Ring of Honor
Wrestlerave 03 - June 28, 2003
Review by Sassy January 16, 2008
This DVD was created when Ring of Honor still followed the
honor code. The current status of wrestling talent involved is listed immediately after the recap of each match. This time period
was prior to TNA pulling their talent from Ring of Honor events.
Here is Wrestlerave 03:
Low Ki (that’s Senshi in TNA) who has his arm in a sling is
in front of the camera.
He was injured during a match with Slash Barker in the UK. Low Ki has issued a
challenge for Barker to show up at Ring of Honor for a rematch. Low Ki appears
to have a problem with Dan Maff and is telling him so. Low Ki also seems to have
a problem with Julius Smokes also known as J-Train, who is in Homicide’s corner. Low Ki wants to
tell Samoa Joe that he wants a shot at the ROH title Samoa Joe is presently
holding. Low Ki will be back in ROH ready to wrestle in August of this year. Low
Ki says it is not the size of the fighter, but the size of the fight he will
bring.
Rob is backstage with Lucious and he tells Lucious that Steve
Corino is no longer with ROH so she doesn’t need to be there. She goes off
looking for her phone to call Corino because Rob is refusing to let her work.
Matches:
Tag Team Match
Dunn
&
Marcos
at a combined weight of 325 lbs.
Vs.
Jimmy Jact Cash from Staten Island, NY, weighing 245 lbs.
&
Prince Nana weighing 242 lbs.
Prince Nana takes the mic in order to insult everyone in
attendance. Prince Nana clams to be a heavyweight contender. Dunn or Marcos
(I’m not sure which is which) took the mic in order to get the audience behind
them. I was not familiar with any of the wrestlers in this match although I had
heard of Prince Nana and Dunn & Marcos. This was a good opening match.
Winners
Dunn & Marcos
Prince Nana – Unknown
Jimmy Jact Cash – New World Wrestling
Kevin Dunn
&
Marcos
Both - Next Era Wrestling
Women’s Match
Alexis Laree weighing 119 lbs.
vs.
Sumie Sakai weighing 115 lbs., from Toyko, Japan
This was an excellent woman’s match. Alexis Laree did not
disappoint and even though I had never seen Sumie before, I was impressed with
her in the ring. A variety of wrestling moves with minimal screaming and hair
pulling.
Winner
Alexis Laree
Alexis Laree – WWE (as Mickie James)
Sumie Sakai – Mixed Martial Arts debut in 2006
Christopher Daniels is backstage with Allison Danger (aka
Corino) and Dan Maff, along with Raven who appears to have an injured foot but
is ready to go into a match as Daniels’ partner tonight. Maff tells Joe that
he will beat him in their Championship Match tonight. Raven has an issue or two
with CM Punk and that is who he will be facing in
Tap Out Match
Chad Collyer from Indiana, weighing 219 lbs.
vs.
Matt Stryker from Cincinnati, OH, weighing 199 lbs.
The match was supposed to be Matt Stryker against Tom Carter
but Carter was off with his wife having a baby. This match was an old fashioned
how much can you take wrestling match. Both of these men were muscular but very
much wrestlers. No high flying, nothing but submission moves by the two
competitors. I saw wrestling holds I had not seen in a long time.
This was the first time I had seen a Ring of Honor tap out match and it
is worth watching.
Winner
Chad Collyer
Chad Collyer – Working as masked wrestler, “The Metal
Master”
Matt Stryker – Left ROH in 2005
Special K
Deranged
&
Dixie
&
Izzy
The Special K stable enters the arena and stands outside the
ring. I could not count how many actual members there were.
Vs.
Carnage Crew
Loc
&
Tony DeVito
Both from The Bronx, at a combined weight of 430 lbs.
&
Justin Credible
No stats given
Justin Credible was introduced as a tag partner by the members
of the Carnage Crew before the match began.
