Ring of Honor 3/30/2002 Round Robin Challenge
Eric Gargiulo & Steve Corino are on commentary.
Christopher Daniels says ROH thinks they are better than other promotions but is just another indy promotion. He says every indy promotion wants him on the card as they know they have the top of the crop. He says he won't shake anyone's hand and says they can keep the code of honor to themselves. Daniels said it took 2 people to beat him last show. He says he will prove that he is the best indy wrestler in the US today. He says they can only just say their prayers.
Da Hit Squad talk in the back. They said they got the crowd hot last time. Mack says lets go rile the fans up. Then they go outside and chat with the fans outside.
Quiet Storm wants to try out a move on Chris Divine. Chris doesn't want to but lets him. Storm puts him in a chickenwing. Bryan Danielson comes in. He says that's not how you do it then he puts it on Chris and says that's how you do it.
Round Robin Challenge Match #1 - "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels
Bryan misses a lock up and takes punches. CD leg lariats him. Bryan forearms him over. Bryan waistlock takedowns him and CD hammerlocks him. Bryan grounded sleepers him. They do a double knuckle lock. Bryan takes him down and tries to pin him. CD trips him and tries to pin him.
Bryan bridges and CD gets on top of him. Bryan crossfaces him and CD tries a pin off of it. Bryan headlock takeovers him. Bryan side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Bryan headlock takeovers him.
Bryan goes up and over then headlock takeovers him. CD headlocks him then Bryan does a side headlock. Bryan hits a nice dropkick for 2. CD backdrops him. CD cranks on the head. They trade chops then CD nails him from behind. CD backdrops him then pulls on the chin. CD cravates him.
Bryan lariats him. CD does a neckbreaker on him. CD flips him off the backslide and Bryan belly to belly suplexes him. Bryan hits chops on CD then back elbows him. Bryan knees him in the gut and hits shots in the corner. Bryan double underhook suplexes him.
Bryan hits a top rope diving headbutt for 2. CD sto's him off the spinning forearm attempt. CD hits a best moonsault ever for 2. Bryan hits leg kicks then spinning forearms him for 2. They trade chops and CD lariats him for 2. CD blue thunders him for 2.
Bryan takes him down and ends up doing a rings of saturn. CD ropebreaks. CD piledrivers him then hits a cross rhodes. CD crossfaces him and taps him out. Daniels goes to 1-0 in the RRC, Bryan goes to 0-1 and Ki stays at 0-0.
Thoughts: It was a little long but it was a okay match. The two worked well together and they kept things going without overdoing it. Daniels did a little more than he usually does in this one and this was not heavy on the moves.
Christopher Daniels gets on the mic after. He calls Bryan a kid and tells him to shake his hand. Bryan says he will show some class and shakes Daniels' hand.
Prince Nana and Eric Tuttle are in the back. Eric shines Nana's shoes and Nana tells him, "now you're learning".
CW Anderson does a promo. He said he takes on York and Matthews tonight. He says he'll take anyone on as his partner and grabs someone on the ring crew and tells him he's his partner.
Prince Nana insults and riles up the crowd before his match. It's hard to make out most of what he says. He tells Eric Tuttle to shine his shoes and Eric does. The Hit Squad then come out and nail both.
Prince Nana and Eric Tuttle vs Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack)
Mack and Maff beat them up in the corners then double shoulder Nana. Nana is put in a figure four and takes a top rope splash while he's in it. Eric takes a big spear then a lariat + wheelbarrow suplex combo. Nana has left the ring. Maff hits a burning hammer on Eric and Eric is pinned.
Thoughts: It was a quick one and was all squash here as expected.
The Christopher Street Connection come out after and play "YMCA". The Squad try to throw Eric onto them but Eric doesn't get enough air and goes down on the gym floor hard. The Squad then grab Simply Luscious (who was with Eric and Nana). Luscious is then gorilla pressed on The CSC, Eric and Nana. Thankfully, she lands on target. Nana drags Luscious to the back by her hair. The CSC carry Eric to the back. They then try to give him mouth to mouth by Nana stops them. The CSC then do it to each other.
The Boogie Knights talk in the back. Drake says he took a dump in Eric Tuttle's bag. Tobin says The Natural Born Sinners are coming for them with chainsaws. Drake says he knows where the chainsaws are and they try to steal the chainsaws. The grab the chainsaw case but just find a rubber chicken inside. They then get chased by The Sinners and Drake drops the rubber chicken.
Christian York and Joey Matthews talk in the back. Joey tells CW Andersonto think again about bringing anyone to fight them. York says they will be in full effect tonight.
CW Anderson & Elax vs. Christian York & Joey Matthews
Elax has a shirt on that says, "got poop?". He shakes York's and Joey's hands and CW pulls him away.
CW waistlocks Joey then Joey reverses it. CW armlocks him and Joey side headlocks him. CW lariats Joey. CW boots him then York flying headscissors him. CW takes a double dropkick. Elax gets in. Elax takes wasteland then a Joey senton.
Elax takes a double gordbuster and double suplex. CW superkicks York and armbreakers Joey. CW hits punches on Joey then does a sitout slam for 2. Elax trips Joey and CW drops Joey with a punch. Joey is crotched up top then CW 2nd rope delay superplexes him.
CW back elbows Joey then takes a neckbreaker. York gets in and lariats CW. York springboard back elbows him. York then gori specials Elax and rams him into the corner. CW suplexes York for 2. Joey bulldogs CW then Elax top rope dropkicks Joey.
CW spinebusters York for 2. CW is sent into Elax on the apron and takes a flapjack into a ddt. CW is then pinned.
Thoughts: CW was pretty good here. This was a bit rushed and they didn't make as much out of the Elax being a useless partner storyline like they could have. Elax didn't even really take an extended beatdown. It was about average.
They shake hands after. CW talks to Elax on the mic after then drops him with a punch. CW then spinebusters him.
Xavier does a promo. He says it's another chance to show what he's about. He says he's here to compete but says Scoot Andrews isn't due to breaking his leg. Xavier says James Maritato is a good athlete but he will show him why he's the all around best.
James Maritato does a promo. He says it's been a year since ECW finished. He says it's time to go back to 1995 before anyone knew him, when he was working for shoot groups. He then points on a UWFI shirt and says he was a stud in Japan before anyone knew Little Guido. He says he will have to take it out on Xavier as he has to start somewhere.
James Maritato vs. Xavier
X = Xavier
James is the former Little Guido of ECW fame. The crowd chants, "AC Slater" at X. They shake hands. X works his arm and side headlocks him. James does a leapfrog and armbar takedowns him. James trips him then hits mounted shots. They trade shots on the mat and X ropebreaks.
X slingshots in and then is put in a headscissors. X bow and arrows him. They roll each other up and regroup. X irish whips him off the handshake. X kind of does a bridging ddt then hits punches.
X hits chops and knees to the gut. X running forearms him. James blocks X's handstand hurricanrana on the ropes. James then hanging crabs him from the ropes. James hits a 2nd rope dropkick for 2.
X hits a release air raid crash type of move for 2. X russian legsweeps him. X has James on his shoulders and James hits a ddt off of it. James then diving legdrops him off the apron onto the back of the neck.
James does an indian deathlock then rolls him over so X is in the air. X goes for the cobra clutch and James armdrags him out of it. James basement dropkicks him for 2. X knees him in the back and gets a bridge pin off a fastcount by the ref.
Thoughts: The pin at the end was too fast. I liked this otherwise though. Xavier looked a lot better here than he did on the first show. The pace was fast and the two worked really well together. We didn't get to see a ton of serious Nunzio but I liked this.
They shake hands after.
Frank Talent, the PA State Athletic Commisioner talks to the roster before the show. He tells them no blood and no cursing. Spanky brushes his teeth as Frank talks and has headphones on.
The Natural Born Sinners talk. Homicide says he's p!ssed. He says they will play mind games with The Boogie Knights then kill them. Boogalou says they will never get his chainsaw.
