West Mifflin, PA – 1.11.2003

Commentary is provided by Chris Lovey & Ray Murrow.

The DVD begins with a replay of the end of Final Battle 2002, where Steve Corino revealed Simply Luscious as the first member of his unnamed group. We then see a clip from the January 1st episode of High Impact TV here Corino revealed the third member of his group. Corino introduces them as someone he fought tooth and nail against in Japan, and who The Prophecy previously used as their hired hand – Samoa Joe. Joe tells the Prophecy that not only is he not for sale anymore, but now he is gunning for their titles. He then turns his hat around and it says “I Killed Curryman” on the front. Joe says he and Steve will be paying them a visit next week. Joe scoffs at Simply Luscious before walking away. On the January 8th episode of High Impact TV, Corino blew off a handshake from Ace Steel to confront Daniels and the other Prophecy members. Daniels berates Simply Luscious for leaving the Prophecy, but says it’s okay because she has already been replaced. Daniels then introduces Corino to the newest member of the Prophecy, Steve’s sister, Allison Danger. She tells Steve that she joined the Prophecy because ROH was ready to forget about her when the Christopher St. Connection got hurt. She was told to sit at home. She also tells Steve to stay out of their business. Steve says they’re going to end the myth of the Prophecy by taking all of their titles. Daniels and Corino antagonize each other, but their respective groups prevent them from coming to blows. I like that both sides poached from one another (in a sense), adding more animosity between the factions.

The show opens with Special K interrupting ring announcer Jeff Gorman. Deranged says they’re excited to be in Cleveland and to show them what ROH is really about – drugs and partying. Deranged drones on for a few more minutes before having their music play so they can start a dance party in the ring. Da Hit Squad and The SAT interrupt and send them packing. Mafia literally chops the shirt off of Yeyo and gives him a half-nelson suplex. Mack then sets Yeyo up on the top turnbuckle for the SAT, who bring down Yeyo with a Spanish Fly. Deranged gets involved, and Mack tosses him to the floor. Slugger catches Deranged mid-air and carries him to the back. Mafia then welcomes the “Pittsburgh” crowd to ROH and says that they will see the most innovative, high-flying, and hard-hitting wrestling today. I suppose they felt a need to do something like this for a new audience. It was inoffensive, though the crowd did not really seem to care.

We then see a clip of Simply Luscious and Allison Danger getting into a scuffle during a pre-show autograph signing and have to be pulled apart by the ROH staff. We then get a backstage promo from Paul London. Many people in the crowd will be seeing ROH live for the first time, and the locker room plans to bust their ass to meet the fans expectations. Tonight he is in a four way match with three other people, none of them who have been in the ring with each other (not true – Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer had shared a ring several times before tonight.) London also says ROH has introduced a Top 5 Ranking system, and tonight he has the chance to be part of the first Top 5 in history.

Matt Stryker vs. Chad Collyer

This is both competitors’ ROH debut. Collyer was trained by Dean Malenko, and even wrestled as Chad Malenko in Japan. Stryker is a Les Thatcher trainee, wrestling primarily for HWA. It’s mostly even for the first five or so minutes. Collyer eventually got the better of Stryker by wearing down his leg to set up his Texas Cloverleaf finish. Stryker kind of forgot about that, hitting a leg lariat and a big boot to the mid-section during a comeback. Stryker applied an ankle lock, which Collyer reversed into a cradle for two. Stryker cradled Collyer to block a cloverleaf. Collyer then popped him up into a powerbomb and locked in the cloverleaf to get the submission victory at 10:50. A fine enough exhibition match but nothing special by today’s standards. The crowd was polite but not overly invested. It’s a match where I could have seen ROH going either way in their decision to bring these two back. **½

CM Punk is backstage and wearing an awesome D.A.R.E. shirt with Colonel Sanders’ visage underneath the lettering. Punk says tonight is about getting redemption against Michael Shane, who cost Punk the #1 Contender’s Trophy at “All Star Extravaganza.” Punk says he can handle losing, but he gets pissed off thinking about how Shane won the match by holding the ropes for leverage. The rage he’s had since that night will be released when he pins Shane clean and evens the score. Punk says if he isn’t able to do that, he won’t be able to live with himself.

