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ROH Presents - A New Level
By Garoon and Ziegler | August 18, 2008
ROH debuts in the Hammerstein Ballroom.
May 10, 2008 – New York, New York
Introduction
BG Says: Two weeks ago I went solo for the ROH DVD review. Last week I had my first guest reviewer on, as Kevin Ford gave his live impressions of Southern Navigation. This week we have A New Level attendee Jason Sterlacci.
Two Video Wires this time around. The first begins with the clip of Lacey kissing Austin Aries in Detroit. Next up is the confrontation between Aries and Jimmy Jacobs in Chicago in which Lacey’s defection is revealed. They show a clip of Claudio Castagnoli pinning El Generico in a tag team match, which was enough to prove to Nigel McGuinness that Castagnoli deserved a title shot. ROH Owner Cary Silkin announces that the match will take place in the Hammerstein Ballroom. McGuinness and Castagnoli trade jabs in a funny exchange that ends with Castagnoli taking offense to a bald joke. Back in Chicago, Jacobs confronts Lacey. Lacey dumps Jacobs and kisses Aries in front of him, bringing him to tears.
The second Video Wire begins with the Age of the Fall attacking the Briscoe Brothers and Jacobs stabbing Mark’s hand, putting him out of action. Next up is a Castagnoli video package. It’s reminiscent of the one McGuinness did before the 6th Anniversary Show, though Castagnoli’s accent makes it a little cheesier. It is pretty great watching him job while throwing European uppercuts and giving a big long the giant swing and the Ricolabomb. Next up they show the beating that Necro Butcher put on Alex Payne and Mitch Franklin in Chicago in full. Things wrap up with the Age of the Fall beating down Aries until Lacey convinces Jacobs to leave him alone and the cult leader is once again left crying.
The show begins by showing fans entering the Manhattan Center and making their way into the Hammerstein Ballroom. The venue is HUGE by ROH standards. It’s probably the most impressive venue ROH has ever run, given that bigger buildings looked very empty by comparison. ROH obviously knows this as they spend plenty of time showing off just how big the crowd is.
JS Says: I had the pleasure of being at “A New Level” back in May, and I remember thinking at the time that while it was certainly a good show (because there’s no such thing as a bad New York show for ROH) that there were a few things here and there that left something to be desired. Part of me feels that this was a result of the lofty expectations that I (and most of the audience) had built up when the show was announced as being “downstairs” in the Hammerstein Ballroom. As a result, I think it’s appropriate to note what I thought when seeing the match live and what I think now, several months later and watching it on DVD, so keep that in mind when you read my blurbs on the matches.
MATCH #1: FIP World Championship Match – Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiosaki
BG Says: Stevens attacks Strong on his way to the ring. In the ring all three wrestlers trade chops. Strong goes to the eyes before dumping Shiosaki to the floor. Stevens hits Strong with a Samoan drop. Shiosaki comes back and trades chops with Stevens. Shiosaki sets Stevens up top and hits the Burning Sword. Strong hits Shiosaki with a dropkick for 2. He trades chops with Stevens. Stevens hits a German suplex. Shiosaki hits a clothesline. Strong hits the Sick Kick. All three go back to trading chops. Strong starts to take control but Stevens and Shiosaki team up to take him down. Stevens hits Shiosaki with the pop up clothesline for 2. Strong hits Stevens with an enziguiri. He hits a pumphandle suplex, falling back after Shiosaki superkicks him. Strong hits Stevens with the Sick Kick. Stevens returns fire with a clothesline. Shiosaki hits a German suplex on Stevens. Strong rolls Shiosaki up for 2. Shiosaki hits the Orange Crush for 2. He hits Stevens with a fisherman buster. Stevens dodges the moonsault but eats a superkick. He comes back with a lariat. He hits the Doctor Bomb but Strong rolls him up for the win at 5:57. Tack another five minutes onto that and you have the best ROH opener ever. As it is it’s a fantastic sprint that kept the crowd insane.
Rating: ***½
JZ says: This was a short but amazingly hot opener, a perfect way to get the crowd fired up. It ran just over five minutes but was brutal and fun.
Rating: ***¼
JS Says: At the time the card was announced, I was somewhat surprised to hear that the FIP title match was going to open the show; I figured that ROH would want to start with a hot match like the tag team scramble, but looking back this match was definitely a solid choice for opener.
This match was a pleasant surprise for an opener; I was expecting brutality from all three competitors with stiff chops and hard hits and that’s what we got. What we also got, though, was a fast-paced match with tons of near falls and counters. Go, Roddy, and Erick absolutely chopped the hell out of each other, and the teamwork of Go and Erick early to counter Strong’s energy provided a lot of fun. I’m just amazed at how much stuff they managed to get in with just about eight minutes and how it didn’t seem to be overkill either live or watching it now.
This is by no means a legendary match, but it’s definitely a solid opener that had the benefit of a hot crowd. I think everyone would have liked to see more of Roddy and Stevens going at it, but that’s what the “Fight Without Honor” at Respect Is Earned II is for.
Rating: ***
MATCH #2: Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen
BG Says: Richards and Generico start. Richards slaps Generico across the face. They knuckle up and Generico takes control. Richards slaps him again. Steen tags in and slaps Richards. Generico gets a shot in too. Romero and Generico tag into the match. Generico hits a head scissors takedown. He hits an armdrag. Romero hits a head scissors takedown. Generico hits more armdrags. Steen tags in and puts on a wristlock. Generico tags in and hits a bodyslam. He and Steen hit a tandem senton for 2. Richards tags in and hits a clothesline for 2. He whips Generico into a knee kick from Romero. That gets 2. Romero tags in and attacks the arm and back. Richards tags in and works the arm. Romero tags in and follows suit. He tugs on Generico’s mask. Richards tags in and out so that he and Romero can double-team Generico, but Generico is able to fight them off with a crossbody and a Michinoku Driver. Steen tags in and cleans house, abusing Richards’s crotch in the process. He hits Romero with a powerslam for 2. He hits a DDT for 2. Romero blocks the Sharpshooter. Richards tags in and hits a missile dropkick. Steen hits a powerbomb for 2. Generico tags in and hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Richards hits a northern lights suplex for 2. He puts on the kimura but Steen shoves Romero onto him to break. Romero tags in and they hit a double pancake. They kick each other’s shins by mistake. Generico fights them both off. Steen hits Richards with a cannonball. The Swanton Bomb hits knees. Romero grabs Generico in the Diablo Armbar. Generico gets to the ropes. He gets a victory roll on Richards for 2. Steen hits a superkick. Generico hits the Yakuza kick. Steen hits both opponents with a Samoan drop. He hits Richards with a Swanton Bomb. Steen hits a big splash for 2. Generico hits Romero with a Yakuza kick. Steen hits Richards with the package piledriver and Generico finishes him with the brainbuster at 14:50. This was a very exciting tag match, helped a lot by the crowd being so intensely behind Steen & Generico.
Rating: ***¾
JZ says: It appeared as though these two teams would have a feud over the Tag Team Titles, starting back at the Sixth Anniversary Show, but that got derailed for whatever reason. It’s too bad, because this was a terrific tag team match that the crowd was really into. The two teams both play their roles perfectly, and it’s really a shame this feud never got going.
Rating: ***¾
JS Says: As an unashamed fan of all four guys in this match, I was looking forward to seeing some fast-paced craziness here; for the most part, we got it. I sometimes forget that Steen can hang with lighter, faster wrestlers, but this match reminded me quite well.
Like the opener, this one had tons of near falls, a bunch of broken up submissions, and plenty of excitement. We also got the benefit of a bunch of tags on both sides, so the match never really slowed down. Generico showed throughout the match that he’s one of the best sellers around, and Richards showed that sooner or later he’s going to be a major player in ROH. Realistically, that has little bearing on anything in this match, but he’s honestly just a great heel with an awesome vicious streak.
