Ring of Honor has finally made it downstairs. Wait, they’re going down? Yep, down into the Hammerstein Ballroom, where some of the most famous cards, and famous crowds, have been held. ROH has been on a roll up to this point, not only as far as wrestling, but also as their expansion into new markets goes. Will the crowd from upstairs continue to flow down? Will ROH be able to surpass some of their greatest NYC events with this one? And most importantly, will it be Worth Your Money?

A New Level

New York, NY

5/10/08

To give us a feel of how cool it is not to wait in line, a camera goes through the line of people waiting to enter, pass the merchandise table, into the building. The cameraperson takes a seat behind a couple of fans that are waiting for the show to start. We get a big opening with all the crew running to the ring, getting the crowd hyped for this historic show. The place is packed, looking as full as the old ECW shows, or the WWE shows.

FIP Title: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiozaki

Stevens gets the jump on Strong in the aisle, causing Strong to make a run for the ring, where Go was waiting. When Stevens made it in, it turned into a three-way chop fest. Stevens was able to drop Strong, but Go did the same to him. Strong reentered, knocking Go down with a dropkick. All three men were quickly leveled as they all started unleashing hard attacks. When everyone got up, it was the chop battle again. Go seemingly had the hardest hands in the match as he knocked the wind out of Stevens. This only momentarily stopped Stevens before he picked Go off the mat, slamming him hard. Strong popped in, kicking Stevens in the head. With some help from Go, Strong suplexed Stevens on his head. Go had some momentum going as he hit the ropes, knocking down Strong. When Strong came after him, Go picked him up, tossing Strong into Stevens. Strong tried to get the jump on Go again, but got driven into the mat for a pin attempt. Stevens was the only thing that saved Strong from being pinned. Stevens caught the flying Go, but Shiozaki turned his predicament into a fisherman’s buster. Go ran to the top, moonsaulting off the top. Go missed the highflying maneuver, stumbling into the lariat, then the Doctor Bomb by Stevens. Before Stevens could go for the pin, Strong cradled Stevens to retain the gold. A standing ovation for Go and Stevens as they shake hands.

Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen

No honorable handshake between Richards and Generico, who started off for their respective teams. After being disrespected by Richards, Steen tagged in, showing that his girth was better than Richards’ power. Generico came back in after Romero did the same. Generico avoided Romero’s strikes by using his agility. This didn’t help as Romero spun Generico around with a hurricarana before doing the Azucar dance. Generico easily used Romero’s cockiness against him, sending him flying to the floor. Steen reentered, showing that uncanny agility to power Romero to the mat. It wasn’t until Richards came back in did the things go downhill for Steenerico. After sending Generico to the floor, Richards whipped Generico chin first into Romero’s knee. The fans tried to rally behind Generico, but he was feeling nothing but pain as Richards twisted the left arm of the masked man in a very unique position. Romero followed up by putting Generico in a modified rings of Saturn. Generico had to use his speed to get to Steen after downing Richards and Romero with a cross body block. Steen tagged in, taking it to both men. “Mr. Wrestling” nearly pinned Romero after a DDT before going for the Sharpshooter. This turned into Romero nearly kicking Steen’s head off. Richards tagged in, trying to level Steen, but got power bombed instead. Generico ran in, using a blue thunder driver to nearly pin Richards. Richards turned the tables, kicking Generico into Romero’s kimora lock. Steen used Romero’s body to break up the submission, allowing Generico to recover to take both men down. Steen barreled into the chest of Richards, leaving him on the mat for Steen’s Swanton. Instead, Steen hit nothing but knees, leaving Generico prone on the top in shock. Romero ran up the ropes, pulling Generico down with the Diablo Arm Bar. Generico struggled free, making it to the ropes to save the match. Richards picked the hurting Generico off the mat for the Doomsday Knee. Generico ducked the knee by Romero, victory rolling Richards into a near fall. Generico followed up with the yakuza kick in the corner, allowing Steen to pick up the stunned NRC members before using them for an impressive Samoan drop. Steenerico ran to the top, crushing Richards with a Swanton/big splash combo that only was stopped from ending the match by Rocky. Generico knocked Rocky back outside with another yakuza kick, leaving Richards by himself for the Package Piledriver/Brain Buster combination to give Steenerico a strong victory. Steen proclaimed this the beginning of their run toward the ROH Tag gold.

