ROH Battle of the Icons
ROH Battle of the Icons (1/27/2007)- Edison, NJ
HOMICIDE PROMO & BACKSTAGE SEGMENT WITH JOE- decent
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- eh. Jimmy says he wants tonight’s I Quit match to be a No DQ’s match. I thought all I Quit matches were No DQ’s by definition. Jimmy Rae also says that the loser of tonight’s match will have to kiss the winner’s feet. So here we go…
NO DISQUALIFICATION I QUIT MATCH IN WHICH THE LOSER MUST KISS THE WINNER’S FEET: Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness- 7.5/10
Sh*tty finish aside (you can’t do a ref stoppage in an I Quit match. That defeats the whole purpose of the gimmick!), this was a great match. You really got the feeling that the pain was so intense that either man could quit at any moment.
PELLE PRIMEAU vs. ADAM PEARCE (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 4/10
BRISCOES PROMO- okay
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Larry Sweeney) vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10
GREAT story with Hero and Claudio working together but Claudio and Sweeney not getting along. They also did a great job with Daniels’ offense being things that could be construed as one of the Kings of Wrestling working with Daniels against the other, even though they weren’t. Great match and a great storyline finish officially making Hero the heel and Claudio into a babyface for this angle.
LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey)- 7.5/10
I would say that needing Albright to win the match for him made Jimmy look weak, but I don’t think you can possibly say that Jimmy looked â€"weak†after the brutal beating he took in this match. Extremely violent stuff. Cabana saves Whitmer from a post-match beatdown at Albright’s hands.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. THE HAVANA PITBULLS (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.75/10
Great match, but I didn’t like the finish. The Pitbulls have some miscommunications and Rocky walks out on Ricky. I really would have preferred for one of the miscommunications to lead to the Briscoes picking up the clean(er) win, and then have Rocky walk out on Ricky afterward.
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- okay
BRENT ALBRIGHT & LACEY vs. COLT CABANA & SARA DEL REY- 4.5/10
Cabana’s comedy felt out of place in what should have been a blood feud. I also didn’t like Lacey losing here, especially to Sara, who has no heat with her. After the match, Daizee Haze comes out and gets revenge on Lacey for calling her a stripper on the last show by throwing some singles at her and trying to rip her top off. Throwing singles at her is fine, but trying to take her top off felt a bit out of character for Daizee.
AUSTIN ARIES, RODERICK STRONG, & JACK EVANS vs. DELIRIOUS, DAVEY RICHARDS, & SHINGO- 8/10
Just like those crazy Dragon Gate six man tag matches but without Lucha rules and with selling. I was quite surprised that Generation Next picked up the win here, considering the direction (or I guess â€"directions†would be more appropriate) that they were about to go.
COLT CABANA PROMO- lame. And not lame in a goofy way… just lame.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Homicide(c) (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Samoa Joe- 7/10
Very disappointing for something billed as a â€"Battle of the Icons.†The first six or seven minutes (everything until they got on the floor) really dragged, but it picked up after that with some good storytelling. Joe worked over Cide’s back while Cide worked over Joe’s head… No, Homicide! NO! Why would you do that?! Everyone knows not to headbutt a Samoan! Anyway, the match was very, very good, but it was definitely disappointing for what it was billed as.
NIGEL MCGUINNESS PROMO- decent. He talks up both his feud with Rave and Joe’s feud with Pro Wrestling NOAH.
SAMOA JOE & HOMICIDE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN- They chat for a bit backstage after their match. Joe then asks NOAH to bring him their best during the Fifth Year Festival. Cide then cut a promo saying he would take on anyone.
A great show from ROH, and very underrated in my opinion. The undercard was very strong, Generation Next vs. Davey, Delirious, & Shingo was awesome, and if Joe vs. Cide had delivered, this could have been up there as one of the better shows in a year filled with amazing cards from ROH. Instead, it has been overlooked in history as one of ROH's stereotypical "mediocre first few shows of the year" with yet another disappointing Homicide title defense.