The Boogie Knights (Danny Drake & Mike Tobin) vs. The Natural Born Sinners (Boogalou & Homicide)
Boog comes out with a chainsaw and him and Hom wear horror masks. Naturally, thye shake hands with The Knights and respect the code of honor.
Boog overhead suplexes Tobin then Hom hits Tobin with the rubber chicken. Steve Corino yells at Eric on commentary, syaing his bag smells. Drake drops down on all fours and wants to amateur wrestler Boog. Boog picks him up, takes him down and hits mounted shots.
Hom release fisherman suplexes Drake then hits a tombstone on him. Hom top rope double stomps him. Tobin takes a powerbomb onto Hom's knee. Tobin takes a lariat + dragon suplex combo. Boog then gets the win.
Thoughts: I didn't like this. I didn't get all the talk about Eric's bag smelling on commentary. They didn't really play up the heels being crazy or The Knights being afraid of them like they should have.
Low-Ki does a promo. He says Christopher Daniels thinks he's the top athlete in ROH. He says he came to prove he's the top athlete all around. Ki says he beat Daniels last time. Ki says it only took one person to beat Daniels and it was him. He says Daniels will respect him by the end of the night.
Round Robin Challenge Match #2 - Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki
Ki offers a handshake. CD slaps it away and Ki hits punches in the corner. Ki misses a handspring cartwheel kick and high kicks him down for 2. Ki hits kicks to the back. Ki koppo kicks CD. Ki hits headbutts on CD. CD knees him in the gut and shoulders him over. Ki takes him down and does a border city stretch. Ki hits chest kicks then headkicks CD down.
Ki triangles CD over the top rope. CD sto's him. CD lariats him then hits a brainbuster. CD gutwrench suplexes him. CD lays Ki over the top rope and top rope diving legdrops him as he hangs. CD half crabs Ki.
CD does an STF variation then bow and arrows him. CD hits a falcon arrow. CD uranages him then Ki springboard kicks him. Ki takes an uppercut on the top rope and takes an iconoclasm. CD hits an angel's wings for 2. Ki rolls through a move and hits a ki krusher. Ki hits a handpsring cartwheel kick on CD. Ki sits on CD's back and taps him out with a dragon sleeper. Ki gets the win. Daniels goes to 1-1 in the RRC and Ki goes to 1-0. Bryan stays at 0-1.
Thoughts: The work was okay but there wasn't much story in this one and they didn't make much of the storyline of CD being disrespectful to Ki. This was rather action heavy with them going from one sequence to another.
CD gets on the mic after. He says Ki made him tap out. He said it doesn't prove a d@mn thing though as this was CD's 2nd match tonight. CD says this prove nothing and says Ki is not the better man. He says he won't wrestle him again until the ROH Title is on the line, which doesn't even exist right now. Ki talks on the mic but we focus on CD walking down to the locker room instead. Maff yells at CD for not shaking Ki's hand and says if CD has a problem with Ki, he has a problem with all of them. We then see Spanky dancing to music.
We see video from earlier in the day or The SAT playing basketball. Red and one of the Maximo's end up throwing the ball at each other after Red wins.
Paul London vs Chris Marvel
They shake hands. Paul takes him down by the arm and headscissors him. CM gets a headscissors on him. Paul lands on his feet on a monkey flip. Paul side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Paul flips over CM's back then spinning heel kicks him. Paul hits dropsaults Paul asai moonsaults him outside and Chris breaks his leg catching Paul. The match is then called off.
Thoughts: Poor Chris. That didn't look good. We didn't get to see much of this before the injury but Paul had a good showing.
The Briscoe Brothers do a promo. Jay says he goes one on one with Spanky. Mark says it doesn't matter who he wrestlers, the question is will he win? Jay then walks away.
Spanky vs. Jay Briscoe
They lock up and Jay pushes him in the corner. Spanky side headlocks him. Jay wristlocks him. Spank tries to kip up and roll out of it. Jay la magistrals him for 2. Spanky snapmares and chinlocks him. Spanky wristlocks him. Jay hits a snap suplex.