With the exception of Justin Credible, I was not familiar
with the wrestlers in this match. It appeared to be a grudge match The members
of the Carnage Crew being larger than members of Special K. The introduction of
Justin Credible really got the fans involved in the match. Justin was very
active in this match and did a great job.
Winner
Carnage Crew
Loc
Tony Devito
&
Justin Credible
Deranged – Independent circuit
Dixie – Unknown
Izzy - Independent circuit
Loc - Unknown
Tony DeVito – Last seen on WWE ECW
Justin Credible – Pro Wrestling Syndicate
Special K is a stable made up of spoiled rich kids who are
interested only in partying via “raves”. The Special K rave became a
spectacle off and on through the rest of the show.
ROH Title Match
Dan Maff from Brooklyn, NY, weighing 245 lbs/
As Dan Maff enters the arena, the announcer tells the
audience that Maff’s father passed away yesterday and he chose to come to the
ring rather than stay home. According to the announcer, Maff is wrestling in
this match for his father.
Vs.
Samoa Joe from American Samoa, weighing
270 lbs
Current ROH World Champion
Samoa Joe has always been a favorite of mine and this match
is a great example of why. I was
not familiar with Dan Maff prior to this DVD but he went toe to toe with the
Samoan Submission Machine. Both wrestlers dished out and took a lot of hard hits
during this match.
Winner
Samoa Joe
who retains the ROH Championship Title
Maff stayed in the ring after Joe exited and got a standing
ovation from the fans and the crew around the ring.
Dan Maff – Wrestled with IWA in 2005
Samoa Joe – TNA Wrestling
In researching Dan Maff, there appeared to be a problem
sometime during his run with ROH that involved Homicide who initially brought
him into wrestling. Although I am unsure what the problem was, Dan Maff seems to
have dropped off the wrestling radar.
Homicide is backstage accompanied to J-Train (now known as
Julius Smokes). Homicide is talking to Trent Acid about their match tonight. The
interviewer informs Homicide that Low Ki told him if J-Train hadn’t been in
Homicide’s corner during his match with ROH Champion Samoa Joe, Homicide would
already be champion.
Four Corner Survival Match
Alex Shelley from Detroit
Vs.
Jimmy Jacobs from MI, weighing 169 lbs.
Vs.
BJ Whitmer from Cincinnati, OH, weighing 235 lbs.
Vs.
Tony Mamaluke
At the beginning of this match, the announcers tell the
audience that Shelley and Jacobs have only been in the professional ring for
about a year. They certainly don’t appear to be newcomers. I wouldn’t have
known if I hadn’t been aware of the background of these two wrestlers. All
four contestants worked hard in this match. They kept the action flowing and
took some hard knocks to do it.
Winner
BJ Whitmer
Alex Shelley – TNA Wrestling, teams with Chris Sabin to
form Motor City Machineguns
Jimmy Jacobs – Ring of Honor
BJ Whitmer – Ring of Honor
Tony Mamaluke – Released from WWE in 2007
Raven Rules
No Disqualification Match
CM Punk
&
Colt Cabana
At a combined weight of 457 lbs.
Accompanied by Lucy Furr
Vs.
Raven
&
Christopher Daniels
Accompanied by Allison Danger
Before the match begins, CM Punk has the mic and cuts down
Raven who lays down in the ring and invites Punk to come and get him. Punk calls
Raven washed up and a has been. A blonde CM Punk, a blonde Raven, and a CM
Punk/Raven feud that appears to have been ongoing for some time. With Raven
rules, this match was hardcore and it showed a side of CM Punk I had not seen
before. Not a bad match and the Raven Rules did mean a no DQ match.
Winners
CM Punk
&
Colt Cabana
This was the first match where blood was drawn. I initially
thought Daniels was in worse shape, but CM Punk was bleeding so much I wondered
if he was going to make it through the match. He was still bleeding as he made
his way out of the arena.
CM Punk – WWE, ECW Champion
Colt Cabana – Ohio Valley Wrestling
Raven – TNA Wrestling
Christopher Daniels – “Fired” from TNA Wrestling at the
end of 2007.
