WRESTLINGFAN
03-23-2003, 03:21 PM
ROH house show report featuring new champ
thanks to www.wrestlingobserver.com
by Dean Burbage
Ring of Honor 3/22/03
Murphy Rec. Center
Philadelphia, PA
Est. Crowd - 425
ROH hasn't returned to their quaint little South Philly home in twelve weeks,
and the crowd reacted well to the show. Despite what it might seem, it feels
like a different mix of fans at each Philly show - not a bunch of regulars
(i.e. the ECW arena-vibe). The night was long, but not excruciatingly so,
clocking in at three hours-and-forty minutes. Well, excruciating from normal
Philly-indy standards.
Show started at 7:30 (as always - kudos), with a ten bell salute to the troops
overseas. Then, a new and unnamed ring announcer, screamed about Ring of
Honor coming back to "Phillllaaayyy-uh" and such.
1) B.J. Whitmer b Dixie & Matt Stryker & Alex Arion when Whitmer pinned Dixie
after a high-angle suplex of death. Well worked match, with the only
head-dropping saved for the finish, when Whitmer savagely murdered Dixie with
a variation of an exploder suplex. About nine minutes. ***
Gary Michael Capetta interviewed Mikey Whipwreck, who - since he is a beloved
relic of the ECW-Philly golden age - was of course a heel here. He berated
Quiet Storm and the Maximos (his trainees) for not "having enough fun" in the
ring, thus he was joining Special K. Whatever, man. This turned into a zany
impromtu tag team scramble match.
2) Special K (Izzy & Deranged & ?) b Quiet Storm & Jose Maximo & Joel Maximo
when Mikey interfered and a pinfall was made somewhere within the madness.
This was a cluster, but not a complete mess. Near the finish, Jose Maximo
gave one member of Special K (aka "?") five powerbombs in a row, and then a
ganzo bomb. As was the theme of this match, people killed people. Zero
psychology, mucho psychotics, about ten minutes. **
The fun did not end there. ROH's perennial favorite - Large Mysterious
Sun-Glasses Wearing Black Man in a Suit hit the ring. He attacked Special K,
but not to be outdone - a SECOND Large Mysterious Black Man in a Suit hit the
ring, and the two had a staredown. As I soiled myself in excitement, the
action was broken up. I'd say they need to go somewhere with this, but I
don't know where the hell it came from in the first place.
3) Backseat Boys (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmire) b Dunn & Marcos when the
Backseats hit the T-Gimmick on Marcos. This was mostly a comedy match, but
with some nice double-team spots. Dunn & Marcos got in more offense than
normal. Backseats worked brilliantly as a team as is per usual. About six
minutes. **
Afterwards, Trent Acid announced that the BSB were looking for a "real
challenge", and would prove that they were "the best team on Earth", and that
they would prevail, and that they'd give everyone a beating that Ajax couldn't
take off and so on.
4) Doug Williams b Christopher Daniels (w. Alison Danger) to win the FWA Title
(England) and #1 ROH Title contendership with the Chaos Theory Rolling German
Suplex in about eighteen minutes. Great matwork early. Both men are nearly
flawless. Chris Daniels is as major league as you can get, and Doug Williams -
even though he is far more well known now that a year or so ago - is still
one of the most underrated in the world. Technically, this blew away the rest
of the show. The match built well, and the crowd popped big at the finish.
At least ***1/2.
C.W. Anderson and Samoa Joe storm out. Watch out! They're shooting! They
get into a scuffle with the "rioters" (a la the past two ROH shows). The
rioters had been heckling throughout the night thus far, scuffling with Atlas
security. A lot happened at once, which is deceiving - because nothing really
happened. Gabe Sapolsky got into a fight with the rioters, Jack Victory
(unannounced) came out and rioted, Homicide and Da Hit Squad joined in, as the
crowd speculated on tomorrow night's Oscar winners.
