Ring
of Honor
Respect
Is Earned
Taped: May 12, 2007
Originally broadcast: July 1, 2007
Reviewed: November 27, 2007 by Sassy
This is only my second Ring of Honor experience.
My first was “Driven” and I was impressed with the format, the
wrestlers, and the live audience. I
had been impatiently watching and waiting for “Man Up!”, but
found that my cable company was running Respect
Is Earned on inDemand. I could not resist the opportunity to see ROH
again. The current Ring of Honor Roster can be found on this site. For further
information on Ring of Honor, including roster members, pay per view events,
live events and ROH merchandise, visit http://www.rohwrestling.com.
Something new I learned watching this show:
ROH rules do not allow for count outs when you are outside the ring on
the floor, although the referee does have the option to disqualify you for
spending too much time outside the ring.
Sassy gives “Respect
is Earned” an A+
for action, excitement, wrestling knowledge and abilities,
audience reaction and doesn’t even take off points for the lousy sound system!
Here is the “Respect
Is Earned” card complete with my commentary – this is not a
play-by-play recap. I could never
describe how exciting ROH matches are by trying to type out play-by-plays. I
tried to describe the action in some of the matches, especially the main event.
It was awesome!
THIS
IS A RING OF HONOR MUST SEE!
New York City
Ringside announcers: Dave Prazak & Lenny Leonard
Ring announcer: Bobby Cruise
BJ Whitmer is in the ring as the crowd chants “ROH”! BJ
welcomes everyone to Ring of Honor. He is issuing an open challenge to anyone in
the locker room to come to the ring and face him.
RESPECT
IS EARNED
ROH
World Championship Title Match
BJ Whitmer, Challenger
6’1”, 232 lbs.
Vs.
Takeshi Morishima
1.9 m (6’3”), 145 kg (319 lbs.)
ROH
World Champion
Takeshi Morishima enters the arena carrying his championship
belt in mouth – yes, folks, that’s how he carries it! – enters the ring to
face BJ. Morishima holds the belt in the air and it becomes a ROH title match.
Winner:
Takeshi Morishima who retains the ROH title.
The match is over as Nigel McGuinness enters the arena and
heads toward the ring. Nigel faces Morishima in the center of the ring as the
crowd chants Nigel’s name. Nigel tells Morishima that was one hell of a title
match and Morishima is one hell of a wrestler, but Nigel says so is he. Nigel
wants to be the next man in line to face Morishima for the title belt and he
doesn’t care where the match takes place. Bryan Danielson enters the arena.
Danielson is the previous champion. Danielson faces Nigel and Danielson said
that he held the belt for over 15 months and he was the best wrestler in the
world for that 15 months. He took out Lance Storm, Samoa Joe, Homicide, and
Nigel McGuinness. Danielson believes The American Dragon Bryan Danielson should
have a shot at the title tonight.
Nigel tells Danielson to quit poking his finger at him or he
will break it. Danielson tells Nigel that this is not the time for fighting,
maybe later tonight, then he lays the mic down and attacks Nigel – CHEAP
SHOT!. Morishima decides to take on Nigel and he joins with Danielson to take
Nigel down to the mat. Until, that is, Danielson picks up the belt. Morishima
snatches the belt from Danielson and exits the ring. Nigel is back up in the
corner but Danielson has his back to him. Nigel yells at Danielson to turn
around and fight and Danielson bails out of the ring and onto the floor.
At least Nigel didn’t attack Danielson from behind and he
did have the opportunity to do so.
The crowd appears to be split regarding the three men in the
ring. All of them received chants and cheers from the live crowd. If you have
seen any of them in the ring before, you will understand why.
The “Gun for Hire”, Brent Albright gives us a preview of
what he is capable of in the ring.
Rocky Romero
5’7”, 175 lbs.
Vs.
Naomichi Marufuji
176 cm (5’9”), 84 kg (185 lbs.)
These two men close in size and height. This is an excellent
match with both men able to wrestle and fight. I have seen Romero before but
never have I seen him work the ring like this. Marufuji is fantastic. We have
many near falls but neither man refuses to give up. Both men use their entire
bodies in this match. Another case of the wrestlers giving it everything they
had and then some. The wrestling knowledge was marvelous, they both have
mastered the use of their legs and both have extreme endurance.
Winner:
Naomichi Marufuji
Sweet ‘n Sour Inc.'s Larry Sweeney is with Tank Toland who
Sweeney touts as the best trainer in the world today. Sweeney tells us he is the
best agent in professional wrestling today. He has Chris Hero as a client and
has just signed his newest client – Sara Del Rey, the best woman’s wrestler
in the world today. Sara Del Rey joins the two men. Bobby Dempsey joins the
three so that Tank can tell the world how overweight Dempsey is and how Tank is
going to turn him into a prime athlete. When Sara attempts to join Dempsey, Tank
tells her it is only for men, not for girls. Sara challenges Tank to a squat competition and it’s on.
Are we taking bets on who will win this one?
