BRM Reviews Survival of the Fittest 2004

[Big Red Machine]

Survival of the Fittest 2004 (6/24/2004)- Philadelphia, PA.



CARNAGE CREW PROMO- Good hype for the next show.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING MATCH: Alex Shelley vs. Mark Briscoe
Mark working over Shelley’s knee while Shelley worked over Mark’s neck told a good story. 5.5/10.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING MATCH: Trent Acid vs. Colt Cabana- 4.75/10

Before the scheduled Austin Aires vs. John Walters Survival of the Fittest qualifying match, Shelley cut a great promo putting over Generation Next… then he told Walters “You do not belong in this tournament… so you have two choices; you can step down… or we can beat you down”
Walters starts to walk out of the ring, but then turns around nails a few Gen. Next members with punches. The numbers game catches up to him, though, and Generation Next beat him down, including a shot with a steel chain wrapped around Shelley’s fist. Shelley then announces Aries as the winner by forfeit.
Some official guy tells Josh Daniels to come out to the ring, and announces that Daniels will be Aries new opponent. Aries cuts a promo putting Josh Daniels over, then concludes it with “we’ve been sitting around and we’re trying to figure out ‘why has Josh Daniels not gotten the respect he deserves here in Ring of Honor?’ And you know what, guys? I think I’ve figured it out why; because he’s a sucker” SUCKER PUNCH BY ARIES, and another 4-on-1 beatdown commences, until John Walters come back and makes the save. Walters challenges Gen. Next to a tag match, and the ref announces that the winner of the fall in the tag match will advance to the Survival of the Fittest match.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING TAG TEAM MATCH: Josh Daniels & John Walters vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong- 7/10.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING MATCH: Jay Briscoe (w/Mark Briscoe) vs. Homicide (w/Julius Smokes)- Good wrestling, good brawling. 6.5/10.
Homicide refuses to follow the Code of Honor and shake Jay’s hand. This was good character development for Cide, who is now spinning deeper into madness.
After the match, Jay’s neck is hurt and Cide starts to taunt him, leading to a shoving match between Mark & Cide. Homicide starts attacking the various people in the ring while Julius Smokes cuts a promo, dissing the crowd.
- I have to say that this angle is just MASTERFUL booking by Gabe. He knows that the crowd will cheer heels, especially if they are extremely over, so he incorporates that into the Homicide heel turn and descent into craziness, by writing the angle so that Cide gets even more pissed when the fans cheer for him because he doesn’t want them to.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING MATCH: Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans
I have heard fans chant for Bryan Danielson to do many things: F*ck someone up. A Curb Stomp. Tap. Not tap. Kick someone’s f*cking head in. An Airplane Spin… but never did I think I would hear chants of “DANCE, DRAGON! DANCE!”
Dragon wins with an indescribably sick Boston Crab type submission. 6.75/10

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST QUALIFYING MATCH: Samoa Joe vs. Matt Stryker- 5.25/10
CM Punk comes out and demands to know when he is getting his rematch after their one hour draw at the last show. Then Homicide comes out, and he and Joe brawl

TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Second City Saints(c) vs. the Outcast Killaz vs. Dunn & Marcos vs. Special K
- Punk cuts a promo in which he volunteers to defend the belts by himself!
This match annoyed me. It had the potential to tell a good story, but got cut short. I also feel like The Outcast Killaz, Dunn and Marcos (who, as I have started delving into 2004 ROH have grown to love), Special K (as a whole), and even the Tag Team Titles got thrown under the bus to advance the transformation of “Hydro” into the Jay Lethal that we all now know and love. 4.5/10
After the match, Punk cut a good promo. Then Hydro gets on the mic and challenges Punk to a match right here, right now. Punk still says no, so Hydro calls him a pussy, then slaps him, and we have a match.
CM PUNK vs. HYDRO- 7/10. Great match.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST FINALS (6 way elimination match):
Mark Briscoe vs. Homicide vs. Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson- 10/10! PERFECT! AMAZING storytelling here, with three or four different stories. The ringwork was flawless and extremely exciting. This kicked ass!

Overall, this show was outstanding! Hell, even Gabe (now using his more familiar “Jimmy Bauer” alias on commentary) and the other guy on commentary were very good!