ROH PPV taping report
November 22, 2008
Chicago, Ill.
Report by JSin, Torch VIP member

One thing instantly noticeable when walking in to the Frontier Fieldhouse was giant swinging arm camera hovering above one of the corner posts that moved all around half of the building during the show getting some unique shots. There were also some very expensive looking cameras in the hard camera tower. Before the PPV taping started, Dave Prazak got the crowd hyped up and also mentioned that ROH had hired a camera crew and that we were going to be the first crowd to experience a show with the new camera set up.

The bleachers were not out on either side of the building but tall metal bleachers were set up opposite the hard camera, like the "Driven" and "Man Up" tapings from 2007. Prazak gave us the countdown from ten and the show started. The Briscoes came out (with Mark limping his way to the ring, having hurt his knee the night before) and said Steen & Generico haven't proven a damn thing to them and asked for a title match. The champions came out and said they'd love to, but Mark is only at 50 percent, so it would prove nothing to beat injured Briscoes. Jay & Mark attacked Steen & Generico from behind and the match was on, though I don't remember anyone officially saying it was for the titles.

(1)Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated Jay and Mark Briscoe

The Briscoes were very heelish in this one, faking injuries to sucker Steenerico in to cheap shots. Good back and forth between the teams. Towards the end, Mark couldn't hit the Cutthroat Driver because of his knee, and a Generico yakuza kick and Michinoku Driver caused a very near fall. Generico did a running flip over the top rope on to Jay, which ended up cutting Jay's head. Steen, tired of playing the nice guy, kicked Mark's bad knee and hit him with the Package Piledriver for the win. The Briscoes are no longer undefeated on PPV, but they can use the excuse that Mark was hurt. After the match, the Briscoes again attacked Steenerico which led to a pull apart brawl.

(2) MsChif defeated Sara Del Ray (w/Larry Sweeney) to retain the SHIMMER championship

Both women are heels in ROH which led to some initial confusion with the fans as to who to cheer, but MsChif played the babyface in this one . This one went about 10 minutes. Del Ray wore a long silver wig down to the ring but took it off when the match began. At one point she had a Liontamer Boston Crab on MsChif and then leaned all the way back so that the top of her head was on the mat. Awesome looking submission that the crowd much appreciated. Later on she had MsChif in a standing dragon sleeper, then walked her over to the turnbuckle and dropped her face first onto them. Later, MsChif hit a Code Green and a standing moonsault. She sprayed the dreaded green mist but Sara ducked. She eventually got hit with the Desecrator DDT for the 1, 2, 3.

(3)Delirious (w/Allison Wonderland) defeated Rhett Titus

On his way to the ring, Rhett Titus was handing a card to the front row female fans and accepting kisses on the cheek. He had a picture of the object of his desire, Daizee Haze, airbrushed on the back of his tights, Rick Rude style. It was a very unflattering picture of the Haze, though. This was another heel vs. heel match-up, though it's hard to boo Rhett because he's so entertaining in his role. Delirious started the match by repeatedly raking the back and chest of Titus. He set Titus up against the rail on the outside and tried for the running knee that busted Rhett open in Cleveland but Titus moved. Titus hit the Three Amigos suplexes on Delirious but did a little hip swivel before each one. Delirious finished up Titus with the Shadows Over Hell. After the match, Delirious slithered over the unconscious Rhett Titus like a reptile and even licked his face. He then used Rhett's trophy as a weapon and destroyed both Rhett and the trophy with a Panic Attack knee to the trophy and Rhett's face.

Ring announcer Bobby Cruise announced that ROH would be back in Chicago Ridge in January for another Chicago PPV taping.

