes through all the moves he plans to do in their rematch on December 28th. He plans to be flying to the shows after he wins his ROH contract. CM Punk, annoyed by Cabana’s hubris, pulls over. Punk says he was going to forfeit his plane ticket if he won in their rematch, and can’t believe that Cabana hates driving so much that he would stab Punk in the back instead of driving with him. Punk says 13 hours in the car with Cabana is like going to the dentist’s office, and that Cabana can drive himself. Punk tosses the car keys to Cabana and walks away in the other direction.

Christopher Daniels says Christmas will come three days late for the SAT, as they get a shot at the Prophecy and the ROH Tag Titles in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Donovan Morgan says that stipulation disgusts him. Daniels says they’re going to win two falls straight. Morgan says they will make them run for the border. This is after he says they will give the SAT a free taco for every one count they get, which I guess was some promotion the San Francisco Giants did whenever Barry Bonds hit a ball into the water. Simply Luscious asks them what they will do if the SAT’s creativity makes them unpredictable. Daniels shuts her down, saying ROH is under their control, and that they have everything under control. Morgan tells her to just “look pretty.” Racism AND misogyny in one promo. ROH had everything in 2002.

“Night of the Butcher” was basically a one match show, but the pacing showed a lot of improvement from the other Fall events. It was far from painful, or even boring, just not the most well-rounded show. We’re heading in the right direction, though.