Disc One

Delirious vs. Matt Sydal
“Reborn Stage One” – St. Paul, MN – 4.23.2004

This is Delirious’ ROH debut. Daizee Haze is in Sydal’s corner. Sydal looks to take control on the mat. Delirious takes him over with a fireman’s carry. Sydal does the same. Delirious armdrags him into a crucifix pin and gets two. Delirious baits him into a clothesline and a huracanrana. Sydal puts on a side headlock. Delirious escapes and gets two with a sunset flip. Sydal nails a spinwheel kick and monkey flips him across the ring. Delirious scrapes his boot against Sydal’s face. Sydal takes him down with a neck-tie headscissors. He gives him a standing legdrop across his neck for two. Delirious ducks a shooting star press and hits the In Vitro Fertilization for two. Both men go to the top rope. Sydal brings him down with Cyclorama for the pin at 6:34. This was a good debut for both guys. They got to show off some of their bigger moves while also showing how competent they could be in the ring. Delirious didn’t get to portray much of his character but stood out regardless. **1/2

Delirious vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jack Evans vs. Ebessan
“The Final Showdown” – Dayton, OH – 5.13.2005

Delirious freaks out at the bell and goes under the ring. Evans dances to “serve” Joe. Ebessan tags in and does his own dance. Evans does another dance, so Ebessan stomps on his face. Evans gives him a tornado enzuigiri. Delirious and Ebessan get in some sort of incoherent shouting match. When they get to down to business, they have the weakest, purposefully slow exchange ever. It’s quite a sight to see. Dave Prazak on commentary really makes the sequence. After jabbing one another in the throat, they tag in Joe and Evans. Joe fights off Evans’ kicks and smacks him in the face. Joe kicks Evans so hard in the chest his shoes fall off. Delirious gives Evans the Neverending Story clothesline. Ebessan does some damage to Evans’ arm and hurts his own back in the process. After doing the Flair Strut, Ebessan goes up top. Evans tosses him off. Ebessan pokes him in the eyes. Evans backdrops him and Ebessan Flair flops. Delirious pins him for two. He kicks Ebessan down in the corner with Evans’ shoe in his mouth. Evans and Delirious form a makeshift team to wear down Ebessan. Ebessan makes a comeback by giving Evans a Shining Wizard and Delirious a Falcon Arrow. Joe tags in and cleans house. Joe and Ebessan end up in the ring together. Ebessan’s enzuigiri and chop do nothing. Joe puts him in the Coquina Clutch. At the same time, Evans hits a 450 splash on Delirious to get the pin at 13:47. This had Ebessan and Delirious in it, of course it was good. Even Evans and Joe played along with the comedy and best of all the finish lead right into a tag match the next night. Fun times. ***

Delirious & Alex Shelley vs. Roderick Strong & Jack Evans
“Nowhere To Run” – Chicago Ridge, IL – 5.14.2005

Delirious catches everybody off guard by his bell-related freak out. Delirious is the only person willing to tag with Shelley, since he had tormented most of the locker room when he was leading Generation Next. Strong grabs the ropes when Shelley goes for his legs. Evans serves Delirious with his dancing. Delirious claims Evans pulled on his mask which is just plain silly. He kicks Evans in the stomach and shoulder blocks him down. They each get a two count before Delirious armdrags him and bites on his hand. Shelley kicks Evans’ arm upon tagging in. Shelley uses his knees to drive Evans’ face into Delirious’ knees. Shelley knocks Strong off the apron so he and Delirious can easily beat down Evans in their half of the ring. Strong blind tags in when Evans hit the ropes. He gives Delirious a tornado kick before Strong hits a dropkick. Evans pretends like he’s going to do a cool back flip double stomp, but then just stomps on Delirious’ chest because “Chicago ain’t worth it.” Strong and Evans do some more damage until Delirious hits his leaping clothesline on Strong. Evans accidentally knee strikes Strong while Strong holds Shelley. Shelley drives his knees into both of them in opposite corners. He drop toe holds Strong face first into Evans’ crotch. Delirious dives onto Strong on the floor! Evans counters Shelley’s fisherman’s buster with one of his own. Strong tosses Delirious into the barricades. Shelley superkicks Evans. Strong gives Shelley a backbreaker and the Sick Kick for two. Delirious saves Shelley and throws a flurry of strikes at Strong. He dropkicks him to the corner and hits the Panic Attack. Strong uses a Gut Buster to counter Shadows Over Hell. Delirious falls victim to a Doomsday Crossbody but still manages to kick out. Shelley puts Strong in the Border City Stretch. Evans saves him. Shelley gets his feet up to block Evans’ moonsault. Delirious hits him with Shadows Over Hell. Strong breaks the pin. Strong sends Shelley to the floor with Death by Roderick. Strong knees Delirious and sets him up in the corner. He flips Evans off his shoulders for a double stomp to Delirious’ back. He then puts on the Stronghold, and Delirious taps out at 16:32. That was a very fun tag match, and the dynamic between Delirious and Shelley actually worked really well. It made sense for them to fall to the more seasoned team and for Delirious to be pinned so that their feud with Shelley could continue. Strong and Aries will always be associated as THE Generation Next team in ROH, but Strong and Evans were terrific together as well. ***1/2

