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DVD REVIEW: RING OF HONOR - CHAOS AT THE COW PALACE

On October 21st, 2007, Ring of Honor held Chaos at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. Let's resist the urge to make jokes about the title, shall we?

Nigel opens the DVD with a promo in the back talking about how it is much more difficult to retain the belt than it is to win the belt on one night. He puts over Samoa Joe and says he doesn't want to end up as a footnote champion coughxavierandhomicidecough. He vows not to leave his legacy in San Francisco.

Chris Hero w/ Larry Sweeney vs. Human Tornado

Fresh off his win at Survival of the Fittest in Las Vegas, Hero opens against one of the most entertaining West Coasters around. After the traditional stalling, Tornado serves Hero and forces him to bail. Tornado rolls out of a foothold. HTizzle works in a wristlock. Lenny Leonard takes a shot at the people who ran the convention as Hero shows off. Ouch! Hero orders Bobby Cruise to announce that Hero is the SOTF2007 winner, and that Chris is Awesome clap clap clap clap. Heh.

Side headlock by Hero. He knocks down Tornado and shows off some more. Tornado serves Hero again by showing his moves. Hero steps on his feet. Tornado splits to avoid Hero and scores with a leg lariat. Monkey flip out of the corner by Tornado. Snapmare and neck snap. Tizzle goes for and hits the Pounce. Sweeney prevents him from diving out of the ring and Hero runs in behind him and nails a release German Suplex. Hero stomps Tornado in the corner and throws him off his shoulders, followed by a headstand into the senton gets two. Springboard double axe handle to Tornado for two.

Hero blatantly chokes Tornado in the corner. Tornado floats over a back suplex and gives him a dropkick, followed by a running knee strike. Tornado sacrifices himself by leapfrogging over Hero to stomp his head, spilling to the floor in the process. Hero tries to take advantage, but gets thrown into the ringpost. Springboard missile dropkick by Tornado gets two. He then does his dance and split kick in the corner for two. Hero catches a swinging DDT attempt and nails him with a suplex for two.

Hero delivers a forearm as Tornado comes off the ropes and hits the Dislocater for two. Chops by Hero in the corner. Tornado comes back and pimp slaps Hero before getting the swinging DDT for two. HTizzle hits D.N.D for two. Hero with a forearm and big boot to set up the Hero's Welcome and Hangman's Clutch for the win.

Your winner, Chris Hero!

Post match, Sweeney gets on the mic and calls Hero the most talented person to work in the storied building. Claudio Castagnoli runs out and delivers a European Uppercut, followed by a short speech putting over what an honor it is to be in the Cow Palace, leading to our next match...

FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

The two have some fun with the handshake before the bell. They lock up and go all over the ring, maintaining the lockup all the way to the floor and into the crowd. Strong with an eye rake. Back in the ring, Roderick controls Claudio's arm. Castagnoli escapes and works over Strong's right leg before Roderick makes the ropes. Roderick gets on the middle rope and tells Claudio to bring it there for the test of strength. Roderick gets distracted by a fan and Castagnoli tosses him off and tries to force his shoulders to the mat. Both men now standing, Claudio controls Roderick and forces him to the mat for two.

Castagnoli with a side headlock takedown. Strong gets back up and forces the break by getting to the tournament. He hits Claudio, who comes back with forearms. Strong catches Castagnoli with a gutbuster. He chops Double C down, followed by a scoop slam and elbow drop for two. Reverse bear hug on the mat by Roderick, who is focusing on the abdominal region. Claudio gets to his feet and elbows out, but runs into a dropkick for two.

Strong dumps Claudio and chops him on the floor. Claudio punches back and drives Strong into the barricade. He attempts a charge, but Strong moves. Strong irish whips Claudio into the steel barricade.. Claudio barely makes it back into the ring at nineteen (they have until 20 in FIP title matches). Strong covers for two. He gives Claudio another gutbuster and bear hug. Castagnoli makes the ropes. Castagnoli blocks a charge with a boot and ducks a clothesline before nailing a European Uppercut that puts both men down.

Strong is up first, but Claudio hits some big shots and a dropkick. Back body drop and scoop slam by Claudio, who walks the ropes and comes off with an elbow for two. Fisherman's suplex for two by Castagnoli. Roderick blocks the Ricola Bomb with a jackknife pin and gets two with a backbreaker on his shoulder. He elevates then plants Claudio and hits a running boot for two. Claudio blocks the Gibson Driver. Roddy floats over a back slide, but is caught with a European Uppercut and Bicycle Kick for two.

