Survival of the Fittest
Yesterday I attended the 2005 Survival of the Fittest tournament in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The trip was long, but worth it in the end. As usual we got slightly lost looking for the venue, but that has happened every time so nothing new. We ended up beside that beach by the projects again. Damn you Victory Road for being so un-findable. "Here, we're the minority", quote of the trip. I'm telling you, us backwards hillbilly mountain folk are sheltered up here in Maine.
On to the show.
Let's start at the top. The Survival of the Fittest six man elimination match. Outstanding. The early stuff with all six was just great, with Lethal & Joe working as a team, Cabana's semi-comedy/semi-serious stuff and Daniels being Daniels. After Joe and Daniels were gone (Aries pinned Daniels btw), it became a GenNext vs Cabana/Lethal type of situation. These four put on some insanely great wrestling. For me, Lethal really shined right here and proved he's one of the future stars of Ring of Honor. After he was taken out by a devestating series of double teams from Aries and Strong, GenNext were fighting Cabana. There were some good comedy spots at this point, but shouldn't have been in the match. I think Aries was supposed to pin Colt Cabana but he slipped while trying a 450 and Strong had to take the pin. This got us down to Austin Aries vs Roderick Strong. Despite Aries possible injury, this was a spectacular bout between the two leaders of Generation Next. Austin Aries reminded me why I loved him in the first place, selling his back injury and hitting crazy corkscrew moves. Roderick Strong, however, really proved that the title WILL be his one day. Others saw it in him before this match, it took this match for me to see it in him. He's going to be a star. These two played off their knowledge of each other to create some crazy counters to moves, but in the end Roderick Strong took advantage of Aries' weakened back and made him tap to one of the most painful looking Boston Crabs ever. Roderick Strong, the NEXT Ring of Honor champion. 10/29.
Immediately before this match was the Pure Title match. BJ Whitmer challanged Nigel McGuinness to the title. This was an okay match, but I didn't like how Whitmer "accidently" used his rope breaks. Nigel was very "unpure" in this match as well, winning off a lowblow into rollup using ropes. Some crazy spots, including a brilliant exploder off the top rope. Good match, could've been better.
DeVito match sucked, crappy students. These are the guys who set up the chairs.
Qualifying matches. Christopher Daniels vs James Gibson was really good, though it was played a little odd. Since Daniels is the old pro, everyone LOVED him. This forced James Gibson to play the heel. It still came off well, as we saw Gibson pulling out all the stops to try and beat the legend in their only match ever. Good words after the match from Daniels.
Samoa Joe vs Milano Collection AT was a fun match. We saw Joe work a pure style, which makes sense because he just lost the pure title. Milano showcased some of his moves and some unique subissions using the ropes. In the end Joe won, and Milano was given the crowds appreciation with a standing ovation and a "please come back" chant.
Austin Aries vs Jimmy Rave should've been better. It was a shortish match that really didn't have a lot going for it. The match was pretty standard fare, with neither man going out of their way. Rave should've since he wasn't advancing, but oh well. Ended in DQ. Prince Nana is becoming a great manager. He brought Jade out on a retractable length log leash. Pure genius.
Roderick Strong vs Jerrelle Clark was a solid match. Clark was somehow able to maintain control of the match through the early part, and showcase most of his cool moves. Strong took over in the end and crushed him. Clark earned a standing ovation for his effort and a "please come back" chant.
Colt Cabana vs Ricky Reyes was an decent match. It wasn't anything special, Cabana acted like Dusty Rhodes a lot. Reyes really didn't do anything memorable. Too bad the good Pitbull is in Japan right now.
Jay Lethal vs Sal Rinauro was better than I thought it would be. Rinauro reminds me of a crappier Spanky. This match was fast paced, and allowed Lethal to show that in a speedy match he can really go. Lethal turned it up and defeated this guy with little difficulty.
...
