Final ROH Chicago Ridge Report by yours truly..
Ring of Honor
Frontier Fieldhouse
Chicago Ridge, IL
June 24, 2006

Crowd is, as expected, down from the WrestleMania weekend shows in Chicago. Around 900-1000 in attendance. I didn't do a proper head count. I can tell you the wrestling and the temperature were both HOT inside the Field house.

Pre-show matches:
1) Josh Abercrombie beat ROH trainee Rhett Titus in 4:14. Ambercrombie wrestles a lot for IWA Mid-South and as held their light heavyweight title. He is also wonderfully flippy and nicely mustached. His mustache stroke or taunt is quite possibly one of the best in the business. For a short pre-show match, this was quite nice and solid. Josh showed great talent in this match, the crowd was familiar and behind him (either that or they were into his stache) as he won with the Taliban Backpack (leaping lungblower).

2) Boz (not Midwest legend Ryan Boz) beat Alex "Sugar foot" Payne in 2:37. Payne has lovely curly blonde hair, and hit a nice Yakuza kick for a nearfall early in the match. Boz used springboard flip kick and a the Falcon Arrow on Payne for the win. Sugar foot was over, and a section of the crowd would chant "we want sugar foot" for the rest of the night.

3) “Venom” Keith Walker beat over Bobby Dempsey and C.J. Otis in a 3-way match when Walker hit Otis with a side slam at 4:33. This was fun as both guys tried to beat down on the 6'3 Walker. I saw Bobby Dempsey throw a dropkick in this match! Really! Walker looked good throwing Otis around with a German suplex, and a spinebuster on Otis. Walker has been called a Batista clone due to his tattoos and the fact he's HOOOOGE but he works a great big man style and is entertaining to see in ROH considering their lack of good big man heavyweights.

Main Show:

1) Irish Airborne (Jake & Dave Crist) beat Shane Hagadorn and Trik Davis in 7:23
Great opener. The Chicago crowd very hot for the Irish Airborne. Finish saw the Crist's do an awesome double team on Trik Davis (who was wearing his ZEUS TIGHTS) where Jake Crist had Trik up for a death valley driver, Dave Crist came off the top and hit a double foot stomp on Trik's head and got on the ground and put his knees up, and Jake hit the DVD and Trick landed on Dave's knees for the pin. It looks better then it reads here. Hagadorn with his nice trophy (which he would not let myself or even his tag team partner Trick Nasty touch) is a decent old school heel and continues to improve, Irish Airborne are a very underrated team and their wrestling was quite impressive tonight. There were a number of counters, flips and leaps to the outside. Note to the Crist brothers, please put your first names on your tights so I can tell you two apart, other then writing you down in my notes as "Dave" and "the other Crist"

2) Roderick Strong beat Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) in 15:02 with the stronglock
Crowd held out their cell phones instead of Bic Lighters during Jacob's entrance. Strong is hugely over. During the match Jimmy Jacobs hit a Death Valley Driver, leading to a loud crowd chant of "Cena Sucks!" Jacobs got a lot of offense throughout the match, with many different types of headlocks. Strong came back with his harsh chops. Strong would do his gimmick of telling the crowd to "shhhhhhhhhhhh" before chopping the hell out of Jacob's chest. Strong won with the Stronghold. Very good match, the surprise of the night as both guys had their working shoes on. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this match as the expectations were low, but it surpassed all expectations and then some. Lots of great back and forth from both guys, Jacobs looked very good, and got plenty of two counts. Jacobs at one point hit a tope suicda to the outside, and later while Strong's had his head down by a corner ringpost, Jacobs hit a beautiful kick to his head. Ouch! Jacobs then worked on the head of Strong. Teases of Contra Codes and Backbreakers from both guys. Strong reversed a Contra Code attempt by Jacobs, hit his torture rack backbreaker and was going for a lariet when he was speared for a two count. Finish came with Jacobs tried another Contra code, which again was unsuccessful as Strong hit a hot shot, into a backbreaker, into a half nelson backbreaker into the Strong hold for the submission. After the match there was an incident with Lacey and a fan who attempted to punch her in which the fan was ejected afterwards. To the tune of the nah nah nah song.