Strong and Roderick exchange shots. Strong with chops and Claudio with European Uppercuts. Claudio with a springboard European Uppercut for two. Giant Swing by Castagnoli for another two count. Claudio sets up for the Alpamare Waterslide, but Strong delivers an enziguri, followed by the Gutbuster and Gibson Driver for the win.

Your winner, Roderick Strong!

Claudio chases Roderick to the back afterwards. We get a shill for FIP on DVD after this.

Karl 'Machine Gun' Anderson vs. Adam Pearce w/ Shane Hagadorn

Pearce teases that he is going to be a good sport, but he assaults Anderson when he turns his back. Anderson with a hip toss and dropkick. He knocks Pearce down with a leaping lariat and clotheslines Pearce to the floor. Pearce acts like he is going to leave and tries to get Anderson to the floor, but Machine Gun is able to connect with some chops. He whips Pearce into the steel a couple times.

Back in the ring, Anderson goes to the top rope and hits a top rope cross body for two. Pearce with a low blow and clothesline for two. Pearce chops and punches Anderson. Pearce locks in a sleeper hold on the shorter Anderson. Machine Gun gets back to his feet and applies his own sleeper. The two men clothesline each other and go down. Anderson knocks Pearce down a couple times, then hits a back heel kick. Mule kick by Anderson, followed by a gordbuster. An enziguri to Pearce's head gets two. Anderson dodges a Pearce splash and gives him a spinebuster. Hagadorn interferes and allows Pearce to try and come back. Anderson chops him, but gets caught in a piledriver and Pearce covers for three.

Your winner, Adam Pearce!

Delirious runs out and attacks Pearce immediately after the match. Pearce bails and he goes after Hagadorn instead, biting his face. This brings out Brent Albright, and we have our next match (this DVD is turning out like a Mr. Show episode...one match right into the next).

Delirious vs. Brent Albright

Delirious with his Warrior like clotheslines and a leaping lariat to send Albright from the ring. A baseball slide sends Albright into the steel barrier. Albright recovers and throws Delirious into the barrier a couple times before laying some boots into his opponent. Albright and Pearce tease a little old lady in the crowd. Delirious blocks Albright as he comes off the top and goes for the Panic Attack, but Pearce trips and crotches him on the ringpost. A butterfly suplex from Albright is good for two. Albright pounds Delirious in the back. Albright with a delayed back suplex for two. Delirious tries to make a comeback, but he gets sent to the floor, where Pearce chokes him with Delirious' own tassels, which helps get Albright a two count.

Albright stomps and chokes Delirious with his boot in the corner. Delirious tries to comeback again with headbutts, but is knocked down with a European Uppercut. Albright sets up for a move, but the camera inexplicably focuses on Pearce. Albright chokes Delirious some more. Delirious with a top rope dropkick. Delirious with some shots to the gut. He drops Albright to the mat and hits a back senton. Delirious mounts Albright and punches him. Delirious follows this by biting Albright. He dodges a charge in the corner and nails the Panic Attack. He chokes Albright in the corner with a tassel. Albright punches Delirious and climbs to the top to meet his opponent, but gets knocked down. Delirious hits Shadows Over Hell and applies the Cobra Stretch. Albright counters with a crowbar. Delirious rolls through and rolls up Albright for two before going back to the Cobra Stretch. Albright taps, but Pearce prevents the ref from seeing it. Step up enziguri by Delirious sends Albright to the floor. Pearce trips Delirious, who then knocks Pearce off the apron, but the distraction is enough to let Albright run in and hit the Half Nelson Suplex for the win.

Your winner, Brent Albright!

TJ Perkins & Tony Kozina vs. No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero)

TJ and Romero start out and test each other, coming out pretty even in the exchange, despite a bow and arrow from Romero. Rocky tags in Richards. Perkins with a wristlock and tag to Kozina, who comes in and hits the arm. Kozina with an arm drag as he keeps the pressure on Davey's arm. Perkins tags back in and they double team Richards. TJ gets one with a knee drop. Perkins locks in an abdominal stretch, but Romero breaks it up. Side russian leg sweep by TJ. Davey drives TJ into the corner and Romero tags in.

