ROH in Manassas (my thoughts)

Its been a few days since Ring of Honor made its return to Manassas, VA on January 16th and now I can sit back and look at what happened. I think I needed the time to really take in what my fellow Nation member Todd were witness too. It was fun being a fan again, something we really haven't don't in a long time. To sit there and tear into people is an amazing feeling that everyone should have at least once. Or for a real show come sit next to us and witness it in all its glory! But enough about me...you came to see my thoughts on what happened.

Sports Network and Fitness Inc.
January 16th, 2009
8320 Quarry Road
Manassas, VA 20110

I am going to start out by talking about this great, and I use that word loosely, wrestling venue. It in an indoor sports complex that plays hosts to indoor soccer and other sports. This is the third ROH show they have held in this building. Its not the most impressive place but it does its job. I am sure ROH could find a much better place to have the show, but then it most likely wont be in Manassas. I would guess 300 to 400 people were there?

Preshow

Ernice Osiris and John Kermon defeated Dirty Sanchez and Andy Ridge after Ernie pins Ridge with a spike double-arm DDT.

It is great to see John and Sanchez in ROH, even if its the preshow. Both of these guys are friends of the Nation and deserve a shot.

Grizzly Redwood pinned Ninja Pink with a top rope axe handle.

Uhhh...yea! Grizzly is somehow over with the crowd, thought not sure why.

Main Show

Brent Albright & Erick Stevens defeated Damien Wayne & Chris Escobar with a half nelson suplex/clothesline on Escobar.

Erick Stevens has the mohawk coming in again. Damien Wayne is another friend of the Nation and it was very hard to watch him basically get ripped open chop after chop. It literally looked as if Freddy Kruger had attacked him after the match. Albright and Stevens are way over and look good as a team. Interesting fact, Brent is 3-0 in Manassas so far.

Rhett Titus vs. Sean Denny ends in a no contest as Bison Smith came through the crowd and ran right over both guys. Before the run in both were in the middle of a very solid 8 minute match. Both of these guys are great and again, friends of the Nation. Do you see a running theme here folks? Bison Smith is a huge man who we found out wrestled in Japan for NOAH. ROH needs to keep this guy around.

The Necro Butcher defeats Delirious with a Tiger Driver.

Necro was in control early on but Jacobs attacked his knee, which led to Dilirous working it over. The end of the match came when Jacobs handed Dilirous the spike. Daizee ran out and talks him out of hitting Necro with it and hands over the spike which led to the ending. I am a fan of Dilirious and tonight he played the heel role very well...not a lot of running around and was very quiet. Its always odd to see Necro as you are used to him bleeding like a pig but this is 2 times in a row we have not seen that happen, with one being in Philly in a cage.

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards defeat Jay Briscoe & Roderick Strong with a superkick/German suplex combo on Jay after Larry Sweeney hit him with a boot.

As of this point in the show this was the best match. The crowd was really into it. Davey Richards is a machine in the ring. I wish Jay would have found a better tag team partner thought. Not really a fan of Roderick Strong and maybe it was just me but he looked very slim in this match. Either way it was an awesome match and left everyone pumped for the 2nd part of the night.

~INTERMISSION~

Jerry Lynn beat Austin Aries by dropping down on his as Aries went for a sunset flip out of the corner.

Aries came out with new tights and new music. He was sporting the very in porn stache tonight which he said he would explain in his manifesto. Wasn't expecting too much from this match because of Jerry Lynn. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a great guy and has always been very nice to us but its the same match over and over again with him...arm drag...arm bar...arm drag...arm bar...but not tonight. Jerry was all over the place. Maybe it was the new Austin Aries gimmick that threw me...not sure.

Jimmy Jacobs defeated Bryan Danielson by rolling through the Triangle Choke for a pin.

A fantastic match with Danielson's right knee being the target all match. My favorite match of the night far. Maybe I am going to sound gay here, but I am a huge Bryan Danielson fan. This guy has everything you want from a wrestler. Someone needs to pick him up after his ROH contract ends and give him a main stream push. Not that I would care if he stayed in ROH, but if that happens put the title on him! Jacobs won in what some may call an odd finish but its whatever. It did what it was supposed to do.

Tyler Black pinned Nigel McGuiness with a powerbomb in the corner followed by a stiff superkick.

This match just fell flat for me and here's why. ROH has kind of become known for its reversals and near falls. it just seemed as though the match never really built up to a finish. Tyler Black's win came almost out of nowhere and it felt like he didn't really earn it, more like he lucked into it. I really feel like Black deserves a decisive win here and even though it was clean it didn't feel like he really won. The match itself was fine but didn't really escalate or climax at any point. I have no problem with Tyler winning at all...its a good thing...but something was not right about it. From the start this match didn't excite me as it was non-title.

It seems like the crowd really wanted more then they were given. Considering the talent level and the amount of talent around everything just fell short of great and stayed in the "yeah it was good, but" area. It seems as though each Manassas show has been worse then the last. ROH returns June 12th, so lets hope it gets better. On the flip side I can sorta give ROH a pass. The past 2 Manassas shows have been on the heels of a major shows so it was sorta treated as a warm up if you will. This show had nothing going on after except another small show in Jersey the next night. In the past we have seen all of the great Japanese talent come through and maybe that was what was missing at this one. Nothing on the card really jumped out at me saying "YOU NEED TO BE HERE!"

Match of the Night: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Bryan Danielson

As always thanks for reading. Your thoughts are always welcome. Make sure to check out http://www.thewrestlingnation.com.

Lee