After the match, Steen noted that sooner or later he and Generico would win the tag belts and I’d have to agree. It’s only a matter of time. All of that said, this was a good match with a lot of back and forth action that you can get lost in. I know I did.
Rating: ***½
MATCH #3: Scramble Match - Chris Hero & Brent Albright vs. Pelle Primeau & Delirious vs. Jack Evans & Jigsaw
BG Says: Sweet & Sour Inc is in full force (well, no Tank Toland or Adam Pearce) tonight. They are even joined by Johnny Fairplay, who dangerously jumps on Brent Albright the same way he jumped on Danny Bonaduce at that award show. Luckily for Fairplay, Albright doesn’t knock his teeth out by dropping him on his head like Bonaduce did.
Delirious and Jigsaw start. Delirious chases Fairplay to the back, distracting everyone else long enough for Hero and Albright to attack. Primeau hits Hero with an armdrag. Hero hits a senton. Primeau hits the Déjà Vu. Hero drops him on his ass. Jigsaw hits Hero with a dropkick off the top. Albright hits Jigsaw with a lariat. He hits Evans with a powerslam. Delirious hits a clothesline off the top. He dives onto all of Sweet & Sour Inc on the floor. He rolls Jigsaw up for 2. Jigsaw puts on the Gory Special and holds him for a senton form Evans. He holds Primeau in the bow and arrow for Evans to hit a standing moonsault. Albright violently sends Evans, Jigsaw and Primeau to the floor. He dives off the top onto all four opponents. Delirious headbutts Hero’s gut. Sara Del Rey tries to distract him but Daizee Haze runs out and takes her down. That distracts Delirious enough for Hero to clear him from the ring. Evans and Jigsaw send Hero to the floor. Hero stands around like a moron on the floor long enough for Evans to hit him with a 450 off the top. Jigsaw also dives onto someone. In the ring Hero hits a pair of roaring forearms. Jigsaw hits him with a double stomp. Hero lays Jigsaw out with forearms. Delirious kicks Hero around. He pokes Hero and Albright’s eyes. Albright blindly hits Hero with the half nelson suplex. Delirious hits Hero with Chemical Imbalance II for the win at 7:28. The match was all sorts of contrived, but everything hit and the finish was creative. Solid stuff for a scrambled egg match.
Rating: **¾
After the match Albright has a temper tantrum. Larry Sweeney blames it all on him. Still, he gives Albright a chance to redeem himself by destroying Bobby Dempsey right now. Everyone takes a shot on Dempsey except Albright, who lays out the rest of the group instead. Sweeney manages to escape unharmed, but Shane Hagadorn gets powerbombed head-first through a table at ringside. Albright looks like superman for clearing out the entire group himself, but there’s still room for more since Sweeney got away. This was a fantastically executed babyface turn, and the crowd completely ate it up. It helps too that when Albright’s music plays to end the segment it’s a very good song (for wrestling) that’s easy to sing along to.
JZ says: Scramble matches used to be on every ROH show and as a result they got repetitive, boring, and outright bad in some cases. Used sparingly now they can be a lot of fun, like this one. It helps that they had some pretty good talent (and Jigsaw) in there, but they did a good job here.
Rating: ***
JS Says: Two asides to start my thoughts on this match: Hero’s new music is just awesome, and I completely forgot that Johnny Fairplay was at this show and it took me about thirty seconds to remember that he accompanied Sweet and Sour here. Perhaps the only disappointing thing about the show is that Fairplay didn’t get taken out by somebody.
Anyway, I tend to not be really fond of scramble matches because they’re usually cluster****s and this one is not really an exception. That’s not to say that this (or any other) scramble is bad, it’s just that there’s always a whole lot crammed into a little bit of space. I liked that Team Sweet ‘N’ Sour got off to an early dominating start, as their inherent size advantage (both in terms of Albright and Hero being head and shoulders above the other four and in terms of the number of people at ringside) meant that anything but a strong start wouldn’t have made much sense.
