BRM Reviews ROH Manhattan Mayhem II

[Big Red Machine]

MIKE QUACKENBUSH & JIGSAW vs. THE RESILIENCE (Matt Cross & Erick Stevens)- 6.5/10
Quack is, as expected, ridiculously over. This was a good match, especially for an opener. Both teams were able to show their skills off well.

JIMMY JACOBS vs. MITCH FRANKLIN- 4.5/10
Mitch Franklin was impressive, and this was a good way to ease Jimmy back in after his surgery.
Who would have guessed that in one year’s time, Jimmy would have lost Lacey, become a hated heel, and would be the exact opposite of the happy-go-lucky, everything is right in the world, shinning bright youngster we see here, while Franklin would be… a lumberjack… and be over.


ADAM PEARCE PROMO- AWESOME!
DELIRIOUS, NIGEL MCGUINNESS, & PELLE PRIMEAU vs. THE HANGMEN 3 (Adam Pearce, BJ Whiter, & Brent Albright)- 6.5/10.
Delirious played a good babyface in peril. The fighting continued after the match, and the Hangmen just DESTROYED poor Pelle. Nigel eventually makes the save, but way too late to really matter.

Next we get a NOAH representative and Cary Silkin announcing the Japanese talent for Glory By Honor VI… including MISAWA! The pop when Misawa’s named was announced was just one of those special moments that makes this sort of thing not feel like a waste of time on a DVD.

DELIRIOUS PROMO- it’s a Delirious promo.

PAC vs. DAVEY RICHARDS- 7.5/10. WOW! This was GREAT!

JACK EVANS PROMO- There is no question in my mind that Jack Evans is the RVD of this decade. He is just SOOOO over. Jack cuts a good promo introducing his new faction: The Vulture Squad. His first recruit: his new manager… Julius Smokes.

AUSTIN ARIES vs. RODERICK STRONG vs. JACK EVANS (w/Julius Smokes)- No rating- GREAT segment.
After a ref bump, Aries got put through a table, and then Davey Richards came out and he and Roderick started to beat down Jack Evans. Julius Smokes then grabbed the mic and brought out the newest member of the Vulture Squad: Ruckus, to make the save. Ruckus and Evans then beat Aries down until the other members of The Resilience came out and made the save. This was kind of awkward, because it was like a segment in the middle of a match, but I thought it worked well (kind of like the schmoz and Dragon’s speech about it in the middle of the ROH World Title match at Injustice II).


AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- GREAT!

EDDIE EDWARDS vs. RUCKUS (w/Julius Smokes & Jack Evans)- 5.75/10.
This match was all about Ruckus showing what he could do, but Eddie didn’t come out of it looking too weak, which was good.

CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Larry Sweeney, Sara Del Rey, & Bobby Dempsey)- 7/10.
Daizee Haze came out to ensure that Death Rey wouldn’t interfere in the match.

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Takeshi Morishima(c) vs. Bryan Danielson- 9.25/10! Freakin’ EPIC! WOW! Standing ovation! A really hot crowd, some AWESOME nearfalls, and a great story. And to think that Dragon wrestled the majority of this match with a detached retina!

2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Briscoes(c) vs. Steen & Generico- 8.5/10. IMO, the story of the match revolved too much around the Briscoes straight falls streak, rather than the titles.
Generico shakes the Briscoes’ hands after the match, but Steen doesn’t want to. He eventually does… then kicks them in the nuts. Steen gets a ladder and hits the Briscoes with it. He tells Generico to grab the other end of the ladder. Generico doesn’t want to, so Steen threatens him. Generico gives in, and they clobber the Briscoes with it. Steen gives Generico one of the tag team title belts. Steen poses with one, but Generico just holds his reluctantly. GREAT aftermath!

Overall, an excellent show- well worth buying.

[cero2k]

This is honestly in my top 5 ROH shows, most of the matches do it for me. Even the triple threat with the momentum killing segment to intro ruckus to the vulture squad.