ROH in Manassas, Va.
By Dot Net Member Greg Scurria (a/k/a GTS1303)

This was my first ROH event, and I had very little experience with the product before going there, so I thought I would provide the viewpoint of a "newbie" to ROH.

1. The Briscoes defeated Sweet and Sour Inc. (Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn w/Larry Sweeney, Sara Del Ray and Bobby Dempsey). Fun Opener. A "Bobby Dempsey" chant broke out before the match, so Sweeney berated him and sent him to the back. Lots of love and support between Pearce and Hagadorn, including hugs and encouraging butt slaps. The Briscoes win with the Springboard Doomsday Device. After the match Brent Albright ran off Sweet and Sour Inc. and got on the mic and promised to destroy every member starting with Chris Hero.


2. Pelle Primeau defeated Rex Sterling. Not a lot too this match. I had never seen either of these guys before, and I was struck by how small Pelle is. The crowd was all over Sterling for being less-than-intelligent, but I'm not sure what that was all about.

3. Delerious defeated Rhett Titus. Titus was a lot of fun, and had a fairly large "Hepa-titus" chant going for him in our section at one point. Titus got on the mike before the match and said they should make it a friendly competition with no closed fists or low blows. Of course, he preceded to break those rules throughout the match.

In the middle of the match Daizee Haze came out to cheer the guys on. Titus tried to use her as a shield, and Delerious threw himself in harm's way to protect her from Titus coming off the top rope. After the match, Daizee said she throught Delerious was somebody she could really depend on and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was really excited about that.

4. Roderick Strong defeated The Necro Butcher in a "relaxed rules" match. Necro had his shirt ripped early in the match and wrestled most of it in only his jean shorts. A good brawl, although lots of the action took place on the opposite side of the ring, so I had some trouble seeing. At one point Necro picked up Strong for a body slam while holding a chair against Strong's back. He then slammed Stong and the chair onto the exposed concrete. Chairs were brought into the ring, and Strong won following a backbreaker on the chairs that looked especially brutal.

5. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) wrestled Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson to a 25-minute draw. Excellent match, and easily the match of the night. Also the match the crowd was most into, and at least a couple people around me said they came mainly to see the Guns. Just as you would expect there was lots of fast, high flying action.

At one point Shelley his Sliced Bread No. 2 while standing on the top rope with Danielson on Sabin's shoulders. It was pretty incredible. At 20-minutes the match was declared a draw, but after enough crowd chanting they gave it five more minutes. Lots of near falls in the five minutes including Sabin and Shelley getting locked in the Cattle Mutilation and the Horns of Aries simultaneously.

After the five minutes were up, Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs ran out to attack the four. Aries got on the mike and told Shelley that he didn't know true hate until he met Jimmy Jacobs, and he hoped they could put their differences behind them and be friends again. Aries extended a hand, but Shelley ignored it and the Guns left the ring.

Intermission

6. Brent Albright defeated Chris Hero (w/Larry Sweeney and Sara Del Ray). Before the match Sweeney complained about the heat and said he would be "luxuriating" in the limo outside during the match. Albright came out while Sweeney was leaving and chased him around the ring. Another fun brawl, but again most of the action was on the other side of the ring. They did break the table at ringside, and they had to put out a new one after the match.

7. Nigel McGuinness defeated Ruckus to retain the ROH World Championship. I thought this was a little bit of a let down. This was my first chance to see McGuinness, and I thought he was supposed to be a big heel but the crowd cheered him most of the match. He does seem to have that "it" factor and carries himself like a champion. Nobody in the crowd thought Ruckus had any chance of walking out with the title, and that hurt the match. Ruckus tapped quickly to the London Dungeon and had to be helped to the back afterwards.

8. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) defeated Go Shiozaki and Naomichi Marufuji to retain the ROH Tag Team Championship. Another fun match, and I really enjoy the Age of the Fall and especially Jacobs. He plays the cowardly character so well, and there were loud chants questioning his manliness throughout the match.

Go's chops are just brutal in person, and Jacobs spent the first part of the match doing anything he could to avoid them. Three times during the match Jacobs used an old-fashioned thumb to the eye, which I enjoyed a lot. Lots of fast, hard-hitting action. Tyler Black is another guy who just seems to have "it." The Age of the Fall won when Jacobs speared Marufuji (I believe) off the apron and Black hit the Pheonix Splash. He didn't hit it perfectly and his knees landed on Go, but it was still really impressive.

Afterwards, Alex Shelley ran out (without Chris Sabin) to atack the AOTF, but he was quickly overpowerd. After a loud "Austin Aries" chant, he ran out to run off the AOTF. Shelley got on the mic and said he appreciated Aries' help, because there is nothing he hates more than "emo c--ks--kers," which got a huge pop. Shelley accepted Aries' offer of a handshake from earlier and said he now owes him one.

Show Notes: Really, really fun show. None of the matches were boring, and most of the early card matches were a lot of fun. I really like the Rhett Titus character, and he interacted a lot with the crowd including telling people you should always have a bow tie.

The MCMG vs. Aries and Danielson match was by far the best of the night, and it kind of hurt the second half of the show to have it go on so early. I understand you don't want to put on guys who aren't ROH regulars in the main event slot, but the crowd was definitely at its peak during that match. It was a good size crowd and the building was pretty much full. It was also incredibly hot, and the wrestlers were all covered in sweat before the match even started.

After the show, Pelle, Titus and Dempsey were breaking down the ring and I stayed to help clean up. I got to meet the Guns, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Age of the Fall, and Nigel McGuinness. They were all really cool, but everybody was in a hurry to leave because they were driving to New York for tonight's show. They are coming back in January, and I will definitely be going back to see them.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: