ROH: HONOR INVADES BOSTON - 8/24/2002

ROH: HONOR INVADES BOSTON

Americal Civic Center
Wakefield, Massachusetts
August 24th, 2002

ROH Champion: Low Ki (Since 7/27/2002)

A Low Ki pretape starts off this show and he cuts another dull, monotone promo. We’ve seen a lot of people in this business who were good to great on the mic but average or worse in the ring, but I don’t know if there’s anyone even close to Low Ki in terms of being that good in the ring and that bad on the mic. At least right now.

Outside, Izzy and Dixie are on ecstasy I guess and Elax is in the dumpster to hand them water. They take pictures of the sun. Ok.

Oh hey we get another show with Donnie B & Corino. Let’s see if they continue to improve or if last month was a fluke.

Match #1: Amazing Red vs. Quiet Storm
I’m not sure why this is happening. They set up BrianXL going up against all the rest of Mikey’s kids two shows ago and they’ve yet to really follow up on it. Really felt like Red/Brian was the direction but whatever. Storm has been moderately fine in tag matches but here against Red he really gets exposed. I mean they exchange flippy shit and at first it’s fine. But the longer this goes on the worse it gets for Storm. Red works as FIP and makes his comeback at the end, hitting Infared and Red Star Press to win the match.
*1/2

Post-match, as the Code of Honor is observed, Special K comes out and attacks both men. The SAT and Chris Divine run out to save a match breaks out but again…why did they do Red/Storm? Why isn’t this trios match Red & SAT vs. Special K?

Match #2: The SAT & Chris Divine vs. Special K (Izzy, Dixie & BrianXL) [Tag Team Scramble]
This whole time I thought these ROH tag scrambles were something unique but it’s just like a six man tornado tag or whatever. Very sloppy match! Tons of blown spots. A few seem rehearsed so maybe that’s Special K’s deal? Or maybe I’m just pudding brained. Or both. SAT beat BrianXL with the double Spanish fly and Corino theorizes this is the end of BrianXL in ROH. Oh?
*

Post-match, Chris Divine says some stuff on the mic but of course you can barely make out what he says. But I guess he challenged Low Ki? Because here comes Low Ki. And we have an impromptu match.

Match #3: Low Ki (c) vs. Chris Divine [ROH Championship]
I dunno if this was for the belt or not but fuck it. Ki DESTROYS him, appears to break his schnozz on a kick and then wins with the Dragon Clutch. Alright.
*

Gotta be honest this show is ASS so far!

In a pretape from Japan, Chris Daniels is still pissed about last month. He says when he returns to ROH in September he may have a new member of the Prophecy and he’s specifically targeting Low Ki. He tells ROH that this is how it ends, and this is the gospel, according to the Fallen Angel. Okay he didn’t say the last part but I wish he did because I love that line.

Match #4: Christopher Street Connection vs. Ring Crew Express
Convicted Sex Offender Rob Feinstein clearly working through the issues that would later land him in police custody with this match. Not a good match. At all. When you add in the over the top antics because it’s 2002 and everyone sucks, it makes it worse. CSC won the match. And we’re moving on.
1/4*

Rob Feinstein is a convicted sex offender.

Match #5: Scoot Andrews vs. Mike Tobin
Dude what the HELL?! I got so lucky because I thought Crowning a Champion was gonna be a really bad show but 3-4 matches actually saved it. Meanwhile I had been hyped for this show and it’s the worst show ROH has done to date. Who cares about this? Scoot wins in two minutes. If you want analysis of a Scoot Andrews vs Mike Tobin match I dunno what to tell you.
3/4*

Post-match, as Scoot is celebrating, Xavier comes out. He doesn’t like how Scoot won last month so he’s here to challenge him to a rubber match right now. Scoot accepts and we have our third impromptu match of the evening and third double booking.

Match #6: Xavier vs. Scoot Andrews
Commentary says the winner of this would have to be considered #1 contender and I die a little more inside knowing what’s coming. They have a fine match for a few minutes here and Xavier did a neat Sabu-esque springboard moonsault to the the outside but it wasn’t good enough for me to clip. Also fuck him. And also fuck you! Anyway, Xavier mostly dominates this and wins with a 450 splash.
*3/4

EARLIER TODAY: Michael Shane & Bio-Hazard pull up in a Ford Taurus. Shane brags saying when you have the contract you get to fly instead of driving for 25+ hours and you get nice cars like this. lol. He tells Bio to stick with him and he’ll go places and then has him get his bags and park the car. Whatever.