CM Punk vs. Michael Shane

Shane is frustrated by not being able to get the better of Punk, so he tosses him over the top rope and to the floor. He attacks Punk in front of some girls in the crowd before choking him back inside of the ring. When Punk tries to retaliate with a crossbody, Shane counters into a gutbuster. When Punk retaliates with a neckbreaker, Shane cuts him off right away with a clothesline. Punk ducks another clothesline and also evades a Sliced Bread, leading to both men then clotheslining each other at the same time. Punk surprises Shane with a Shining Wizard for two after a back body drop. Punk also gets two with a spinebuster. Shane counters a huracanrana with a powerbomb for two. Punk counters a swinging DDT with a powerslam and lands his crooked split-legged moonsault for two. Punk tries the sunset flip. Shane holds onto the ropes and kneels to block, just like he did in November, but this time referee Paul Turner catches it and breaks the pin. Shane however then follows up with Sweet Chin Music for two. Punk blocks a sunset flip and pulls Shane up. He maneuvers him into a Ranhei style roll-up for the pin at 13:05. A good match that showcased both guys’ characters. Punk also got both his singles losses (this and Cabana) avenged and can move forward to bigger and better things. ***

After the match, Shane and Punk size each other up. Punk lightly pie faces Shane before asking for a handshake. Shane responds in kind. They shake hands, but Punk then pulls Shane towards him. Shane spits towards Punk after Punk releases to celebrate on the turnbuckle. It feels like there would be more between them, but this would be their last meeting in ROH.

Konnan & Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) & Ghost Shadow

Trinity is in Divine Storm and Konnan’s corner. This is Shadow’s ROH debut. He is a Homicide trainee. Shadow replaces The Amazing Red, who pulled off the show to go on his first tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling. He would also miss the One Year Anniversary Show due to the tour. Since Konnan’s match was cut from Final Battle 2002, this is his first (and last) ROH match that would be seen until the Final Battle match was released on the Uncensored Vol. 1 DVD years later. This was a lot of rolling and armdrags punctuated with a few high spots. The first was the Michinoku Pro “kinjin jump.” The second was Trinity moonsaulting onto everybody on the floor. I was also taken aback seeing Ghost Shadow bust out a Muscle Buster, though I don’t think Joe had begun doing it in ROH yet. Konnan, who looked WAY better in this match than he did in the Final Battle match, would end up winning the match for his team by submitting Shadow to the Tequila Sunrise at 16:35. The fans booed Konnan heavily which is a bit surprising given his performance was perfectly fine. That said, in both his appearances, the crowd made it clear they were not interested in Konnan, and ROH listened. It would be several years before we’d see Konnan in ROH again, and never again would he wrestle for ROH. It’s also funny that commentary kept hammering home how this “wasn’t the WCW Konnan”, and then exclaimed how he won “so many WCW matches” with the Tequila Sunrise. This was a crisper version of the same scramble match these guys had multiple times in 2002. If Konnan was not involved, there would be nothing in this match that would have made it stand out from all the others they have had. It was totally solid, though. **¾

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

This is a threematch to settle the rivalry, with Da Hit Squad defeating the Carnage Crew in a Boston Massacre Match at “Honor Invades Boston” and the Carnage Crew defeating Da Hit Squad at “Glory By Honor.” The Carnage Crew throws an entire guardrail into Mafia as Mafia attempts a suicide dive, busting him open. DeVito then exploder suplexes Mafia through the guardrail in the ring. The teams hit each other with cowboy boots and cookie sheets/baking pans, leaving everybody busted open. A ladder gives way underneath Mack when he tries to splash onto Loc. The Carnage Crew then use the ladder against both DHS members. Loc digs a cowbell into Mafia’s head. Mack lariats DeVito and Mafia does the same to Loc after reversing an Irish whip. DHS place a ladder onto both of their necks and smash two chairs onto the ladder. Mafia comes off the top rope with a sit-out powerbomb to Loc onto DeVito through a table, getting the pin and winning the rivalry for Da Hit Squad at 11:40. This was their best match of the three by far, which is faint praise. That said, the crowd was very into it and the violence escalated throughout the bout until the end, which is what you want. I’m glad both teams will move on from each other heading into the rest of 2003. **½

We get another clip from the January 1st episode of High Impact, where Special K hosted a year in review. They’re all partying in the locker room, and later we see they have all crashed out from their highs. Slugger literally has to carry Dixie out of the locker room.

