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DVD REVIEW: RING OF HONOR FINAL BATTLE 2005

RING OF HONOR: FINAL BATTLE 2005
DECEMBER 17,2005
EDISON, NEW JERSEY
 
Low Ki Promo: In 2005 going into 2006, it’s been over one year that he has been competing full time for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan.  He says he has a lot more skill, he has a lot more intensity, and a lot more ability now than he ever has and he will face a GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion in Kenta and he knows a very strong Muta background.  He knows he has a very strong pro wrestling background.  He says he does not want to fail.  He wants to hold his hand high and in his other hand the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.  He says he will walk away as champion.

Jimmy Rave with Prince Nana versus Milano Collection AT
 
As Jimmy Rave enters the ring, here comes the obligatory streaming on toilet paper from the fans.  A collar and elbow tie-up begins things.  Rave pushes Milano into the corner and then delivers forearms to Milano’s face.  A second collar and elbow tie-up ensues.  Milano applies a waist lock.  Rave escapes and applies a wristlock.  Milano then reverses Rave’s wristlock.  Milano yanks on the arm and tightens the wristlock.  Rave reverses the wristlock and then applies a hammerlock.  Milano escapes and takes Rave down by the arm.  Milano applies an armbar.  Milano then applies a wristlock and follows that up with a side headlock.  Rave applies an Irish whip then Milano hits a shoulder tackle.  Milano then steps over Rave and applies the bow and arrow.  Rave powers out and lands on top of Milano for a near fall.  Milano applies a side headlock.  Rave applies an Irish whip and Milano hits a shoulder tackle.  There is a leapfrog by Rave.  Milano follows with a leapfrog.  Milano then applies an abdominal stretch.  Rave reaches the bottom rope then Milano ties Rave’s legs to the bottom rope.

Milano then begins to clap before he runs the ropes and goes to the other side of the ring and hits the “Paradise Lock” freeing Rave from the ropes and knocking him to the floor.  The crowd begins a “Milano” chant.  As Rave re-enters the ring, Milano meets him with a kick to the midsection and a fist to the back.  Milano hits a snapmere.  Milano then kicks Rave in the head.  Milano then applies a rear chinlock.  We then hear Nana screaming at the referee, “Hey, do you see what is happening?  Do you see what is going on?”  Rave gets on his feet and backs Milano into the corner. 

Rave then hits a couple shoulder blocks on Milano in the corner.  Rave then hits the Irish whip then Milano tries to do the “invisible man” but Rave stops and hits Milano with a lariat to the back to the head.  Rave pulls the hair then applies a snapmere.  Rave then kicks Milano in the head.  Rave then pulls the hair again.  Rave sends Milano head first into the turnbuckle.  Rave hits a fist to Milano’s head.  Rave then puts a foot on Milano’s throat as Milano is in the ropes.  Rave then pulls Milano’s hair a third time.  Rave tries to hit the Northern Lights as Milano tries to block it and both land awkwardly on the mat.  Rave then kicks Milano in the head then in the back.  After pulling Milano’s hair again, Rave hits a right hand to the face.  Rave sends Milano for an Irish whip but Milano reverses it and lands on his feet on the apron before dropping Rave’s throat against the ropes.  Milano hits a running kick to the side of Rave’s head.  Rave hits a drop toehold on Milano sending him into the turnbuckles.  Rave then grabs the hair again and hits a vertical suplex.  Rave then begins twisting Milano’s neck.  Nana then starts screaming for Rave to break Milano’s neck.  As Milano tries to break free with elbows, Rave pulls Milano down by the hair.  Nana says it’s over before Rave hits the neckbreaker.
      

Rave sends Milano into the corner but Milano sidesteps him and runs into a boot as he charges in the corner.  Rave hits “from dusk til dawn” right into a crossface.  With the referee distracted, Nana hits right hands to Milano’s face.  Rave hits an Irish whip then ducks a clothesline and hits Nana square in the back with a dropkick.  Milano hits an enziguri.  Milano follows that up with right hands.  He follows that with chops.  He follows the chops off with a pair of clotheslines.  Milano then hits a senton.  Milano then hits a crossbody.  Rave then hits a backbreaker.  Rave then hits his “ghanarhea” neckbreaker.  Rave tries an Irish whip but Milano holds on to the ropes.  Rave does hit an Irish whip. Milano does a cartwheel and does a cartwheel then hits a clothesline on Rave.  Milano then hits an Armani Shoe Change” springboard.  Milano kicks Rave in the head.  Milano tries a piledriver but Rave blocks it, rolls through, and hits a running knee.  Rave then hits the “Greetings from Ghana” pedigree for the win.
 
