Ring of Honor house show report
December 6, 2008
Nashville, Tenn.
Report by Derek Price, Torch VIP member

There was a four camera shoot - two handhelds at ringside, and two on very high stands out in the crowd. Pretty big lighting rigs set up very high. Better production values? Kind of one of those things you'd have to wait and see how it turns out on the DVD. The merch stand didn't have most of the DVD's I was looking for, but Sean Radican actually made me a list of "must-haves" that I picked a few from to take advantage of the "buy three, get two free" sale.

I'm not really good at judging crowds, but from looking at it, probably 90-95 percent of the seats that were for sale were filled. I would guess between 600 and 700 in attendance.

We got there about 7 p.m., and they got things underway with two "dark" matches (one of the handheld cameras was rolling):

(a) "Super Ninja #2" (Sugarfoot Alex Payne in a ninja outfit) beat a guy Shawn Schultz with a sunset flip. Not much heat, a few blown spots, nothing to speak of.

(b) "Boogie Woogie Boy" Gary Valiant (announced as Jimmy's son) beat "Dirty" Ernie Osiris with a cutter. Ernie played up the homeless guy character, taking handouts from front row attendees. Valiant seemed really out of place at this show. He grabbed my fedora and put it on his head, and did that stupid boogie woogie dance. I was glad when this match ended, but disappointed that Ernie didn't go over.

Main show

(1) The Briscoes & Kenny Omega defeated Kenny King & Sal Rinauro & Rhett Titus when Sal was pinned following an electric chair German. Pretty okay match. Briscoes seem to have toned down their style. Omega really looked like a star in this match.

After the match, Daizee Haze came down to confront Titus, but he stuck with his previous accusations about her. Necro came out to make the save when it looked like Rhett was going to attack her. Necro and Daizee cornered Titus and made him tell the truth, that nothing happened between him and Haze, and that he was actually a virgin. Of course all the neckbeards in attendance started a "You're a virgin" chant. Oh, the irony. Daizee finished things off by kicking Rhett in the junk and leaving him laying.

(2) Delirious (w/Jimmy Jacobs) beat Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne with the Shadows Over Hell. Payne played the straight white meat babyface, and nobody bought it. Zero response for his comebacks. Not much to this, but the finish was awesome, with the Panic Attack followed up by a sick Shadows Over Hell, where Delirious turned in mid-air and came down hard.

(3) Sara Del Rey beat Ashley Lane, Daizee Haze, and Serena Deeb in Four Corner Survival with the Royal Butterfly on Lane. Pretty okay match. Del Ray is a monster.

(4) Brent Albright & Erick Stevens beat Davey Richards & Larry Sweeney when Sweeney accidentally hits Davey with a chair and Albright scored the pin. It was originally Richards and Dempsey, but Sweeney kicked Bobby out of the match at the last second. Crowd was excited for Sweeney joining the match, but he didn't have much offense. Played the chicken heel. Good tag match. Albright and Stevens had a Mohawk dying party beforehand.

(5) Grizzly Redwood & Bushwhacker Luke beat Irish Airborne with the battering ram. Luke came out to his WWF music, which really makes me wonder if it was WWF produced, or audio house music. Pretty basic psychology, feel good finish. Crowd mostly was into the nostalgia, doing the Bushwhacker march. He got a few middle fingers here and there.

(6) The Necro Butcher & Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black ends in a wild brawl double count out. Really good match with great heat. Jacobs played the chicken heel, avoiding the action. At one point when they were brawling outside, one of the barricade signs came off and was used as a weapon, which just happened out of nowhere and was pretty cool.

(7) Bryan Danielson beat Claudio Castagnoli in a no DQ match using a belt to execute the Triangle Choke. At one point Dragon attempted a dive to the outside and Claudio nailed him with a chair busting him open. Another wild brawl - an easy four stars, with the crowd being huge into both guys. Very believable, barbaric match as Danielson juiced hard and blood got all over both guys.

(8) ROH champion Nigel McGuinness beat Jerry Lynn to retain the ROH World Title. Jerry had Nigel up for a second Cradle Piledriver, but Nigel kicked him in the head, fell back in to a pin and used the ropes. A lot of near falls that really had me going. I seriously believed that Lynn had won on more than one nearfall. I hadn't gotten this into a match since Flair-Michaels at WrestleMania 24, and it's without a doubt the best match I've seen live. Both guys put in a hell of an effort. Lynn really shined.

After the match, Nigel teased respect for Lynn, but turned it around to tell Jerry he was washed up. Jerry had enough and knocked Nigel out of the ring and back to the back to finish out the show.

After the show, Lynn hung around and signed autographs for fans. Bobby Dempsey, Grizzly, and Sara Del Ray wandered around, and we hung out with Bobby for a few. The after-party at Coyote Ugly was plugged several times, but we had an hour drive ahead and were pretty worn out. I'm sure that would've been quite an experience.

Great first ROH live experience. I'd definitely go back if they came back to Nashville, but just not front row. Kind of one of those things I'd like to do once, and being crammed in so tight took away from the enjoyment. In a building laid out like the Memorial Gym, there's not really a bad seat.

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