Scramble Match
Special K (Hydro, Deranged, Angel Dust, & Yeyo) vs. The Ring Crew Express (Dunn & Marcos) & The Outcast Killaz (Oman Tortuga & Diablo Santiago)

Lit and Slugger are in Special K’s corner. Special K attack the other foursome before the bell and control the match for a long while. Even when someone on the other team is able to get in offense, either another Special K member cut them off, or the legal Special k member came back fairly quickly. Deranged was showcased for most of the match and looked quite good. When Tortuga took Deranged out with an inverted DDT, Slugger interjected and chokeslamed Tortuga. He would also chokeslam the other three members of the opposite team as well. The members of Special K then wipe everyone out one-by-one. Angel Dust dropped Marcos with a modified Rubix Cube, Hydro took out Santiago with a Black Tornado Slam variant, Yeyo laid out Dunn with a cut-throat DDT, and Deranged landed a Yoshi Tonic on Tortuga. We circle back to Marcos, the smallest member of the opposing team, who Slugger laid out with the Body Bag. Everybody from Special K then pinned Marcos at the same time at 7:08. Yet another chaotic spot fest from Special K. We already had our fill of this kind of wrestling from the Konnan bout, and that was better. At least it was relatively short and was the fun kind of chaotic. **

BJ Whitmer vs. Colt Cabana vs. Homicide vs. Paul London

Originally, Bobby Roode was going to be in this match, but missed the show due to a car accident. Jay Briscoe was originally set to wrestle Homicide, but had a conflict that resulted in him missing the show as well. With both of those guys missing the event, they made the easy swap of putting Homicide in Roode’s place. Roode would never wrestle for Ring of Honor.

This is Whitmer’s ROH debut. He too is a Les Thatcher trainee who primarily competes for HWA. He earns the respect of the crowd by hanging with London in the opening exchange. Homicide and Cabana then go at it, with Homicide sneaking in a punch while they’re in the corner. He chops down Caban before driving his knee into the side of Cabana’s head. Cabana blocks a Hamachan Cutter so Homicide instead brings him down with a superplex. London blind tags in as Homicide dropkicks Cabana off of the second turnbuckle. Cabana ends up getting the better of London with a moonsault press and a lariat. Whitmer and Cabana basically form a tag team as they take turns wearing him down in one corner of the ring. London blocks a punch from Cabana after being sent to the apron. Although London does take out Cabana with a crossbody, Cabana cuts him off with a hard back elbow moments later. London almost escapes after a dropsault to Cabana, but once again he is cut off. London rolls away from Whitmer when he is in the corner and finally tags out to Homicide. When Cabana back suplexes Homicide, London jumps in with a clothesline to Homicide at the same time. Cabana sends London packing with an enzuigiri. London comes back in with a slingshot headscissors to Whitmer, sending him outside. When Cabana sends Homicide to the ropes, Homicide turns that into a tope suicida onto Whitmer. Cabana then inadvertently backflips London from inside of the ring onto both Homicide and Whitmer, and then decides to follow with an Asai moonsault. Back in the ring, Homicide lands the Hamachan Cutter on Whitmer. London attempts to steal the pin but Homicide cuts him off. Homicide ducks a Mushroom Stomp and takes out London with the Cop Killa. Cabana breaks up the pin. Cabana evades the Cop Killa and takes out Homicide with Colt .45. Whitmer makes the save and Dragon suplexes Cabana twice. When he does it a third time, London breaks up Whitmer’s bridge with a London Star Press and pins him at 19:30. Finally, some good f*cking food. The crowd’s standing ovation shows they’re in agreement with me. Everybody was in sync with one another all match long, which is impressive considering their lack of prior interaction. London taking so much damage from Whitmer and Cabana, only to steal the match from both of them, was a sweet conclusion as well. Probably the first great Four Corner Survival match, so much so that they would become a staple of shows going forward. ***½

Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is replacing the originally announced Doug Williams. Not sure what the original plan for Joe was. Despite their opening exchange leading to a stalemate, the snugness shown by both competitors is telling of their attitude heading into the match. Joe challenges Danielson to shoulder block him, and when Danielson cannot budge him, Joe slaps him in the face. Danielson then dropkicks Joe’s leg out and slaps him in the face as well. Danielson takes down Joe with a dragonscrew leg whip and begins attacking Joe’s left leg. Joe throws forearms at Danielson’s face to get him to escape, but Danielson keeps hold. Joe counters into a grapevine ankle lock. Danielson instantly grabs the ropes to escape and uppercuts Joe. Joe limps as he chops away at Danielson. He suplexes Danielson. Danielson from the mat grabs Joe’s leg and pulls him down into a key lock, which he snaps back on to apply additional pressure. When he bridges back and applies a double arm stretch, Joe crawls to the ropes to escape. Joe cuts off Danielson’s corner attack by turning him inside out with a clothesline. Joe Kawada kicks Danielson multiple times before facewash kicking him in the corner. Joe puts Danielson in a half crab, digging his knee into Danielson’s back while doing so, until Danielson gets the ropes to escape. Joe vertical suplexes Danielson from the inside of the ring and to the floor. Joe then breaks the barricade with a proto Ole kick to the American Dragon. Joe powerbombs Danielson into an STF back inside of the ring. Danielson aggressively crawls to the ropes as Joe tells Danielson “I own you” in a rage. Joe chops Danielson, and Danielson keeps trying to keep coming at Joe, but ultimately is laid out. Danielson evades a corner attack and blasts Joe with a pair of running forearm strikes. He takes down Joe with a suplex before landing a diving headbutt for two. Joe throws kicks at Danielson’s leg while Danielson lays in with uppercuts. Danielson lands two rolling forearms. He goes for a third but is cut off by a jumping knee strike from Joe. Joe then pins Danielson with the Island Driver at 13:20. Commentary hammers home that it usually takes multiple finishers for people to keep Danielson down, but it just took one for Joe to do so. This was a great taste of what these two are capable of doing in a match together, while also leaving you wanting more. Joe looked like a monster while Danielson appeared to be capable of slaying that monster. Tonight just wasn’t his night. I liked this a lot, and can’t wait for their rematch on the next show. ***½

Low Ki and AJ Styles are backstage. Ki says when he and AJ compete against each other, it is for the respect and love they have for pro wrestling. Tonight, however, is about their mutual hatred of the Prophecy. Ki says it’s been about a year since they began their war, and he plans to finish it tonight. Ki gave his soul for the ROH Title, and Xavier sold his soul for it. Ki has not forgotten coughing up blood during their match at “Unscripted”, and he plans to hurt Xavier tonight.

No Holds Barred
AJ Styles & Low Ki vs. The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Xavier)

Allison Danger is in the Prophecy’s corner. Commentary notes that No Holds Barred is literal, and also means no rope breaks. They also state that the match is more Relaxed Rules than it is a No DQ match. Even though the Prophecy attack as soon as the introductions are over, it’s Ki who gets control over Xavier back in the ring. Styles assists in wearing down the champion as well. Xavier uses a gutbuster to escape his grasp and tags Daniels. Styles tags out to Ki, who chops up Daniels in the corner and takes him down with a butterfly suplex for two. When Xavier tags back in, Ki takes him down immediately with a drop toe hold, and he and Styles unload kicks onto him. Daniels saves Xavier from being pinned by a brainbuster. Xavier savate kicks Styles out of the corner and drops him with a DDT. Daniels gets in a little offense before Styles reverses a neckbreaker and tags in Ki. Ki pitches Daniels to the floor after giving him a powerdrive elbow. He slams Daniels on the hardwood floor and Styles also gives him a clothesline. Xavier and Styles wear down Daniels, with a focus on his shoulders and neck. When Xavier tries to interject, both times Xi chops him back out to the apron. Daniels throws Ki into the ropes out of a waistlock, and with Danger’s assistance, Daniels chokes Ki on the middle rope. Xavier pummels Styles so he cannot help his partner. The Prophecy have finally turned the tide. They wear down Ki in their corner while also keeping Styles at bay. Danger even gets in a shot from the floor to prevent Ki from tagging out. Ki does eventually escape on his own by countering Daniels’ Angel’s Wings into a sleeper bulldog. After dropkicks to both men, Styles takes out Daniels with the Phenomenon. Xavier dropkicks Styles’ leg out, and that leads to the Prophecy wearing down Styles’ leg while Ki recovers. Ki does save Styles twice during the beatdown, but he is still tired when Styles escapes the Prophecy’s grasp with a chinbreaker to Daniels.