I really like Milano.  I really like the intro to his “paradise lock” move.  He makes it look like a big move.  Rave was really cocky in this match.  By the way, what was with Nana’s dance on the apron at the end of the match?  Is he trying to impersonate Jeff Jarrett or Ric Flair?  One thing I do wish is that they change the name of Rave’s neckbreaker.  It sounds like something that is very serious and I would rather not mistake a neckbreaker for something else.  The in-ring moves were really fluid between the two.  This was a great match.
Bryan Danielson Promo
 
He starts out by saying that they have been sending out open contracts to people all over the world.  He says he is really honored that someone from NOAH, someone like Marufuji, who is a big star in Japan has decided to come over to Ring of Honor and challenge him for the ROH Title.  He says he is not intimidated.  He has beaten the best juniors in New Japan Pro Wrestling.  He has wrestled Liger.  He has beaten the likes of Tatanka and Tiger Mask.  He beat them all.  He is not intimidated by this.  He says the ROH belt is the most prestigious belt in the wrestling world today.  He knows Marufuji wants to beat him for it.  He says that won’t happen because he is the best wrestler in the world and no one can beat him. 
 
All I personally wish is that somebody would help Danielson on his promo skills.  I have never heard anyone say “uh” and “umm” in a promo more than he does.  Maybe Danielson needs to sign up for a public speaking class.

Azrieal versus Colt Cabana
 
As the match starts, there is a “Colt Cabana” chant.  The code of honor is exchanged.  Before the match, Azrieal wants to dance.  Cabana wants no part of it.  A collar and elbow tie-up begins things.  Cabana pushes Azrieal in the corner then gives a clean break.  A collar and elbow tie-up ensues into the opposite corner.  Azrieal pops Cabana in the ears before giving a clean break.  Azrieal applies a waist lock.  Cabana escapes and applies a wrist lock.  Azrieal reverses the wrist lock.  Azrieal then applies a hammerlock.  There were a series of reversals of the hammerlock.  Cabana hits a snapmere.  Azrieal lands on his feet and starts to dance again.  Azrieal tries to rally the crowd to get Cabana to dance.  Cabana does not oblige.
      

Cabana applies a wrist lock.  Cabana then cranks on the arm.  There is a series of wristlocks and reversals by both men.  Cabana takes Azrieal down by the arm.  Azrieal lands on his feet and dances again.  Another collar and elbow tie-up ensues.  Azrieal applies a side headlock.  Cabana then applies a side headlock but Azrieal hangs on.  Cabana fires Azrieal off the ropes.  Cabana hits a shoulder tackle but Azrieal stays on his feet then Azrieal hits a shoulder tackle but Cabana stays on his feet.  Cabana tells Azrieal that if he hits the ropes and Azrieal puts out his foot, he’ll slap him.  Cabana says he knows that game.  He comes off the ropes and Azrieal stands there.  Cabana comes off the ropes and Azrieal’s foot comes out this time.  Cabana comes off the ropes and slaps Azrieal in the face, true to his word.  Cabana applies a front facelock.  The crowd chants to Azrieal that he got bit** slapped.

At this point in the match, Azrieal got serious about the match.  He started a mat wrestling based match applies a lot of wristlocks.  He also hit a lot of kicks and chops.  Cabana then has Azrieal by the hair and asks the crowd why he should show mercy.  He then rams Azrieal’s head into the turnbuckles.  Azrieal makes a comeback starting with a leap frog.  He then kicks Cabana in the hamstrings.  Azrieal then sends Cabana into the corner and butts heads with him as he charges into the corner.  Azrieal then hits right hands on Cabana.  Cabana hits an Irish whip.  Azrieal ducks a clothesline and ducks a back elbow before hitting a headscissors.  Azrieal then hits a running forearm.  A chop and an enziguri follows.

Cabana hits a couple fists to the back.  Azrieal hits the electric chair.  Cabana hits a series of jabs.  Azrieal ducks the right hand but hits an elbow on top of the head.  Cabana hits a shoulder tackle.  He hits a shoulder tackle.  Cabana then hits a shoulder block.  Cabana then hits a missile dropkick.  Cabana hits a lariat for the pin.  After the match, Homicide and Ricky Reyes come to the ring.  He tells Cabana he still hates him but is not out here to fight him.  He is out here to warn him.  He saw his doctors and they tell him he needs surgery and he’ll be out six months.  He’ll be out of Ring of Honor for six months.  He then tells Cabana it’s not his fault.  The fault lies on Steve Corino.  His beef is with Steve Corino.  He wants Steve Corino.  He says that is Cabana’s boy.  He says he is taking this personally.  He thinks I busted his eardrum and thinking he broke his shoulder and wonders if that makes them even.  He says after he hurts Corino he’s coming after Cabana.  He’s got to say he cannot fight.  He wants Cabana to talk to Corino.  He warns Cabana to stay out of his business.  He asks Cabana if he hears him.  He warns him to stay out of his business and that this is a shoot.  He promises Corino’s getting hurt and if Cabana gets in his business he’ll hurt him up.  Homicide then throws the microphone at Cabana and throws the ring bell.