Delirious & Bryan Danielson vs. The Embassy (Alex Shelley & Jimmy Rave)
“Dragon Gate Challenge” – Detroit, MI – 3.30.3006

Delirious sings some “Final Countdown” as he circles Shelley. Delirious actually does pretty well in the opening exchange, so Shelley jabs him in the jaw and tags in Rave. Rave puts the Ghanian flag on Delirious. Delirious hip tosses Rave to the corner and puts the flag in his mouth. Shelley bites Delirious’ hand. Delirious rolls to the floor and baits Shelley into a leaping clothesline back in the ring. Danielson stretches out Shelley’s arms on the canvas. He puts Shelley in a Dragon Clutch. Shelley rakes his eyes to free himself. Rave tags in. Danielson grabs his arm and tags Delirious. He runs around the ring before kicking Rave’s arm. He does the Airplane Spin to appease Danielson. Danielson then does his own Airplane Spin, with Delirious running around him in the opposite direction. Danielson stretches out Rave’s arms. Shelley rakes his eyes to break it. Rave staves off Delirious and legally tags in Shelley. Danielson pokes him in the eyes and chokes him on the middle rope. Danielson then wins a slap battle and puts Shelley in a Bow and Arrow. Rave kicks Danielson as he hits the ropes. Delirious does the same to Shelley. He and Danielson dropkick Shelley to the floor and double backdrop Rave. Prince Nana and Daizee Haze distract Danielson long enough for Shelley to baseball slide out of the ring and throw Danielson into the barricades. The Embassy trap Danielson in their corner until he is able to avoid a double clothesline and dropkick them both to the corner. He finally tags in Delirious. He headscissors Rave to the corner. He blocks Greetings from Ghana with a Cobra Clutch backbreaker. After throwing Shelley to the floor he dropkicks Rave to the corner. He sweeps Shelley’s leg so he dropkicks Rave. The Panic Attack follows. Shadows Over Heck misses. Shelley superkicks him. Delirious fights off a Shiranui. Danielson missile dropkicks Shelley. He and Delirious put the Embassy in simultaneous Cattle Mutilations! Upon release, Danielson suicide dives after Rave who retreated to the floor. Delirious goes for the Bizarro Driver. Shelley escapes and dropkicks the crown of his head. Haze distracts the referee so Shelley can kick Delirious low. Danielson re-enters the ring but gets speared by Rave right away. Shelley then gives Delirious a Shiranui for the pin at 20:54. I enjoyed most of the beginning and end of this match but it sure did drag in the middle. The fans did not seem interested in watching Danielson as the babyface in peril. Even though it fell short of expectations it was still pretty enjoyable. ***

A couple of nights later, Jim Cornette called Delirious to the ring. He sees a lot of plus side in Delirious and knows the fans love him, but his win/loss record is atrocious. He thinks Delirious needs determination in order to reach to the next level. Tonight, he is allowing Delirious to challenge anybody he wants to. If Delirious loses however, he’s done with ROH. Admist his incoherent babbling he says the name Ricky Reyes. With that, our match is on.

Delirious vs. Ricky Reyes
“Better Than Our Best” – Chicago Ridge, IL – 4.1.2006

Delirious immediately baseball slides Reyes into the crowd. He throws Reyes into the barricades. Smoke backrakes Delirious and gets forearmed for it. That however allows Reyes to capitalize. Delirious takes control back in the ring. Reyes comes back with a rolling sole butt and a couple neckbreakers. He goes for the Dragon Sleeper. Delirious gets the ropes quickly. Reyes’ belly-to-back suplex only gets a one count. Delirious cradles him for two. Reyes goes for the Dragon Sleeper. Delirious blocks it and hits Shadows Over Hell. He gets two with the Bizarro Driver. Reyes gives him two more neckbreakers and a fisherman’s buster. Delirious kicks out. Delirious counters a Dragon Sleeper attempt with the Cobra Stretch. Reyes taps out at 6:14! This was an effective way for Delirious to turn the corner in ROH, becoming more than just an undercard fill-in participant. His win felt like a big deal and established his Cobra Stretch submission right off the bat. **1/2

ROH World Championship
Bryan Danielson (Champion) vs. Delirious
“The 100th Show” – Philadelphia, PA – 4.22.2006