Match #7: Paul London vs. Michael Shane
Bio-Hazard is out in Shane’s corner. Rudy Boy is out in a neutral corner. Paul London keeps getting better and better with every show. Like there’s others better than him in the company right now, BUT, he’s the only one to show drastic improvement in every match. Michael Shane is whatever. I’m not a big fan of the guy but he would’ve probably done well as a bland midcard heel in 2000’s WWE. Weird he didn’t get that shot given his relationship to Shawn. This was a fine enough match but the ending carries it. They do a spot on the floor where Shane appears to injure his ankle much like Chris Marvel did when he faced London a few months back. London shows remorse and people start checking on Shane, BUT SHANE GRABS LONDON WITH AN INSIDE CRADLE AND GETS THE WIN!
**

Post-match, the Code of Honor is observed but London hesitates briefly. Simply Lucious comes out and grabs a mic. She says on behalf of Daniels she’s extending an invitation for him to join the Prophecy. Rudy Boy gets in and says Shane doesn’t need that crap. And Shane SUPERKICKS SIMPLY LUCIOUS! Corino is annoyed but gets over it quick on commentary. AND THEN SHANE SUPERKICKS RUDY BOY! Him and Bio-Hazard then put the beatdown on Paul London before leaving.

So there is no on camera explanation for why Danielson/Spanky isn’t taking place. In real life, Spanky got the call for a Zero-One tour. So ROH shows the clip from the April show where Bryan & Ki yell at Spanky for not showing respect to Eddie Guerrero and Spanky snaps back at Dragon (which leads to the segment on the June show) and then Daniels & Morgan walk in and get into a brawl with Danielson & Ki.

They’re now saying Donovan Morgan is officially in the Prophecy like it’s a known fact but I don’t think he’s been on any show let alone mentioned since April.

Match #8: Bryan Danielson vs. Donovan Morgan
What a shitty replacement for Spanky. True early-ROHbots are the type of pervert probably okay with this but if I had paid for a ticket I’d be perturbed. So yeah. Danielson tries his best but Donovan Morgan doesn’t seem to have “it” or any semblance of the meaning of the word. Danielson tries his best to guide him through some simple mat work and he just looks shaky and off kilter. Not even sloppy fun, just boring bad. Danielson gets him trapped in the Cattle Mutilation for a lil bit and we’re led to believe Morgan tapped but nope it’s a time limit draw, the first in ROH.
**

Post-match, the crowd chants for five more minutes and Danielson is ready to acquiesce. He grabs the mic and urges Morgan to agree. He also says Morgan is better than being with Daniels and the Prophecy (damn maybe Cody didn’t teach him to lie after all). Danielson offers a handshake and Morgan kicks him low and hits a version of the Last Rites so bad I swear it looked more like when young Triple H botched that Pedigree in 1995. Morgan stinks. Would’ve rather of seen a proper heavy in this role like CW Anderson or something.

DHS cut a pretape about the match with Carnage Crew.

Clips air of the Carnage Crew beating up ring boys airs.

Match #9: Carnage Crew vs. Da Hit Squad [Boston Massacre Match]
This stunk and was a major step down from the NBS/CC match last month. It’s just really uninspired 2002 WWF Hardcore Title match stuff. And actually not even that because some of those were at least funny. This sucked. Fuck this show man!
3/4*

Match #10: Don Juan vs. Bio-Hazard
Complete squash. Bio-hazard wins. I can’t get over how bad of a show this is.
1/2*

Match #11: Maverick Wild vs. Alex Arion
These are apparently two New England indie standouts. They do some stuff and it’s pretty basic. Like the type of match you’d see two greenhorns work in the PC or something. Arion wins with a roll up. Moving on.
3/4*

They recap the beef the FBI have with each other even though they agreed to team tonight.

Match #12: Natural Born Sinners vs. James Maritato & Tony Mamaluke
This wasn’t bad! The FBI guys brought it the best they could. Fun little story where they’re shocked at how good NBS at ground wrestling and Corino mentions that Boogalou is a former high school and collegiate champion. No clue if that’s true. Guido/Homicide have a really fun stretch and I wouldn’t mind seeing them have a singles match. Mamaluke is in this mostly, however, to continue to sell the dissension between the members of the former FBI. Homicide ducks a lariat from Mamaluke and crushes him with the Cop Killa to win.
**1/2

Post-match, Guido has no problem shaking both hands of the NBS dudes. But he walks out on Mamaluke who’s still laid out. Corino mentions both of these teams are in the ROH Tag Title tournament next month.

They recap the Briscoes story up to this point.

Match #13: Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe
One of my greatest regrets in wrestling is not getting into these guys way sooner than I did. Missed out on so much. Mark is shockingly (???) good for being just a kid still. Jay gets cut and is bleeding, so Mark continues to work him over with punches. On his comeback, Jay focuses all of his work on Mark’s punching hand to cut him off at the knees. He then switches to leg work on Mark, really wrenching on it, and now with Mark fully initiated, Jay starts to build his comeback. Jay works out his frustrations on his brother for a decent stretch and finally sets up for the Jay Driller but Mark gets out of it! Jay blocks Mark’s next move and plants him with sort of a mix between the Steiner Screwdriver and Falcon Arrow if that makes sense? It doesn’t. But oh well. Jay goes up top for a back sent on but Mark rolls out! Jay sells the back against the ropes and Mark hits him JUST RIGHT with a shining wizard before capitalizing on his dazed brother with the Cutthroat Driver to score the upset victory!
***1/4

Post-match, Mark lifts his KO’d brothers arm while he’s still on the mat and shakes his hand cockily before celebrating. Jay is helped to the back by security and just dropped at a doorstep for some reason. Mark comes back through the curtain and taunts Jay a bit as he starts to come to and realize what happened.

Match #14: Low Ki (c) vs. AJ Styles [ROH Championship]
For me, this was marginally better than their first ROH encounter a couple of months prior. Styles is again someone that will match Low Ki’s stiff strikes and it’s almost like it makes Ki cooperate more and put on a somehow even better match than he usually would have. They get some ground work in and it’s aggressive. It does start to come close to rivaling the Ki/Red spot fest (not as intense) but like I said in that match, the spot-monkey stuff with Low Ki always feels like it adds actual value to a match rather than just adding shine to it like so many others. The spots make sense in terms of the story Ki and whoever are trying to tell. And he’s got a perfect dance partner AJ here, who has become my favorite Low Ki ROH opponent thus far. In the end, they swap counters and missed spots until Ki catches AJ with the Ki Krusher to win and retain.
****

Backstage, Xavier is waiting for Low Ki and looking for him to make good on his word from last month. Ki agrees and says at the September Philly show he will defend the belt against Xavier. Xavier seems a teeny bit heelish here, so hey…we’ve arrived sadly.

Michael Shane cuts a promo while the arenas being broken down shitting on Rudy Boy riding his coattails, London being a bum, Spanky not being HBK’s true heir like him, and saying he’ll never join the Prophecy because he likes forcing people to shake his hand after he beats them up.

Dunn & Marcos try to cut a pretape but keep screwing up saying their names. Okay.

So usually I’ve been gif’ing or screenshotting stuff from the shows but honestly there was nothing that spectacular here outside of the last two matches. And even then, as good as they were, there just wasn’t anything that stood out as important enough to do that with. Just don’t want anyone to think I’m cowarding out of this review. Give me a better show and I’ll review it properly. And next month looks like it MAY be able to get me there.

The show itself suffers from missing guys like Spanky and Daniels due to the ZERO-ONE tour, and also suffers from misuse or underuse of some of their better hands like Danielson and London. The last two matches saved it from being a Worst Show Ever candidate, but it is still far and away the worst ROH show of the review thus far. And honestly, simply by looking ahead at the cards in 2002, it may wind up being the worst ROH card of 2002. But we'll see.

Oh, and to answer the question at the beginning? Corino continued to improve, but Donnie B was back to being awful and unbearable. At this point I don't care if Gabe is cringey, just get this Donnie B hack outta here.

NEXT MONTH: The ROH Tag Title Tournament! Chris Daniels returns! Ki/Xavier for the belt!