TJ trips up Romero, then delivers a drop kick to his face, followed by a bridging snap suplex for two. Kozina tags back in and hits some arm drags on Romero. Kozina is forced to the wrong corner and Richards tags back in. Perkins dodges a charge and arm drags Davey, tagging in Richards. TJ goes for some shoulderblocks, then exchanges them with Davey. Richards is able to finally get TJ down with an STO. Romero runs in and kicks Kozina off the apron. Richards dumps TJ, allowing Rocky to take advantage. Davey tosses TJ into Romero's boot and Ricky tags in. Inverted atomic drop and dropkick to the side of the head by Romero for two.

Romero scores with a running boot in the corner and tags Richards in. TJ kicks back, but Richards prevents a tag to Kozina. Romero tags in and they double team TJ with a gordbuster. TJ fights them off and makes the tag to Kozina. Kozina cleans house and hits some flying forearms on Richards. Spinning heel kick by Kozina. Richards stops the offense, but Kozina with a springboard moonsault press to Kozina and Richards, and a cover on Richards for two. TJ tags in and he double teams Richards with his partner for two when Romero interferes. Rocky fights off Kozina and hits a kick to TJ's head. German Suplex by Davey followed by a running knee strike by Romero for two when Kozina breaks the pin up.

Kozina goes to the top and gives Rocky a rana that sends both men to the floor. Wow! Richards charges Perkins. TJ with a kick that Davey no sells. TJ rolls him up for two. Richards with the Alarm Clock and tombstone into the kimura for the win.

Your winners, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero!

After the match, the lights go out and a woman starts screaming. Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher make their way through the crowd and come to the ring. I have to say, it looks really bad when you see the losers of the previous match just walking by Necro Butcher. He should have pounded them. Jacobs says the revolution has come to San Francisco. He reiterates that they need to beat some tag teams to get a title shot. He delivers a challenge to Richards and Romero, who seemingly accept when they go right after Necro and Jimmy.

Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher) vs. No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero)

Richards and Jimmy & Necro and Rocky go at it. AOTF get the better of their opponents. NRC send AOTF into each other and give Necro a double team gordbuster followed by stereo kicks. Jimmy chokes Davey with his cane on the floor and punches him in the thread. Davey dumps Jimmy into the crowd and throws him into a few rows of chairs. Davey sits Jimmy down and kicks him in the chest. Jimmy crotches Davey on a steel rail. The crowd chants, but the cameras aren't in position to catch the action. Jimmy and Necro team up on Rocky. Jacobs punches Rocky, but Rocky moves and sends Jimmy over a rail. Rocky throws Jimmy on top of a table, where the two trade punches. Necro comes over and joins in. Jimmy and Necro go to double team Rocky, but Davey stops it and teams with Rocky to suplex AOTF onto the concrete floor. Davey climbs onto a stage and wipes out AOTF with a moonsault.

Jimmy and Davey brawl towards the ring. Jimmy ins thrown into a steel barrier. Davey runs over to help Rocky suplex Necro into the crowd. Ouch. Rocky and Davey double team Jimmy in the ring. Davey gets two with a German Suplex. Another double team gets two, but Necro interferes with a chair. Necro gives Davey a chair slam. Necro goes to the top, but Davey throws a chair at him. Richards meets him and delivers a superplex onto the chair. Davey holds the chair up for Rocky to dropkick the chair into, but Jimmy breaks the pin up. Jimmy spears Rocky for two. Davey with a DDT to Jacobs on the chair. He goes to the top, but Necro throws another chair onto him. Necro tosses Davey off the top onto the chairs and delivers a Tiger Driver onto the very same chairs. Necro goes for the pin, but Jimmy breaks it up and applies the Guillotine Choke for the win.

Your winners, Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher!

Jay Briscoe talks about having double gold.

Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries

This is the second in the best of three series for a shot at the ROH World Title. Aries won the first match at Honor Nation on 10/5/2007. They come out even after some mat wrestling and then struggle for an advantage with a lock up. Aries rolls through to get it, but they have to break in the corner. Side headlock by Danielson, who then trips Aries and tries to lock up Aries head. Aries escapes with a pin for two.

