Ring of Honor house show report
September 6, 2003
Wakefield, Mass. at the Charbonneau Field House
By Sean Radican, Torch Team Contributor

This was my first time at a Ring of Honor show and I have to say that attending one of these shows was a great way to spend a Saturday night. When I got to the event, I noticed license plates from all over the East in the parking lot, including New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Maine. The event was held in a gymnasium at Wakefield High School, so part of the crowd made up of high school kids, while the rest of the crowd seemed to be made up of hardcore Ring of Honor fans. I heard a lot of people holding conversations about putting off other plans to come to this event, including one man who said he put off a trip to Atlanta when he heard Ring of Honor was coming to the area.

When I walked into the gymnasium, I noticed that Ring of Honor had a descent looking set. Ring of Honor had several banners hanging in the gym and also had an entrance ramp set up with lights. Everything looked fairly professional, but one thing I noticed was the ring looked like it had a lot of give to it. Ring of Honor had a couple of stands set up. There was one where you could buy DVD's, VHS tapes, and T-shirts. Another stand was set up so that you could take a picture and have it signed by wrestlers such as Raven, The SAT's, and Justin Credible for ten dollars. The gym was fairly small, but it was packed. I asked an usher for the attendance figure and he said that it was around 625 people, which seemed to be right. I was only able to get general admission tickets because the ringside seats had sold out, but I was able to sit in the bleachers about 10-15 feet from the ring. I bought a program at the merchandise table, which said that Ring of Honor would be back at the Charbonneau Field House November 29, 2003. I went up to meet Raven and shook his hand and the lights went out, which meant it was time for the show to begin.

(1)Colt Cabana defeated Jimmy Rave in a Field of Honor match via pinfall Colt Cabana came out wearing a one piece singlet, with a long sleeved black T-shirt underneath. He didn't have the greatest look in the world. The match started slow, with the wrestlers exchanging rest holds. The crowd was behind Rave at the start of the match. There was a funny spot where Rave tried twice to come off the ropes and knock Cabana down, but the third time he tried to do it, Cabana tripped him. Later in the match, Cabana went to the top rope and said, "The fat boy is going to fly." He was right because he attempted a 450 splash, but missed. The finish saw Cabana power out of a crossface, pick up Rave, and nail him with a great looking double underhook back breaker for the pin. This was a pretty good match, but Cabana isn't in the greatest shape.

(2) Slyk Wagner Brown w/April Hunter defeated Diablo Santiago w/ Outlaw(?) via pinfall At the beginning of the match Brown hit a great looking standing moonsault on Santiago. Eventually, Santiago gained the advantage and nailed Brown with a fisherman's suplex for a two count. Santiago went for a diving headbutt, but Brown moved and capitalized with a nice looking tilt a whirl Rock Bottom for a two count. The finish saw Santiago run at Brown, who lifted him up and powerbombed him in mid air for the three count.

After the match, the man who came to the ring with Santiago who I think was called Outlaw said April Hunter was checking him out. April slapped him hard and then hit a nice swinging neck breaker off the second rope.

The Backseat Boys defeated The SAT's, Special K, and Dunn & Marcos in a tag team scramble match. This was an incredible match and it was very difficult to keep track of the action, so I'll just give you the highlights. The action was just everywhere and at one point, I believe Joel of the SAT's suplexed one of the members of Special K from the top rope to the outside onto all the participants in the match. This was a huge "holy shit" moment. The SAT and The Backseat Boys were really impressive in this match, hitting several incredible double team maneuvers on their opponents. The finish saw Trent Acid of The Backseat Boys nail Joel of The SAT's with a nice looking inverted suplex for the pin. This was easily the best match of the night.

After the match, Homicide came out and challenged Trent Acid to a match later in the night. Trent says no because he has already beaten Homicide twice. Homicide asks again for a match and Trent agrees, but only if it is a straight up wrestling match. Homicide says that if he loses the match, he will leave ROH. Homicide gave up his spot in the four corner survival match to get a shot at Trent Acid.

(4) Matt Stryker defeated John Walters in a Field of Honor match This was the worst match of the night. The two men exchanged several submissions during the opening part of the match. The finish saw Walters go for a powerbomb, but Stryker fell on top of him for the pin. This match seemed to suck the energy out of the crowd.

After the match, Walters says that he hates losing, but he is proud of his match. For some reason, everyone clapped. I think it was because he is from the area. Walters guaranteed victory when Ring of Honor comes to Wakefield in November.

(5) The Carnage Crew of Justin Credible, Devito, and Loc defeated Special K in a six man grudge match. This is the second time I had seen the members of Special K and they really suck. They look to be no older than 16 or 17 and they are supposed to be rich rave kids. The spot of the match came when Justin Credible hit ten suplexes in a row on Izzy of Special K, I believe. The crowd asked for one more suplex, so he gave it to them before tagging out. This huge black guy with platform shoes came out and interfered on behalf of Special K as they were getting their butts handed to them. Devito kept hitting him with right hands that had no impact, so he kicked him in the sack. At one point, I believe Izzy of Special K, hit a nice spring board stunner when Loc had his back turned to him in the ring. The finish saw all six men fighting with the Carnage Crew taking advantage, which left Credible in the ring with Dizzy. Credible hit That's Incredible from the second rope for the win.

After the match, The Carnage Crew set up the female from Special K for a piledriver from the apron to a table set up on the floor. It was pretty funny because Loc and Credible had to life her legs for Devito to piledrive her because she was so heavy. It was a cool spot to see live and fans rushed to the barricade to get a look. I went up and she was crumpled in a ball on the floor. I guess she was ok because Special K carried her out of the gym.

(6) Marc Briscoe defeated B.J. Whitmer via pinfall. This was another solid wrestling match. Whitmer had the advantage at the beginning when he hip tossed Briscoe over the top rope. Whitmer went for a dive through the second rope, but Briscoe met him with a kick to the head. Briscoe went to the top rope and hit a shooting star press to the outside. Briscoe hit several nice looking side-suplexes during the match. The two men exchanged suplexes, including a beautiful spot where Whitmer hit a full nelson suplex on Briscoe. The finish saw Briscoe hit a top rope Tazz-Plex for the pin.

(7) Homicide defeated Johnny Acid via pinfall. This was an entertaining match. The crowd seemed dead for the most part though, which happened throughout the night. The start of the match saw Acid suplex Homicide from the apron to the floor. Acid got some serious height on the suplex and it looked like he lost his grip on Homicide in mid air. Acid went for a moonsault, but Homicide met him with a kick and then threw Acid from the apron to the barrier. Eventually, both men were bleeding the hard way. Homicide looked like he broke his nose and was bleeding down his mouth and spitting out blood constantly. Acid had a nasty cut over his eye. At one point, Acid went to the top rope, but Homicide met him there and executed an awesome looking diamond cutter on Acid from the top rope for a near fall, which Acid's partner broke up. The finish saw Homicide hit the vertabreaker for the pinfall. The crowd was into this match at times.

(8)Jay Briscoe became the #1 contender for the ROH title when he defeated Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Chris Sabin in a four corners survival match when he pinned Sabin. This was one of the better matches of the night. The rules were if Samoa Joe pinned any of the other three men, that man would never get another ROH Title shot. If the other wrestlers got a pin, they got an ROH Title shot. The beginning of the match saw each competitor involved making a blind tag to the disgust of the person he was tagging in. Briscoe did a ton of selling for the other wrestlers for the bulk of the match and made them look really good. At one point Samoa Joe put Briscoe in a Boston Crab and bent his body all the way back, which made for a sick looking submission hold, but Styles kicked him off before Briscoe could tap. Briscoe eventually got in some nice offense when he hit a huge senton from the top rope onto all three men on the outside. All for men ended up brawling in the ring. Styles hit his Styles Clash on Sabin, but Samoa Joe kicked him off. Eventually Briscoe got up and nailed Sabin with a double underarm DDT for the pin.

***Justin Credible Q&A session. Someone asked Justin what he thought of Triple H and Justin said he was a jerk. Another person asked Justin what it was like to work with A-Train and Justin said it wasn't that bad because he had someone big with him on the road to watch his back. Someone asked Justin if Vince was a prick and Justin said he didn't deal with Vince that much, but he said that Jim Ross and Johnny Ace were the biggest pricks he's ever dealt with in the WWE. Another person asked him if Paul Heyman still owes him money and Justin said no because Heyman gave him a character that he could make money with to this day.

Special K came out and attacked Justin Credible at this point. Loc and Devito tried to help him, but there were so many members of Special K and there was nothing they could do because they were out numbered. After the attack Justin yelled at the owner of ROH, Rob Feinstein, for allowing the attack to happen. Justin yelled at him that he was through with him.

Raven defeated CM Punk in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun steel cage match. It took awhile for the crew to assemble the cage, which looked to be about 10-12 ft. high. The crew hung weapons all around the ring for Raven and Punk to use. Raven had the advantage at the beginning of the match when he hit Punk over the head with a trashcan. The sounds from the weapons didn't sound heavy, so there was a small amount of boos from the crowd. From my vantage point, Raven wasn't hitting Punk very hard with the weapons he was using. Raven eventually used a cheese grater to bust punk open and he bled heavily. Raven threw punk head first into the side of the steel cage several times and the crowd didn't seem to be into the match at this point. Raven went for several running knees and after the third time Punk, who was leaning against the cage, grabbed a trashcan and hit Raven over the head with it. Punk wrapped the chain around his hand and punched Raven in the head with it. After that, Punk wrapped the chain around his knee and dropped several knees to Raven's face. Raven eventually raked Punk's eyes to take the advantage. Raven executed two drop toeholds, which dropped Punk face first on a steel chair. Cabana came to the ring and gave Punk a pair of handcuffs. Punk eventually cuffed Raven to the top rope and worked him over with various weapons for awhile. Punk taunted Raven by dangling the keys to the handcuffs in front of his face. Punk eventually sat down and posed in front of a very bloody Raven. Raven eventually knocked Punk down with several right hands and took the keys from Punk and unlocked himself. Raven hit his evenflow finisher, but Cabana broke up the count by throwing one of the steel chairs at the ref. Raven set up a table in the corner, but Punk gave Raven a low blow and climbed to the top of the cage. Raven met Punk there and they exchanged punches until Punk fell from the top of the cage through the table. Raven set up another table on the other side of the ring in the corner. Raven put Punk on the top rope and gave him his evenflow through the table for the pin.

After the match, the lights went out. When they came back on Raven was tied to a huge x with barbed wire wrapped around his head. Punk told Raven that he may have won the battle, but he hadn't won the war.

As the crowd was exciting the, ref tried to take the barbed wire out of Raven's hair, but they couldn't because it was stuck. Eventually, scissors were brought out and they had to cut the wire out of Raven's hair. Raven looked to be in pain after the match for several minutes, but got up and walked out under his own power.

I really enjoyed this show, but the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic. There were several people trying to be cool and start chants, but they were met with boos. The people who wanted to chant wondered aloud why no one else was chanting. I thought part of the problem with the crowd might have been that the show was simply too long. It lasted over four hours and the crowd didn't seem to have the energy to cheer anything for the last couple of matches, with the exception of a few big spots. I have to say that ROH offers a lot of great wrestling at a good price, but they might want to consider shortening their show because it is very long.

If you have any comments or questions you can e-mail me at s_radican@yahoo.com.

***

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