(4) Claudio Castagnoli defeated "New Horror" Sami Callahan, "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne, and Silas Young

Castagnoli dominated when he was in but the crowd was all over him mockingly saying "Hey!" for every little move he did which really enraged Double C the whole match. This was remeniscent of when Jimmy Jacobs turned heel and stopped saying "Huss!" but the crowd would still mockingly say it. Sami Callahan (from CZW and Chikara) had a lot of energy and was fun to watch, but he wasn't in the ring much. It was mostly Claudio and Chicago's favorite enhancement talent Sugarfoot. Sugarfoot had some great momentum going and it looked like he could pull the 123 Kid/Razor upset. He got caught with a Ricola Bomb for the 1, 2, 3 instead. Claudio then got a chair and placed it over the head of Sugarfoot and was preparing to give him the same stomp of doom that he gave Bryan Danielson at Death Before Dishonor, but Danielson himself, in a Seahawks hat and a light blue shirt, ran out and chases Claudio off. He then helped Sugarfoot to his feet as the crowd chanted "Next World Champ!"

[Intermission]

(5) Sweet N Sour Inc. (Chris Hero & Go Shiozaki & Davey Richards w/Larry Sweeney and Bobby Dempsey) defeated Roderick Strong & Brent Albright & and "Sexy" Ace Steel

The crowd went nuts when Ace was revealed as the mystery partner. This is his return to ROH after being released by WWE. Ace played the babyface in peril for most of the match. He looked like he was in great shape. Lots of stiff striking exchanges between Davey and anyone in his way, as you would expect. Some excellent chops as well. Albright attempted a 6-1-Knee but missed. Dueling "Chris Is Awesome" and "F--- You, Hero!" chants. At one point, Hero was laying on the apron recovering when Roderick destroyed one of his teammates and then slide-kicked Hero off the apron to the floor hard. One of Sweet N Sour was hit with a big move and was down for the count but the ref had a very slow count for some reason and they kicked out. Lots of heat on that. Finally, Sweeney distracted the ref and Hero snuck in and hit Roderick with a chair which led to the pinfall. As a result of this result, Sweet N Sour does not have to face Strong, Albright, and Erick Stevens in Steel Cage Warfare.

(6)Austin Aries defeated Jimmy Jacobs (w/Tyler Black)

An absolutely great ending to this blood feud that started in Chicago Ridge back in April. Aries had said for weeks that he was going to have someone in his corner in this match to counteract Tyler Black. However, at the start of this match, he said he realized he didn't need anyone in his corner. The crowd didn't like that. Aries said there was no way he'd quit. During the early portion of the match, Jimmy was able to get the advantage due to distractions from Black. He speared Aries through the ropes to the floor. He sat Aries on a chair at ringside and hit a plancha on to him. Aries was bleeding early on after he got hit with a chain on a suicide dive attempt. Both men fought on the top turnbuckle trying to throw the other man through a table in the corner on the floor in front of me. They ended up both going through it in a huge spot. Both were barely able to say "no" when the ref held the microphone to their mouths asking if they quit.

When Aries got control again, he hit Jimmy hard with the chain, which busted him open. Jimmy's face was soon covered in blood. Jacobs came back to lock on the End Times guillotine choke, but Aries wouldn't tap. He then applied Aries' finisher the Last Chancery, but Aries wouldn't tap. Using the chain, he tied Aries to a chair in the ring and got out the spike. As he stalked Aries with a spike, Lacey ran down the aisle (wearing a Freddy Krueger-ish red and black striped shirt). She had a white towel and was about to throw it in the ring to save Aries. Jacobs told her to do it but she resisted. He put the spike to Aries' throat and said he'd kill him unless she did it. Finally Jacobs went over to taunt her while Aries freed himself.

Lacey punched Jimmy and Aries got control. He tied up Jacobs in the corner with the same chain and hit a huge dropkick. The ref went to ask Jimmy if he quit, but Aries took the mic from the ref and answered for Jimmy – "No". Aries hit a brainbuster onto a chair. Jacobs wouldn't quit. Aries locked on the Last Chancery. Tyler Black was on the apron considering throwing the towel in, but Lacey snuck up and stole his towel. Finally, Aries locked the crippler crossface on Jacobs and with his free hand he repeatedly stabbed Jacobs in the head with a spike. The crowd went nuts and Jimmy screamed "I quit!" in agony. Awesome finish.