Chris Hero & Brent Albright w/Sweet & Sour Inc. vs. Delirious & Pelle Primeau vs. Jack Evans & Jigsaw w/Julius Smokes

Tonight S & S Inc. includes reality superstar Johnny Fairplay. Fairplay does the Danny Boneduce on Albright, without the face plant. Delirious chased Fairplay out of the area as Hero beat down Pelle in the ring. Hero was able to senton splash Pelle in the middle of the ring before knocking Jigsaw off the apron. Jigsaw entered, double stomping Hero out of the ring. Albright came in, clotheslining Jigsaw to the mat before power slamming a flying Evans. Delirious flew off the top, knocking Albright out of the ring, in front of everyone except Del Rey, Sweeney, and Smokes. Delirious somersaulted off the top, downing everyone except those three mentioned. Delirious tried to take advantage of Jigsaw, but was caught in the Gory special. Evans dove off the top, senton splashing the stuck Delirious. Jigsaw put Pelle in the bow & arrow, allowing Evans to moonsault off of Pelle’s chest, onto Pelle’s chest. Albright came in, pitching both members of the Vulture Squad out before pitching Pelle into them. Albright decided to take to the sky, downing the three men to an amazing ovation. Hero pushed Delirious back in, only to get head-butted out of the sky by the masked man. Sara Del Rey tried to distract Delirious, but was pulled off the apron by Daizee Haze. This showing up by The Haze distracted Delirious, allowing Hero to kick him out of the ring headfirst. Evans gave Hero a taste of his own medicine, sending him out of the ring. On adjacent sides of the ring, Evans & Jigsaw dropped Delirious, Albright, and Hero with stereo 450 splashes. When Evans pushed Hero in, Hero used Evans’ speed against him by clocking Evans in the mouth with two rolling elbows. Jigsaw got the same, but Delirious didn’t. Albright grabbed Delirious, only to get thumbed in the eyes. This caused Albright to suplex Hero on his head, thinking it was Delirious. Delirious grabbed the stunned Hero, using Chemical Imbalance 2 to get the victory for his team. All of Sweet & Sour were upset with the outcome. Sweeney had only one idea that could make this situation better: beat up Bobby “I decided to forget my shirt” Dempsey. Albright refused. To show that beating up Bobby was easy, Sweeney ordered everyone in S & S Inc. to slap Bobby. Albright, now with his position in the group on the line, measured Bobby up for a jaw cracking shot…only to turn that shot on Shane Hagadorn. Albright picked up Shane, Awesome Bombing him through a table on the floor. After suplexing Eddie Edwards and Chris Hero, Sara Del Rey got dropped on her head via a suplex. Before Albright could get his hands on Sweeney, the moneymaking manager hit the high road. The fans were going crazy as Brent Albright soaked in adulation. On the floor, Hagadorn was being checked on after that sick bump.

Bryan Danielson vs. Naomichi Marufuji

We get a thorough feeling out process between the two in the early minutes with neither getting a solid advantage. The feeling out process became a game of one ups-man-ship with both going for dropkicks a plenty. From there, they tried to gain quick pins, but neither could hold the other down. After several northern lights suplexes, Danielson tried for the surfboard. Since Danielson couldn’t get the arms, he went for the nose until Marufuji tried to stop him. This allowed Danielson to hook the surfboard, but was too close to the ropes to hold onto it. Danielson tried to punch and kick the wind out of the NOAH star by aiming for Marufuji’s abdomen. Marufuji was able to dump Danielson over the top, onto the apron before slinging himself over with Danielson. Marufuji dropped down, drilling Danielson into the apron with a DDT. Marufuji wasn’t done as he pulled Danielson up before brain busting him on the apron. Danielson was clutching the back of his neck when he was pushed into the ring. Marufuji’s aim was on Danielson’s neck and head as he kicked Danielson into neverland (Michael Jackson not included). Danielson fired back with forearms, but got dropped nose first into the canvas after a short palm thrust to the same area. Marufuji tried to wrench the neck with a modified cobra stretch, but was forced into the ropes. Naomichi wasn’t able to stop Bryan after Danielson propelled out of the corner, kicking Marufuji down before doing the same to his lower back. Danielson had the momentum behind him as he ran to the top, dropkicking Marufuji across the ring. Marufuji countered the incoming Danielson, sending him head first into the middle turnbuckle after a kick to the back of his head. Marufuji connected with that high impact flying back elbow before going for that flashback clothesline. Danielson was ready, causing a counter for counter of the clothesline that still ended with Marufuji getting the clothesline in. Danielson was able to block the Shiranui, pitching Marufuji over the top rope, to the floor. Danielson tried to dive on top of him, but got kicked in the head instead. Danielson stumbled into the corner, allowing Marufuji to go coast to coast with the dropkick. Danielson was out on his stomach. Marufuji tried to power bomb Danielson, but got driven into the mat. Danielson rolled into the cross arm bar. Marufuji rolled though into one of his own. Danielson countered the hold, German suplexing Marufuji. Marufuji tried to use his fighting spirit, but got leg locked. Marufuji made it to the ropes to break the hold. Marufuji was able to shake off the pain of the leg lock, super kicking Danielson. Marufuji was looking for the Shiranui again, but got hung in the tree of woe for his trouble. Danielson dropkicked the hanging Naomichi before going up for the super belly to back. Marufuji slipped free, putting Danielson in the tree of woe. Marufuji ran across the ring, looking for coast to coast again. Danielson used his leg strength to avoid it, face-planting Marufuji. They fought over strikes, leading to Danielson locking in the triangle choke. Marufuji rolled out of it, kicking Danielson’s head sideways. Naomichi put Danielson in a triangle choke of his own, causing the fans to chant, “Please don’t tap!” Danielson was able to make it to the ropes before doing so. Danielson played possum long enough to trick Marufuji in position for the raining down elbows. Marufuji broke free, causing an elbow exchange. Then a tiger suplex exchange. Danielson couldn’t hold him down with the suplex, so he locked him in Cattle Mutilation. Marufuji had no choice but to tap out.

