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On September 14th, 2007, Ring of Honor held Motor City Madness 2007 in Detroit, Michigan. If you like El Generico, this is the show for you. Rebecca Bayless opens the DVD with a peek at the pre show and promises to get a word with wrestlers as they finish their matches. Silas Young vs. Davey Richards This is Young's ROH debut. Richards goes to work on the arm early, but Young cartwheels out and reverses into a wristlock. Richards kicks out of it. Dragon Kick by Young. The two trade shoulder tackles, but neither budges. Big boot and chip by Richards, but he is chopped down by Young. Young with a dropkick. Arm drag by Young. Richards rolls through a sunset flip attempt and stomps Silas. Hard kick to the chest by Davey. Davey with a forearm and clothesline for two. Davey locks in the headscissors on the mat, then stomps Young in the face. Hammerlock into suplex by Davey. Northern Lights Suplex on Young gets two. Young fights back with headbutts and chops Richards. Flying clothesline and a back body drop by Young. Backbreaker gets two. Young with a Finlay roll, followed by a headstand in the corner into a moonsault for two. Young goes to the top, but misses a missile dropkick. Richards chops away in the corner. Overhead belly to belly by Richards. He charges in the corner and kicks Young in the gut, then hits a springboard missile dropkick to the back for two. Young blocks the DR Driver and chops back. Flying knee strike by Richards. Silas turns a DR Driver into a roll up for two. Richards with an enziguri and release German Suplex. He locks in a Kimura, then batters Young in the head. He locks in a Kimura again and Young taps. Your winner, Davey Richards! Post match, Richards spits in Young's hand. The Briscoes talk about their match tonight, and make allusions to 161, saying they fight in the ring and not the internet. Mostly just the Briscoes listing factions. Chasyn Rance & Kenny King vs. Mitch Franklin & Alex Payne This match gives the lamer smarks a chance to try out their lines. This is the ROH debut of the YRR. Payne and Rance start with some reversals. Rance throws King into the corner. King tags in and hits a clothesline. Spinebuster by Kenny gets two. Payne tries to fight out of the corner, but Rance tags in and kicks him. Springboard leg drop by King gets two. Payne makes the tag and Franklin takes Rance down. Rance dodges a double team and King kicks Franklin on the top of the rope. Rance leaps off King's back and kicks Franklin off the top to the floor. Payne gets killed with a double team to end the squash. Your winners, the YRR! Rance cuts a rather paint by numbers promo explaining who they are, saying fans envy them because of the rich lifestyle. Before he can get too far in the promo, Final Countdown begins to play, and Bryan Danielson, complete with eye patch, makes his way to the ring. American Dragon takes the mic and the crowd gives my least favorite chant of all time. Dragon compliments their debut. He wants to check his depth perception if they are really ready for action. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny King The two lock up and Danielson gets the better of it as he takes King to the mat and locks in an armbreaker. King powers out into a waistlock, but it is reversed into a crossface. Danielson with a bow and arrow. Dragon with a half crab, but King makes the ropes. Danielson with a shoulderblock and dragon kick. He puts King in a surfboard. King grabs the ropes. Rance tries to interfere and King takes advantage with some boots and a choke in the corner. He chokes Dragon in the ropes. Danielson with a couple of forearms and a roaring elbow. Danielson with a triangle choke, and King taps. Your winner, Bryan Danielson! Danielson challenges Chasyn Rance next. Bryan Danielson vs. Chasyn Rance Rance gets a cheap shot and attacks Danielson in the corner. Danielson blocks a charge and hits a flying knee, then kicks Rance's head in as Paul Turner ends the match. Your winner, Bryan Danielson! Four Corner Survival: Erick Stevens vs. Delirious vs. Roderick Strong vs. Kevin Steen This match is to determine who takes on Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Title later on in the night. Delirious attacks Strong