Aries with a shoulderblock and a couple of arm drags to keep the pressure on Danielson's arm. Dragon comes back with a cross armbreaker attempt. Aries frees himself with a headstand. Collar and elbow tie up into an Aries headlock and another shoulderblock. Danielson trips Aries as he comes off the rope and he goes for a Mexican Surfboard. After that, Danielson cinches in a Bow and Arrow. Aries turns over and falls onto Dragon for two.

Danielson attacks Aries' leg in the corner. They trade shots. Danielson goes for the eyes. Aries springboards himself onto Dragon, then hits a slingshot senton and running elbow drop for two. Aries drives Dragon's leg to the mat, then works on the knee. He traps the arm and wrenches the back as well, before getting a pin for two. Danielson tries to get the cross armbreaker again, but Aries makes the ropes. Danielson gets a couple two counts with a bridge. Aries rolls through a sunset flip, but Dragon avoids a dropkick. Danielson locks up Aries legs. Aries eventually makes the ropes. Danielson claims that his legs are stuck. He rolls over and keeps the leg lock applied. What a heel!

Danielson and Aries get back to their feet and trade shots. Dragon wins with a European Uppercut. Butterfly suplex into a cross armbreaker by Danielson. Aries escapes, and Danielson goes back to the legs. He then segues into a crossface chickenwing attempt. Aries prevents it be tossing Dragon to the floor. Aries hits Dragon on the apron and throws him into the turnbuckle. Dragon blocks the second attempt and goes for a top rope sunset flip. Aries rolls through again, but this time he connects with a dropkick to knock both men down.

Aries gets up and trips Danielson, then gets two with a twisting body press. He scores another two count with a Lionsault. Danielson blocks a suplex, but eats an elbow. Dragon blocks the running dropkick and flies out of the corner with a running strike to Aries' chest. Aries tosses Danielson off a crossface chickenwing attempt and they once more trade shots, then two counts. Aries hits a shinbreaker/suplex combo. Dropkick in the corner by Aries gets two.

Aries goes to the top for the 450 Splash, but Dragon meets him and positions him for a top rope back suplex. Dragon hits the back superplex, bouncing Aries off the mat. Danielson covers for two, then immediately applies the Cattle Mutilation. Danielson hits repeated elbows to the head. Aries stands up and fires back with elbows in the corner. Aries flips over on a suplex and kicks Dragon in the head, then nails the Brainbuster, holding on and hitting Last Chancery, the combination that won last time. Danielson is somehow able to get an inside cradle for the pin out of nowhere at the nineteen minute mark.

Your winner, Bryan Danielson!

Danielson says he wont be caught in the same submission title. Aries meets him in the back and says his time is now.

ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe

Collar and elbow tie up to start. Another lockup. Nigel and Jay shove each other a couple times. Nigel with a waistlock, but Jay elbows out. Nigel hits a European Uppercut, but Jay counters with one of his own. Jay with some hard shots in the corner. Nigel blocks a charge with a knee and then drives Jay's shoulder into the ringpost. Nigel goes to work on the left arm. Nigel makes a pin attempt with two lateral presses.

The two trade chops. Nigel uses Jay's arm to drive him to the mat, then he tosses him through the ropes to the floor. Nigel with a European Uppercut and knee, then he throws the arm into the barricade, and then the ring post. Back in the ring, Nigel remains focused on the left arm. Jay comes back with a Dragon Screw. He stomps away at the left knee and Nigel retreats to the ropes.

Jay goes for a single leg crab, but Nigel won't turn over, so he sits down with a leg lock. Nigel grabs the ropes. Jay goes back to kicking the knee and wrenches the knee on the middle rope, following it up with more kicks. Snap suplex by Jay for one. Jay hits some knee drops on the left leg. Nigel bails. Jay follows and kicks the leg again. Nigel goes to walk it off, but Jay follows and drives the leg onto the apron, then across the apron.

Back in the ring, Jay kicks Nigel in the head and clubs him in the back. Jay with some elbows to the head. Nigel tries to chop back, but Jay takes him down with a quick dropkick to the left leg. Spinning toe hold by Jay, and he keeps stomping the knee. Jay applies another leg lock, but Nigel makes the ropes. The two trade chops. Jay takes Nigel down again with another kick to the leg. He goes for a spinning toe hold, but Nigel kicks him off. Nigel with a chinbreaker and then some chops and Europeans in the corner. Nigel tries to hit the rebound lariat, but Jay counters into an Ace Crusher. Sitout gordbuster by Jay for two.

