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

This is my second ROH show, and while I still had a great time I have to say the overall show was a bit disappointing. I was at the last ROH show in Manassas and it was an amazing show. I can definitely see the difference in the booking style now that Adam Pierce has taken over. All the matches were much more slowly paced and it really felt like none of the matches ever got out of second or third gear. It also didn't help that I sat next to two a-holes who spent the whole time complaining about the new booking style and the fact that Ruckus was apparently fired. I enjoyed the show, but it didn't feel as much like an ROH show and I was pretty let down by some of the booking decisions.

1. Brent Albright and Eric Stevens defeated Damien Wayne and Chris Escobar. I'm guessing Wayne and Escobar were local guys because the guys next to me wouldn't shut up about how they wanted to see REAL ROH wrestlers and not these guys. A fun opening match but I thought Albright and Stevens had way too much trouble with these guys. Wayne and Escobar spent a good portion of the match using the standard heel tactics to keep control. Albright really looked like a star in the making the last time I saw him, but he didn't look like anything special here. The ending was really cool as Stevens hit a super kick right into Albright hitting a half nelson release suplex. Really vicious looking and it might have actually shaken up Escobar a bit.

2. Rhett Titus and Sean Deney ended in a no-contest. I still think Titus has that "it" factor and could be a star one day. He reminds me a lot of Stevie Richards and has that same kind of charisma. This was a sloppy match and Deney had more than one blown spot. Lots of fun stuff from both guys as Titus did a lot of pelvic thrusting and Deney hit him in the groin more than once. Enjoyable until somebody (I'm assuming another indy guy from the area because of how much the guys next to me bitched about him) came in and destroyed them both. It says his name is Bison Smith but I've never seen him before. He hit a cool Styles Clash with Titus on top of Deney. Overall I probably enjoyed this more than I should have because I'm a mark for "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus.

3. The Necro Butcher defeated Delirious (w/Jimmy Jacobs). An okay brawl but not anywhere near the brutality that Necro and Roderick Strong had last time. Necro kept trying to throw Delirious to the outside and Delirious kept sliding back into the ring before they could fight on the outside. Necro finally got him outside and did the "slam with a chair behind the guys back" onto the bare floor. He also started to put Delirious though the announce table but Jacobs stopped him with a chair shot. Jacobs distracted the ref and let Delirious get the spike from his boot, but Daisy Haze ran out (although she was late and had to slide across the table to get there, so Delirioius had to just stand there about to hit Necro with the spike for about 15-20 seconds) and took the spike away. Jacobs chased Daisy away but that allowed Necro to hit a chokeslam and a powerbomb to get the pin.

After the match Jimmy berated Delirious in the corner and told him he was supposed to get over this Lacy thing and put it out of his head. Delirious acted like a beaten dog and cowered in the corner. Jimmy even grabbed him by the mask to yell right in his face. As Delirious was getting ready to slink out of the ring, Jimmy called him back in an told him he only does this because he loves him. Really strong segment and great job by Jimmy.

4. The American Wolves (w/Larry Sweeney and Bobby Dempsey) defeated Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong. This is the only match on the card that really exceeded my expectations. This was my first chance to see the American Wolves and I was very impressed, especially with Davey Richards. The people around me really tore into Eddie Edwards but I didn't think he was bad. Still, Richards was the star of this match in my eyes. He has a great intensity and is fun to watch in the ring. He reminds me a lot of Chris Benoit (but only in a good way). This was a really fun back and forth match with lots of good tag moves and some really vicious chops from Strong. The Wolves did a good job of keeping the beat down segments interesting. The end came when Jay got slingshotted into the ropes and Sweeney hit him with what I believe was a shoe. One clothesline and suplex later the Wolves had the win. Sweeney's celebration of the win was almost as fun as the match itself. I really thing Richards could be a big star some day with the right push.

5. Jerry Lynn defeated Austin Aries. Aries came out sporting a ROCKING porn stache and said it was a new year and he was a "new mustachioed man." He said we all had questions about his relationship with Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black, but we weren't getting any answers. He was really oozing charisma and fun throughout the entire match. This was pretty much a comedy match with Aries dominating and plenty of mustache-related humor. My favorite was somebody yelling out "Way to go Mario" after Aries hit a move. While this match was fun and really funny, it never got out of first or second gear. It was very slow paced and stressed the audience participation. I really wish they had added another ten minutes where they kicked it up and really wrestled like these guys can. Instead, we saw Lynn sit down on a sunset flip attempt for the three count. I wish they had let these guys really wrestle. That's what they did with two tag team matches last time I saw ROH, and nobody got that chance this time around. Still, Aries looks awesome with his stache and really carried himself like a star in this match. Lynn held his own, but he spent most of the match on the receiving end.

6. Jimmy Jacobs defeated Bryan Danielson. Another match that could have been great but that never really got going. Early on Danielson tried to springboard off the ropes and fell. I don't know if this was a planned spot, but he immediately grabbed his knee and the rest of the match was pretty much Jacobs working on the knee and Danielson getting in some hope spots. It felt like the beginning stages of a really good 30 minute match instead of a whole match. If they had gone ten more minutes and really kicked it into high gear they could have had an incredible match. Jacobs did a good job keeping the knee work interesting, but it was still a lot of just working on the knee. Towards the end, Jimmy kept turning everything Danielson tried into the End Times and Danielson kept reversing everything into the Triangle Choke. Jimmy finally rolled through a Triangle Choke to get the quick roll-up pin. I didn't like both of these matches ending in an out-of-nowhere roll up like this. Neither match felt like it was done when it ended and both just ended up feeling incomplete. Danielson sold the knee all the way to the back and got a huge "Best in the World" chant on his way out. He was the most over person on the show.

7. Tyler Black defeated Nigel McGuinness in a non-title match. Big "Next World Champ" chants for Black through the whole match. Another good match that just never got to top speed. Lots of arm work on Black, but McGuinness kept flinching and flexing his own taped-up elbow. I think that was a legit injury because Black never did anything to target that arm. Nigel dominated a large part of the match, but he kept missing his big lariats to finish Black off. In the move of the night Nigel did hit a completely sick looking Tower of London off the apron onto the floor right in front of me. Huge pop and a truly amazing looking move. Nigel just picked apart one of Black's arms throughout the match. Tyler won with a sick looking powerbomb into the turnbuckles followed by a superkick. Good match and Black got a great reaction when he won.

Final Thoughts: The crowd was definitely restless through most of the show and often unhappy with the way matches were playing out. There is a definite attempt to slow down the pace of the matches and use more psychology and audience interaction. The a-holes next to me were especially vocal about their displeasure. They hated Austin Aries as a comedy character, and they had a large negative effect on my enjoyment of the show. I think the slower pace and playing to the audience works for the early matches, but it really hurt the big matches. I don't know if its just because its the first show back, but the main event matches seemed sluggish and slow compared to the big matches from the last time I saw ROH. I enjoyed the show, but I was a bit let down by the new style. It will be interesting to see if they keep this up or if it was a case of ring rust for some of the guys.

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