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By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

ROH "Rising Above" PPV #5
New York City
Originally aired: March 7, 2008

They started with Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard exchanging puns about ROH rising above for this show. They cut backstage where Steen and Generico gave a demonstration on ROH having cameras all over the backstage area capturing activity. Steen had one of those "oh, look, it's a camera" moments and talked about the ROH locker room being a dark, dingy place. Generico was the star of this with his facial reactions and mannerisms behind the mask.

They cut back to the ring where Adam Pearce cut a promo and called out Delirious. Brent Albright was sporting Delirious's old green mask. They transitioned into a highlight package on a bunch of spots set to some fast-paced rock music. Back to real-time action where Delirious stormed the ring sporting his new red outfit to challenge Albright in a match.

1 -- DELIRIOUS vs. BRENT ALBRIGHT. Delirious is supposed to be more serious sporting the red outfit rather than the comedy-era green outfit. The only problem is that he's still doing his green-outfit gimmick with the volume turned up one notch. The production value is noticeably improved, but the problem is that they have this really sweet corner camera angle, then they switch to the lower quality ringside handcam video. It's like going from HD to standard definition intermittingly during a broadcast. Albright dominated until Delirious made a comeback at 6:00. They exchanged trademark submission holds, then Delirious surprised Albright with a roll up for the win. WINNER: Delirious in 7:00. Nothing memorable, but nothing wrong with it as an opener, although I didn't see anything new from Delirious to take him seriously. Albright stood out more in defeat with his power offense. (*1/2)

After the match, Pearce and Hagadorn tried to beat down Delirious until Generico & Steen made the save. With them brawling on the floor, Age of the Fall came out to the ring. Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo about using ROH as a platform for their revolution. The Vulture Squad interrupted the promo and AotF bailed from the ring. Julius Smokes asked for a tag team scramble match. This feels like déjà vu from the Glory By Honor VI Night One faction warfare. This is a very, very fast-paced show so far.

2 -- TAG TEAM SCRAMBLE SPOT FEST MATCH. The teams are Steen & Generico, Jacobs & Tyler Black, Evans & Ruckus, and B.J. Whitmer & Pearce. They did a bunch of spots in the opening minutes. It's one of those things where the spots look really good, but you can't name the move two moves ago and no one is selling. The finish was pretty sweet with Black taking the Package Piledriver from Steen into Generico's brainbuster for the win. WINNERS: Steen & Generico in 7:00 to become #1 contenders. Very spotty, but a lot better than the GBH VI Night One faction warfare spotfest mess. (**)

They cut backstage where the Briscoes were sporting some crazy Halloween masks. They cut a promo about taking out the Age of the Fall. They cut right back to the ring for a Shimmer match already in progress.

3 -- DAIZEE HAZE vs. SARA DEL RAY vs. LACEY. They showed Tammy Sytch sitting ringside watching the action. Very fast-paced triple threat match with a lot of nearfalls following big "ooh and aah" spots. All three women were knocked down at 4:00 and they recovered on the mat. I thought I recognized that emphatic application of a ten count from PWG semi-senior referee Bryce. Very cool spot at 6:00 with Sara applying a double butterfly submission hold. The women went for finishers as they entered scramble mode, then Lacey knocked Sara to the outside, but walked into the Mindtrip finisher from Daizee for the win. WINNER: Daizee Haze in 7:00. A much better showcase of Shimmer wrestler than on the last PPV, where it was a quick match with outside interference. (**)

They showed a video package of ROH highlights featuring the "stars of ROH", including Ricky Steamboat, J.J. Dillon, Bobby Heenan, Eddie Guerrero, and Terry Funk. They showed a video clip on the NRC attacking Erick Stevens on a previous show. They suddenly cut back to the ring for another match starting quickly.

4 -- DAVEY RICHARDS vs. ERICK STEVENS. About three minutes into the match, the announcers referenced a commotion backstage with an unauthorized person trying to enter the building. Two minutes later, Daniel Puder showed up in the arena to get a closer look at the action. Stevens jawed at him a little bit, but then returned to smashing Richards with power offense. Stevens distracted himself again, and Richards took advantage with a coast-to-coast dropkick on Stevens. He then slapped on the Kimora submission hold and Stevens tapped out. WINNER: Richards via submission in 9:00. Fine match, but the angle with Puder took precedent over the action. Actually, the mid-match angle was pretty well done with Puder being a subtle heel by interrupting the match. (**1/4)

After the match, Stevens said if Puder wants a fight, he isn't too hard to find. Larry Sweeney interrupted, though. It's quite obvious he can get the cool heel reaction just for the sound of his voice. Sweeney talked up Puder, which didn't sit well with the ROH audience. He then invited Puder back to his private dressing room to watch the show away from the idiots in the building. Puder accepted and left, then Sweeney cut a promo on Claudio. Suddenly, Claudio interrupted and chased Sweeney over the guardrail to the ringside area. Tank Tolland and Bobby Dempsey made the save, then Hero jumped Claudio to start their match.