Afterwards, Jimmy yelled at Tyler that they had a plan that Tyler was to throw the towel in if he was in trouble. He pushed Tyler. Tyler acted like he was going to turn face but he walked away instead. Aries & Jacobs had a staredown, but no handshake.

(7) ROH champion Nigel McGuinness defeated "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson to retain the ROH World championship

Great matwork to start off the match. The crowd is red hot. Dragon gets the better of Nigel with very loud kicks to the spine and his usual innovative painful looking hand and arm submissions. Nigel came up with a leg submission I've never seen before that I'm not going to try to describe, injuring Dragon's ankle for the rest of the match. At one point, Dragon dove to the outside onto Nigel in the entrance aisle. Nigel hit a move at the top of the ramp and got back to the ring.

As Dragon got up, Claudio Castagnoli snuck out and clipped his leg and disappeared again behind the curtain. It didn't look like Dragon was going to be able to make it back to the ring to beat the 20 count. Sugarfoot Alex Payne, who Dragon saved from Claudio earlier, then came out to help Dragon up and helped carry him back into the ring to beat the 20 count. Nigel hit a Tower of London off the top rope. He also hit a top rope clothesline while Dragon was crotched on the top rope. They were trading very loud European uppercuts. Nigel almost had it won with a half crab on the bad leg, but the crowd willed Dragon to the ropes.

Dragon was able to reverse a Nigel move into a beautiful MMA style armbar submission. He then switched into a triangle choke. When Nigel wouldn't tap he started raining elbows down onto the top of the head. Nigel finally got to the ropes. Nigel gets caught with the inescapable small package from Mr. Small Package, but somehow escapes. The whole building is standing now and when Dragon starts landing his patented MMA elbow smashes to the jaw of Nigel, the crowd goes insane. He tires out and slows the elbows down, but the crowd wills him on and he hits a series of 10 or so very stiff looking elbows that Nigel somehow survives.

Cattle Mutilation had it looking like the title was finally going to change hands. Nigel had to have been in it for almost a minute but survived that as well. Finally, the two collided on a move which bumped Nigel back into the ropes and he hit a Jawbreaker Lariat that dropped Dragon on his head for the 3 count. Another epic match in the awesome Nigel vs. Dragon series. It's going to be pretty hard to match that 1-2 punch of Aries vs. Jacobs and Nigel vs. Dragon on another PPV in 2009. This ends the PPV taping portion of the show. The PPV should air in January 2009.

(8) Samoa Joe defeated Tyler Black (w/Allison Wonderland)

Joe got a hero's welcome as ROH fans finally got to see him come down the aisle to L.L. Cool J once more. Joe looked like he was having a blast the entire match. Someone in the bleachers yelled something about how he lost to Diesel, and Joe just mocked the guy and laughed at him. As for the match, Joe hit all of his signature ROH spots, including one of the sickest Ole Ole kicks I've seen him do. He completely caved the metal guardrail in with Tyler's skull. He went to do another one, but Allison threw herself in front of Tyler to stop Joe. Tyler hit a flip dive on Joe and towards the end hit the God's Last Gift small package driver in a very impressive spot for a near fall that the fans bought. He went for the Phoenix Splash but landed on his face.

Joe hit the island driver for a nearfall, then the Muscle Buster and then the Choke. Tyler held on for a good half minute before passing out. Good match. Post-match, Joe cut a promo putting over ROH as the only wrestling promotion that still has the art of pro wrestling (he phrased it a lot better than that) and said that while he is currently a TNA wrestler and not an ROH wrestler, if you cut his skin, he bleeds the red and black of Ring of Honor. He got down on his knees and kissed the ROH logo.

This was a very good show, especially post-intermission. In addition to the new cameras, there was also a microphone device behind the post right at the apron level. Hopefully this will lead to a better viewing experience. As far as any changes in the Adam Pearce era as opposed to the Gabe Sapolsky era, there were none noticeable. Aries-Jacobs is worth the PPV price alone, and the same goes for Nigel-Dragon. Order this one.

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