at the bell, and Stevens joins in stomping Strong. Steen wants a piece as well, then he attacks Delirious. Steen and Stevens trade forearms. Steen with an eye rake, but Delirious and Stevens take him down. Strong fights Stevens and Delirious off. Steen fights Delirious on the floor. Stevens chops Strong in the corner. Strong turns it around and clotheslines Stevens in the corner. Steen throws Delirious into the guardrail on the floor. Strong keeps pounding Stevens and hits a borderline low blow for two. Strong with a fall away slam for two. Delirious breaks the pin up and throws Strong into the corner. Delirious with a belly to back suplex. Delirious drops Strong on the mat and hits a back senton on Strong. Delirious with a chop and clotheslines as Stevens and Steen fight on the floor. Steen pulls Strong out and gets in the ring. Steen chops Delirious. He teases a big chop, but goes for the thumb to the eye instead. Steen with an elbow to the back off the ropes. He tries to keep Stevens and Strong out of the ring. Delirious headbutts back. Steen with a clothesline in the corner and a scoop slam. Steen goes to the top, but Delirious meets him. Steen knocks him off, but misses a Swanton. Stevens dumps Delirious and knees Steen in the gut. Chop by Stevens and a back suplex for two. Roderick goes after Stevens, but is tossed out. Stevens with a big vertical suplex. Steen goes to roll out, but Stevens stomps him. Stevens with a side slam for two. Strong tags Steen out and goes after Stevens. He hits a dropkick. That brings Delirious in. Drop toe hold by Delirious and he nails Panic Attack on Strong. Steen with a big boot and cannonball to Delirious in the corner. Roderick stops a choo choo attempt, but Stevens gets a big german suplex on Delirious to end the sequence and knock all four men down. Strong and Steen trade stiff chops. They counter each others finishers. Northern Lights Bomb by Strong gets two. Steen comes in and gets a powerbomb for two when Delirious breaks the pin up. Delirious runs into a powerslam, but he knocks Steen to the floor and dives off the top rope onto him with a suicide flip. Delirious crawls and and rolls Stevens up for two. Stevens with a back slide for two. Delirious with a rolling cradle into the cobra stretch. Steen breaks it up and chops Delirious. Steen with a pumphandle neckbreaker for two. Strong with a chinbreaker and gutbuster for two. Stevens and Strong go at it. Stevens with a powerslam for two. Delirious with a Cobra Clutch Suplex to Strong. Stevens with a TKO to Steen. Delirious and Steen trade forearms. Delirious with a Cobra Clutch, but Stevens slams him to the mat and nails a Doctor Bomb for the win to some boos from the crowd. Your winner, Erick Stevens! Stevens takes the mic and talks about the biggest match of his career. He guarantees that he won't let the crowd down. Jimmy Jacobs (w/ Lacey) vs. Chris Hero (w/ Sweet and Sour, Inc.) Sweet and Sour go through the usual shenanigans with Dempsey. Jacobs and Hero trade wristlocks. Jacobs with a side headlock. The two trade more reversals. Hero shows off. Jacobs feigns amazement. Hero with a side headlock. Shoulderblock by Hero. Jacobs with an arm drag. Jacobs with a rana and satellite headscissors takedown for two. Jacobs goes back to the arm. Hero shows off again. Jacobs clotheslines Hero to the floor. Jacobs dives onto Dempsey. Hero throws him into the guard rail. Hero stomps Jacobs then hits a right hand to the head. Hero with an elbow to the back of the neck as he tries to wear down Jacobs. Hero scores a couple of near falls. Jacobs starts to Hulk up. Jacobs no sells some boots. Del Ray kicks Jacobs in the chest. Hero measures up Jacobs and hits a big boot. Hero chops Jacobs in the chest. Hero with a dropkick in the corner, but Jacobs hits a spear. Jacobs forearms back and clotheslines Hero. Jacobs with a rana for two. Hero dodges a charge and hits a forearm in the corner. He tosses Jacobs off the top rope for two. Jacobs crotches Hero and hangs him in the tree of woe. Jacobs with his trademark corner moves. Jacobs goes to the top, but Hero meets him. Jacobs gets a guillotine choke on Hero. Hero frees himself and hits a release suplex for two. Hero with a Dislocater for two. Del Ray comes in, but Lacey blocks her