3) The Briscoe Brothers beat The Embassy (Jimmy Rave and Conrad Kennedy III w/Prince Nana, Daizee Haze, and Alex Shelley) in 12:55
CKIII wrestles in the Michigan area. Shelley was as usual, hilarious during the match, and wore the Ghana flag around his waist like an apron or a fancy party dress. Toilet paper spots were surreal, as Shelley layed down in the ring and protected himself by covering himself in the flag of Ghana. Tons of toilet paper where thrown at Rave, however in one awesome spot, Rave spiked the toilet paper roll directly at the fan who threw it. There was plenty of toilet paper thrown all over Chicago Ridge. The Briscoes looked improved and more professional then they did two years ago the last time they were in Chicago. Thru muscle mass and being older, the Briscoes look much more professional now, and more of a great unit of pro wrestlers then some kids. They got a "welcome back" chant. Nana did some mic work before the match talking about Ghana defeating America in FOOTBALL (I mean soccer for the Americans, like me). Briscoes did some very good double team including a spring board doomsday spin kick, a vegamatic, a football tackle, and lifted up young Conrad higher then the Spirit Squad. Mark use a top rope shooting star press on CK3 who almost missed him. Haze helped her team by hitting a Yakuza kick on Jay, which turned the tide of the match to the heelish embassy. Surprisingly tonight, there was an actual chant for Jimmy Rave, rather then the usual "Die Jimmy Die" chants (although they were still there). After working on Jay, the hot tag was given to Mark. After a nice finishing sequence and a beautiful chop war between Jay and Jimmy Rave, Mark Briscoe hit CKIII with a wrist clutch burning hammer. Good match.


4) Samoa Joe beat Delirious in 10:58 after a muscle buster
Crowd chanted "F*** Scott Steiner!" Delirious ran around the ring and grabbed a fan's Cubs hat and threw it into the ring. Joe put the hat on and got booed. The Frontier Fieldhouse is White Sox territory. The fan who's had was stolen, spent the match staring at his hat before I told ring announcer Bobby Cruise to return the hat to the kid before he started crying. Running theme throughout the match was Delirious trying to bodyslam Joe. Twice he failed, but on the third attempt Delirious finally got the Samoan up. Delirious got some offense in, there was some light wrestling comedy. Delirious hit 26 short arm clothelines in the corner to get Joe down. Joe later came back and hit a 35 second vertical suplex. Joe attempted a variety of submissions to get down the man with the lizard face. A boston crab, into an STF, and then a crossface. Rope break. Joe hit a beautiful enziguri and got Deli into the corner for the facewash. Delirious got out of the way and hit the panic attack on Joe. He finally got Joe down after a number of clotheslines, and one leaping one which got the TNA X-Division champ off his feet, and then was finally successful with his bodyslam. Delirious attempted his shadows over hell, but Joe kicked him hard (more like a punt) as he flew off the top rope by Joe. Joe got the win after hitting the Muscle Buster. Another good match, I was expecting this to be a lot more comedy, but was fine with the result..


After the match Joe was distracted by Necro Butcher and was on the receiving end of a chair shot from Claudio Castagnoli who ran in from the crowd. Adam Pearce, BJ Whitmer ran down to the ring for the save, but Nate Webb with a barb wire crown of thorns came down in a surprise. Ace Steel made the save and started the next match.