I marked for Albright going airborne live and I was a big fan of a lot of the post match stuff. Albright’s turn was well done and I loved seeing Hagadorn get taken out. That said, I do have a big problem with the match: The Vulture Squad was completely unnecessary when it came to the actual storylines of the match. Delirious had had long standing issues with Hero and a handful of other SNS members and it wasn’t as if the winners of the match would get guaranteed title shots. If this had just been a straight up tag of Albright and Hero vs. Pelle and Delirious, it honestly might have worked out better than with the Vulture Squad thrown in. Obviously, though, Jack and Jigsaw needed to be used somewhere on the show and it’s not as though they were awful in the match. They really didn’t do much of anything.
Rating: **¼
MATCH #4: Bryan Danielson vs. Naomichi Marufuji
BG Says: This is part of Danielson’s feud oft-dormant with Takeshi Morishima. The two of them picked each other’s opponents for the night, since they won’t be allowed to fight while Morishima is NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Champion. Danielson forces Marufuji to the ropes to start. He goes after the arm. He hits a dropkick. They trade holds on the mat. Danielson hits another dropkick. They knuckle up and Danielson hits a suplex for 2. He hits another for 2. He puts on the Mexican surfboard. Marufuji hits a slingshot DDT on the apron. He hits a brainbuster from the floor to the apron. That gets 2 in the ring. He hits a dropkick from the floor, landing on the apron, and then kicks Danielson’s face. He attacks the nose and then drives Danielson’s face to the mat for 2. He puts on a chinlock. Danielson gets to the ropes. Danielson hits a knee kick. He hits a knee to the gut and a kick to the back for 2. He hits a clothesline and climbs the ropes to hit a dropkick. Marufuji rams Danielson’s head into the corner. After a misfire he hits the chasing clothesline for 2. Danielson dumps him over the top rope to the floor. He goes for a suicide dive but Marufuji blocks it with a kick to the head. He hits a corner to corner dropkick. Danielson hits a butterfly suplex into a cross armbreaker. Marufuji escapes and hits a tiger driver into a cross armbreaker. Danielson escapes and hits a German suplex. He turns a superkick onto the heel hook. Marufuji gets to the ropes. He hits a superkick for 2. Danielson hangs him in the Tree of Woe and hits a dropkick. Marufuji puts Danielson in the Tree of Woe and hits a sweeping kick. He misses a corner to corner dropkick. He rolls through the Cow Killer and gets 2. He hits a pair of superkicks. Danielson blocks the Shiranui and puts on the triangle choke. Marufuji escapes and hits another superkick. He puts on a triangle choke of his own. Danielson gets to the ropes. He swats away a kick and puts on the crossface chicken sing. He lays in the unprotected elbows. Marufuji returns the favor. Danielson hits a tiger suplex for 2. He hits more elbows. He puts on the Cow Killer for the win at 21:19. This really blew away their first ROH encounter. Whereas that match was slow until an exciting final stretch this was featured first-rate work from start to finish. Danielson can do no wrong right now.
Rating: ****
JZ says: This is their first singles match in ROH since the end of 2005, and both have gotten loads better since then. Expectations were high for this one and I think they lived up to them. It probably would have been a more epic match if there was a title on the line, or even if they were in the main event slot, but they had a terrific match that was perfect for their spot on the card.
Rating: ****
JS Says: I remember thinking when the card was announced it was really weird that what was almost certainly going to be a slower-paced technical showcase was going to close out the first half. I didn’t really mind, of course, since Danielson and Marufuji are two of the best wrestlers in the world even on their worst days. Still, before re-watching the match on DVD, I thought that Dragon and Marufuji took this match a little bit easier than they could have.
And that’s funny, because watching the match, it feels like they go all out. Never mind the fact that I completely forgot who won this match (which is a compliment) and never mind that the start to the match is a little slow. The story here is that two world class competitors bring their absolute best at each other and find out that they’re evenly matched. For the most part, Danielson and Marufuji go move for move with one another; one goes for an arm submission, the other goes for an arm submission. One goes for a chinlock, the other goes for a chinlock. One hits an enzuigiri, the other hits an enziguiri.