Daizee Haze was introduced to tell us that tonight’s show broke the all time ROH attendance record. Before she could continue, Delirious, with a black dress shirt and white necktie on, entered the ring with a rose behind his back. Delirious seemingly asked her out for dinner. Before she could answer, Rhett “Addicted To Love” Titus strutted to the ring like he’s Michael Hayes’ long lost son. You see, Titus is here, not to intervene, but to show off his body…for Daizee. Daizee decided it was time to leave, with Titus in hot pursuit. Delirious was stuck in the ring with no answer to request while the fans informed him, “You got c*ck blocked!”

Takeshi Morishima vs. Necro Butcher        

The history-making crowd was buzzing as these two behemoths slugged away in the middle of the ring. Necro was able to level Takeshi with one of those heavy lefts, sending Morishima to the floor. Morishima was being dominated by the wildman. Necro decided to ring Morishima’s bell…with the ring bell before pulling the ring mats off the floor. Instead of sending Morishima into the concrete, Morishima back dropped Necro the cold floor. Morishima just plowed into Butcher before pitching him into the ring. The fans began to get under the skin of the former GHC Heavyweight champion, causing him to beat Necro mercilessly. Necro tried to fight back by slamming Morishima, but couldn’t get the bigger man off of his feet. The wind shot out of Necro’s body as Morishima fell on top of him. Necro was able to take it all, avoiding the missile dropkick before clotheslining Morishima down. Necro took to the sky, cross body blocking Morishima for a two count. Necro pulled in a chair, DDT’ing Takeshi on it. Necro picked up the chair for a swing, but got crowned instead with it. Morishima barreled his body into the chair, propelling it into Necro’s chest. Morishima put Necro on the top before opening the chair behind Necro. Morishima side slammed Necro through the chair for a shocking two count. Takeshi followed up with a lariat, then the Backdrop Driver to pick up the win. Morishima, who angered the fans enough by beginning a USA chant, spit on someone in the front row for giving him the finger. And I thought we were friends. Necro got a loud ovation upon his exit.

No Disqualification ROH Tag Team title match: Austin Aries & Jay Briscoe (c) vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black