and the two fight each other. Lacey with a neckbreaker, then she mounts and punches Del Ray. Hero pulls Lacey off, but Jacobs comes back with the Contra Code for two when Sweeney interferes. Jacobs goes to punch Dempsey. Hero ends up slapping Bobby. Jacobs uses the opportunity to get the guillotine choke on Hero again. Your winner, Jimmy Jacobs! After the match, Dempsey tries to attack Jacobs, but Jimmy gives him the guillotine choke. The ring crew has to force him to break it. In the back, Bayless wants to know how the knee is holding up. Jacobs says it's fine, but it's not about tonight, it's about what happens next. Lacey says soon they will see. More foreshadowing. El Generico vs. Naomichi Marufuji Code of Honor and hug to start. First time ever match! Marufuji pushes Generico to the corner. Marufuji with a waistlock. The two trade reversals. Marufuji with a single leg takedown and a leg lock. Marufuji with a side headlock, then shoulderblock. Generico with some arm drags. Generico hits a leg lariat. Generico sends Marufuji to the floor, and Generico fakes a dive. Generico with a drop toe hold and some elbow drops for two. Generico with a body slam for two. Generico goes for ten punches in the corner. Backbreaker and split legged moonsault by Generico for two. Marufuji springboards and dropkicks Generico to the floor. Generico is whipped into the guardrail. Running dropkick by Marufuji. Side headlock wrenched in by Marufuji and he takes Generico to the canvas, adding a bridge for more pressure. Generico tries to shove Marufuji off, but is unable to get enough momentum. Generico elbows out and chops Marufuji. Marufuji with a dropkick and he leaps over the top back into a side headlock. He shoves Generico's face into the ringpost and goes back to the side headlock. He repeats that move. Marufuji gets back in the ring and waits for Generico. He goes back to a side headlock, but there is a rope break. Marifuji ties up Generico in a submission. Marufuji punches Generico for a near fall. Generico fires back and kicks Marufuji to the floor. Generico dives over the top rope onto Naomichi. Generico tosses Marufuji back in the ring and goes to the top rope with a big splash for two. Generico with a Blue Thunder Powerbomb for two. Marufuji hits a big clothesline for two. Straitjacket Suplex on Generico for two. Generico and Marufuji trade forearms. Marufuji drives Generico's head to the mat, then nails a baseball slide dropkick and superkick for two. Tiger Bomb into a cross arm breaker by Marufuji. Generico teases a tap in a genuine moment of suspense. He's able to make the ropes to force the break. Marufuji with a nasty superkick. Generico blocks a shiranui and puts Marufuji in the tree of woe. He dives across the ring with a somersault. Marifuji blocks a charge, but is caught with a big boot for two. Marifuji with a roll up for two. Both men connect with superkicks and go down. Marufuji and Generico trade charges in the corner. Generico with a brainbuster for two as Naomichi barely gets his shoulder up. Generico goes to the top, but is met by Marifuji. He kicks Generico and hits a shiranui for two as Generico gets his boot on the rope. Marufuji puts Generico in the tree of woe, bit Generico avoids the coast to coast attempt. The two fight on the top rope again. Marufuji with a super shiranui for the win. Your winner, Naomichi Marufuji! Bayless is in the back with Aries and Resilience. Aries puts over the title shots that all of the men have tonight. Stevens says it is the biggest match of his life and warns Morishima not to overlook him. Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli vs. BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright Nigel and Whitmer begin. Whitmer gets a wristlock. Nigel gets one of his own. Too many of these on this show. The two trade more moves on the mat. Whitmer and Nigel trade near falls. Whitmer gets in a cheap shot and tags Albright in. Albright kicks Nigel in the corner, then kicks him in the head. Whitmer tags back in and works over Nigel in the corner. Albright tags in and works on the arm. Whitmer tags back in and keeps the pressure on the arm. Whitmer hits one charge in the corner, but misses a second and Claudio tags in with a suplex for two. Claudio with a