5) Team CZW (Claudio Castagnoli & Necro Butcher & Nate "Spyder" Webb) beat Team ROH (Ace Steel & Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer) in a bunkhouse match in 7:37

Steel appeared to be wearing very nice tuxedo pants. Webb brought a crown made out of barbed wire to the ring with him. This was short but crazy as it was allot of action going on. Highlights including Nate Webb coming off the top rope and hitting a legdrop to Ace Steel who was on a table, and birthday boy Adam Pearce coming back with a beautiful Davey Boy Smith running powerslam. Necro, while bleeding from the mouth, set up two chairs in the ring, but fell victim to a side slam by Pearce. On the outside, Webb put BJ's head within a chair (like a vice) and Pilman-ized him causing BJ to come out bloody. Whitmer and Necro fought in the middle of the ring over the crown with Necro eventually putting it over Whitmer's head. Claudio then delivered a vicious steel chair shot to Whitmer's head, leading to Necro getting the pin and the CZW wrestlers left thru the crowd, as BJ needed help getting the barb wire Jesus like crown removed. However, no one asked if there was a doctor in the house.

6) Nigel McGuinness beat Homicide to retain the ROH Pure Title in 17:44 by count out

As Nigel and Homicide battled by the entrance ramp, referee Todd Sinclair was counting them both out. Nigel made it back at "17" while Homicide came in at "20" as Sinclair called the match a count out win for Nigel. Crowd totally crapped on this finish, chanting "BULLSH*T!" Sinclair became the number one heel in the company after the ruling. Homicide actually threw his elbow pad off 2 minutes into the match and hit his lariat for a two. Match saw McGuinness work on Homicide's arm with holds. McGuinness used his first break due to an rings of Saturn like hold. McGuinness had Homicide in a choke, while he had his fingers in Homicides mouth, while he was standing on his injured hand. McGuinness, in a reference to Bryan Danielson, told the referee "I got til five" to mock Danielson. Homicide used a rope break at 6:36 after the camel clutch (chin lock submission), thankfully there was no homicide humbling. Homicide got McGuinness in a side headlock and said "f*** the queen Elizabeth" which got Nigel all firery. They had a chop (Homicide) vs. elbow (Nigel) battle. Homicide hit a koji cutter for a 2.5, Homicide pushed the referee in the corner and said called him a fat slob." Fight went to the outside by the ringside table. Homicide tried to powerbomb McGuinness into the table, but was monkey flipped onto it causing it to break. Referee started counting both men out, McGuinness was in at 18, Homicide was in there around 19.5. Close call. Both men traded huge lariats, including McGuinness where he looks like he's going out between the middle/top rope only to spring back into the ring. Nigel hit an illegal close fist, Homicide hit a nice frogsplash for a two count. McGuinness did his headstand in the corner, but Homicide countered it was a harsh kick to McGuinness's bloody mouth. Homicide, who asked if chairs were allowed when the referee was giving instructions saying "you didn't say anything about chairs" went after McGuinness with a chair. McGuinness ran down the entrance ramp, Homicide met him towards the beginning and hit two chiar shots, however, McGuinness sprinted in at 18, and Homicide wasn't fast enough. Wow. The heat for this was huge. Like TNA PPV last weekend huge, of course, because of this, lots of garbage including water bottles were thrown into the ring. Bulls*** chants a plenty. Homicide flipped out after the match. Lt. Commissioner Adam Pearce came out in his bunkhouse street clothes to calm down Homicide, but it didn't take. Homicide left through the crowd. Very good match, should be rematched down the line.