5 -- CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Sweet 'n Sour, Inc). The announcers explained the stipulation that Sweeney owns Claudio's contract if Hero wins the match. Hero dominated early on, but Dempsey inadvertently got in the way like he's so great at doing. The match turned into a crisp, acrobatic display of aerial moves, but required obvious co-operation from the opponent. It's a fine line trying to do spectacular moves without making it seem like the opponent is willingly going along with taking punishment. Best moment of the show so far came when Hero had Claudio trapped in a submission hold with Claudio's ROH career on the line, but Claudio powered into the Ricola Bomb for the pin and the win. WINNER: Claudio in 10:00. Best match so far on the PPV, but it didn't stand out from the other Hero vs. Claudio matches during their series. (**3/4)

They did a split-screen of the Briscoes and the Age of the Fall. Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo about bringing their revolution to New York City and taking out the Briscoes. Necro Butcher even had a few words. Oh, the greatness of Necro.

They went back to the ring where Takeshi Morishima came out. This is where we transition into the big boys on the card. Bryan Danielson came out, but Morishima met him on the floor and smashed him into the guardrail.

6 -- BRYAN DANIELSON vs. TAKESHI MORISHIMA.

The announcers said this match is being held under "Relaxed Rules". Or, in TNA, that would be applicable to every match. Morishima continued to smash Danielson ringside, even busting him wide open. Danielson had a pretty good stream from the forehead. Morishima finally took Danielson into the ring and came off the top with a double-foot dropkick. He continued to destroy Danielson and the announcers suggested the ref consider stopping the match. With blood pouring from his face, Danielson made a comeback with a running boot to the face, followed by a ton of kicks to the back. Morishima absorbed everything, then landed a massive clothesline. Goodness, this man is great. Morishima then landed a back drop driver and another huge clothesline, but Danielson kicked out. Morishima took liberties with the "relaxed rules" and chucked the referee to the corner, earning a DQ. Security and officials hit the ring to calm him down, but Morishima gave ref Bryce a back drop driver. Danielson then grabbed a weapon and tried to gouge Morishima's eye out, but officials eventually pulled him back.

WINNER: Danielson via DQ in 9:00. There are certain match combinations featuring certain wrestlers where it's just instantly great no matter what they do. There's always a big match feel between Danielson and Morishima even if their match is on the undercard and ends with a non-finish. Great imagery near the end of the match with Danielson making the fiery comeback with blood pouring from his head. (***1/4)

Backstage, the Hangmen Three (and Hagadorn) talked themselves up. They cut to a split screen of Julius Smokes talking up the Vulture Squad. Actually, they just kind of sat around pantomiming. That was weird. Back to the ring for a tag title match.

7 -- ROH tag champions JAY & MARK BRISCOE vs. ROCKY ROMERO & RODERICK STRONG -- ROH Tag Title match -- two out of three falls

I used the first portion of this match to take a breath after a wild six matches. The Briscoes went for their Doomsday Device finisher on Strong at 10:00, but Romero blocked it. Romero and Strong then set up Jay for a Doomsday combo with Romero nailing a knee to the face. Strong then scored with and butterfly suplex driver for the pin to earn the first fall. The announcers rightfully made a huge deal out of the pin, as the Briscoes never lose a fall in two-out-of-three falls matches. During the second fall, Mark took a hot tag and exchanged pin attempts with Strong before scoring the second fall at 16:00 with a bridge pin. With the match tied 1-1, Strong and Jay had a standing exchange at 19:00, with neither man being able to take the other off his feet. After knocking Romero to the outside, Jay and Mark teamed up for a spike Jay driller on Strong for the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Briscoes in 20:00 to retain the ROH Tag Titles. Definitely held its own in the semi-main event, but not a memorable Briscoes tag match. It's tough to live up to that Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico program that delivered every single time on PPV. Romero & Strong got the moral victory of finally scoring a fall on the Briscoes, so that gives them an "out" and helps advance the program. (***)

For a match that ROH knew was a match of the year contender when they put together this PPV, I'm questioning why there was zero pre-match hype for Nigel vs. Aries. I'm going to assume they were working with the "no hype needed" idea; that the match was so good it didn't need any hype to stand out and seem special. At least they did the formal intros so the match could breathe on this wild PPV.

