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ROH YEAR TWO ARCHIVE: AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT RING OF HONOR'S SOPHOMORE EFFORT

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN LIVE REPORT
by B. Gordon

I just got back from the Ring of Honor show from the Salmon Creek Country Club in Spencerport, NY. Awesome show, even though much of the crowd was dead most of the night.

Stephen DeAngelis came out to inform the crowd that due to travel problems, Teddy Hart would not be making the show, leaving a hole in the 4 way survival match for that night. He then read the Code of Honor to the crowd.

1) Slyk Wagner Browd d Hydro of Special K. OK match, SWB very sloppy when he was trying to pull off some high spots. Wins with a swinging rock bottom from the top rope.

After the match, Special K beats down SWB, which brings out the Carnage Crew, who destroy one of the members of Special K. They then address the fans, saying that they plan to give the crowd their money's worth when they take on Izzy and Dixie for the Tag Team Titles.

2) Field of Honor Match - BJ Whitmer d Dan Maff. Hard, stiff match, with lots of chops, suplexes and throwing each other into the guard rails. BJ Whitmer blocks the Burning Hammer and hits an Exploder suplex for the win.

3) Tag Team Scramble: Dunn & Marcos d Fast Eddie & Don Juan, The Outcast Killaz and Jimmy Jacobs and Alex Shelly. This was the first time I eve rsaw Dunn & Marcos wrestle, as well as Jacobs and Shelly. Awesome match, full of high spots and insanity that are involved with Scramble matches. The way the ring was set up, there wasn't that much room between the ring and the guardrail, so there weren't many insane dives. Dunn wins with his variaton of the Burning Hammer. Either Jacobs or Shelly (I didnt know who was who) hurt their knee when they were pushed off the apron to the floor. His knee was incredibly swollen. Don't know how long he'll be out for, but it looked pretty bad.

4) Christopher Daniels defeated John Walters. INCREDIBLE match. Plenty of back and forth mat wrestling, with lots of near falls and innovative submission moves. Daniels wins with the Last Rites after 20-25 minutes. Daniels cuts a promo and says that Walters earned his respect. He would shake his hand, but he doesnt follow the Code of Honor, but offers Walters a spot in the Prophecy. Xavier comes out and tries to convince Daniels that Walters is a loser. Walters says that no matter what, the next time he competes in ROH, he guarantees a win. Xavier then attacks Walters, giving him a few cheap shots. Daniels argues with Xavier as they leave. Walters gets applause from the crowd as he leaves.

5) Izzy & Dixie of Special K d The Carnage Crew. Carnage Crew waste no time, and within a matter of minutes, both Izzy and Dixie are busted open. Good back and forth match, and Carnage Crew had a lot of near falls, but were broken up by the other Special K members. Finish came when one of the Special K members hit Loc with the ROH Tag Title belt.

Intermission, where people went into the lobby to check the score of the World Series. I got my picture taken with Christopher Daniels. He was really nice and made time for everyone around him to take pictures. Definitely a class act.

6) Jared Steel d Matt Lachey (or Rachey, couldnt catch the name) in about 2 minutes. Local guys, I guess. The match was really short, but it seemed like it was a screw up by the referee, who counted 3, then wasnt sure, then had the bell rung anyway.

Note from Mike Johnson: Lachey was yet another identity added to the resume of Stryker from NYC who works USA Pro regularly. It was a takeoff, I believe on Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, who is married to Jessica Simpson.

7) Xavier d Chris Sabin in a Field of Honor match. Another awesome match, which saw Xavier win by submission (I think it was an Indian Death Lock with a bridge, I'm not sure)

8) Steve Corino and CM Punk ended in a draw. CM Punk came out first, then Corino came out with his entourage and his personal ring announcer. The ring announcer said that "This man is a follower of tradition, and honors those legends who came before him." Then the ring announcer spent about 10 minutes listing off legends of the business and slipping a few non legends in there (Jack Victory, Guillotine LeGrande, The original Doink the Clown, Jeff Hardy, which got a LOT of heat). The announcer stopped in the middle to take a drink from a flask, which infuriated Punk. After Corino's intro, Punk gave Stephen DeAngelis some paper. These were "Drugs that CM Punk has never and will never use." That took another 10 minutes. I was falling down laughing after this, as was my friend, who was attending his first ROH show. Some people, however, were tired by this and went to the lobby to watch the World Series. When they finally started the match, it was slow at first. They were both doing classic heel moves, like when Punk told the crowd to move out of the way, then throwing Corino back into the ring. Corino started to yell out the names of the moves he was doing (HASHIMOTO DDT!!! and KAMIKAZE!!!! for example). The match was stopped at 20 minutes and was declared a draw. The crowd started to chant "5 more minutes" and Corino said "Lets give them 5 more minutes!". Punk didn't want to, then did. They started to go at it, but then both stopped. Corino cut a promo, saying that they were both trying to outheel each other. Corino praised Punk, saying that they were a lot alike, then goaded Punk into restarting the match and then said "Here's a little lesson. nows the time when you say "Screw you all, Buy another ticket." Punk and Corino then shook hands and left together. AMAZING Psychology, and when they did wrestle, it was very old school, and I thought it was the match of the night, along with Daniels/Walters.