Despite being tired, Ki does take out Daniels with a Tidal Wave and Xavier with a Koppu Kick. Krush Rushes Daniels into Xavier. Xavier also catches Ki coming off of the ropes into a Falcon Arrow for two. Styles back handspring elbows Daniels, and the bounce on the ropes also crotches Xavier on the top turnbuckle. Daniels saves Xavier from Ki’s abdominal stretch by superplexing Ki. Xavier and Styles also knock each other out with a super gourd buster. Xavier helps Daniels escape a Styles Clash. Ki then saves Styles from Daniels’ ankle lock. Daniels’ lower back is too hurt for Angel’s Wings on Ki, so Ki is able to slingshot him out to the floor. Ki suicide dives Daniels into the barricades. Xavier looks for one himself but is caught off with a Koppu Kick from Ki from the floor. In the ring, Styles gives Xavier a wheelbarrow facebuster. Daniels breaks the pin, and Xavier gives Styles a Cobra Clutch suplex for two. Ki breaks up the pin, but then gets taken out with an Iconoclasm from Daniels. Ki comes back with the Tidal Krush. Danger jumps in from the floor to break up the pin. Danils tries to attack Ki while he is distracted, but misses and hits Danger instead. Ki headscissors Xavier into Daniels, leading them to the floor. Styles and Ki deliver stereo pescados. Just like Xavier did to Ki at “Unscripted”, Ki places a pole with a concrete slab onto Xavier’s stomach and smashes the pole into Xavier’s chest with a chair. Daniels does his best back in the ring on his own. Even though Styles stops him from giving Ki Last Rites, Daniels is able to hit the Angel’s Wings on Styles for two. Daniels decides to pull out a table and place it ringside. He then looks to give Styles the Angel’s Wings off of the ring apron and through the table. Instead, Styles puts Daniels through the table with a Styles Clash off of the apron! Xavier is in the ring and checking on Daniels through the ropes. Ki surprises him with a Dragon Clutch in the ropes, and Xavier submits at 28:40. You could’ve trimmed some frat from this, but the back quarter of this match was so awesome that I can overlook the bloat. They also kept a really good pace for the duration of the bout. Styles and Ki worked super well as a duo, and I actually think I prefer this Prophecy tandem to Morgan/Daniels. Xavier delivered up to the level of the other three competitors. This had tons of heat and felt like a match that was important for all parties involved. Ki getting his revenge on Xavier felt like a moment too, and makes me wonder if they did consider Ki winning back the title or not around this time. This was much better than I remembered, and was a great way to cap off a show in a new market. ****

Backstage, Allison Danger presents an exhausted Christopher Daniels with the tag titles. Daniels feels better being reminded that they’re still the champions. He says Styles and Ki got lucky tonight, but tonight was still a win with Allison Danger joining the Prophecy. He tells Danger she is going to be integral in their fight against Steve and his stable. Daniels says if Steve wants a war, he should cast the first stone. Danger then brings Daniels into an adjacent room, likely a locker room or trainers room.

This show was all about wrapping up loose ends from 2002 and moving forward. Da Hit Squad ended their rivalry with The Carnage Crew. Punk avenged his two singles losses. We would’ve seen Danielson and Williams wrap up their trilogy if the card had not changed. Ki avenged his loss from Xavier, and the Prophecy can now have their sole focus on Corino’s group. The last three matches really delivered, and turned a so-so show into a strong first outing for the year. This show is often forgotten and occasionally derided, so I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.