In the same way, the match was pretty much back and forth. Marufuji was the first to really break out and get the upper hand, and then Danielson got the advantage. After a few back and forth moments, the two found themselves standing on even ground.
When I watched this match live, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. The match seemed too slow-paced considering the two matches before and the two matches after. That said, watching it again I realize that the entire point of the match was to showcase two of the world’s best wrestlers try to outdo one another only to be evenly matched the whole way through. While its place on the card was mostly justified by the fact that it helped keep the crowd hot, I have to wonder what would have happened if the match had been on the second half of the show. Perhaps the crowd would have pushed the match into classic territory; regardless, we’re still left with a great match.
Rating: ****
Delirious in Love
BG Says: Daizee Haze comes out to talk about the attendance record set by tonight’s crowd. Of course there’s no logical reason that Haze would be the one to make this announcement. Delirious comes out wearing a shirt and tie, holding a rose behind his back, to ask Haze out to dinner. Rhett Titus comes out and sleazily flirts with Haze. Like any good ‘80s style heel he has plenty of rhymes. Haze gets freaked out and bails. Sadly that leaves Delirious in the lurch.
JS Says: All I have to say is that Rhett Titus is funny as hell and that “You got cock blocked” was the single greatest chant in ROH history.
MATCH #5: Relaxed Rules - Takeshi Morishima vs. Necro Butcher
BG Says: Necro comes out to Tom Petty because I guess ROH decided it’d be a good idea if he looked like a pussy before fighting Morishima. The crowd loves him anyway, probably because he was doing a great Sloth impression. They slug it out to start. Morishima jumps on Necro’s feet. Necro hits a haymaker. They go to the floor where Necro hits a big foot. He hits headbutts. He jams the bell hammer into Morishima’s face. He pulls up a mat and goes for a piledriver but Morishima hits a backdrop. Morishima hits a clothesline. He hits a shoulder tackle off the apron. He hits a butt butt. In the ring he stands on Necro’s back. Necro goes for a bodyslam but Morishima falls on top for 2. Morishima puts on a chinlock. He hits the handspring avalanche. He climbs the ropes but Necro swats away his dropkick. Necro takes control with punches and a clothesline. He hits a crossbody off the top for 2. He brings a chair into the ring and hits a DDT on it for 2. Morishima comes back with a chair shot to the face. He hits a chair assisted butt lariat for 2. He hits a second rope backdrop driver through an upright chair for 2. Well that’s just silly. What is this, Dragon Gate? Morishima hits a lariat and another backdrop driver for the win at 9:52. This wasn’t what people expected going into the match, as most thought they’d just kick the crap out of each other. Still it wasn’t nearly as mediocre as live reports indicated. I quite liked watching Morishima manhandle Necro, who really had a beating coming after so many monotonous brawls.
Rating: **½
JZ says: I was looking forward to this match a great deal, as I’m a big fan of Morishima, and I love watching him destroy people. But for some reason this match didn’t quite click the way I thought it would. It was fun for a sub-10 minute match, but for some reason I expected something more along the lines of Necro’s matches with Samoa Joe. Oh well.
Rating: **½
JS Says: A lot of people around me complained about this one; they wanted a long brawl between Morishima and Necro. I was expecting a short, fun match and I think it delivered in that sense. On a personal note, I marked for Necro coming out to “I Won’t Back Down.” A graphic right before the match started noted that this match is non-title, which I found funny.
I’ve noticed some fans on the ROH boards complaining recently about every show having a crazy brawl. While it is starting to get repetitive, that doesn’t mean that every brawl is going to be boring. This one definitely wasn’t. The story of the match, of course, is that both Morishima and Necro deliver a ton of punishment in their matches and that they’re going to try and tear each other apart. For a match where I wasn’t expecting much in the way of consistent psychology, I have to commend Morishima for focusing on the area around Necro’s chest and upper body. Necro is his usual, wild and entertaining self throughout the match, making usual use of the ring bell and trying to use the exposed floors to his advantage (though he’s on the receiving end).
