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BEV: #65: The Best in the World RCC Spotlight: Pulp Wrestling: Blood Brothers TNA: Sacrifice 2006 Review OTC: Smackdown Grades for 5/26/06 RRC: 05/22/06
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Ring of Honor Review: Redemption and Punk: The Final Chapter - Head to Head
by: Matt Seagull on: 5/30/2006 11:37 pm est 
ROH Review: Redemption and Punk: The Final Chapter - Head to Head Here's how this review will work. I will review both shows at once, putting matches up against each other and seeing how they stack up, while also explaining the storyline of the match. Here are the categories. 1. Opening Four Corner Survival 2. Undercard Attraction 3. Tag Title Match 4. Generation Next vs. Embassy 5. Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki Feud 6. Matt Hardy Match 7. The Main Event So let's get to it! Opening Four Corner Survival Redemption: Delirious vs. Sterling James Keenan vs. Ace Steel vs. Matt Stryker Match Story and Analysis: You know how I get with four corner survivals. It's almost impossible to be able to find a story in the match. Right here was a showcase for these four guys, and for Sterling Keenan, a chance to get a nice first look at him. They spent most of the match with all four men in the ring at once, hitting all the high impact moves they could on each other until somebody got the win. That somebody was Ace Steel. This was a nice way to warm up the crowd, but nothing worth remembering. **1/4 Winner: Ace Steel Punk: The Final Chapter: Delirious vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Alex Shelley vs. Matt Sydal Match Story and Analysis: This Four Corner Survival had a bit more starpower than the first match, as the jobbers like Matt Stryker and Sterling Keenan were replaced by stars like Nigel, Shelley and Sydal. This also was a mini chapter in the Generation Next/Embassy feud, with nice Sydal/Shelley interaction. Again, not much here to write home about, but there were a bit more memorable spots. Also, a hotter Chicago crowd were more appreciative of the action. **1/2 Winner: Nigel McGuinness Head to Head: As I said before, P:TFC had more star power, therefore people cared more about the match, therefore it was a better match. Neither is anything memorable, however. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (1-0) The Undercard Attraction Redemption: Spanky vs. Colt Cabana Match Story and Analysis: This was a comedy match, pure and simple. Some really funny "psychology" with Cabana doing moves that worked a certain body part of Spanky....his ass. Yep, Cabana worked the ass. Obviously, this is an enjoyable match where you could turn off your brain and have fun. There were other funny spots like a criss-cross. Cabana got the win catching Spanky in a roll-up. **1/2 Winner: Colt Cabana Punk: The Final Chapter: Ace Steel vs. Chad Collyer Match Story and Analysis: This was a pretty fun story, and then it just got gruesome. Steel was in his home town. And he was countering everything Collyer was throwing at him. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Steel was just getting the best of Collyer at every turn. They made their way to the outside, and Steel "accidentally" knocked over a student. While he's checking to see if he's okay, Collyer grabs a chair and just cracks Steel over the head. What's seen next is one of the most gruesome things I've ever seen in ROH. Steel is gushing blood (I think he did a temple blade job), Collyer gets Steel in the Cloverleaf, and the ref lifts Steel's head up, and underneath is a literal pool of blood. When the ref drops Steel's head, it splashes in the pool of blood. He throws the match out. Seriously sickening. **3/4 Winner: Chad Collyer Head to Head: Depends what you like, really. If you like comedy with no storyline advancement, you'll like Spanky/Cabana. If you like storyline advancement (Steel and Collyer would have some great taped promos talking about their eventual rematch) and just barbaric stuff, you'll like Steel/Collyer. I also guarantee more people remember Steel/Collyer than they do Spanky/Cabana. But I'll keep this as a tie. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (1-0-1) Tag Title Match Redemption: Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer vs. Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer Match Story and Analysis: Not much of a story here. In fact, both teams seemed incredibly off. Nothing was really crisp. A couple spots were botched here and there. Basically, it was just going through the motions until it was over. There was a mini storyline in the match of both teams using Jacobs as a weapon with throws onto the opponent. First Nigel and Collyer threw Jacobs into Whitmer, then Whitmer started throwing Jacobs into Nigel and Collyer. Yay? Jacobs got the pin after a (very sloppy) Contra Code off of Whitmer's shoulders. For some reason, Whitmer and Jacobs just couldn't click in Dayton. *3/4 Winners, and STILL Tag Team Champions, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer! Punk: The Final Chapter: Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer vs. James Gibson and Spanky Match Story and Analysis: Given the higher quality caliber of opponents Jacobs and Whitmer were facing in Chicago, this was a better match. Gibson got some control of the match and really set the pace well. Also, the match had a more shocking ending, as Spanky turned on Gibson in mid-match and cost him the tag team titles! It would later be revealed that Spanky wanted a title shot against Gibson. *** Winners, and STILL Tag Team Champions, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer Head to Head: These two matches came about after the events of Nowhere to Run. Collyer made Jacobs tap out, so he and Nigel got a tag title shot at Redemption. Gibson made Whitmer tap out, so he and Spanky got the title shot at P:TFC. Simply because the match was more fluid and had a more shocking, memorable finish, P:TFC takes the win here. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (2-0-1) Generation Next vs. The Embassy Redemption: Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley and Abyss vs. Roderick Strong, Austin Aries and Matt Sydal Match Story and Analysis: This is Abyss's first official ROH match, and Matt Sydal isn't officially a member of Gen Next yet, but if Gen Next wins, then Sydal gets inducted. This was just a fun six man, and if you've read my reviews, you know what a fan of six man matches I am. They did a good job of protecting Abyss as the biggest man in the match. When he came in, he just absolutely destroyed everybody. Aries played babyface in peril, but when he finally made the tag to Strong, the crowd went nuts. A hot finish sequence led to Aries getting the pin on Rave after the 450. Embassy destroyed Gen Next after the match, in order to get the last laugh. ***1/2 Winners: Generation Next! Punk: The Final Chapter: Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Rave Match Story and Analysis: More of the same from the night before. Aries schooling Rave to start, Rave cheating to get the advantage, Aries in peril, makes the comeback, hot build toward the finish. Crowd was more into it, and the nearfalls were closer and more believable. I personally liked this match more than its counterpart the night before, but it really is a toss-up. Aries wins by rolling Rave up after a top rope Rave Clash attempt. Just like the night before, the Embassy beat down Generation Next after the match. ***3/4 Winner: Austin Aries Head to Head: Again, it could go either way. I'll throw a bone to Redemption because it had Abyss, and Abyss didn't appear at all in Chicago. But really, the Chicago match was better. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (2-1-1) Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki Feud Redemption: Jay Lethal vs. Low Ki Match Story and Analysis: Everytime Lethal and Ki step into the ring, the matches get more and more violent. This brought the violence level even higher than their Death Before Dishonor 3 match. Lethal brought the fight to Ki more at the beginning, and when Ki got in control of the match, he punished Lethal much more. What puts this match a bit lower than their previous match is that Lethal actually got close to winning before the match got thrown out. Here, they just brawled into the crowd, and the match got thrown out. ***1/4 No Contest Punk: The Final Chapter: Homicide and Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal Match Story and Analysis: This was probably the greatest tag team match of 2005 in ROH. Better than the Back to Basics main event. Better than the Kobashi tag. It was straight up brutality from top to bottom. Hard-hitting, fists-a-flying, STIFF action. Joe and Homicide beat the shit out of each other. Joe and Ki REALLY beat the shit out of each other. Lethal just straight up got the shit beat out of him period. Crowd wanted these four to destroy each other, and they pretty much got it. Lots of hot near falls. Lethal gets close to pinning Ki but Cide drops an elbow on the ref, DQing the Rottweilers. But that was only half the story. After the match, there was a fantastic brawl all over the arena. Some of the notable moments were Low Ki doing a double stomp off the top of the bleachers onto Lethal, which has been replayed many times. After Ki and Cide regroup on the outside of the ring, suddenly chairs are being hurled at them by Samoa Joe. Fans hand Joe chairs and he chucks them as hard as he can at Ki and Cide. It was seriously the best brawl I've seen in all of ROH in 2005. A low-end MOTYC as well. ****1/2. No Contest (or Joe and Lethal win by DQ, they never said) Head to Head: It isn't even close. You've got a MOTYC against a forgettable chapter in the Lethal vs. Ki feud. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (3-1-1) Matt Hardy's Match Redemption: Matt Hardy vs. Homicide Match Story and Analysis: Fans were split, seeing it as ROH vs. WWE, and while it worked well the night after because Strong was a babyface, it didn't really work here because Homicide could really give two shits about Ring of Honor. The match was a bit rough, but not so much that it was noticable. Much like in his match against Daniels, Hardy upped his game, and played to the fans who were booing him. Lethal interferes, and Hardy wins with a rollup. ***1/4 Winner: Matt Hardy Punk: The Final Chapter: Matt Hardy vs. Roderick Strong Match Story and Analysis: The Chicago fans were much more vocal in their displeasure of Hardy, and Hardy really upped his heel game THAT much more against Strong, who was slowly becoming THE man in ROH. Matt Hardy can thank Roderick Strong for giving him his greatest singles match ever. The crowd was really into Roderick finally getting the win. It was much more ROH vs. WWE here. The nearfalls toward the end were THAT close where that anybody could win. The crowd went apeshit at EVERY backbreaker that Strong gave Hardy. ROH fans can hate on Hardy all they want, but he deserves a lot of credit for having the fans on their feet all match long, and he played a great villain, even if he didn't plan on it before the match started. That's the mark of a true veteran. And when Strong finally won, it was as if he won the ROH title, it was THAT big. Another MOTYC effort from Strong, only this time, he came out with a W! ****1/4 Winner: Roderick Strong Head to Head: Much like the Ki/Lethal matches, everybody's going to remember the P:TFC match more than the Redemption match, easily. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (4-1-1) The Main Event Redemption: ROH World Title: CM Punk (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. James Gibson Match Story and Analysis: This was a LONG match. And things didn't really pick up until the eliminations started happening. They mentioned a strategy for Punk to want to extend the match as long as possible. It's a 60 minute time limit, and even if Punk got eliminated, if the match went to a time limit draw without a difinitive winner, Punk would retain the title, which was interesting. Things picked up when Gibson got taken out of the match thanks to Punk. He wasn't eliminated, but he was busted open and made to leave the ring. Then, Joe got an STF on Daniels, the ref raised Daniels hand which dropped twice. But Daniels got his foot on the rope, which Punk knocked off behind the ref's back, and Daniels's hand dropped the third time, taking him out of the match. Daniels was pissed, and tried to get revenge, but Punk ducked the enziguri, and Daniels nailed Joe. Punk got a small package and FINALLY got the pinfall against Samoa Joe. The crowd immediately knew what was up and began chanting for Gibson. He came out, he and Punk wrestled a series of hot nearfalls, and it finally ended with Gibson hitting a Tiger Driver from the top rope and FINALLY dethroned Punk for the belt. It was quite a story for Gibson in Dayton. His first ROH match was in Dayton. He also wrestled a fantastic title match against Aries the last time they were in Dayton. This time, he made good on his promise and got the win. For a 45 minute match, the first 30 were kinda boring, but when things picked up, MAN did they pick up! **** Winner, and NEEEEEEWWWWW Ring of Honor World Champion, James Gibson! 2 out of 3 Falls: CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana Match Story and Analysis: Okay, maybe I just don't get it, because I'm a.) not from Chicago, and b.) not really that much of a CM Punk fan. Or maybe it's c.) I actually care about storylines. But I hated the concept of this match. I understand that with the Summer of Punk, Gabe Sapolsky booked himself into a corner, because there was no way that CM Punk would walk into Chicago a heel and expect to get booed on his final night in ROH. But all storylines pointed to this match being a grudge match. Punk dissed Cabana on Good Times Great Memories. Punk hit Cabana with a chain during his match against Christopher Daniels at Sign of Dishonor. Cabana had to answer for Punk's actions at Escape from New York, and the stress forced him to migrate to Europe. So this match should be a grudge match. But it wasn't, it was a love fest. But I understand it. Sometimes you just have to say "fuck it" to the storylines. But the match itself wasn't anything to write home about. A little comedy in the first fall, which Punk won by a low blow, then hitting the Colt 45 (a HEEL move, mind you, that got him wildly cheered. Fucking Chicago sheep). Cabana won the second fall with a lariat, then won the third and final fall with a rollup. Everybody came out to celebrate after the match was over. Yay. ***1/4 Head to Head: Live reports have said that BOTH of these matches were MOTYC. I think they were focusing too much on the moment and not on the match. Both were good, but not MOTYC. Hell, Punk/Cabana wasn't even the THIRD best match on the CARD, let alone anywhere close to Match of the Year. But sometimes, it isn't about the match. It's about the moment. And for me, Gibson winning the title was a better moment. Head to Head Tally: Punk: The Final Chapter (4-2-1) Both shows were very light on backstage promos. Daniels, Joe and Gibson cut promos about the main event on Redemption. And Ace Steel cut a promo about Punk and Cabana on P:TFC. Both shows also featured in-ring promos from the champions. The Punk promo at Redemption was kinda messed up because it was the Midwest, and Punk was getting half-cheered. While on the East Coast (I must say proudly), we were screaming for Punk's blood, and it came off much better on tape. Final Thoughts: If you have the means to get both shows, you definitely should. Even though Redemption didn't really have anything stand-out aside from Gibson's title win, there was some solid stuff on there. You'll enjoy the Gen Next/Embassy tag and Hardy/Homicide, and of course the emotional Gibson title win. But it was played up as the show of the year in live reports, and I wouldn't even put it in the top half of shows in 2005. But Punk: The Final Chapter is in a whole other stratusphere. Two, count em, TWO Match of the Year candidates on the same card! Ki/Cide vs. Joe/Lethal and Hardy/Strong are just tremendous to watch. You also can't go wrong with Aries vs. Rave, which was great. Then there was the ugly, ugly sight of Ace Steel in a pool of his own blood. And yeah, if you're a CM Punk fan, this show is a must-get. Even if you're NOT a Punk fan, it's a must get because of everything else that's on the show. It's easily one of the top 10 shows of the year. If you don't have it, get it. I'll be back with Glory by Honor 4, also doing short reviews of Night of the Grudges 2, Dragon Gate Invasion and Survival of the Fittest 2005. Take care everybody! |
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