8 -- ROH champion NIGEL McGUINNESS vs. AUSTIN ARIES -- ROH Title match

After the opening bell, the fans exchanged chants of "F--- you, Nigel" and "Let's go Nigel" before quieting down for the opening few minutes of the match. I didn't realize how early in the match the guardrail spot was, and boy did it look sick when Aries smashed Nigel in the back of the head, sending Nigel face-first into the edge of the guardrail. Gotta love the contrast of the male fan directly behind the guardrail having a good time being part of the action, while the female fan's jaw dropped and she looked very concerned. Nigel had a far-away look in his eyes, with a little embellishment, but he certainly gave the appearance of not having full control of his own body. Excellent spot at 8:00 where Aries kicked Nigel in the gut, but Nigel shot him a middle finger, so Aries landed an even stiffer kick that knocked Nigel back to the mat.

This was so great from 8:00 to 18:00 with Nigel playing a cocky heel in a very subtle way by slowing down the pace of the match to fit his style, while Aries showed great fire with his offense. Great piece of camera work at 20:00 with a very tight corner camera shot of Aries landing successive elbow strikes to the ear. I loved that. That was then followed by a sick spot with Nigel giving Aries a lariat off the top rope with Aries doing a back flip onto the floor. Of course, Aries popped up 20 seconds later and gave Nigel a brainbuster to the top of the guardrail.

Back in the ring, Aries went for his title-victory combo of a brainbuster and 450 splash, but Nigel blocked the 450 with his knees. Nigel then slapped on an arm submission, which Aries countered into a roll up for a nearfall. Aries with a beautiful brainbuster into modified Muta Lock at 20:00, but Nigel reached the ropes. Like two men battling in the 12th round, they had a standing exchange with Aries blocking the rebound lariat with a lariat of his own for a very close nearfall. Nigel then applied another arm submission, but Aries kicked him away. That played right into Nigel's hands, as he rebounded off the ropes into a violent lariat that dumped Aries on the back of his head. Nigel then folded Aries for the pin and the win. Sweet goodness what a match.

WINNER: Nigel McGuinness in 25:00. I don't have any adjectives to describe this match. You just can't put that level of quality pro wrestling action into words. In my review of ROH's fourth PPV, I said Nigel vs. Morishima was the best PPV match ROH has delivered. This match topped it. Nigel vs. Morishima from PPV #4 was one of the best 15-minute matches you'll ever see. Nigel vs. Aries went ten more minutes, which required a very difficult task of developing two or three "mini-matches" within the match, rather than just going non-stop for 15 minutes. I'll appreciate this match more because it shows what these two men are capable of in the ring. Even when there were slow spots to stretch it out 25 minutes, there was an overwhelming sense of anticipation for what was to come next. You don't find that in 90 percent of pro wrestling these days. (****3/4)

My second overall thought on Nigel vs. Aries is that this was a brutal match no matter how well they protected each other. I am concerned if Nigel suffered a legit concussion at 5:00, and then wrestled 20 more minutes in a debilitated state of mind. Yes, it would have been disappointing if the match was stopped, but a wrestler's health is always more important than the entertainment he is expected to generate. In a general sense, that's why I have a concern with turning serious injuries into angles, as fans care less about a very real issue when it's turned into just another pro wrestling angle.

After the match ended, they showed the "ROHTV" cameras picking up some footage of the Briscoes and AofF having a staged brawl in the locker room area. The other factions joined in, setting up another round of faction warfare. Oh, but the greatness of Necro was on display here, as he found a potted plant to use as a weapon.

They closed with a five-second clip of Nigel sitting in a chair backstage with his face covered in blood and a very distant look in his eyes. End show.

***

Overall thoughts: Very strong buy recommendation for Aries vs. Nigel and Danielson vs. Morishima. This is one of those PPVs where the sum of the parts was greater than the individual parts. I didn't care much for the undercard, but once the big boys stepped up in the final three matches, the PPV was awesome. This is the problem with ROH, though, and it's exactly what I saw on the GBH VI Night one DVD that I reviewed last weekend. The wrestlers on the undercard tried to do too much, and then the main event players had to step in to save the show. Of course, that allowed the main event to stand out because everything on the undercard was so fast-paced and nothing stood out that you just wanted to see a traditional main event-style wrestling match featuring two of the top wrestlers in the world - Aries and Nigel.

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