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

WAR OF THE WIRE

ROH DOUBLESHOT WEEKEND LIVE REPORT: NIGHT TWO
ROH IN FRAMINGHAM, MA
By Mike Johnson

On Saturday 11/29, it was on to Ring of Honor's debut at the Framingham State College in Framingham, MA on Saturday 11/29, headlined by the promotion's first ever no ropes barbed wire match. Due to a series of events, the promotion's venue for the this changed twice. The promotion still drew 600 to the show, which has to be seen as an accomplishment as Framingham, MA is nowhere near the previous sites of Wakefield and Woburn. That crowd is even more of an amazement as it was near-impossible to figure out where the building was and parking was non-existent. The place looked awesome live and should look tremendous on video. The MA fans jampacked the merchandise tables during the two intermissions of the show, so it was a good night overall in terms of money for the company.

Full results of the show saw:

*The Backseat Boys defeated Hotstuff Hernandez and Fast Eddie when The Backseats pinned Eddie with the T-Gimmick. A solid opener which saw Hernandez work a lot of power spots and pull out another insane dive out of the ring, which is beyond impressive for his size. The Backseats' tag maneuvers continue to impress.

*In a 10 man Scramble Match, Special K's Azrael, Hydro, Dixie, Lit, & ? defeated The Carnage Crew, the SATs and Slugga when Azrael rolled up DeVito and hooked the tights for the pin. Another entertaining montage of insane dives and spots, but this one couldn't follow the previous Scramble from Fairfield, CT. The SATs went to do the Spanish Fly on Hydro but were stopped when Joel was knocked off the ropes. DeVito climbed up and hit the Fly with Jose Maximo but was stopped from making the pin. The Carnage Crew and the SATs argued which led to the pinfall.

*BJ Whitmer won a Gauntlet Series. The match started out with CM Punk facing Jimmy Rave. Punk swore before the bell that like last night, he would turn the show upside down while he continued his search for Lucy's attacker. Punk defeated Rave in a good back and forth bout but hurt his knee in the process. Next out was Matt Stryker, who forced Punk to tap out after working on his knee, which he hurt during the first bout. Stryker then defeated Colt Cabana, who did a lot of heel work, playing off his refusal to dance when the crowd chanted for it. This brought out BJ Whitmer. The finish of the match saw Whitmer and Stryker battling on the top turnbuckle. Stryker and Whitmer crashed to the floor and officials ran out to check on Stryker. They were going to stop the match on account of Stryker "being unable to continue" but an irate Whitmer attacked him, threw Stryker in the ring and hit an exploder suplex for the pin. This may have been a heel turn for Whitmer, who started to show a lot of edginess to go with his fire at both ROH shows this weekend. Very good series of matches which saw Stryker and Whitmer built up as well as tease their 12/27 bout for the Field of Honor tournament championship.

*The Outkast Killahs defeated Slyk Wagner Brown and April Hunter. Xavier came out and mocked Brown as yet another loser from Boston, like the Red Sox, while Xavier is from New York. This brought out John Walters for their scheduled bout...

*John Walters rolled up Xavier for a surprise pin. Xavier destroyed Walters with several chairshots after the match, busting him open and slammed a ladder down upon him. The crowd was into Walters bigtime as a babyface. ROH officials are really high on him and his work certainly deserves the chance for a push as it's really crisp. He's well liked by WWE as well as everytime they run TV in the Northeast, he's there.

*ROH Tag Team champion Mark and Jay Briscoe defeated Danny Maff and Christopher Daniels when Jay Briscoe pinned Daniels with the Jay Driller in a great back and forth bout which saw Allison Danger interfere and take some good bumps as well. This really was a good weekend for the Briscoes as they shined in two straight nights with top indy workers like Joe, Styles, and Daniels. Danny Maff may be channeling the ghost of Don Muraco with his excellent facial expressions.

*ROH champion Samoa Joe choked out AJ Styles in a tremendous match that saw lots of near falls including Styles locking in and hitting the Styles Clash on Joe, Joe diving through the ropes, and an amazing sequence of hard hitting strikes back and forth between the two. After the match, Joe on the house mic said that ROH may have the youngest roster, but it also has the hardest working and put over Styles as an amazing competitor. Joe said that ROH is where athletes compete because they love the sport of professional wrestling, not just the paycheck.

Gary Michael Cappetta interviewed CM Punk, who reiterated that he believed Christopher Daniels attacked Lucy. Daniels came out and denied that he was behind the attack and Punk couldn't handle the truth of what happened. Punk demanded to be told but Daniels attacked him. They brawled into the ring as the ROH crew put up the barbed wire match. Punk got the better of Daniels until Danny Maff made the save. Punk's mic work was, as always, on point and Daniels was good as well. They actually ended up adlibbing part of the interaction back and forth to stall for time when the ROH camera at ringside that was shooting the angle needed a battery change, but everyone was so smooth, it didn't seem the crowd even noticed.

*Steve Corino defeated Homicide in a no ropes barbed wire match when Homicide's manager Julius Smokes threw in the towel when Corino locked Homicide in a cobra sleeper while Homicide was wrapped in barbed wire. This match was a spectacle beyond the limits of sanity, as one could imagine and was entertaining as hell. The ROH crew actually made the match even more dangerous than a barbed wire match is to begin with by setting the wire up in a way that the top and bottom strands were pulled towards the middle, which led to a scary moment when Corino fell out of the ring while backing up in the opening moments. There was also a table wrapped in barbed wire in one corner and a barbed wire bat was brought into play as well. Corino bled heavily from the forehead and his damaged ear, which Homicide worked over. Homicide was busted open as well. Each man took hellacious bumps into the barbed wire including Homicide taking several upside down bumps into the wire. Homicide hit an exploder suplex through the barbed wire table on Corino. Corino set up four chairs and powerbombed Homicide through a piece of mesh fencing that was set up on them, which looked beyond awesome. Homicide gave Corino the boot scrape into the barbed wire, with both of them getting caught in it. At one point, Homicide locked Corino in an STF and Corino's cornerman Guillotine LeGrande splashed rubbing alcohol into Homicide's bloodied face, which was awesome because of the attention to detail, which saw Corino also sell the pain when he likewise was splashed at the same time. This was one hell of a great barbed wire match and well worth going out of your way to see. Corino offered to shake Homicide's hand after the match but Homicide walked off. They each challenged the other to one more match with Corino noting he was 2-1 in their matches, which won't happen for some time, but I expect it will. ROH was teasing Corino quit the company after the show on their website. While you did not end up left with the feeling that you saw an amazing "moment" like you saw in the 8/16 Corino vs. Homicide (which I highly advise tracking down a tape of before seeing this as the two matches are so closely connected), this was a totally different breed of animal and was one great violent match with a good story and tons of insane bumps and tons of blood.

The promotion announced their second anniversary show would be held on 2/14 in MA at a venue to be announced. After all the issues the promotion has had and the passionate support of the MA fans, I can easily see why they would give them the Anniversary show.

Overall, a strong weekend for the promotion. If you get the chance to attend an ROH show, I would highly advise going for it. There is a sense of pride among those who work for the company that you don't see in many independent companies. At the same time, there is a lack of ego as well as many of those who work in the ring doubleup and do other responsibilities to help as well. The mood at the shows is one of a team, as compared to a locker room where everyone is worried about their spot. When you see the top names, some of whom have worked internationally, helping set up and sweeping the ring before the doors open so everything is set up right, that's a locker room with no ego and a lot of heart.

ROH War of the Wire can be ordered at ROHWrestling.com.