Once Necro brought a chair into the ring, the match got sloppy (well, sloppier). That didn’t make it any less entertaining, though. All in all, this was a short, fun match. Some might complain about it being an extended squash, but Morishima’s a dominant World Champion. Hell, Necro kicked out of a Back Drop Driver through a chair; even if he lost and it’s a squash, that’s something to be proud of.
Rating: **½
MATCH #6: ROH Tag Team Championship No Disqualification Match - Jay Briscoe & Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
BG Says: The way the tag title situation unfolded around Mark Briscoe’s injury was incredibly confusing at the time. ROH seemingly couldn’t decide weather Austin Aries’s involvement would be more like Jimmy Jacobs’s involvement when Dan Maff vacated the tag belts (which saw his partner BJ Whitmer forced to vacate the titles only to win them back in match with Jacobs), or more like Homicide’s involvement when the Amazing Red got injured (which saw AJ Styles keep the tag titles and defend them with Homicide as a substitute, only to vacate the belts later). On DVD it seems ROH went with the latter scenario, saying that Aries is simply substituting for Mark here.
Everyone brawls to start. Jacobs pairs up with Aries and Briscoe locks up with Black. Black hits a springboard clothesline. Briscoe hits a clothesline and a legdrop. He hits a Cactus Clothesline. Black hits a bodyslam on the floor. He runs up a chair to hit a moonsault off of the barricade. Aries sets up a table. He fights with Jacobs up top until they both fall through the table. In the ring Black blocks a crossbody with a dropkick. He stomps on Briscoe’s face. He hits a bodyslam and a kneedrop for 2. Briscoe hits a big boot. He hits a facebuster. Jacobs pulls out his spike and nails Briscoe in the face. Black hits Aries with an enziguiri. Briscoe bleeds as Jacobs goes to town on him with the spike. He’s bleeding so much. Jacobs wipes the blood on his own face. He and Black hit the Double Dropkick of Woe for 2. Briscoe hits the Complete Shot into the corner. Black sets up another table at ringside. Aries runs in and hits Black with a dropkick. He hits the brainbuster and puts on the Last Chancery. Jacobs breaks it up with a dropkick. He spears Aries to the floor. Briscoe hits Jacobs with the Falcon Arrow for 2. Black hits Briscoe with a big boot. He and Jacobs hit the Contra Bomb for 2. Aries throws Jacobs off the top through the table on the floor. He helps Briscoe hit Black with the Spike Jay Driller for 2. Aries climbs the ropes but Necro runs out and knocks him down. Mark Briscoe runs out and neutralizes Necro. He and his brother hit Black with the Doomsday Device for the win at 14:12. This was good and violent. It got a little silly at the end with everyone kicking out of the super finishers. At the very least it was nice for the real tag champs to hit the winning maneuver. I mean, if you’re going to have a substitute tag champion I suppose the best thing to do is make it a no dq match so the real champ who’s out of action can help.
Rating: ***¼
The Age of the Fall beats on Aries after the match. Jacobs gets on the microphone and reminds Aries that he took everything important from him. He threatens to kill him, but instead decides to taunt him about the attack on Lacey instead. Black wants the attack to happen now, but Jacobs wants Aries to have to look over his shoulder everyday. Black and Necro remain subordinate and follow Jacobs to the back.
JZ says: For some reason this match had to be for the ROH World Tag Team Titles, even though it didn’t really need to be, and it really made the tag title situation way too convoluted. Since Mark was injured, Aries was chosen as his replacement, but after the match Jay vacated the titles, only to have Jacobs & Black win the tournament less than a month later. They could have just done the title switch here and it would have been a lot more effective, since the Age of the Fall lose way too much as it is. The match was going for the intense brawl vibe, but for some reason didn’t quite get there, and I’m not sure why. The crowd was pretty hot for it, but I feel like they unnecessarily killed some super finishers at the end of the match, only to have the injured Briscoe come out and help Jay get the win anyway. The whole thing seemed pretty pointless.
