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ROH in Manassas, VA

Posted in In My Head by Jack at 02:18, May 12 2008

By Duane Jones

ROH in Manassas, VA
by
Duane Jones

Ring of Honor saved my faith in wrestling. When I found out that they were going to be only five hours away I knew I had to go. I convinced my grandmother to go by showing her Man Up. At the time I thought this may be my only chance to see ROH in person and I would not have been able to live with myself knowing I missed it. I would not regret my decision.
We drove to VA with no tickets hoping to be able to find seats. We wound up getting in front of the right person in line. He had two extra second row seats and sold them to us for half price. As we were waiting outside Jack Evans walked by. The weird thing was I was the only person to notice. I yelled ?Jack? he waved which caused a few more people to yell his name. He opened the door and said ?that was a weak ass chant? so I started a ?Jack? chant he got really into it and wound up doing a back flip right on the concrete. My ROH experience was getting off to a good start.

Chris Hero w/ Shane Hagadorn, Bobby Dempsey, & Larry Sweeney vs. Pelle Primeau

This was the first match of the night. There was a Bobby Dempsey chant which caused Sweeney to make him stay under the ring for the entire match. I was happy that my favorite wrestler in ROH kicked off the show. Hero went over but during the match I pointed at Larry Sweeney and he pointed back. When Larry Sweeney looks into your eyes and gives you his approval it?s not a humbling feeling. After the match Sara Del Rey made a surprise appearance which caused me to mark out harder than anything that night. Sweeney announced she was back with Sweet & Sour Inc. Sara then beat up a camera guy which was awesome.

Rhett Titus & Rex Sterling vs. Mitch Franklin & Sean Denny
I only knew Mitch Franklin but his partner was really over with the crowd. This was pretty short and Titus and Sterling won.

Nigel McGuiness vs. Brent Albright vs. Damien Wayne vs. Claudio Castagnoli

I was surprised to see this match so early on the show. It was Wayne?s ROH debut. McGuiness received a ?fuck you Nigel? chant on his way to the ring. Claudio was clearly the crowd favorite and while he isn?t one of my favorites it?s fun to cheer him live. Every time he so much as moved the crowd would go ?Hey? this never got old. Nigel did a great job playing the chicken shit heel to Claudio. The match was pretty solid but not very long. Albright got the win by kneeing Wayne in the head until the ref stopped it. Afterwards there was a stare down between McGuiness & Castagnoli.

Austin Aries vs. Eric Stevens

Austin came out in street clothes and called out Jimmy Jacobs. Jimmy never showed but Stevens came out and Aries wrestled in his regular clothes. Stevens had no Mohawk and didn?t do the choo-choo so I enjoyed this match. Aries won but I can?t remember how.

NO DQ Jack Evans vs. Necro Butcher

The crowd was just about even with Evans and Necro fans. The show really picked up starting with this match. This match was the best one so far despite Evan?s lack of offense. This one didn?t get crazy but there were some pretty sick chair spots and the match was a lot of fun. Necro Butcher won.

After that match it was intermission, they announced that they would be back in August and that tickets were on sale now. My grandmother sent me to go get some front row seats and while buying the tickets I saw Cary Silken the owner of ROH. I went over and introduced my self to him. He could not have been a nicer guy. I mentioned that I had heard him on IYH. A smile came over his face and he said he remembered doing the show. He asked me where I was from and I said North Carolina. He seemed genuinely surprised at that and replied and ?you came all the way here to see us.? Again I can?t stress what an upstanding guy he was after the show he stood at the door, shook everyone?s hand, and thanked them for coming.

Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Jacobs and Tyler Black came out of the crowd Aries attacked Black and the brawled to the back. This match was brutal. These two guys beat the hell out of each other. The mach kicked off with Jay beating Jimmy up outside. They got right in front of where we were sitting. I called Jimmy a gay mother fucker which lead to a you?re a homo chant. That made my night. This was my favorite match of the night and had some of the stiff chair shots, including Jimmy holding up a chair and spearing Jay. But the best part of this match was three littler kids who kept yelling for Jay to teabag Jimmy. I love to hate Jimmy Jacobs but I can?t deny he?s a hell of a performer and a great heel. Jimmy won after Necro Butcher interfered. Austin Aries came out and they four guys brawled until it was broken up.

Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black

The guy sitting behind me had never seen ROH and marked out like crazy when he found out Danielson uses The Final Countdown as his entrance music. This was a fantastic match. Danielson knows how to work a crowd. This match got a ?this is awesome? chant, I know lame, but this match truly deserved it. There was a guy in the crowd who was going crazy for Tyler Black and kept giving Danielson shit. Danielson threw Black into the crowd right where the guy was sitting and then dived from the ring onto Black. Breakout has the first match between these two and if it?s even close to being as good as this match was I look forward to seeing it. Danielson won with a half crab. During the match the guy mentioned earlier told me that he had to start watching ROH and after the match he said that ROH saved his faith in wrestling.

NOAH- GO Shiozaki, Naromichi Marufuji, and Takeshi Morishima vs. NRC- Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, and Rocky Romero

This was a great main event. Plenty of great wrestling as well as some comedy spots. One spot saw Morishima put one of the NRC in the corner and sit on his neck then Shiozaki climbed on top of Morishima then Marafuji got on his knees on Shiozaki?s back and putting his hands in a prayer position they stayed that way for a pretty long time. NRC tried a similar spot but they just laid on top of each other which got a ?that was gay chant.? I?m a big fan of NRC and was trilled to see Morishima in person. Team NOAH got the when and received a ?thank you NOAH chant.?

All in all it was a fun show. It wasn?t the best ROH show I?ve ever seen but there is nothing like being there live. If ROH comes anywhere near you go. I?ll be going back in August and I can?t wait. Hopefully Lacey will be there next time.


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