Danielson takes Delirious to the corner with a flurry of slaps to the face. He stands right on his face and chest and then puts him in the Romero Special. Danielson then stomps Delirious’ knees into the mat. Danielson puts him in a Bow and Arrow. He does a Curb Stomp to mock Super Dragon just to get up the ire of the CZW fans in attendance. He does some hip swivels to the vocal crowd while also doing damage to Delirious’ locked up legs. He grabs at Delirious’ face as well. He switches that into an abdominal stretch, in which at times he rubs his forearm into Delirious’s face and grabs the ropes for extra leverage. Danielson dropkicks him for a two count. He brings Delirious to the top rope. Delirious fights him off and connects with Shadows Over Hell. He dropkicks Danielson to the corner for the Panic Attack. He cradles Danielson for two. Danielson stops his leaping lariat and puts on Cattle Mutilation. Delirious gets to the ropes. He gives Danielson an Airplane Spin and puts on the Cobra Stretch. Danielson makes it to the ropes. He rolls to the floor, so Delirious suicide dives onto him. Danielson sends him into the barricades and a ring post. Delirious has now been busted open, so Danielson rips open that part of his mask and throws him back into the barricades. He bites his open wound as well. Back in the ring he gives Delirious a Dragon suplex and puts on Cattle Mutilation. Somehow Delirious gets his feet to the ropes. Danielson gives him a suplex and goes up top. He misses a diving headbutt. Delirious gives him the Neverending Story clothesline. Danielson manages to maneuver his way for a belly-to-back superplex. He drives the point of his elbow into the side of Delirious’ head. Referee Todd Sinclair calls for the bell at 15:30. Danielson as the snarky heel was always my favorite version of him. Put him up against an underdog in Delirious and you have a formula for a fun match. Not only that, but Delirious busting open his hand and his head legitimized him as a tough guy and not just a comedy act. For the 100th Show this may seem like a throwaway title defense, but for what they were looking to accomplish I thought they did a great job. ***1/2

Delirious vs. Chris Sabin
“Weekend of Champions Night 2” – Cleveland, OH – 4.29.2006

Delirious hadbutts Sabin’s hand in a wristlock. Sabin armdrags him into a crucifix pin for two. Delirious cradles him for his own two count. Delirious slides to the floor and runs around the ring. Upon reentry Sabin knocks him down with a back elbow. He springboard dropkicks Delirious for one. A dropkick to the back of his head gets a two count. He puts on a Japanese Strangle Hold and stretches Delirious across his back. Delirious elbows him down and throws both his elbow pads at Sabin. He lazily covers Sabin after a belly-to-back suplex resulting in a two count. Delirious hits an enzuigiri, but Sabin responds with a step-up variation resulting in both men on the mat. Delirious gets Sabin in the corner and hits the Panic Attack. He comes off the top rope with a headscissors. Sabin catches Delirious with a rolling sole butt and an enzuigiri. He gets two with a sit-out powerbomb. Sabin sets up for the Cradle Shock. Delirious sunset flips him to escape. Sabin drops him face first into the top turnbuckle and delivers a yakuza kick. He hangs Delirious in the tree of woe for a delayed dropkick. Delirious kicks out. He gets two with Shadows Over Hell. Sabin fights out of the Cobra Stretch attempt. He lifts up Delirious for Cradle Shock. Delirious escapes, but takes a backbreaker. Delirious armdrags Sabin into the Cobra Stretch. He taps out at 11:37. I think it’s cool that Delirious got to get a win over a name talent. It got Delirious more credibility and momentum towards his second ROH title shot and once again strongly put over the Cobra Stretch. Some of the smaller details were clever which made it an even more satisfying watch. A very forgotten good performance in Delirious’ career. ***

ROH World Championship
Bryan Danielson (Champion) vs. Delirious
“Ring of Homicide” – Edison, NJ – 5.13.2006

Delirious forearms and headbutts Danielson like crazy at the beginning. Danielson has to go to the eyes to stop him. He rolls to the floor to avoid being punted in the head. Danielson takes some time before coming back in. He gets in a few shots before trying Cattle Mutilation, which Delirious gets to the ropes for quickly. Danielson works on his arm some more before trying the submission once more. Again Delirious gets to the ropes. He counters Danielson’s suplex with a headscissors and nails a leaping clothesline for one. They trade chops in the corner. Delirious ducks a forearm and gives him a belly-to-back suplex. When Delirious tries for the Cobra Stretch, Danielson grabs the ropes. Delirious’ crossbody sends them both to the floor. Danielson takes control by dropping Delirious throat first on the barricades and throwing a chair at his head. In the ring he puts on the Romero Special. He then chokes Delirious with his own mask tassles. He throws Delirious into the barricades before bringing him back in the ring and reapplying the Romero Special. He then puts on a cross armbreaker which Delirious breaks with the ropes. Delirious sends Danielson to the floor and suicide dives after him. He chops Danielson up in the corner. Danielson throws him in a cravate. As he goes for a diving headbutt, Delirious catches him with an Ace Crusher. He crucifixes Danielson into the Cobra Stretch. He gets his foot on the ropes. Danielson comes off the second rope with a diving uppercut. He gets two again with a Dragon suplex. He puts Delirious in the Crossface Chicken Wing. Delirious maneuvers his way to the ropes. When Danielson goes for a belly-to-back superplex, Delirious reverses mid-air for a crossbody. He hits the Panic Attack and heads up top. Shadows Over Hell connects for a two count. He gives Danielson a backbreaker before applying the Cobra Stretch. Danielson rolls to the ropes. Delirious goes for Shadows Over Hell again. Danielson catches him coming down and puts on Cattle Mutilation. Delirious somehow makes it to the ropes. Danielson throws elbows to the side of his head. Delirious fights out and punts Danielson in the head twice. Danielson catches him in a small package for the pin at 24:28. This has to be one of Delirious’ best matches in ROH period. He got to look really strong against Danielson and believably came close to winning the belt on a couple of occasions. Heck, Danielson ended up having to catch him off guard to get the win. This also had some fun call backs to their first match making this an overall success. ****