Rating: ***
JS Says: This was one of the matches I was most looking forward to going into the show. The intensity of the Aries-Jacobs-Lacey love triangle and the fact that Jimmy was responsible for taking out Mark made me think that the drama would be off the charts for this one. The fact that this was a no-DQ match only upped the intensity here.
This was just a great wild brawl. The Aries-Jimmy table spot that took both guys out of the match for a few minutes was awesome, and the Tyler-Jay confrontation both before and after was great as well. Jay taking a bunch of railroad spikes to the head and bleeding an absolute fountain was gruesome to watch both live and on my couch, but took the drama here even further.
I figured that there would be a run-in from Necro, but the surprise of Mark running out and hitting a Doomsday Device was a defining moment for the match.
If I have any real gripe at all, it’s that the belts were on the line. I realize that this might be confusing, but bear in mind that almost immediately after the match the belts were vacated due to Jay not wanting to team with anyone but his brother. That’s all fine and good, but I contended then that the titles could have been vacated before the match and it still would have been just as dramatic and just as entertaining because there was so much else going on storyline-wise. Honestly, though, it’s a minor gripe and it really doesn’t take anything away from the match itself.
Rating: ****
MATCH #7: ROH World Championship Match – Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli
BG Says: They lock up to start. Castagnoli hits a European uppercut. He gets a roll up for 2. They shove each other around the ring. McGuinness hits an armdrag. Castagnoli hits a European uppercut. McGuinness hits a back elbow. Castagnoli hits an armdrag and a dropkick. McGuinness pulls him to the floor and whips him into the barricade. He rams Castagnoli’s shoulder into the post. In the ring he stays on the arm. Castagnoli blocks the running European uppercut. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. He hits a seated European uppercut for 2. McGuinness hits the corner combo. He hits a hammerlock takedown. He dumps Castagnoli to the floor. He slams Castagnoli’s arm against the floor and against the barricade. Castagnoli fights back with European uppercuts. McGuinness hits the Rebound Lariat. Back in the ring he kicks the chest. He hits a knee kick to the arm. He puts on a stranglehold. Castagnoli hits a European uppercut and cuts off the Jawbreaker Lariat with the bicycle kick. He hits a suicide dive. He hits a crossbody off the top for 2. He hits a diving European uppercut for 2. He hits the Match Killer for 2. McGuinness comes back with the Tower of London for 2. He hits a running European uppercut and a lariat for 2. Castagnoli goes for a springboard maneuver but McGuinness shoves him to the floor. He pulls him into the ring and hits a short arm lariat for 2. He puts on the London Dungeon. Castagnoli counters to the giant swing for 2. McGuinness hits another hammerlock takedown. He reapplies the London Dungeon.
Castagnoli powers up and gets to the corner to escape. McGuinness hits the handstand kick. Castagnoli hits the pop up European uppercut for 2. McGuinness catches him with the second rope lariat for 2. He hits a superplex leading to a double pin for 2. They trade European uppercuts until Castagnoli counters the Jawbreaker Lariat to the Ricolabomb for 2. McGuinness hits a chinbreaker and a DDT for 2. Castagnoli avoids another Jawbreaker Lariat and they trade roll ups for 2. Castagnoli hits a German suplex for 2. McGuinness counters the Ricolabomb to a lariat. Castagnoli pops up and goes for it again but McGuinness escapes again and hits another lariat for 2. He puts on the London Dungeon for the win at 24:55. I honestly don’t get where the complaints about this match come from. This was excellent. The two of them knew each other well because of their similar styles and their feud back in 2005. This was the big-match version of those earlier matches. They fought it out blood n’ guts style because one missed counter opportunity could cost them the match. It seems the live crowd was just really upset that McGuinness won, but watching it on DVD it’s really difficult to find fault with this match.