I really have to wonder what Azrieal was doing with all that dancing.  Was he just trying to get into Cabana’s head?  His moves really were not that coordinated.

For the ROH Pure Title: Claudio Castagnoli versus Nigel McGuinness
 
True to his word, ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette assigned two referees for this match.  Unfortunately for Claudio, it ended up being his downfall as opposed to his ally.  In the early part of the match, it was a pretty good wrestling match.  McGuinness got in offense early by applying a full nelson and a hammerlock.  He then applies a wristlock and takes Castagnoli down by the arm.  He does a victory roll then acts all cocky doing Castagnoli’s “hey” routine before walking up to him and acting like he is dusting him off then giving him a palm strike to the head.

Another collar and elbow tie-up ensues.  McGuinness applies a snapmere but Castagnoli lands on his feet.  McGuinness then does a single-leg takedown on Claudio.  McGuinness follows that up with a shoulder tackle.  A leap frog by McGuinness is followed by an armdrag.  McGuinness then hits a sunset flip.  Castagnoli then hits a palm strike.  Another collar and elbow tie-up goes into the corner.  The second referee comes into play here when he issues a warning to McGuinness for a closed fist to the face.  One thing I failed to mention in my recap for Buffalo Stampede in the Pure Title match is that if a competitor throws a closed fist to the face, he gets a warning.  After that, he is penalized a rope break.  If the competitor is out of rope breaks, they are disqualified and the belt can change hands on a disqualification.  

Castagnoli opens up a flurry of offense with palm strikes and an uppercut.  McGuinness then applied a side headlock.  He then loses one rope break for a second closed fist to the face.  McGuinness applies a side headlock into an armdrag.  Castagnoli tries to reverse the armdrag but McGuiness hangs on to the armdrag.  Castagnoli then tries a headscissors but McGuinness still holds on to the arm.  Claudio does a back flip and reverses a back flip.  Claudio applies a snapmere.  Nigel now tries to escape as Claudio holds on the arm.  Nigel loses his second rope break when he barely touches the ropes to escape the armdrag.  There is another collar and elbow tie-up.  Claudio then applies a pair of inside cradles.  Nigel then goes to the floor.  The outside ref counts to eight then Nigel re-enters before going back out to the floor.  This time Claudio does not wait and dives to the floor but Nigel puts the ref in the brunt of the dive. 

At this point in the match, Nigel gets more cocky because apparently Claudio injured his shoulder.  When Claudio re-enters the ring, Claudio really works over the shoulder hitting knee drops and shoulder blocks.  He then hits fists and uppercuts.  The offensive maneuvers balance out between the two men.  It mostly consisted of uppercuts and forearms.  That is what Todd Sinclair was hit with and that seemed to give Nigel a real advantage.  He went to use his iron and play dead like he did at “Showdown in Motown” but Claudio did not bite.  Instead, Claudio went to use the iron and he seemingly got the pin.  However, the second referee came to just in time to catch Claudio with the iron and disqualified him.  I know it’s the right call but after all the times Nigel has cheated, I wish the other foot had dropped.  I still do not think McGuinness has shown me enough to be worthy of being a Pure Title Champion.

Steve Corino versus Alex Shelley with Prince Nana
 

This match started abruptly when Corino’s ring announcer got clocked by Nana.  Corino then clocked Nana then Shelley hit Nana.  Shelley got the early offense in with kicks and slaps.  Corino then sidestepped an Irish whip and started working over the arm of Shelley.  Corino then starts punching and kicking the back of Shelley.  Corino follows that up with forearms and chops.  There is a chop by Shelley.  This is followed by a rake to the eyes by Corino then a boot to head and a closed fist. 