Jay slingshots and rolls up Spanky for 2. Spanky boots him out of the corner. Spanky does like a 2nd rope flapjack. Spanky then springboard knee drops him on the neck. Spanky pushes him away on a suplex attempt. Spanky baseball slides him. They trade shots and Spanky russian legsweeps him. Spanky comes off the 2nd rope and bangs Jay's face off his knee.
Jay pushes Spanky into the corner and Spanky's head is banged off the post. Spanky starts to bleed. Jay germans Spanky. Jay hits chops then back body drops him. Jay dropkicks him then sitout gordbusters him. Jay lariats him.
Spanky leg lariats him. Jay knocks him over with a missed facekick. Spanky double springboard plancha's him outside. Spanky comes off the top and Jay gets his feet up. Jay powerbombs him for 2. Spanky hits a sliced bread #2 and wins.
Thoughts: I wasn't a big fan of it. They had a lot of sloppy moments here. Commentary pushed that Jay is now 0-2 in ROH.
Gabe Sapolsky is running a poll on the best TWA wrestler on a pc. American Dragon wins at 64%.
Three Way Elimination Tag Team Match - Brian XL & The Amazing Red vs. Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) vs. The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo)
XL and Chris go at it. XL is on his shoulders and armdrags him. Chris armdrags him. Joel and Storm go at it. Storm boots him in the gut. Storm armdrags him then flying headscissors him. Storm comes off the 2nd rope with a diving armdrag. Joel slaps him and headkicks him. They slap each other and shake hands.
Joe slaps Red and takes a spin kick to the face. Red flips over his back then armdrags him after a hiptoss into the ropes. Storm dropkicks a Maximo out and tope con hilos him through the ropes.
4 people are outside and XL does a top rope la silla dive. Red top rope cancun tornado's outside. Red flying headscissors Storm then Storm hits a widows peak. Storm hits a northern lights bomb on Joel. Xl takes a half-nelson drop on his chest. Chris death valley drivers Jose. Chris does a tope outside. Storm takes a top rope superplex and Red top rope knee drops Joel. He then ssp's off of Joel's back and pins Storm. Quiet Storm and Chris Diving are eliminated.
Red corkscrew kicks a Maximo then backdrops him. Red then brainbusters him for 2. Joel does a samurai driver n Red. XL stands on Joel and moonsaults him for 2. Jose flatliners XL off the air raid crash for 2.
XL 450's Jose off the top but is caught with a sitout powerbomb. XL reverse ddt lifts him and sitout drivers him. Red does a 2nd rope code red to Joel for 2. Joel takes a double corkscrew kick. Red does a phoenix splash to Joel's foot. XL springboard flipping buttdrops Joel.
XL and Red argue over who gets the pin and push each other. Joe then rolls up Red to win.
Thoughts: It was bad. There were a bunch of botched and sloppy spots here and the finish was dumb with Red and XL costing themselves the match. Everyone looked like a fool here.
XL and Red push each other outside after.
Low-Ki says here we go and says it's Round 2. He says American Dragon lost earlier but Daniels submitted to him. Ki says Daniels respects no one but made him respect him. Ki says he will prove he is the top athlete. He says it's not the size of the fighter but the size of the fight he brings. He says all you can do is be ready.
Round Robin Challenge Match #3 (Special Referee: Ken Shamrock) - "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki
Bryan has stitches on his eye. Ken Shamrock comes out. He shakes both wrestlers hands. He says he's not here to fight. He says both show incredible skills and says it will be an honor to ref the match. He then gives out instructions.
Bryan hits leg kicks and takes him down. Bryan goes for the triangle then sits on his chest and pulls. Ki hits mounted punches then does a grounded sleeper. Bryan does a rocking chair submission then goes for a grounded choke. Ki hits mounted shots. Bryan side headlocks him. Bryan sits on his back and pulls on his face.
Bryan hits crossface shots and grounded sleepers him. Ki hits knees to the head. Bryan blocks a high kick. Ki hits mounted shots and Bryan triangles him. Ki gets his back with a sleeper and Bryan ropebreaks. Bryan hits headbutts. Ki goes for the triangle and is powerbombed down.
