This is the first ever RoH show, and one of the first tapes I bought when I was starting to get interested in the indys. I had a few CZW tapes, which I loved and intend to review in the coming months, but this featured all the guys I'd heard about on the net in the same show. Of course, this is how RoH marketed itself, with the best guys from the various indy scenes.
Christopher Street Connection vs Da Hit Squad
And so the era of Honor does verily begin...with a total squash. The CSC work a gay gimmick and cop off in the middle of the ring to borderline homophobic comments from Eric Gargiulo and Steve Corino. The story that they tried to get across here was that Da Hit Squad hated the CSC for trying to bring Sports Entertainment into a pure wrestling promotion, the kind of storyline that is, of course, pure SE. The CSC essentially die for your pleasure, including Buff-E getting dropped on his dome with a German suplex and Mase taking a Burning Hammer for the win. Afterwards, Da Hit Squad powerbomb CSC valet Allison Danger through a table/Buff-E combo to a huge pop
The Amazing Red vs Jay Briscoe
Gargiulo and Corino play this up as the high-flier vs the grappler, but it doesn't really turn out that way. Instead, the match seems to consist of Red kicking out of more and more moves that really should finish him. Red takes a huge spill over the top ropes early, which goes some way to explaining why he's had so many knee surgeries over the years. Back in, Briscoe cheapshots on a handshake to officially become the heel for the match. He hits Red with a sitting muscle buster which only gets two. The Jay Driller is busted out next, only for Red to get his foot on the ropes when he should be legally dead. A half-Nelson suplex plants Red on his head and really should be the end, but instead Red dodges a top-rope cannonball and hits the Red Alert (twisting moonsault from the top) and the Red Star Press for 3. As a showcase for both men, it was effective, but both were too inexperience to lay out a sensible match at this stage of their careers and instead blew through several potential finishers, which is a real waste.
Xavier vs Scoot Andrews
Andrews calls himself the "Black Nature Boy". He isn't, but he does look very impressive in this match, which is essentially a showcase for Andrews. Andrews hits a fine butterfly suplex on Xavier, only for Xavier to repay him by almost dropping him directly on his head during a backdrop attempt. Andrews has some nice looking offence, including the good use of a clothesline to prevent an attempted bulldog from the corner. There is also a story told here, where the more-experienced Andrews gets increasingly frustrated at his inability to put Xavier away. Andrews hits a pumphandle into a piledriver called the Force Of Nature, but we get another "wrestler gets foot on rope after being hit by finisher" spot for the second match in a row. Andrews argues with the ref, giving Xavier time to recover and reverse a second Force Of Nature attempt with a neckbreaker for the shock win. This is the first RoH match that actually feels like it's trying to do more than just look flashy, and while it may suffer from a few blown spots, it's perfectly good wrestling. Xavier looked willing, but green, while Andrews really shone.
Natural Born Sinners vs the Boogie Knights
The Sinners consist of Homicide and one of his trainees, Boogalou. The team split when Boogalou suddenly quit RoH to join XPW, a decision he must regret. Their gimmick revolves around them being a pair of street thugs just released from prison, but Gargiulo and Corino do an excellent job of putting over their wrestling ability on commentary, including references to Boogalou's amateur career. The NBS just kill both Boogie Knights, including a horrible double-team powerbomb to Danny Drake. Boogalou is notably not a polished as Homicide, who is a lot crisper including hitting a crazy tope to a seated Drake. The Knights get in some token offence, including a decent springboard swanton by Mike Tobin, but the NBS dominte until they get disqualified for attacking the Knights with a rubber chicken, leading to them assaulting ref HC Loc afterwards. Fun squash.