back elbow for two on Whitmer. Nigel tags in and the two hammer Whitmer with European Elbows for two. Nigel snaps Whitmer's arm to the mat and Claudio tags back in and hits the arm. Claudio keeps working over the arm with various holds. Claudio with an elbow drop off the middle rope. He dodges attempted interference from Albright, but runs to a spinebuster and Albright tags in. Albright with a suplex. Hagadorn kicks Claudio on the floor. Whitmer and Albright double team Castagnoli. Whitmer hangs Claudio on the top rope and knees him in the head. Albright in with a back elbow and some stomps. Albright works on Castagnoli's back. Whitmer tags in and pounds Claudio in the corner. Whitmer with some headscissors on Claudio. Albright tags in, but is distracted by Nigel. Albright regains control. Whitmer and Albright keep Claudio down in the corner with fresh tags. Claudio finally makes the tag to Nigel. Nigel with a roll up on Albright and then lariats to Whitmer and Albright. Nigel slaps Albright in the corner and hits a running European Uppercut and Lariat for two. Nigel goes for the Tower of London, but Whitmer interferes. Claudio kicks him out of the ring, then kicks Albright on the top. Claudio hits a diving European Uppercut onto Whitmer. Albright gets an armbar, but Claudio breaks it up. Whitmer and Albright work over Claudio. Whitmer dives off the top onto Castagnoli. Albright ducks a lariat and locks in another armbar. Nigel goes for the ropes, but Albright drags him into the middle of the ring again. Claudio is able to break the armbar up and springboards with a European Uppercut on Albright. He catches Whitmer with a powerbomb and does the giant swing on an interfering Hagadorn. Nigel takes Hagadorn's head off with a lariat. Whitmer gets multiple suplexes and a powerbomb on Claudio. Nigel with a lariat to Whitmer. Albright runs in with a Half Nelson Suplex for the win when Nigel turns his back. Your winners, Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer! No DQ Match: Jack Evans vs. Rocky Romero Romero assaults Evans as he makes his showboating entrance. Romero stomps and kicks Evans in the back. Romero chops Evans and tosses him to the mat, then knees him in the chest. Evans comes back with a rana and kicks Romero out of the ring. Evans gets on the mic and says Romero didn't have the balls to face him in the cage match and officially makes it a No DQ Match. Romero comes in the a chair, but Evans is able to kick him to the floor again. Evans with a handspring elbow that sends both men to the floor. Snap suplex on the floor to Romero. Evans gets tossed into the chairs after initially flipping out of Romero's toss. Brawl in the crowd and chairs. Evans is tossed into a wall, but flips off it and kicks Romero. Evans sends Romero into a production case and they head back to the ring. Evans misses a 450 Splash off the guardrail. Romero sets up a chair in the corner and puts Evans back in the ring. Butterfly suplex and knee drop get two. Romero chops Evans in the corner and tries to toss him to the chair. Romero rolls through a sunset flip and kicks Evans in the chest. Evans no sells a Tornado DDT and hits a flying knee and standing corkscrew press for two. Evans goes to the top, but gets caught by Romero with a neckbreaker. Romero goes for a chair and rams Evans leg against the ringpost. He then hits it with a chair. Romero works the leg, but Evans kicks out, but he is caught when he staggers around. Romero jumps off the middle rope with a DDT for two. He spits at the ref. Romero grabs another chair and keeps hitting the injured leg. Evans gets out of an ankle lock with a small package for two. Romero goes for a Fisherman's Buster, but Evans gets two with a backslide. Romero drives Evans into the chair set up in the corner, then hits a powerbomb. Romero with an anklelock. Evans grabs the ropes, but he is pulled to the middle of the ring. Evans rolls up Rocky for two, but he gets kicked in the head. Romero grabs a table from underneath the ring. Romero puts Evans on the top rope after setting up a table. Evans blocks it and lays Romero on the table, but he is tossed off the top. Evans catches him with a drop kick and then kits a couple of kicks to put Romero on the table. Evans with a double knee drop to put Romero through the table. Your winner, Jack Evans! Evans talks about his win in the back afterwards. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Erick Stevens Stevens and Morishima test each other to start. Morishima knocks Stevens down with a shoulderblock. Stevens with a forearm and flying shoulder tackle. Morishima bails, but Stevens dives off the apron onto him. Morishima shows some Fighting Spirit and hits a Flying Hip Attack. Morishima with a running Big Boot in the corner. He pounds Stevens with some rights. Morishima tosses Stevens out of the ring and sits him on a chair. Running hip attack against the steel barricade. He hits the move again in another corner. Stevens rolls back in the ring and Morishima stands on his stomach. Morishima keeps clubbing away. He sits on Stevens in the corner. Morishima humbles Stevens with a Camel Clutch, but it is broken up when the ropes are grabbed. Morishima with a cartwheel into an avalanche in the corner. He climbs the ropes, but misses a dropkick off the top. Stevens tries to take Morishima down with some clotheslines and hits a powerslam for two. There might be some drama in that spot if it was done later in the match. Stevens takes the champion outside the ring, and he charges with a Choo Choo against the guardrail. Uncalled for dueling chants. Can't we save them for bigger matches? Sheesh. Stevens with a half crab. Stevens charges in the corner and hits another choo choo. He goes for a Doctor Bomb, but gets back dropped and sat on for two. Stevens blocks a Back Drop Driver, but is hit with a forearm. Stevens gets Morishima on his shoulder and hits a sloppy looking TKO for two. The announcers put it over, but it wasn't really impressive, considering all the men that have gotten Morishima off his feet. German Suplex and Lariat by Stevens get two. He connects with a Doctor Bomb, but only gets two. Stevens goes for another German, but Morishima falls on him for two. Stevens counters the BDD with a side headlock takedown for two. He goes off the ropes, but Morishima clotheslines him. Big time Lariato by the champion for two. Back Drop Driver and this one's over. Your winner, Takeshi Morishima! ROH Tag Team Titles Match: The Briscoes (c) vs. Resilience (Matt Cross and Austin Aries) Jay and Aries start out with a collar and elbow tie up. Clean break by Jay in the corner. Another lock up. Aries gets a hammerlock and takes Jay to the mat, but that is countered. Side headlock by Aries. Jay blocks a takeover attempt and sends Aries off. Aries with a shoulder tackle and some arm drags. Aries with an STO and elbow drop. Mark kicks Aries in the back and Jay connects with a leg lariat. Mark tags in and charges Aries in the corner, then hits a stiff slap. Jay tags back in and punches Aries. Chop by Jay and some punches. Mark tags in and they connect with a double team move. Mark with a springboard senton off the ropes for two. He hits a vertical suplex for two. Mark with the headscissors. Jay tags back in and punches Aries. Aries tries to fight back. Jay chokes him on the ropes and tags Mark. Aries fights off a double team, and drives Jay to the canvas. Cross tags in and springboards towards the Briscoes. He plants Mark on the mat after sending Jay to the floor. He fakes a dive towards Jay, and then dives over the other side and hits Mark. Snap suplex on Mark gets two. Aries tags back in with an elbow to the shoulder. Mark fights him off and tags Jay in. Aries drags Jay to the corner and Resilience hit a couple of slingshot double teams for two. Cross tags back in and dropkicks Jay for two. The two trade forearms. Cross with a snapmare. Scoop slam by Cross and Aries tags in with a slingshot senton and big elbow drop for two. Aries works over the back of Jay Briscoe. Cross tags back in and they hit a leapfrog double stomp in the corner. Resilience continue to work over Jay, who is finally able to tag Mark in. Mark with a crossface on Cross. Mark with a clothesline in the corner and a belly to belly suplex for two. Jay tags in and hits a bulldog. Jay with a big dropkick. Jay Briscoe chops away in the corner. Mark tags back in and the Briscoes chop MDogg in the corner, then they toss him across the ring. Cross fights them off, but Mark spears him for two. Mark