Stephen DeAngelis then announced that the Florida Marlins won the World Series, which brought out a mixed reaction. Then came time for the 4 way survival match. The 3 announced wrestlers came out. DeAngelis asked for a fourth man (since Teddy Hart had been unable to make it) John Walters then came back out and said, "I said earlier that the next time I wrestle in ROH, that losing is NOT an option. But I don't want to wait until next week." And with that, John Walters became the 4th man.

9) John Walters d Colt Cabana, Jimmy Rave and Justin Credible. Really solid match, great performance by all four guys. Finish came when John Walters had Justin Credible in the Sharpshooter, and Credible tapped out.

10) Homicide d Samoa Joe in a Non-Title No Holds Barred match. This was BRUTAL. Stiffest chops of the night by both guys. This one guy in the crowd got really pissed off by Julius Smokes, just for talking and running around the ring. Joe put Homicide through a table set up in the corner, and Homicide ran at Joe a couple of times with a chair. Homicide won when he took a noose that he had brought to the ring with him and used it to choke out Joe, who passed out instead of tapping. Homicide celebrated and held the ROH title and laid it on top of Joe and shook his limp hand.

Overall, a very good show. Unfortunately, much of the crowd was dead most of the night. There were plenty of guys who were rabid fans, but I guess a lot of them just didnt get it. I hope that this isnt the end of ROH in Western NY.

I was bummed that Teddy Hart wasnt there, as I had heard lots of great stuff about him. But other than that, I loved it. I wish that I could go to the 11/1 show at the Rexplex, but I cant because of school.

Match of the Night: (tie) John Walters/Christopher Daniels and CM Punk/Steve Corino

If you've never been to an ROH show, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN LIVE REPORT
by Nate Yolevich

Ring of Honor debuted in the Rochester area at the Salmon Creek Country Club in Spencerport, NY on Saturday 10/25. The crown looked to be in the 350-400 range. Complete results:

*Slyk Wagner Brown defeated Special K's Hydro. No April Hunter here. After the match, Special K attacked Brown. The Carnage Crew saved him and cut a promo thanking the fans for coming and that they would bust their ass for the fans. Credible said coming to ROH is "Just Incredible".

*In a Field of Honor tournament match, BJ Whitmer defeated Dan Maff.

*In a Scramble Match, Dunn & Marcos defeated The Outkast Killaz, Jimmy Jacobs & Alex Shelly and Fast Eddie & Don Juan.

*Christopher Daniels defeated John Walters. The crowd was really into Daniels. After the match Daniels offered Walters a spot in The Prophecy. Before Walters answered, Xavier came down and called Walters a "loser." Xavier attacked Walters and then debated with Daniels if he was Prophecy material. Walters then attacked Xavier and said his next match will not be a loss.

*Jared Steele (Texas area worker) defeated Stryker (USA Pro in New York City/MLW).

*ROH Tag Team champions Izzy and Dixie of Special K defeated The Carnage Crew.

*In a Field of Honor tournament match, Xavier defeated Chris Sabin.

*Steve Corino and CM Punk fought to a time limit draw. They teased five more minutes, but Corino told the fans that they would have to pay again. Punk and Corino discussed why they are better then the people of Rochester. Corino's ring announcer did a long introduction of Corino saying that was following in the long line of traditional wrestlers who abused their opponents and their bodies with alcohol and drugs listing about 50 wrestlers. Punk then had ring announcer Stephen DeAngelis recite a list of drugs Punk would never take.

*In a Four Way, John Walters defeated Colt Cabana, Justin Credible, and Jimmy Rave.

*In a No Holds Barred match, Homicide defeated ROH champion Samoa Joe in a non-title. In my opinion this was the best match of the night. Very stiff action. Homicide choked out Joe with a noose. The crowd chanted "ROH" at the end of the match.

ROH Empire State Showdown can be ordered at ROHWrestling.com.