In the ring after the match, Raven takes the mic and tells
Punk there has to be retribution for what Punk has done to him. He says it is
like the twelfth time Punk has left him laying in a pool of his own bile. Raven
says that the next ROH show is in Elizabeth, NJ and he wants Punk one on one at
that show and that Punk will become a victim of The Raven Effect, quote the
Raven “Nevermore”.
Backstage after the match, the reason CM Punk hates Raven
seems to be because Raven is just like Punk’s father who was an alcoholic.
Punk says he doesn’t respect Raven, he hates Raven. Punk says on the 17th
of July he will become a monster in order to fight the monsters and This Is
Straight Edge.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Chris Sabin from MI, weighing 207
NWA TNA X Division Champion
Challenger
Vs.
AJ Styles from Gainesville, GA, weighing 202 lbs.
One Half ROH Tag Team Champion with Amazing Red
NWA World Heavyweight Champion
This match made me wonder why we don’t’ see action such
as this in TNA. This may have been a much earlier match for Sabin but he kept up
with AJ in this match up. Both of these wrestlers know their technical wrestling
and they did use their wrestling abilities. Excellent match, excellent wrestling talent, worth the price
of the DVD.
Winner
AJ
Styles
who retains the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
AJ Styles – TNA Wrestling, teams with Tomko and is one half
of the TNA Tag Team Champions
Chris Sabin – TNA Wrestling, teams with Alex Shelley to
form Motor City Machineguns
AJ Styles has the mic after the match and he wants the
audience to understand the importance of the NWA Title Belt that he has in his
hand. He wants the audience to respect the NWA title and he wants the audience
to know how much he respects them.
The interviewer is backstage again and this time he has found
Low Ki. He tells Low Ki that he told J-Train what Low Ki had said and he tells
Low Ki that J-Train wants to meet with Low Ki after the show. Low Ki says OK and
walks away.
Fight Without Honor
Trent Acid
Vs.
Notorious 187 Homicide
Accompanied to the ring by Julius Smokes
I should mention that a fight with no honor indicates a match
with no rules. I had only seen Trent Acid once before and was eager to see him
in action again. This was two tough men and one tough match. Homicide is always
ready to go the extra mile for his fans and Trent kept up with him during a
match that included tables and ladders and chairs. The first dive Trent made off
of the ring to nail Homicide appeared to have caused as much damage to Trent as
it did to Homicide. Homicide came through the ropes to nail Trent with a cross
body block outside on the floor and nearly took himself out with a direct hit to
his hip on the floor. During the
course of this match, I’m sure ROH was wondering if they had enough in their
budget to replace the ladders and chairs that were destroyed. These two make you
wonder how they get back up off of the mat, floor, guardrail or wherever else
their bodies might land. Johnny Kashmere did interfere and was chased by Julius
and there is a fight outside the ring and into the back area with the two
non-wrestlers. This match is a must see for any Homicide or Trent Acid fan.
Homicide did some fantastic work with Ring of Honor. I highly recommend Homicide
fans see his ROH work. For those who have never seen Trent Acid in the ring, he
is as high risk and high danger as Homicide. He is another talent worth seeing.
Winner
Trent Acid
Trent Acid – Pro Wrestling Syndicate
Homicide – TNA Wrestling, teams with Hernandez to form Latin American Exchange.
Known as Notorious 187 Homicide in other wrestling
venues.
After the match is over, the arena goes dark and Special K
makes their way into the ring to take out Johnny Kashmere, who has come back to
the ring to congratulate his partner, and Trent Acid (also known as the Backseat
Boyz). Special K then proceeds to
have a “rave” in the ring, around the ring, and in the audience. I am not
sure what happened to Homicide. The announcers say that the show is over but
Special K has taken over the arena and they aren’t going home.