Corino sends Shelley outside and the complexion of the match changed.  Nana got involved and sent Corino into the guardrail injuring the shoulder.  This was after Corino kicks Shelley in the head.  When Nana got involved, Corino chased him with a chair.  Shelley pushes him back into the guardrail and the ring apron.  When Corino is back in the ring, Shelley works over the arm.  Nana and Shelley try to send Corino into the chair but Corino reverses and Shelley goes face first into the chair.  Corino gets in a flurry of offense with a series of forearms.  Shelley then goes back to working on the arm.  The offensive flourishes go back and forth until Nana gets involved again and Corino drags him into the ring and hits a DDT.  Then Shelley goes back to working on the arm again applying a cross armbreaker.  Corino seemed to have injured his knee when climbing the turnbuckles.  Corino is able to get some forearms in.  He follows that with kicks and a STO.  Corino then hits a lariat.  Shelley pins Corino with an arm roll-through.  Post match, Homicide hits the ring and attacks Corino.  He starts stomping on the side of Corino’s head.  He then brings out a bottle of Drano when aColt Cabana hits the ring. He covers Corino to protect him.  Julius Smokes hits the ring and clocks Cabana from behind.  Smokes then holds up Cabana and Homicide feeds him the Drano.  Smokes and Homicide leave the ring when security hits.

Gary Michael Cappetta Interviews Jay Lethal.  Cappetta is in the ring.  He says at the Steel Cage Warfare show we saw a turn of events that created a lot of questions.  He is out to get there to get those answers.  He introduces Jay Lethal.  First, Cappetta thanks Lethal for coming out.  Then he says at Steel Cage Warfare we saw a side of him that he has never seen before.  His question is simple.  Why?  Samoa Joe was his mentor.  His game grew to new heights under Samoa Joe.  Then he attacks Joe with those vicious kicks to the leg.  Joe took him under his wing and then he turned on him.  Why?

Lethal responds.  For a correction, Joe did not take him under his wing.  He held him under that fat under his arm.  He said one day he was dressing in Joe’s dressing room.  He referred to it as the room with a door with an oversized star on it.  He said he was sitting right next to Joe’s bag that just so happened to have his paycheck in it.  Normally he says he minds his own business but he figures that since Joe was his mentor he deserved to know how much Joe made.  He found out a mentor makes a lot more than a protégé does.  He says he doesn’t understand how Joe gets paid more than he does when he has accomplished so much this year.  He says because he defeated Low Ki, that should equal big bucks for him.  He said as long as he was in Joe’s shadow that he would never truly deserved.  So, in Manhattan, he decided to become the hottest free agent in wrestling today.  He then put a note to all managers that his services are now up for bidding.  I personally loved Cappetta’s facial reaction when Lethal made the correction about Joe taking him under his wing.  That was good stuff.

BJ Whitmer with Lacey versus Jay Lethal versus Christopher Daniels with Allison Danger versus Samoa Joe

This was a pretty good match.  Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels had another chapter in their ongoing feud.  The story though was Jay Lethal and his trying to avoid Joe throughout the match.  He and BJ Whitmer would do a lot of tag teaming in beating down Joe and Daniels:  It seems that Whitmer and Daniels have a simmering feud going over resentment on the part of Whitmer towards Daniels.  The ladies also got involved when Lacey interjected herself twice and Allison Danger got tired of it and interjected herself and brought her and Lacey in the ring and they began brawling before Whitmer grabbed Danger and Daniels grabbed Whitmer.  Daniels got a nice spot in when he hit the “best moonsault ever”.  They brought in Joe’s X-Division belt and Joe gave Daniels a musclebuster on the belt and Lethal won the match with a dragon suplex and Joe was not happy.  I loved how he gave a STJoe with one hand out of the corner.

Intermission Interview with the Embassy:  Gary Michael Cappetta says he is pleased at this time to be joined by the Embassy.  Nana Basically sends him out of the room.  He then says the Embassy is in town.  They are climbing the ladder.  2005 was no fluke.  In 2006 The Embassy will change the face of professional wrestling and it starts with Rave and Shelley.  Shelley says he has had an epiphany.  Instead of beating of beating everybody down, he wants to play by their rules.  He wants to show them respect.  Then he says why not take all their titles.  Rave says the ROH Title sounds real good.    Then they say 2006 is going to be an unbelievable year.

Ricky Reyes versus Davey Andrews
 
I thought this match was not given enough time.  Reyes started out early dominating Andrews with forearms and kicks.  Then we are taken backstage where Gary Michael Cappetta is interviewing Corino.  Corino says he is leaving ROH.  He says it is an unsafe working environment.  He basically called Homicide a murderer and said this rivalry has gone too far.  They needed to have the police there and send Homicide to jail.  After Corino says he’s leaving, we go back to action and Andrews is able to get some offense in but get choked out.  After the match, Reyes grabs the “Top of the Class” trophy and destroys with a baseball bat.  After the match, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong come to the ring.  I love this promo so much I want to quote this.