Back to the ring, and it seems Nigel has called out Morishima
and Danielson. It’s Morishima, Nigel and Danielson fighting in the ring and
it’s two on one as Morishima and Danielson team up against Nigel. Kenta
appears and rescues Nigel. Kenta and Nigel clear the ring.
ROH
Tag Team Title Match
Matt Sydal
5’9”, 177 lbs.
Challengers
&
Claudio Castagnoli
6’5”, 232 lbs.
Vs.
The Briscoe Brothers
Jay Briscoe
&
Mark Briscoe
Combined weight of 430 lbs.
ROH
Tag Team Champions
I have seen all four of these men in action and was impressed
by every one of them. Sydal and Claudio were actually opponents in a match. I
have seen Claudio more than the rest and am always amazed at how he works the
ring even with his height. Sydal has good technical abilities and the Briscoes
are not large but they are tough. I know the Briscoes are good but I don’t
know about them being able to beat their two opponents in this match. Wow! This
is a match worth watching. These men were all so fast it was almost impossible
to keep track. At one time I wasn’t certain who the legal men in the ring were
and then everyone was outside the ring. All four men worked hard in this match
and as much as I was rooting for Claudio, the Briscoes did deserve the win.
Winners: Jay & Mark Briscoe, The Briscoe Brothers
who retain the ROH tag team titles.
Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak, our announcers, take a
break to welcome everyone. The arena looks packed and this crowd is all about
ROH!.
The Briscoe brothers are celebrating in the ring but Kevin
Steen and El Generico come out to interrupt the announcers. Steen has a question
for the Briscoes – when are Steen and Generico going to get their tag team
title shot. The Briscoes tell them they are right in the ring and Steen and
Generico charge in to battle it out with the Briscoes. The ring is suddenly
filled with referees and security in order to break up the brawl – to the boos
of the audience, I might add. I think they need larger security people.
They are having a tough time controlling the four men in the ring. Jay
Briscoe has some nice tattoos which I got to see close up as he was exiting the
ring. Generico just kicked someone in the ring but I’m not sure who it was.
The Briscoes are outside the ring. It appears Steen and Generico are taking on
anyone who was left in the ring with them. Generico comes off the top turnbuckle
and takes out the Briscoes and everyone who was holding the Briscoes back. Nice
dive, Generico. The fight continues backstage but I’m not sure who is fighting
who at this point until Steen takes out one of the Briscoes with a chair –
it’s Mark. Back to Jay and Generico fighting in an area where it’s hard to
see. Jay finds his brother who is still down on the floor after the chair shot. With
the exception of the chair shot, the after match was nearly as good as the
original match!
Film clip from 2/11/07, Philadelphia, PA: Delirious is
in the ring and gets yanked off the top rope by his opponent. Delirious lands on
the back of his head and then his opponent, Roderick Strong, takes him down in
the ring and then outside in the ring. We hear Delirious say
“Roderick Strong and Delirious” and that means the next match will
be…
Grudge
Match
Roderick Strong
5’10”, 205 lbs.
Vs.
Delirious
5’10”, 186 lbs.
I’m a little concerned that I seem to be developing the ability to understand what Delirious is saying these days. Is it possible I have become addicted to ROH action?
Strong is out of the ring as Delirious goes wild in the ring.
Strong doesn’t seem to want to wrestle, but he does throw some heavy hard
kicks that take a toll on Delirious.
Winner:
Roderick Strong
Strong is a member of The No Remorse Corps and they are just
what they say they are. It’s not good enough for Delirious to be down on the
mat and counted out, they want to add insult to injury or maybe it's just they
want to add injury to injury. And they do. Romero and Davey Richards come out to
the ring to assist Strong in destroying Delirious. Erick Stevens runs from the
back to make the save. You can see No Remorse Corps (Strong, Romero &
Richards) versus The Resilience (Delirious, Stevens and
Matt Cross) on the ROH “Driven” DVD. It was a great match – full of
action both in and out of the ring.
Adam Pearce is backstage with Shane Hagadorn. I'm not sure
what Pearce is all about. He spends quite a bit of time standing in front of the
camera talking. This time he is describing how ROH got to be where it is today.
And he is appears to be concerned about BJ Whitmer who will now be known as the
man who lost the very first match on the very first ROH pay per view. Pearce’s
chat about BJ continues on “Driven”.
Tag
Team Match
60-minute time limit
Kenta, weighing 84 kilos, from Tokyo, Japan
174 cm (5’9”), 81 kg (179 lbs)*
&
Nigel McGuinness weighing 240 lbs., from London, England
6’1”, 220 lbs.
Vs.
American Dragon Bryan Danielson weighing 185 lbs., from
Aberdeen, WA
(and still the Greatest Wrestler in the World, according to
Danielson)
5’8”, 185 lbs.
&
Takeshi Morishima, weighing 149 kilos, from Tokyo, Japan
1.9 m (6’3”), 145 kg (319 lbs.)*
ROH
World Champion
This is the main event and do we have great talent in the
ring. As the match starts, the announcers let us know that Mark Briscoe
has suffered a major concussion and has been taken to a New York City hospital.