HOMICIDE PROMO & BACKSTAGE SEGMENT WITH JOE- decent
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- eh. Jimmy says he wants tonight’s I Quit match to be a No DQ’s match. I thought all I Quit matches were No DQ’s by definition. Jimmy Rae also says that the loser of tonight’s match will have to kiss the winner’s feet. So here we go…
NO DISQUALIFICATION I QUIT MATCH IN WHICH THE LOSER MUST KISS THE WINNER’S FEET: Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness- 7.5/10
Sh*tty finish aside (you can’t do a ref stoppage in an I Quit match. That defeats the whole purpose of the gimmick!), this was a great match. You really got the feeling that the pain was so intense that either man could quit at any moment.
PELLE PRIMEAU vs. ADAM PEARCE (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 4/10
BRISCOES PROMO- okay
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Larry Sweeney) vs. Christopher Daniels (w/Allison Danger)- 7/10
GREAT story with Hero and Claudio working together but Claudio and Sweeney not getting along. They also did a great job with Daniels’ offense being things that could be construed as one of the Kings of Wrestling working with Daniels against the other, even though they weren’t. Great match and a great storyline finish officially making Hero the heel and Claudio into a babyface for this angle.
LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey)- 7.5/10
I would say that needing Albright to win the match for him made Jimmy look weak, but I don’t think you can possibly say that Jimmy looked â€"weak†after the brutal beating he took in this match. Extremely violent stuff. Cabana saves Whitmer from a post-match beatdown at Albright’s hands.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. THE HAVANA PITBULLS (w/Julius Smokes)- 6.75/10
Great match, but I didn’t like the finish. The Pitbulls have some miscommunications and Rocky walks out on Ricky. I really would have preferred for one of the miscommunications to lead to the Briscoes picking up the clean(er) win, and then have Rocky walk out on Ricky afterward.
JIMMY RAVE PROMO- okay
BRENT ALBRIGHT & LACEY vs. COLT CABANA & SARA DEL REY- 4.5/10
Cabana’s comedy felt out of place in what should have been a blood feud. I also didn’t like Lacey losing here, especially to Sara, who has no heat with her. After the match, Daizee Haze comes out and gets revenge on Lacey for calling her a stripper on the last show by throwing some singles at her and trying to rip her top off. Throwing singles at her is fine, but trying to take her top off felt a bit out of character for Daizee.
AUSTIN ARIES, RODERICK STRONG, & JACK EVANS vs. DELIRIOUS, DAVEY RICHARDS, & SHINGO- 8/10
Just like those crazy Dragon Gate six man tag matches but without Lucha rules and with selling. I was quite surprised that Generation Next picked up the win here, considering the direction (or I guess â€"directions†would be more appropriate) that they were about to go.
COLT CABANA PROMO- lame. And not lame in a goofy way… just lame.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Homicide(c) (w/Julius Smokes) vs. Samoa Joe- 7/10
Very disappointing for something billed as a â€"Battle of the Icons.†The first six or seven minutes (everything until they got on the floor) really dragged, but it picked up after that with some good storytelling. Joe worked over Cide’s back while Cide worked over Joe’s head… No, Homicide! NO! Why would you do that?! Everyone knows not to headbutt a Samoan! Anyway, the match was very, very good, but it was definitely disappointing for what it was billed as.
NIGEL MCGUINNESS PROMO- decent. He talks up both his feud with Rave and Joe’s feud with Pro Wrestling NOAH.
SAMOA JOE & HOMICIDE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN- They chat for a bit backstage after their match. Joe then asks NOAH to bring him their best during the Fifth Year Festival. Cide then cut a promo saying he would take on anyone.
A great show from ROH, and very underrated in my opinion. The undercard was very strong, Generation Next vs. Davey, Delirious, & Shingo was awesome, and if Joe vs. Cide had delivered, this could have been up there as one of the better shows in a year filled with amazing cards from ROH. Instead, it has been overlooked in history as one of ROH's stereotypical "mediocre first few shows of the year" with yet another disappointing Homicide title defense.