ROH Pure Championship
Nigel McGuinness (Champion) vs. Delirious
“Time To Man Up” – Lake Grove, NY – 8.4.2006

Delirious uses his first rope break early when McGuinness puts on a front facelock. He uses his second to break a hammerlock. Delirious does not seem to understand the rules. In fact, he uses his third and final rope break for a wristlock. Delirious brings McGuinness to the mat in a side headlock. McGuinness rolls to the corner, but ends up taking the Neverending Story clothesline. He headbutts McGuinness’ arm in a wristlock. McGuinness grabs the ropes to get back to his feet, which referee Todd Sinclair counts as a rope break. He loses a second one grabbing the second rope to get back to his feet while in a hammerlock. He kicks Delirious in the back before driving him into the mat with a clothesline. Delirious crawls through his legs. He back elbows McGuinness as he hits the ropes and delivers his leaping clothesline. He hits the Panic Attack and goes up top. Shadows Over Hell gets him two. He puts on the Cobra Stretch. McGuinness puts his foot on the ropes to escape, meaning he too is now out of rope breaks. He baits Delirious to the floor to try and get a count on victory. Delirious is able to get back into the ring however before the twenty count. McGuinness uppercuts him as he tries for Shadows Over Hell again. He gets two with the Tower of London. Delirious armdrags him into the Cobra Stretch. McGuinness manages to turn over which gets Delirious out of position. McGuinness goes to the top rope. Delirious throws him off. He goes up top. McGuinness catches him with a second Tower of London and again gets a two count. He lariats Delirious off the top rope. Delirious kicks out again. He small packages McGuinness for two. Delirious headscissors him to the ropes. McGuinness ends up hitting the Rebound Lariat for two. McGuinness then puts on Cattle Mutilation. Delirious gets the ropes, but it doesn’t matter. He ends up passing out at 17:19. Delirious losing his three rope breaks right off the bat was clever and made sense. When McGuinness lost two of his right after, it added to the drama because you knew Delirious had his submission in his back pocket. The problem is that particular drama really wasn’t played up as well as it could have. While Delirious kicking out of the biggest moves in McGuinness’ arsenal was good for Delirious, it did make him McGuinness seem a little weak. Then again, that made the Danielson call backs in the finish make more sense that way and also built to their bout at “Unified”. This was a good, clever title defense that lost some steam in the latter portion of the bout. ***1/4

Delirious vs. Matt Sydal
“Epic Encounter II” – St. Paul, MN – 8.25.2006

These two are tied up in their series of matches. Delirious defeated Sydal at “Do or Die II” while Sydal defeated Delirious at “Reborn Stage One.” Sydal bails when Delirious flips at the bell. The initial feeling out process ends with Delirious armdragging Sydal across the ring. Sydal puts on a side headlock. Delirious sends him chest first to the corner and shoulder blocks him to the mat. Sydal uses armdrags to block Delirious’ headlock attempts. Delirious pops out of Sydal’s potential seated headscissors. He hot shots Sydal on the top rope. Sydal slingshots in with a dropkick to Delirious in the corner. He comes off the second rope with the cannonball legdrop for two. Delirious drives the back of Sydal’s head into his knees. Sydal goes nuts when Delirious tries for a Cobra Clutch, so Delirious throws him down. He throws elbows at Sydal’s neck. He also hits the Panic Attack for two. Sydal crossbody’s Delirious to the send him to the floor. Sydal knee strikes Delirious in the corner and throws a couple jumping clotheslines. He gets two with the Here It Is Driver. Sydal heads up top. When Delirious tries to throw Sydal off the top rope, Sydal just headscissors him to the corner. He sends Delirious to the floor and follows with a Fosbury Flop. In the ring, Delirious uses the top rope for an assisted neckbreaker. He goes for the Cobra Clutch. Sydal fights out. Delirious slams him off of his shoulders, gives him a backbreaker, then puts on the Cobra Stretch. Sydal gets the ropes. Sydal trips Delirious to the corner. He goes for a standing moonsault but Delirious puts his feet up to stop him. Sydal stops the Bizarro Driver by sweeping out his legs. This time the standing moonsault works. Delirious gets sent to the corner. He comes out with a headscissors that spikes Sydal on the mat. Still Sydal is able to kick out of the pin. Delirious turns that into the Cobra Stretch. Sydal escapes. Delirious kicks him in the head and gets two with the Bizarro Driver. He calls for Shadows Over Hell. Sydal goes up top and hits Cyclorama for the pin at 16:36. It’s funny; the commentary talks a lot about how big of rivals these guys are, and while that may be true for other independent companies, it was only ever brought up out of convenience in ROH. Because of it, the crowds reaction was weak. The wrestling was good and made sense but it was tough to get truly invested. The one thing I liked the most was the finishing harkening back to their first match in ROH in the same city, but aside from that it was just a good to very good wrestling bout. ***

Disc Two

Elimination Match
Delirious, Nigel McGuinness, BJ Whitmer & Colt Cabana vs. Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave, Jimmy Jacobs & Shingo Takagi
“The Chicago Spectacular Night 2” – Chicago Ridge, IL – 12.9.2006