Quiet Storm vs Jose Maximo vs Joel Maximo vs Brian XL vs Chris Devine vs The Amazing Red
This is an elimination match refereed by Mikey Whipwreck, who trained them all bar XL. It's also a total spotfest, with all six guys zipping in-and-out of the ring, hitting flashy offence before being taken out by another competitor. With so many guys, there is no resting and it does lead to some choice moments. A Quiet Storm tope leads to a series of them, which culminates with Red hitting a springboard swanton to the outside. There is a real contrast in the standard of the wrestlers: Red and Storm are clearly ahead of the pack with their offence looking crisp and capable, while XL is flashy but sloppy, and Devine looks pretty hesitant. After a few minutes of action, we hit the eliminations hard: Red stumbles into a backslide from Jose for 3, while XL is eliminated following a Widow's Peak from Storm, leaving the two regular teams. The SAT hit Spanish Fly on Devine, but Jose gets hit with a German suplex by Storm straight away, leading to a double pin on Devine and Jose. Joel and Storm run through a decent series of pin and counters, with Storm eventually picking up the victory following a Storm Cradle Driver. An entertaining spotfest which, although not as crisp as others I've seen, was never less than fun and energetic.
Prince Nana vs Towel Boy
Nana hasn't got a opponent, so Eric Tuttle is sent from the back, with Corino advising him to "get yourself over". He does this by wiping down the ringropes with a towel (hence the name) only to get nailed by a Nana clothesline. A capture suplex ends a total Nana squash.
Michael Shane & Oz vs Spanky & Ikaika Loa
all four guys are graduates from Shawn Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy. The storyline here is that the winner of the pinfall will earn themselves an RoH contract, with the underlying story being based on the mutual dislike from Shane and Spanky.. The strongest parts of the match come when they're opposing each other, with both looking like they really want the win at the others expence. Oz and Loa don't do much, but don't bring the match down. Loa is slightly lumbering, but has the basics down, while Oz seems competent. The match is solid, but really heats up in the finishing sequence: Oz prevents Sliced Bread by pushing Spanky into a Shane superkick, Loa takes both himself and Shane out with a clothesline, and Spanky reverses an Oz German suplex attempt into Sliced Bread for the winner. Decent tag stuff here.
Super Crazy vs Eddie Guerrero
This was for the IWA Puerto Rico Intercontinental. The fans go nuts for Guerrero, with a huge "Eddie" chant ringing out. Guerrero slaps away a handshake to become the heel of the match. It's a very even match, though Eddie's offence has a slightly more evil hit to it, with the prime example being a brainbuster to the floor in the early stages, which he garnishes with a smug pose to huge cheers. Crazy comes back with a springboard moonsault and the Spanish ten count in the corner, but gets caught posing and is hit with a top rope rana for two. Eddie hits two brainbusters, but misses the Frogsplash and gets rolled up by Super Crazy for 3. This was just before Eddie rejoined the WWE and he looks great here, with Crazy looking non-too-shabby himself. A good match that could have been great with another 5-10 minutes.
American Dragon vs Low Ki vs Christopher Daniels
How far have these 3 guys come in the last 9 years? This was an Indy dream match at the time. Danielson goes early for Cattle Mutilation on Low Ki, only for Daniels to break it up, before locking a complex (if slightly contrived) submission on both men, which looked cool. The match wisely avoids the typical triple threat formula of throwing a guy out of the ring to make it a one-on-one match, instead allowing the guy in control to work over both opponents. The match structure generally sees Ki and AmDrag teaming up to try and take out Daniels, who didn't respect the Code of Honor in pre-match interviews, then trying to take the other out before Daniels has a chance to recover. However, Daniels is always present in the ring and quickly comes back to try and take control. Because of how fast-paced the match is, it feels like an injured wrestler can't take time to recover in case one of his opponents picks up the win while he's hurt. The result of this is that you get a fair few innovative three-man spots. In a nice moment, AmDrag locks a deathlock on Daniels, but gets knocked down repeatedly by Low Ki, which causes him to twist the legs of Daniels. AmDrag and Low Ki take it in turn to kick Daniels in the back to prove who has the hardest kick, only for Daniels to eventually duck causing the two men to kick each other. There is also a fun spot which involves all three men in a suplex from the top. The end sees Low Ki comes off the top with a Phoenix splash on Danielson while he has Daniels in Cattle Mutilation, then hits the Ki Krusher on Daniels for the win. A great match that could so easily have felt like an exhibition of cool spots, but instead is perfectly structured and feels like three guys who all want to win rather than wanting to hit the coolest looking spots.
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