5) "Match": C.W. Anderson & Samoa Joe & Jack Victory NC Homicide & Da Hit
Squad. A brawl
thanks to www.wrestlingobserver.com
by Dean Burbage
Ring of Honor 3/22/03
Murphy Rec. Center
Philadelphia, PA
Est. Crowd - 425
ROH hasn't returned to their quaint little South Philly home in twelve weeks,
and the crowd reacted well to the show. Despite what it might seem, it feels
like a different mix of fans at each Philly show - not a bunch of regulars
(i.e. the ECW arena-vibe). The night was long, but not excruciatingly so,
clocking in at three hours-and-forty minutes. Well, excruciating from normal
Philly-indy standards.
Show started at 7:30 (as always - kudos), with a ten bell salute to the troops
overseas. Then, a new and unnamed ring announcer, screamed about Ring of
Honor coming back to "Phillllaaayyy-uh" and such.
1) B.J. Whitmer b Dixie & Matt Stryker & Alex Arion when Whitmer pinned Dixie
after a high-angle suplex of death. Well worked match, with the only
head-dropping saved for the finish, when Whitmer savagely murdered Dixie with
a variation of an exploder suplex. About nine minutes. ***
Gary Michael Capetta interviewed Mikey Whipwreck, who - since he is a beloved
relic of the ECW-Philly golden age - was of course a heel here. He berated
Quiet Storm and the Maximos (his trainees) for not "having enough fun" in the
ring, thus he was joining Special K. Whatever, man. This turned into a zany
impromtu tag team scramble match.
2) Special K (Izzy & Deranged & ?) b Quiet Storm & Jose Maximo & Joel Maximo
when Mikey interfered and a pinfall was made somewhere within the madness.
This was a cluster, but not a complete mess. Near the finish, Jose Maximo
gave one member of Special K (aka "?") five powerbombs in a row, and then a
ganzo bomb. As was the theme of this match, people killed people. Zero
psychology, mucho psychotics, about ten minutes. **
The fun did not end there. ROH's perennial favorite - Large Mysterious
Sun-Glasses Wearing Black Man in a Suit hit the ring. He attacked Special K,
but not to be outdone - a SECOND Large Mysterious Black Man in a Suit hit the
ring, and the two had a staredown. As I soiled myself in excitement, the
action was broken up. I'd say they need to go somewhere with this, but I
don't know where the hell it came from in the first place.
3) Backseat Boys (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmire) b Dunn & Marcos when the
Backseats hit the T-Gimmick on Marcos. This was mostly a comedy match, but
with some nice double-team spots. Dunn & Marcos got in more offense than
normal. Backseats worked brilliantly as a team as is per usual. About six
minutes. **
Afterwards, Trent Acid announced that the BSB were looking for a "real
challenge", and would prove that they were "the best team on Earth", and that
they would prevail, and that they'd give everyone a beating that Ajax couldn't
take off and so on.
4) Doug Williams b Christopher Daniels (w. Alison Danger) to win the FWA Title
(England) and #1 ROH Title contendership with the Chaos Theory Rolling German
Suplex in about eighteen minutes. Great matwork early. Both men are nearly
flawless. Chris Daniels is as major league as you can get, and Doug Williams -
even though he is far more well known now that a year or so ago - is still
one of the most underrated in the world. Technically, this blew away the rest
of the show. The match built well, and the crowd popped big at the finish.
At least ***1/2.
C.W. Anderson and Samoa Joe storm out. Watch out! They're shooting! They
get into a scuffle with the "rioters" (a la the past two ROH shows). The
rioters had been heckling throughout the night thus far, scuffling with Atlas
security. A lot happened at once, which is deceiving - because nothing really
happened. Gabe Sapolsky got into a fight with the rioters, Jack Victory
(unannounced) came out and rioted, Homicide and Da Hit Squad joined in, as the
crowd speculated on tomorrow night's Oscar winners.
5) "Match": C.W. Anderson & Samoa Joe & Jack Victory NC Homicide & Da Hit
Squad. A brawl