7) KENTA beat Austin Aries in 20:48 after the go 2 sleep

Todd Sinclair stayed to referee for final two matches and made for a weird deal as crowd continued to bitch him out the entire time. Really, it wasn't Earl Hebner in Canada heat, but it was pretty damn close. Both KENTA and Aries were over huge with crowd and both got a lot of streamers, it was insane between this match, and Jimmy Rave's TP performance, and BJ Whitmer and Nigel McGuinness' blood how dirty the outside ring became. Its amazing how over and how good Austin Aries is. In ROH, he's such a superstar. KENTA got some very good pop right away as people knew his signature spots. There were so many wonderful things about this match, the teasing of signature moves, chops, high flying, etc. Lots of Japanese Armdrags, counters, and slaps. Harsh slaps. Quite stiff and quite nice. Aries neck was swelled up from several of these hard slaps. Really, these guys were wrestling for thier lives here which made it as a fan hard for me to write down every single damn thing that was happening. In this match, I think I realized that this show was on par with the Mania weekends as ROH can do that, give us truly special matches like this, DREAM MATCHES, and make a regular decent ROH show into a must see. Really, get the DVD of this when it comes out as there were so many great near falls and great spots. Finish came after Aries hit a brainbuster for a pin attempt that got 2. Aries then went up to the top rope for a 450 splash, but was caught by KENTA. KENTA hit an amazing top rope falcon arrow for a 2.5. He then went for the go 2 sleep, however Aries reversed it into a crucifix bomb for another close nearfall. After a slam, KENTA hit a series of Busaiku knee kicks and finished Aries off with the Go 2 Sleep in 20:48. Great match and crowd went nuts as the Go 2 Sleep was teased throughout the match. After the match both men were attacked by the Briscoes. Roderick Strong made the save and helped KENTA and Aries fright them off. Crowd chanted "Please Come Back!" to KENTA.

8) Bryan Danielson beat Colt Cabana to retain the ROH World Title in 29:40

Crowd was hot for the match as Maxwell Street's own Cabana is a true star in his hometown, espically with his shinny white new ring outfit with a smiley face in the crotch. Good times. Slow to start as both men exchanged holds, in a funny spot Cabana was in a side headlock and referree Sinclair counted Cabana's shoulders down to the crowd chanting. ONE! (Cabana puts shoulder up) ONE! (Cabana puts shoulder up) . Danielson worked great as a cocky bastard, who wouldn't tie up with Cabana and would call a middle aged woman chanting against him being so pale, "lose some weight and I'll worry about it." They traded surfboards, as Canana was screaming in pain on the ground getting ready to go up, Cabana cried "Ahhhhh I have til five" That got a laugh. Then Danielson finally hit a surfboard and the crowd chanted "same ol' shit." Danielson heard this and went back to work doing the same spots again. By the way, there was alo of nose pinching in this match for some reason, perhaps they were both working on the nose. Colt had an asai moonsault to the outside, and a tornado DDT into a perfect plex type move for a two count. They exchanged germans, suplexes, numbers. Danielson got his cattle mutaliation on. Rope break. Danielson then ate a nice Cabana kowala DDT, and a moonsault for another two count. Incredible finishing sequence saw Danielson hit another Cattle Mutilation. Then either pulled Cabana up for the cross face chicken wing or there was rope break. Cabana got Danielson in a front Boston Crab, Danielson reach for the ropes, but in a dramatic moment was pulled to the center of the ring. A minute later, Colt flipped over and hit his own version of the Cattle Mutilation. Danielson got a rope break, but Cabana then began to hit Danielson with a series of hard elbows, teasing the different ways Danielson had won previous matches against different opponents. Cabana hit a hard lariat, followed by the Colt 45. 1?...Danielson reverses the pin with a rollup and a small package for the win. Crowd went crazy with more bottles being thrown into the ring and another bulls*** chant. As senior official Todd Sinclair ran to a car being driven by Gerald Brisco. After the match, it was time for a Microphone performance by both men. Cabana complained that it took a rollup and a small package for the "best wrestler in the world" to beat him. Cabana noted Danielson has not been able to submit him and has gotten lucky in their matches. Danielson remarked "a win is a win and I'm the best wrestler in the world." Danielson in a great moment said "My small package is inescapable, they sometimes call me Mr. Small Package" for a huge pop. They agreed to a 2/3 falls match at the next Chicago Ridge show in 8 weeks and Danielson slapped Cabana hard to the face to end the show. Match was very good, even with all the nose pinching as it told a very good story, had great moments by both guys, referenced past matches, and made me giddy about 2/3 falls in August. Good finish to a fine night of wrestling in Chicago (Ridge). Return date is August 26th. Announced matches include Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana in a 2 out of 3 falls match billed as "Cabana's Last Chance" and Samoa Joe vs. Claudio Castagnoli.

Gerweck