Daizee Haze is in the corner of Delirious’ team while Lacey is in the corner of Danielson’s team. Shingo and Cabana start out. Cabana goes after his mullet, so he backs Cabana to the corner. He and Jacobs trade shots until Danielson tags in. Danielson gets taken to his opponents corner where everyone gets some shots in, specifically targeting his bad shoulder. Whitmer ends up getting caught in the other corner. Whitmer ends up catching Rave with an exploder suplex for two. Jacobs pulls a spike out of his boot. With Cabana’s help, Whitmer ends up getting it. Haze and Lacey meanwhile are fighting on the apron. Whitmer accidentally spikes Lacey and Jacobs goes to check on her immediately. He brings her to the back while everyone is still brawling. Jacobs hits Whitmer in the leg with a chair upon coming back out. He is eliminated via disqualification at 8:47. Rave puts his now injured leg in the Heel Hook right away and Whitmer taps at 9:30. McGuinness does an admirable job of fighting off Shingo, Rave and Danielson but the numbers game gets the best of him. They focus their attack on his right leg. They also make sure to keep Danielson and Delirious at bay. Eventually McGuinness is able to fight them all off again, but Rave still manages to keep him in the Heel Hook. McGuinness taps at 15:30. Delirious tries to jump in, but Shingo crotches him on the top rope right away. Cabana misses the Flying Asshole. Shingo gets two with a clothesline. On the floor he accidentally forearms Rave. In the ring Cabana jabs Danielson repeatedly. When he gets Cabana set up for the Chicken Wing, Delirious saves him. He and Cabana throw a bunch of clotheslines before sending Danielson out. Delirious dives onto him. Cabana catches Shingo with a sunset flip to eliminate him at 17:58. Cabana gets Rave in the Billy Goat’s Curse while Delirious puts Danielson in the Billy Goat’s Curse. Rave gets the ropes and Todd Sinclair forces Delirious out of the ring. Cabana sets up Rave for the Colt 45. While Sinclair is busy with Delirious, Danielson kicks Cabana in the groin. This allows Rave to cradle him for the pin at 19:08. Delirious is now all alone to take on Danielson and Rave.

Delirious gets stomped down in the corner. Danielson puts him the leg capture chin lock. Rave dropkicks him while he’s being stretched. Delirious reverses a whip to the corner. He sends Danielson into the corner instead and then sends Rave into him. Delirious dropkicks Rave into Danielson then O’Conner Rolls him for two. Rave accidentally spears Danielson. Delirious rolls him up for two. Rave then spears him for two. That allows Rave and Danielson to once again take control. Delirious kicks out of a double superplex. Delirious sneaks in the Chemical Imbalance II on Rave while he’s being picked up. That eliminates Rave at 26:00! Danielson and Delirious are the last two men standing. Danielson gets two with a Dragon Suplex. He puts on the Crossface Chicken Wing. Delirious gets the ropes. Danielson looks for the belly-to-back superplex. Delirious turns mid-air for a crossbody. They trade forearms which fires Danielson up. Danielson ducks the jumping clothesline and puts on Cattle Mutilation. Delirious makes it to the ropes. Danielson drives his elbow into Delirious’ head. Delirious gets in his own elbows and a couple kicks. Danielson throws some rolling forearms before successfully utilizing the belly-to-back superplex. Delirious kicks out. He absorbs more elbows until he rolls to the ropes. Delirious strings a Tiger suplex and the Cattle Mutilation together. Delirious rolls through and hits the Chemical Imbalance II. Danielson kicks out so Delirious puts on the Cobra Stretch. Danielson tries using the ropes to turn it into a pinning position. Delirious suplexes Danielson from the Cobra Clutch. He gets a two count, so he reapplies the Cobra Stretch. Danielson taps out at 32:58! This is a match that does not get enough love. They did a great job mixing in everyone’s current feuds while also calling back to past ones. All eight guys had really fun interactions with each other and they took one of the guys least likely to win and gave him a believably huge victory. It’s sad that Delirious wouldn’t get another title shot until three years later because I think there would have been something to a fourth Danielson/Delirious title match (their third at “Honor Reclaims Boston” is absent from this set). This match flew by, was a lot of fun, and had a hot finishing stretch. Goodness all around. ****

Delirious, Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. CIMA, Shingo Takagi & Matt Sydal
“Final Battle 2006” – New York, NY – 12.23.2006