Austin Aries Promo: He says, he is sitting in the back getting ready or his tag team match and he watching and Reyes thinks he is a tough guy.  He asks Reyes if he thinks he is a butt kicker.  He says what he really is is pathetic.  Aries thinks Reyes is trying to soothe his bruised ego by picking on a bunch of students who are just trying to pay their dues and work their way up the ranks.  Then he says it isn’t their fault Rocky Romero carried him for a whole year.   He’s a big star in Japan and what is Reyes doing?  He’s picking on students.  Aries says it’s not the students’ fault that he is over only when he’s drunk.  Aries then questions why Reyes is letting Julius Smokes hold him back.  Then he asks Reyes why doesn’t he get in the ring and we’ll find out just how tough he is.  Then he tells Reyes he’s not that hard to find if he wants a fight as Reyes backs up heading up the aisle.

Roderick Strong and Austin Aries versus Sal Rinauro and Tony Marmaluke
 
This was a fun match.  No one would back down.  I have never seen a harder chop than what Roderick Strong delivers.  Both teams do really well at tagging in this match.  Austin Aries can also deliver a hard chop.  What I did not like was the ending.  Aries got the pin but I think Referee Paul Turner did a horrible job at the end of keeping the match in control.  There was a time I had no idea who the legal man was at the end of the match.  I really like Tony Marmaluke.  He’s a guy you do not want in your face.  I do think there was a lot of outside interference from Marmaluke though when Aries and Strong were working over Rinauro.  There was a point where Marmaluke got so fed up he dragged Strong out of the ring and beat him down out on the floor and then his “Hulk Hogan” pose with the hand over the ear.  Overall, this was a good match.

Bryan Danielson versus Noamichi Marufuji for the ROH Title
 
If you buy this DVD, it will be for this match.  These two guys battled and they battled.  They threw everything and the kitchen sink at each other.  They did high risk moves and technical moves.  Danielson tried several submission moves like the bow and arrow and the surfboard.  They chopped each other.  They kicked each other.  It got to the point they were slapping each other in the face.  There were a lot of reversals.  Danielson hit Marufuji with uppercuts.  When this match ended both men were spent.  They were doing reversals of inside cradles when Danielson lowered his weight to get the win.  The fans showed their respect to Marufuji and asked him to return.

Low Ki versus Kenta Kobashi for the GHC Title
 
This was another great match.  This was better than Danielson/Marufuji and I thought that would be hard to do.  If you know a move, these two guys probably used it.  They used chops.  They used kicks.  They used Irish whips into the corner.  They used forearms.  When this match finished, both men were literally on fumes.  You could see Kenta out on his feet.  They used slingshot maneuvers.  There were so many near falls you lose track of them all.  Both men would kick out of the other’s finisher.  Kenta kicked out of the Ki Krusher.  They rammed each other into the barricade and guardrail.  Kenta finally won the match with a flying knee strike after a tiger suplex.  After the match, there was a huge applause and a “Thank you, Kenta” chant.  This was an awesome match.

Christopher Daniels Promo:  He says he cannot go into a locker room without seeing Samoa Joe.  He says he looks back at 2002 and realizes now he made the biggest mistake of his career by bringing Joe into Ring of Honor.  He says now it’s escalated to the point where Joe is trying to end his career.  If not end it, cripple him.  He gave him a musclebuster in TNA on a chair.  He also gave him a musclebuster in Ring of Honor on his X-Division title belt.  Daniels asks when is it going to end.  He says the answer is soon and he wants to end it in Ring of Honor.
 
Thoughts on card:  First off, I was really disappointed that there was no follow-up from Steel Cage Warfare.  I thought the Embassy could have cut a promo on Generation Next saying if they win the Tag Team Titles, they’re coming for the belts.  I also thought it was interesting that Jade Chung was not at ringside with Aries and Strong for their title match.  I thought Strong was her love interest.  Why no Matt Sydal or Jack Evans on the card?  Secondly, I think Homicide is taking his name way too far.  This feud with Corino and Cabana has got to end sometime and I’M afraid if it doesn’t, someone will get badly hurt.  The last two matches are five star.  Danielson, Marufuji, Low Ki, and Kenta did a great job.  For those two matches alone, I say buy this DVD.  If you don’t, you’ll really miss out.
 
Next time, I will review the October 14, 2005 show, “Enter The Dragon”.  If you have any comments or DVD requests for ROH you’d like me to review, feel free to email me at ke4ole@bellsouth.net.

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