with some forearms in the corner before tagging Jay back in. They put him on the top turnbuckle, but Cross fights them off and cartwheels off the top to tag in Aries. Aries cleans house and tosses Jay and Mark to the floor, then knocks them down with a dive. Elbow drop off the apron to Mark. Aries sets Jay in the corner and calls for Cross. Jay is whipped into Cross' boot. Cross then hits a split legged senton for two. Aries goes for a Brainbuster, but it gets blocked. Jay with shoulderblocks in the corner, but Aries knees out and hits a gordbuster. Modified chinlock by Aries, but Mark hits a springboard double stomp to break the submission up. Aries avoids the springboard Doomsday Device, but the Briscoes connect with a backbreaker/knee drop combo for two. Mark tags in and they go for another double team, but Cross makes the save and tags in. Cross hits a double stomp on both Briscoes, and Aries DVDs Mark onto Jay. Cross covers both for two. Resilience go for a double team on the top, but Mark knocks them off. He misses a top rope splash and Aries hits a brainbuster. He goes for the 450, but Jay shoves him off. Cross hits a Shooting Star Press on Mark, but Jay breaks up the pin. Jay tags in and goes for a Jay Driller. Cross counters into a rana. The Briscoes go for the Doomsday again, but Aries blocks and Cross with an inside cradle for two. Spike Jay Driller on Cross ends the match and the Briscoes retain. Your winners, The Briscoes! The Briscoes celebrate to end the DVD. This was a middle of the road effort from ROH. The hype was for the next night's event, and it shows. Only Generico-Marufuji is worth going out of your way to see. I'd recommend getting it cheap in a sale, but it doesn't really stand on it's own unless you are a big Generico mark. One of my big problems with this show was many matches felt the same. They all open with the standard series of reversals, and literally every match had a spot (or several) where Wrestler A was put on the top, or went to the top, only to be pushed off by Wrestler B. This happens on other shows, but you notice it less when the matches are better. I'm not saying the matches were bad. If this was CZW, I'd say it was an A+ show. But you expect more from ROH at times, and that's not such a bad thing. Not every show will be must see. Match thoughts: Richards vs. Young was kind of average. Young looked ok, but this was more a showcase for Richards, who doesn't appeal to me that much. A better story would be Young getting in more offense in his debut, only to lose to a flash Kimura or DR Driver. YRR looked pretty good in the squash match, though this might have been a more effective opener. Whatever solid impression they made was undone by Danielson taking care of them. Four corner was above average. Delirious was the MVP of the match, doing most of the work in the ring. Jacobs-Hero was a lot of fun at times, but probably went on a bit too long. I'm so used to seeing Hero being a big deal in CZW so it's a little tough to get used to him being the main attraction of the sideshow. Marufuji and Generico put together an amazing match. Both men really gave their best. Marufuji was excellent at heeling it up with the headlock. Orton should study his matches. The false finishes were very well done, and it seemed like either man could pull it out at any time. McGuinness/Castagnoli vs. Albright/Whitmer was a very solid tag match with a lot of intensity. Every performer really got a chance to shine, and the finish was well done, with the right team going over. Evans-Romero was really nothing to write home about. It was like a watered down No DQ match that you might see on Monday Night Raw or Impact. Pretty disappointing. The ROH Title match was okay, but there was zero suspense in it. It couldn't be more obvious who was winning, and it didn't even look like he was "looking past Stevens" like the announcers tried to get over. Stevens power moves weren't that impressive when you've seen so many other guys get the champion up off his feet. ROH Tag Title match was pretty standard. You've seen better from both teams, and it too suffered from predictability. Didn't really get going until the last few minutes. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at edsh007@hotmail.com |