Rating: ****
JZ says: This match got a lot of anti-hype, with people saying that it wasn’t as good as they were hoping, or as it could have been. I thought the match was excellent, much better than their Pure Title matches from years ago. It sure wasn’t perfect, and I think they could do better, but this was a good main event and another excellent title defense from the rolling ROH World Champion.
Rating: ***¾
JS Says: I’m going to start by saying that going into this match, I was pumped. I’m an unashamed Nigel mark and I had felt for a while that Claudio was one great match away from being a certified main eventer. Unfortunately, this match wasn’t so great live. For me, a classic main event has to have huge emotion and considering Nigel was in this match, the emotion just wasn’t there. It wasn’t like a typical New York show where the crowd was burned out because the show was entering its fourth hour; even with the intermission, the main event started before the three hour mark.
Re-watching the match, the first thing that strikes me is that Claudio was much more intense at the start than I remember him being. Live, I thought Claudio didn’t take the fact that he was main eventing a huge show and getting an ROH World Championship shot seriously. I was wrong for assuming that, but the real problem here is that the match itself is a bit of a downer at the start. I might be in the minority here, but I wanted some more fast-paced action. In the first few minutes, though, we got a few submission holds and quite a bit of stalling. The crowd started to let both have it (myself included), and I do feel it was merited. I mean, at one point Nigel hits a big arm drag and instead of following up, he starts trying to bait the audience.
That said, the match did get intense when it spilled to the outside. Live, I missed Claudio getting hit in his left arm because it was on the outside, but the subsequent arm work here makes a lot more sense. Apparently most of the rest of the crowd missed it too given the smattering of “boring” chants when the match went back into the ring. I wish everyone had seen the left arm injury, because I don’t think we would have reacted that way.
Nigel’s focus on the arm was great, even though for a few moments Claudio stopped selling (for instance, after all that arm work, Claudio shouldn’t have been able to get Nigel into a big swing for as long as he did). The second time the match spilled to the outside, I again could not see Nigel working the arm live. It might sound a bit trite, but given the fact that I can now see all of this, the match really is a lot better than I remember it.
Even with Claudio’s intensity and some of his offense, this match really wasn’t built around making him a certified main eventer, since for most of the match Nigel was in charge. By the time Claudio did start to assert himself in the match, his offense struck me as being a bit unbelievable. Nigel had spent the first two thirds of the match working the hell out of Claudio’s arm and suddenly he was able to get in all of his major moves. Then, as if all of that didn’t happen, Nigel got Claudio to tap to the London Dungeon in no time flat.
All complaining aside, this was still a good match. It wasn’t the classic Nigel-Black match at Take No Prisoners or Nigel v. Dragon at the Sixth Anniversary Show, but it was still a good match. Claudio didn’t get the match that would cement him as a legitimate main event guy, but honestly sometimes the champion needs to look dominant.
Rating: ***½
Overall
BG Says: There were no backstage segments on this DVD at all, and there was very little storyline advancement compared to other recent DVD releases. That said this is a show for workrate fans only. Sure you have the Delirious bit, but for the most part all the storytelling is done in the ring. Hopefully Death Before Dishonor VI will have backstage segments, because with great wrestling, a great crowd and storylines to get behind it will make for a great show to use to introduce people to ROH. Like many recent ROH releases this has more than one match that’s well worth checking out, so it gets an enthusiastic recommendation.
JZ says: With nothing below **½, and six of the seven matches at *** or higher, this is definitely going to be one of the best ROH shows of the year. I’m not sure it’s one of their best of all-time, but it’s still quite good, and the atmosphere really helps out a lot and makes this a must-see, must-own DVD.
JS Says: While the main event is still a bit of a let down, the entire show is good from top to bottom. “A New Level” has something for everyone, and I definitely have to recommend it. While it’s not going to go down as the best show of 2008 (Supercard of Honor III right now) or even the best show in New York this year (Death Before Dishonor VI), it’s still something that you need to buy.
Topics: ROH Reviews |
August 18th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Great read guys. I found the main to be better than I had thought it was going to be and really proved that Claudio can be a main event guy in the future.