Ki armbars him and Bryan flips out with the bridge. Bryan does a reverse bow and arrow. Ki hits up an upkick and Bryan rolls out to the floor. Ki takes him down. Bryan ties up Ki's legs and pulls on his arms. Bryan leg locks him.
Bryan moves to the heel hook and Ki breaks it with kicks to the back. Ki hits Kawada kicks and Bryan slides out again. Bryan's eye is cut open again. Bryan comes back and hits a bunch of shots on the mount. Bryan goes for the armbar and Ki ropebreaks.
Bryan rolls him up for 2. Bryan full nelsons him then backdrops him. Bryan kicks Ki while he's down. Bryan kicks him in the back. Bryan chops him in the back of the neck. Bryan pulls Ki's arms back and Ki pele kicks him to get out.
Ki hits chops then kicks him in the back. Ki pulls on Bryan's arms and dragon sleepers him. Ki does a grounded cobra clutch. Bryan tries to get out and both roll to the outside. Ki then keeps the hold on while they are on the floor.
Ki double stomps him and stands on his gut. Bryan tries to bridge out and Ki double stomps him again. Bryan hits a big spinning forearm then dragon suplexes him for 2. Bryan double underhook suplexes him. Ki top rope diving headbutts him.
Ki handspring cartwheel kicks him in the corner. Ki hits a dragon suplex for 2. Ki then does cattle mutilation to Bryan. Bryan does a grounded dragon sleeper in response. Bryan cravateplexes him. Bryan hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Bryan hits forearms. Ki springboards and is dropkicked in mid-air. Bryan brainbusters him.
Ki hits Kawada kicks. Ki hits a ki krusher for 2. Ki goes for the phoenix splash but Bryan gets his knees up. Bryan dragon suplexes him and gets a 2 count. Bryan top rope backdrops him for 2. Ki hits a 2nd rope ki krusher.
Bryan rolls out again and Ki retrieves him. Ki hits kicks and chops. Ki handspring cartwheels and Bryan catches him with a full nelson. Bryan then regalplexes him. Bryan holds on and does cattle mutilation. Ki passes out and Bryan wins. The Round Robin Challenge ends all three wrestlers going 1-1.
Thoughts: They got a ton of time here at 32 minutes. They didn't overdo it though and had a good fight. They really did a good job in switching from submissions and various kicks here and made this look like a realistic wrestling match. Everything meant something and it did not get boring despite going so long. This was really good and was a strong wrestling match.
They shake hands after and Ken raises both of their hands. Bryan thanks everyone for coming out.
The Amazing Red and the SAT's crew argue in the back. Da Hit Squad does too. Mikey Whipwreck yells and tells Bryan XL to get out as he's not his student. Mikey asks Red what his problem is and says he'll find him a partner since Red can't find one he can trust. Everyone then argues more after.
Spanky congratulates Bryan Danielson and accuses him of stuffing the ballot box on the internet poll from earlier. Bryan says he's better than him. Paul says he wasn't on the ballot. Rudy Boy Gonzales comes in and says he'll try to get a match with all of them in for the next show.
They say the next even is on 4/27/2002 and it's called A Night of Appreciation for Eddie Guerrero. It will have Low-Ki vs AJ Styles (ROH debut), Christopher Daniels vs Donovan Morgan (ROH debut), Amazing Red and ? vs The SAT, a Texas Wrestling Academy Gauntlet Match, Mariato vs Xavier vs Storm, Jay Briscoe vs Tony Mamaluke and Matthews/York vs Divine Storm.
Overall thoughts: Similar to the last show, outside of Ki/Daniels/Bryan, nothing was that great, though I liked Maritato vs Xavier. The SAT and crew had another indy slopfest. Nana/Tuttle's stuff didn't do much for me. They had a storyline with The Boogie Knights and The Sinners but they ignored it in their match. Spanky and Jay tried but didn't have a great match and Paul London's match got cut short due to injury. Ki/Bryan was the match of the night and was a realistic 32 minute main event with lots of submissions and stiff shots. That one is worth going to check out. Daniels/Bryan was okay and Ki/Daniels was acceptable. I'd probably give this one a 5 out of 10 and that's all due to the main.
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