Delirious and Sydal start out with some back and forth. Delirious crossbody’s them both to the floor. Shingo and Strong come in. Neither man goes down from shoulder blocks. Strong takes Shingo down with a signature chop. CIMA dropkicks Strong to the floor. He stomps Aries to the mat in a test of strength. Aries pops out of a headscissors and hits a dropkick. Aries pecado’s onto all three of his opponents. He, Strong and Delirious take turns getting in shots on CIMA. CIMA manages to stomp Delirious and Strong simultaneously and tag in Shingo. Shingo finds it difficult to fight them both, so Sydal crossbody’s in. Aries forearms him out. Shingo gets two on Aries with a modified spinebuster. Shingo slams Sydal onto Aries for another nearfall. That leads to the Dragon Gate team being able to trap him in their corner for a significant period of time. Finally, Aries manages to take down CIMA and Shingo with a quebrada press. Strong cleans house. Delirious gives Sydal a leaping clothesline and Shigno a headscissors. Strong drops CIMA face first to avoid a headscissors. Aries hits him with the IED. Delirious follows up with the Panic Attack for two. He then gives Shingo the Neverending Clothesline. Shingo throws his own corner lariat. He gives Delirious a TKO for two. Sydal spinwheel kicks Aries. Strong takes him down and dives out onto CIMA. Sydal moonsaults onto everybody on the floor. In the ring, CIMA snaps back on Aries’ leg. He suplexes Delirious while still hooking Aries’ leg. CIMA doublestomps Delirious off of Sydal and Shigo’s shoulders and rolls into a corner Superdrol to Aries. Strong breaks the cover. Strong superplexes Shingo. Shingo fires up, so Strong gives him the Sick Kick. CIMA gives him Venus. Strong sends CIMA into Delirious’ Bizarro Driver. Sydal breaks that pin. He goes to super huracanrana Strong. Strong rolls through. Sydal still however hops off Strong’s shoulders into a Blockbuster. Aries breaks the pin. Aries kicks Sydal in the head. Delirious drops him with Chemical Imbalance II. CIMA stomps Delirious’ chest to stop his pin. Strong chops Shingo into Aries’ brainbuster. Death by Roderick, Shadows Over Hell, and a 450 splash would put Sydal away, except CIMA comes in to save him. He superkicks Strong which is followed up by Shingo’s Pumping Bomber. Delirious rolls Shingo into the Cobra Stretch. CIMA breaks it. He superkicks Delirious and drops him with Schwein. Delirious kicks out! CIMA finally puts Delirious away with the Crossfire at 24:30. That was about as crazy a spotfest as you could expect out of those guys. As DG expert Brad Garoon has pointed out, it would be unfair to compare this to the DG matches from the Milestone Series, but I will be damned if this didn’t touch a typical Dragon Gate trios affair. ****

Delirious vs. KENTA
“Reborn Again” – Hartford, CT – 5.11.2007

KENTA does not seem to know what to make of his opponent. Delirious does some damage to KENTA’s leg. Neither man moves in a shoulder block exchange. When KENTA starts to throw a kick, Delirious bails to the apron. He wants no kicks in this match. Shortly after, KENTA catches him with a running boot. Delirious goes under the ring to try and confuse KENTA. Unfortunately when he resurfaces KENTA is there to throw multiple chest kicks. In the ring Delirious bites his leg to block a kick. Delirious kicks him in the spine. KENTA goes for his own back kick but again Delirious bites his leg. KENTA bites him in the forehead. Delirious suplexes him for two. He also gets two with a back senton. KENTA counters a suplex by dropping Delirious on the top rope. He throws more chest kicks before coming of the top rope with a knee strike to the back of his head. Slingshot head kick! Delirious dodges a yakuza kick and delivers the Neverending Story clothesline. After the leaping clothesline he gets two with a German suplex. He looks for the Cobra Stretch. KENTA escapes but gets knocked to the floor. Delirious somersault sentons after him. This gets Delirious a two count back in the ring. KENTA catches him with a leg lariat. He hits a springboard dropkick for two. KENTA snaps Delirious’ throat across the top rope. Delirious headbutts KENTA in the stomach as he tries for a springboard move. Delirious gets two with Bizarro Driver. He drop toe holds KENTA to the corner for the Panic Attack. When he goes for Shadows Over Hell, KENTA catches him with an Ace Crusher. He then gets two with a fisherman’s buster. Delirious clotheslines him to avoid the Go 2 Sleep. He hits Shadows Over Hell. When KENTA kicks out he puts on the Cobra Stretch. KENTA makes it to the ropes. He stops a backbreaker with a Dragon Suplex. Delirious gets the Cobra Stretch back on. KENTA kicks him in the chest and goes for another suplex. Delirious counters with Chemical Imbalance II. KENTA kicks out. He throws a couple knees before finally hitting Go 2 Sleep. That gets him the pin at 22:07. This match gets a lot of flack, but honestly, this wasn’t set up to be a typical KENTA match. I enjoyed their opening antics and just how much offense Delirious actually got in. It is a little annoying that they ran through the bigger moves fairly quickly, but the teasing of the Go 2 Sleep and the last few shots to Delirious’ head before polishing him off made the finish at least make sense. This was more enjoyable than I remembered and it could have potentially been better with a few minutes shaved off. ***1/4

Falls Count Anywhere
Delirious vs. Adam Pearce
“Reckless Abandon” – Dayton, OH – 11.30.2007