Backstage after the show:
Jim Cornette is on camera to talk about Ring of Honor and
that he will be coming to the Ring of Honor on August 9 at Montgomery County
Fair Grounds, OH. The backdrop during this promo is OVW - Ohio Valley Wrestling.
The rave is still going on in the arena. Johnny Kashmere and
Trent Acid are back on their feet in the ring but don’t look like they are in
a partying mood.
Carnage Crew is backstage and they are discussing their match
earlier this evening, including Justin Credible’s appearance in their corner.
On July 19, the first annual Death Before Dishonor Match Fast Eddie, Rudy Boy
and Hotstuff Hernandez will face Carnage Crew in an Anything Goes Hardcore
Match. They also discuss the wrestler Masada and they discuss ECW and their time
with ECW. They throw in some trash talking about Special K.
And Special K is still carrying on their rave in the arena.
Trent and Kashmere are gone from the ring and the arena.
Samoa Joe is backstage to talk about or to someone named
Paul. Oh, it’s Paul London (who is now with WWE and teams with Brian Kendrick
who I believe was known as Spanky in ROH). London must be facing Samoa Joe soon
for the ROH title.
The cameraman and the interviewer are thrown out of the
backstage area.
Bonus Showcase Matches
Lit
Appears to be a member of Special K
vs.
Benny Blanco from the Bronx, weighing 235 lbs.
These three matches may be dark matches before the main show,
but I am not certain. They are not long matches and I have been unable to locate
any information on the two wrestlers in this match. The match goes back and
forth between wrestling moves and beat down. Blanco does a version of the Eddie
Guerrero “Three Amigos” to get the win.
Winner
Benny Blanco
Lit - Unknown
Benny Blanco - Unknown
Angeldust
vs.
Hydro
Hydro and Angeldust are both members of Special K. They enter
the ring together and it appears Angledust doesn’t understand that they are
opponents and not partners in this match. Undoubtedly this is early Jay Lethal,
previously Hydro in ROH, but he is very good in this match. I was unable to find
out any other information about the wrestler known as Angeldust.
Hydro appeared to be the fan favorite throughout the match and both
wrestlers were good.
Winner
Hydro
Hydro – TNA (as Black Machismo Jay Lethal)
Angeldust – Unknown
After the match, Angeldust appears to be upset that Hydro
beat him in the middle of the ring but Hydro makes everything right by handing
Angeldust a bag of white powder. All
is forgiven as the wrestlers leave the arena.
The Outcast Killaz from the Bronx
Oman Tortuga
&
Diablo Santiago
vs.
Christopher Street Connection
at a combined weight of 420
lbs.
Buff E.
&
Mace
CSC enters the arena to the song YMCA (hint, hint). One of
the CSC members stops to kiss a male member of the audience and give him his
pink hat. And yes, wrestling fans,
it appears we have the tough guys from the Bronx up against the gay guys from
– well, I couldn’t hear where they were from. A lot of the match is spent
with gay innuendoes between CSC and the Outcast Killaz. Other than that, it
wasn’t a bad match. I have no information on any of the four competitors in
this match.
Winners
Christopher Street Connection
Oman Tortuga - Unknown
Diablo Santiago – Independent circuit
Buff E - Unknown
Mace - Unknown
If there was ever a showdown between Low-Ki, J-Train and
Homicide, it was not on the DVD.
I realize that this DVD is older, however, since I have
become such a Ring of Honor fan, I wanted to find out more about the history of
ROH. I wanted to know more about the wrestlers that have gone through the doors
at various times in ROH history as well as letting fans know what ROH DVDs are
out there. There are several current TNA wrestlers on this particular DVD as
well as current WWE roster members CM Punk and Mickie James (then Alexis Laree)
I went to the ROH website and purchased this DVD then discovered the following
day that ROH had a 33% off sale. So
back I went to www.rohwrestling.com
and ordered three more DVDs. As soon as those DVDs arrive, I’ll be reviewing
them.
Ring of Honor Wrestling . Com
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com