The announcers tell us that Danielson is the only person who has beat Kenta
since Kenta arrived in ROH. Kenta is good but he isn’t in the ring long before
Danielson tags in Morishima and Morishima wants Nigel in the ring. Kenta tags in
Nigel. Morishima is a powerhouse there is no doubt but I have faith in Nigel.
Morishima tags back in Danielson and he and Nigel work the ring in wrestling
moves. Nigel has Danielson in height and weight but Danielson is a good wrestler
(I’ll hold off on the great). The announcers let us know that Danielson is
back to ROH from a shoulder injury. We have all four men in the ring and Kenta
manages to kick Morishima down to the mat.
There is such a size difference between Kenta and Morishima. The ref,
Senior Official Todd Sinclair, has to maintain order by keeping only two opponents
in the ring at a time. Morishima is a large man but he is quick and adept in the
ring. He and Danielson don’t mind working a little double-teaming here and
there, much to the chagrin of the referee. I won’t lie to you – Danielson
does have a great knowledge of wrestling, however, he does have to deal with the
size difference of Nigel. Morishima tends to use his weight in order to slow
down his opponents. Nigel took a great deal of punishment in this match at the
hands of Morishima and Danielson. I
was looking forward to seeing Kenta in action and he didn’t disappoint me. He
and Danielson are closer in size and weight.
Kenta is good with his feet and throws numerous kicks, low to the mat and
high in the air. I was worried when Morishima was tagged in against Kenta but
Kenta didn’t stop working in the ring and when he threw Morishima down in a
body slam, I was in disbelief. Morishima does some spectacular dropkicks off the
top turnbuckle. We have a lot of close pin falls in this match even with
Danielson and Morishima cheating here and there. At one point we have Kenta and
Danielson battling on the floor while Nigel and Morishima battle it out in the
ring. Nigel’s Tower of London move looks painful for his opponents. Danielson
is big on submission holds and he tries them here. Now we have Danielson and
Kenta in the ring while Nigel and Morishima are outside on the floor. Nigel
rolls Morishima over into the front row of the audience but he was nice enough
to tell the fans to get out of the way first. Nigel then climbs up on the top
turnbuckle and dives on Morishima in the audience! THAT’s what I’m talking about! You go Nigel! Nigel may
have injured his elbow on a chair diving into the audience and Danielson takes
advantage by working on Nigel’s arm and Nigel makes a quick exit out of the
ring. Kenta and Danielson are still working in the ring and Kenta hits the Go To
Sleep, but he can’t get a pin because Morishima is in the ring breaking up the
count. We see Nigel outside the ring getting his elbow taped up before returning
to the ring. His partner is in the ring with two men and he’s taking some hard
hits from both of them. Nigel is back but his elbow is still hurting. All four
men are suddenly down in the ring but I can’t hear the ref’s count because
the audience is so loud! I think the ref made it to four. We’re back to
Danielson and Kenta in the ring. I have this tremendous urge to yell at Kenta to
stay down but I can’t do it although I don’t know how he’s still moving.
Nigel comes in to try to help but Morishima cuts him off. NO! Danielson uses a submission move and takes out Kenta. Darn,
DaRN, DARN!
Winners:
Brian Danielson and Takeshi Morishima
Danielson picks up the title belt and his partner, Morishima, sends Danielson crashing down to the mat. Nigel picks up the belt and hands it to Morishima but Nigel receives a clothesline from Morishima. Nigel, too, is down on the mat.
And
that's the end of the show!
Once
again I am placing a Sassy Stamp of Approval on a Ring of Honor show.
If you are looking for boring storylines, little or no action, divas that
can’t work in the ring or mouthy announcers…you don’t need to see
ROH. If
you like WRESTLING with tons of action, long matches, little or no storylines
and announcers that merely provide information and explain holds or wrestler
careers to you…ROH is where you need to be!
This two-hour show is filled with chills,
spills and thrills! If you can’t catch this ROH show on your cable
network, visit the ROH online shop and look for “Respect
is Earned” along with other
DVDs that include matches with your favorite ROH wrestlers.
If you have read any of my recaps or reviews, you know how
frustrated I get with the dull and boring storylines the “other” wrestling
organizations use. Trivial storylines destroy the shows and take away from the
in ring wrestling talent. Ring of Honor does have storylines, but they are true
feud storylines as they should be. If I read my ROH history correctly,
“Respect Is Earned” is the first pay per view ROH attempted. Some of the
storylines may appear to take up quite a bit of space here, but it is a
necessity for those of us who have been unable to see ROH before. I am too far
away to attend a Ring of Honor live event but if you have the chance to
see ROH LIVE, please don’t miss it!
“Man
Up!” hits the pay per view channels on November 30.
Check with your local cable company for further details.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see true wrestling action and the above
talented wrestlers -- and more -- in a Ring of Honor event.
With the exception of the weight announced during the Main
Event, all personal stats were taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Honor_roster
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