A brawl ensues in the aisleway. Delirious ends up suplexing Pearce on the entrance ramp. He sunset flips him on the ramp for two. He then jumps off the ring apron to send Pearce into the barricades. He throws Shane Hagadorn into Pearce while he’s at it. Pearce gives him a spinebuster onto the barricades for two. Delirious throws him into the crowd. Hagadorn’s attempt to get involved is thwarted, but the distraction allows Pearce to whack him with a chair. He slams Delirious onto a few chairs too. He slingshots Delirious into a nearby pillar. Delirious puts a chair around Pearce’s neck and throws him into that same pillar. Pearce dives Delirious a backbreaker onto the bleachers for two. He then puts on a figure four leg lock. Delirious escapes and digs a chair into Pearce’s throat. Pearce, with Hagadorn’s help, tries dragging Delirious up a scaffold. Delirious hits Pearce in the head with a chair and climbs to the top of it. He puts on the Cobra Stretch while Pearce is dangling! Pearce submits at 8:56. That was a clever and unique finish to an interesting brawl. It didn’t last terribly long and wasn’t particularly memorable, but it sure was more entertaining than most of what Pearce was doing around this time. Afterwards, Delirious dives off the scaffold onto BJ Whitmer and Brent Albright, Pearce’s stablemates. **3/4

Delirious vs. Rhett Titus
“Age of Insanity” – Cleveland, OH – 8.15.2008

Around this time, Daizee Haze had shot down Delirious’ request for a date. Titus had been eyeing her as well, hence the animosity between the two. Titus jumps Delirious as he comes in the ring. He nails a dropkick before revealing that underneath his tights is a second pair of tights with Daizee Haze’s face airbrushed on his buttocks. He does a hip swivel before giving Delirious a suplex. Jimmy Jacobs and Allison Wonderland of the Age of the Fall make their way ringside. Jacobs begin telling Delirious that Titus represents the popular guy in school who stole his girlfriend and used her. He tells Delirious that it’s time for his vengeance. With that, Delirious begins pounding away and throws Titus around by his hair. He throws Titus to the floor and dropkicks him head first into the barricades. Jacobs tells Delirious to take out all of his vengeance. Titus is now busted wide open and Delirious headbutts the open wound. Delirious throws repeated Panic Attacks back in the ring. Referee Paul Turner calls for the bell at 5:30 due to Titus being unable to continue, awarding Delirious the victory. This was more an extended angle than a match, but quite the effective angle. **

Some words of encouragement from Jacobs and Wonderland nestling Delirious in her bosom convince him to join the Age of the Fall. Even Daizee Haze’s plea can’t change his mind.

The Age of the Fall (Delirious & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn
“Stylin’ & Profilin’” – Collinsville, IL – 3.13.2009

As Jacobs distracts Black from the floor, Delirious attacks him from behind. He gets in a few shots before tagging in Jacobs. Black shoves him down and Jacobs tags right back out. Delirious drops him chest first. He drop toe holds Black to the corner. He misses the Panic Attack and eats a dropkick for two. Lynn tags in and with Black back elbows Delirious to the mat. Delirious rakes his back and chest. Lynn headscissors Delirious to the corner. He gets two with a backbreaker. Black gets two with a standing shooting star press. Delirious bites Lynn’s hand. Lynn still manages to punch Jacobs in the gut when he comes in. Black finally gets his hands on Jacobs. Jacobs tags out when Black tries a stomp. Delirious falls victim to the stomp instead. Lynn blocks Delirious’ headscissors by slamming him face first into the canvas. Jacobs knees Lynn from the apron, allowing Delirious to give him a neckbreaker. The Age of the Fall take turns beating Lynn down. Lynn manages to counter Jacobs’ Contra Code with a TKO. He then slips out of Delirious’ slam attempt and tags in Black. He enzuigiri’s Delirious from the apron and gives him a springboard clothesline. He places Delirious up top. He begins throwing punches at Jacobs. Lynn huracanrana’s Delirious off the top. Jacobs escapes from Black so he can spear Lynn. Black gives Delirious an F5 but Jacobs breaks the pin. Black sends them both of them to the floor. He and Lynn tope con hilo onto them. Lynn gets sent face first into the ring post. Black ducks a Conchairto. Delirious still manages to backdrop him onto a chair. Back in the ring, Delirious gets two on Black with the Bizarro Driver. Referee Paul Turner takes Delirious’ chair away. While he’s doing that, Jacobs accidentally hits Delirious with a chair! Lynn spears Jacobs to the floor. Black capitalizes and pins Delirious at 14:47. That actually had some really good action but the abrupt ending really took a lot away from the match. It’s a pretty innocuous portion of the Age of the Fall reign to include, but that just goes to show you how little of a factor Delirious played in the bigger picture of the group. ***

Jacobs has become fed up with Delirious losing matches. He pulls out the spike with the intention of using it on him. Daizee Haze runs out to stop Jacobs but gets spiked for her troubles. He goes to spike Delirious but Delirious ends up blocking it. Delirious Cobra Clutch suplexes him to the corner. He follows that up with five Panic Attacks. Delirious and Haze finally embrace once they come to.