So all in all this was a very good show. I ended up shaking Christopher Daniels hand, because he was heading directly towards me anyway, and meeting Milano Collection AT on my way to the bathroom and telling him he had a great match and getting an Engrish "Sanko yuu".
Fun times, I hope to go again in four months when the return to Boston.
On to the show.
Let's start at the top. The Survival of the Fittest six man elimination match. Outstanding. The early stuff with all six was just great, with Lethal & Joe working as a team, Cabana's semi-comedy/semi-serious stuff and Daniels being Daniels. After Joe and Daniels were gone (Aries pinned Daniels btw), it became a GenNext vs Cabana/Lethal type of situation. These four put on some insanely great wrestling. For me, Lethal really shined right here and proved he's one of the future stars of Ring of Honor. After he was taken out by a devestating series of double teams from Aries and Strong, GenNext were fighting Cabana. There were some good comedy spots at this point, but shouldn't have been in the match. I think Aries was supposed to pin Colt Cabana but he slipped while trying a 450 and Strong had to take the pin. This got us down to Austin Aries vs Roderick Strong. Despite Aries possible injury, this was a spectacular bout between the two leaders of Generation Next. Austin Aries reminded me why I loved him in the first place, selling his back injury and hitting crazy corkscrew moves. Roderick Strong, however, really proved that the title WILL be his one day. Others saw it in him before this match, it took this match for me to see it in him. He's going to be a star. These two played off their knowledge of each other to create some crazy counters to moves, but in the end Roderick Strong took advantage of Aries' weakened back and made him tap to one of the most painful looking Boston Crabs ever. Roderick Strong, the NEXT Ring of Honor champion. 10/29.
Immediately before this match was the Pure Title match. BJ Whitmer challanged Nigel McGuinness to the title. This was an okay match, but I didn't like how Whitmer "accidently" used his rope breaks. Nigel was very "unpure" in this match as well, winning off a lowblow into rollup using ropes. Some crazy spots, including a brilliant exploder off the top rope. Good match, could've been better.
DeVito match sucked, crappy students. These are the guys who set up the chairs.
Qualifying matches. Christopher Daniels vs James Gibson was really good, though it was played a little odd. Since Daniels is the old pro, everyone LOVED him. This forced James Gibson to play the heel. It still came off well, as we saw Gibson pulling out all the stops to try and beat the legend in their only match ever. Good words after the match from Daniels.
Samoa Joe vs Milano Collection AT was a fun match. We saw Joe work a pure style, which makes sense because he just lost the pure title. Milano showcased some of his moves and some unique subissions using the ropes. In the end Joe won, and Milano was given the crowds appreciation with a standing ovation and a "please come back" chant.
Austin Aries vs Jimmy Rave should've been better. It was a shortish match that really didn't have a lot going for it. The match was pretty standard fare, with neither man going out of their way. Rave should've since he wasn't advancing, but oh well. Ended in DQ. Prince Nana is becoming a great manager. He brought Jade out on a retractable length log leash. Pure genius.
Roderick Strong vs Jerrelle Clark was a solid match. Clark was somehow able to maintain control of the match through the early part, and showcase most of his cool moves. Strong took over in the end and crushed him. Clark earned a standing ovation for his effort and a "please come back" chant.
Colt Cabana vs Ricky Reyes was an decent match. It wasn't anything special, Cabana acted like Dusty Rhodes a lot. Reyes really didn't do anything memorable. Too bad the good Pitbull is in Japan right now.
Jay Lethal vs Sal Rinauro was better than I thought it would be. Rinauro reminds me of a crappier Spanky. This match was fast paced, and allowed Lethal to show that in a speedy match he can really go. Lethal turned it up and defeated this guy with little difficulty.
...
So all in all this was a very good show. I ended up shaking Christopher Daniels hand, because he was heading directly towards me anyway, and meeting Milano Collection AT on my way to the bathroom and telling him he had a great match and getting an Engrish "Sanko yuu".
Fun times, I hope to go again in four months when the return to Boston.