Nigel gets a back suplex and goes for the Tower of London. Jay fights him off and hits a missile dropkick. He goes for a J Driller, but Nigel blocks it. Jay blocks an uppercut in the corner and dumps Nigel's head onto the turnbuckle. Nigel rolls to the floor, but Jay follows and throws his opponent into the guardrail. Jay gets the ringside table and uses it to sandwich Nigel's leg against the guardrail. He then kicks the table into it.

In the ring, Jay applies a single leg crab, but Nigel makes the ropes. Jay with a scoop slam. He goes to the top rope. Nigel runs up and crotches him, then hits the Tower of London for two. Nigel puts Jay on the ropes and clubs him in the back of the neck. Both men end up on the apron. Jay goes for the J Driller. Nigel tries for a Tower of London to the floor. Jay stops it and drives Nigel into the apron, and then the guardrail.

Fisherman's Buster by Jay gets two. Jay gives Nigel a DVD then goes to the top again and scores two with a top rope leg drop. Jay places Nigel on the top rope and goes for a superplex. Nigel tries for a suplex to the floor. He steps down to the apron and slaps Jay, then delivers a Tower of London onto the apron for two. Nigel gets the arm locked up and Jay is forced to tap.

Your winner, Nigel McGuinness!

Bryan Danielson comes out and tries to get in Nigel's face. Nigel gives him a European Uppercut. They go to the floor and start brawling. Age of the Fall then come out and go after the Briscoes. Mark initially fights them off, but they get the better of him. Romero and Richards join in and go for some revenge on AOTF. Aries comes out next to attack the NRC. He does a suicide dive and everyone falls into each other, erupting a larger brawl. Jay dives over the top rope onto the floor. Davey goes to the stop and does a shooting star press onto the mass of people fighting on the floor. Chris Hero enters throw the crowd and shows off in the ring as Sweeney yaps on the mic about his athletic ability. This draws out Claudio, who plants Hero with a Ricola Bomb. Castagnoli gets on the mic and says that the crowd has been amazing. They have. Fun segment to end the DVD.

The crowd was pretty awesome throughout the show. They were small, but very vocal.

The extras are a video wire and a 4 Way Women's match from 7/28/2007 in Edison. NJ featuring Portia Perez, Sara Del Ray, Daizee Haze, and Alicia.

Thoughts:

Hero-Tornado could have been so much more with two of the most charismatic men on the indies. Tornado is a newcomer to the ROH audience, so he can't do to much in the company yet, and Hero is playing the cowardly heel right now. In another company, it might have come off better. Perhaps it's unfair for me to judge it like that. It did end up being a fun opener, but I suppose I'm spoiled by seeing both men do more.

Strong and Claudio looked like they were having a lot of fun in front of a small, but hot crowd. Entertaining match.

Despite my admitted hate for anything Pearce is in, and not knowing too much about Anderson, their match was god for what it was. Nothing special, but it was technically sound.

The follow up match by fellow Hangman Three member Albright was better, with a good story of Delirious trying to fight off the numbers game, but ultimately failing.

Very entertaining tag match that did a good job of putting over Perkins and Kozina. They looked great here. It starts a little slow, but ends up being a nice, fast paced match.

The bonus tag match was even better. It says a lot about Richards and Romero that they could go seamlessly from a fast paced tag match into a hard hitting brawl. I wasn't expecting this to be so good. Some bad camera work mars it a bit.

Another great match from Danielson and Aries, though this one suffered from predictability. Aries essentially gave away the result when he said he didn't expect to win two in a row at Honor Nation.

The main event was solid, and featured some nice psychology, but it too was hurt by predictability.

Overall, it is a good show, but it is one great match from being worthy of a stand alone buy. At less than two and a half hours, it's shorter than your typical ROH DVD. So I would recommend picking it up in one of the great sales that ROH has where you will get some value. The company deserves a lot of credit for coming out of the chaos of that weekend with two good shows. Don't let the bad reputation that the convention got affect your decision to buy. Match of the night honors go to the tag team brawl. That was an unexpected surprise.

Thanks for reading. If you have any comments or questions, please email me at edsh007@hotmail.com