Markham Street Fight
Delirious vs. Jimmy Jacobs
“Tag Title Classic” – Markham, ONT – 4.18.2009

Delirious is decked out in his “Red Poison Delirious” gear here. He attacks Jacobs while he is cutting a promo backstage. They start out fighting in the crowd. Jacobs tries for the End Time but Delirious fights out of it. Back in the ring he comes off the top rope with a diving clothesline. He hip tosses Jacobs into the turnbuckles. He misses the Panic Attack. Jacobs drags him back to the floor and throws him into the barricades. Delirious pulls out a metal sheet from under the ring. He smacks Jacobs in the head with it twice. Delirious trips him face first into the barricades. He also hits the Panic Attack against them. Jacobs uses a chair to take control after Delirious sets up a table against the barricades. Jacobs collects chairs from the fans and puts them in the ring. Delirious dives off the top rope, driving a chair into Jacobs’ head. Jacobs throws him into the ring posts. In the ring he suplexes Delirious onto a propped open chair for two. He slams Delirious onto a pile of chairs as well. Jacobs goes up top. Delirious throws a chair at him and brings him down with a super huracanrana onto the pile of chairs. Delirious hits the chairs when he misses Shadows Over Hell. Jacobs puts on the End Time. Delirious escapes and puts on the Cobra Stretch. Jacobs gets to the ropes. Jacobs spears Delirious from the apron and through the previously set up table on the barricades! Daizee Haze runs out to check on Delirious. Jacobs brings her into the ring. Before he can do anything, Delirious spits black mist into his face. Haze spikes him in the head! Delirious Cobra Clutch suplexes him. Haze hands him the spike. Delirious digs it into Jacobs’ head as he puts on the Cobra Stretch. Jacobs taps out at 15:56. This was a really fun brawl that played into some previous bouts and blew off their feud perfectly. Good stuff. ***1/2

Delirious vs. Roderick Strong
“Boiling Point” – Edison, NJ – 11.7.2009

Diazee Haze is in Delirious’ corner. They each go for some early pins to no avail. After some feeling out on the mat, Delirious knocks Strong down with a shoulder block. Strong gets in some chops on the floor. Delirious drops him face first onto the ring apron and baseball slides him into the barricades. He somersault sentons after him. In the ring he drives his elbow into Strong’s clavicle. He misses a senton. Strong blocks the Panic Attack and hits a leg lariat. He gets two with a belly-to-back suplex. Strong works over the back. Delirious does some damage to Strong’s neck. He ends a forearm battle with a knee to the stomach. He missile dropkicks Strong across the ring and hits the Panic Attack. Strong evades Shadows Over Hell. He gives Delirious an enzuigiri and catches him with a snap powerslam for two. He unloads some more chops. Delirious counters a Flacon Arrow with a neckbreaker. He gets two with a German suplex, then goes for the Cobra Stretch. Strong fights out of it before it’s applied. He slams Delirious into the turnbuckles for two. He puts on the Boston Crab. Delirious turns it into a pin for two. He puts on a Cobra Stretch that doesn’t apply as much pressure to his own back. He Cobra Clutch suplexes Strong when he goes to escape. He hits Shadows Over Hell for two. Strong is now on the apron where Delirious give him the Panic Attack to send him to the floor. He jumps off the top rope but gets caught with a dropkick on his way down. Strong gets two with a backbreaker in the ring. After a strike exchange, Delirious gives Strong a couple clotheslines. He gives him a gut buster and a Sick Kick. Delirious counters the Tiger Driver with Chemical Imbalance II and gets a two count. Delirious Cobra Clutch suplexes him to the corner. He delivers three Panic Attacks for two. From out of nowhere, Strong catches Delirious with a cradle for the pin at 18:31. This was a lot of fun and had a lot of energy. The finish sucked, but I guess it was for the sake of keeping Delirious, for lack of a better word, strong. Why not just give him the win? Also, I’m surprised this was included as opposed to one of their more heated 2007 encounters. ***

Steel Cage Match
Delirious vs. Austin Aries
ROH on HDNet Episode 74 – Philadelphia, PA – 8.20.2010

Daizee Haze is ringside, and Austin Aries goes after her while Delirious is in the ring. Delirious pushes the cage door into his head and whips him to the barricades. He slams Aries’ head against the cage a couple of times before bringing Aries back into the cage and locking the door. He whips Aries into opposite corners. Aries slams his head into some corners but it has no effect. Delirious headbutts Aries in the stomach which his back into the cage. He sends Aries into the cage with three Panic Attacks. He heads to the top rope. Aries throws him down, causing Delirious to land throat first across the top rope. He digs his knee into Delirious’ throat and throws him head first into the cage. Aries uses the IED to drive his head into the cage once again. With Delirious’ head busted open, Aries throws some shots at his open wound. Aries rams the door into his head a couple of times. Delirious counters Aries’ charge by backdropping him into the cage. He throws a flurry of headbutts. He gives Aries a Complete Shot for two. He throws Aries into the cage walls a few more times. When Delirious goes for the Cobra Clutch suplex, Aries rams him head first into the cage and strings a shinbreaker/suplex together. He locks on the Last Chancery. Delirious bites Aries to get the hold released. Aries goes for the brainbuster. Delirious slips out and successfully pulls of the Cobra Clutch suplex. When he puts on the Cobra Clutch, Kenny King and Rhett Titus run out. Delirious climbs the cage to stop them from entering. Aries follows Delirious up. Delirious puts him in the Cobra Clutch on top of the cage! Aries taps out at 14:55. Not as bloody or crazy as your usual cage match, but it was clever and had solid psychology behind it. Delirious would get beaten down by King and Titus after the bell making this his last match as a full-time member of the active roster and it was a solid way for him to go out. ***1/4