Austin Aries is taking the place of Mark Briscoe due to Mark’s wrist surgery. Plus Austin wants a piece of Jimmy for Lacey’s kidnapping. The fight is all over the ringside area, with Jacobs & Aries being the focus. In the ring, Jay had Black reeling before taking Black, and himself, over with the cactus clothesline. Black was able to drop Jay, using a chair to spring up to the guardrail, moonsaulting off. Jimmy ran over to help his partner, but got caught between Aries and the guardrail. Aries threw a chair into Black’s face before pulling out a table. Aries ran to the top, but was stopped by Jacobs. Aries and Jacobs battled on the top rope, but ended up tumbling off, going through the table! In the ring, Black dropkicked Jay out of the sky. Black followed up by stomping the face of Jay after a mighty leap. Jay fought back as hard as he could, but got driven into the mat again. Black tried to get a rush into the corner, but Jay avoided it, hitting a series of attacks that ended when Jacobs reentered the ring. Jacobs had the spike, which met Jay’s forehead with the help of Tyler. Jay was gushing blood, causing Jacobs to spike him again. Specs of blood shot across the ring, followed by a stream. Jacobs, showing how messed up he is, used his own face as a towel to clean up Jay. With Jay hung upside down, the AOTF used that stereo dropkick combo to keep Jay grounded and bleeding. Jay had so much blood coming out of his head that he was spitting it out of mouth. Jay was able to recover, sending Jacobs into the middle turnbuckle face first before super kicking Black. Aries ran in, dropkicking Black in the face, following up with the Brain Buster. Aries floated over into the Last Chancery. Before Black could tap, Jacobs dropkicked Aries in the face. Aries was knocked onto the apron. Jimmy rushed him, spearing Aries off the apron, into the guardrails. Jay caught Jacobs coming in, using a flacon arrow to nearly pin Jacobs. Before he could hit the Jay Driller, Black kicked Jay in the head. Black hoisted Jay up, allowing Jacobs to use a super Contra Code for a stunning near fall. Black put Jay across his shoulders for Jacobs to come down on. Instead, Aries pushed Jacobs off the top, through another table on the floor, before helping Jay spike Jay Drill Black. The fans were shocked as Black kicked out. Aries ran up for the 450 Splash, but Necro Butcher stopped him. All of a sudden, a one armed Mark Briscoe ran out, pushing Necro into the guardrails before helping his brother hit the Doomsday Device on Black to retain the title.

The fight wasn’t over as Aries and Jacobs were slugging away on the floor. Necro helped hold down Aries as Black stumbled into the scene. Black slammed a broken piece of table into Aries’ back. Necro pushed Aries into the ring as Jacobs grabbed a microphone. Jacobs grabbed the metal spike from his boot, yelling that he should kill Aries right here. At the last second, Jacobs refused to do it because he wanted to inflict mental pain more than physical. Aries wanted to be put out of his misery right now, but Jacobs walked away after promising to get Aries when Austin isn’t expecting it.

ROH World title: Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Both men were fired up, as were the fans. Nigel quickly went for the ropes after one European uppercuts. Nigel rushed into a small package, causing Nigel to rush into a series of arm locks. Nigel tried to get some cheap shots in as the referee broke them up, but Claudio was one step ahead of the champion. Nigel had to exit the ring in hopes of changing his game plan, only to pull Claudio out of the ring. Claudio was slammed into the barricades before Nigel honed in on Castagnoli’s left arm. Nigel threw Claudio into the ring, wrenching the arm as hard as he could. Claudio was able to shake off the pain long enough to block Nigel’s uppercut before using one of his own. Claudio sent Nigel into the corner, but ran into the kick to the back/forearm to the chest combo. Nigel went after the arm again, sending Claudio to the floor. Nigel slammed the arm into the floor. Nigel used the guardrail to damage the arm as well. Nigel wanted to go back in ring, but Claudio leapt off the floor, bouncing off the ropes, propelling off with another uppercut. Claudio tried to push Nigel into the ring, but the champ used the ropes to rebound into a Lariat that slammed Claudio into the floor again. The action returned to the ring, with Nigel hammer locking the left arm of the challenger. That hammerlock turned into a half gangster stretch. Claudio fought his way off the mat, knocking Nigel out of the ring with the bicycle kick. Claudio followed up with a tope. Claudio pushed Nigel in before cross body blocking Nigel to the mat. Claudio connected with a springboard European uppercut for another near fall, causing the fans to get behind him. Claudio used the Waterslide, only to get a two count. Claudio went to the top again, but Nigel caught him, driving Claudio into the mat with the Tower of London. After an unsuccessful pin, Nigel tried to end Claudio’s night with the Lariat. Claudio kicked out in time to save himself. Nigel was looking for the short arm clothesline, downing Claudio for another near fall. McGuinness floated over, locking in the London Dungeon. Castagnoli was close enough to the ropes to break the hold, but fell into it again. Castagnoli fought out of it, using the big swing to bounce the back of Nigel’s head off the mat. Claudio was looking for the Ricola Bomb, but got driven into the mat with the hammerlock divorce court. Nigel, once again, floated over into the London Dungeon. Claudio powered off the mat, sending Nigel into the corner. Claudio tried to whip Nigel into the corner, but got mule kicked. Nigel ran at the stumbling Claudio, only to get flap jacked into another uppercut. Claudio put Nigel on the top for a superplex, but couldn’t get Nigel up. Nigel crotched Claudio on the top before hitting the Lariat for a near fall. Nigel superplexed Claudio, but the move turned into a small package by both men. They both kicked out, forcing the referee to count both men down. Nigel got up first, causing a European uppercut battle in the middle of the ring. Claudio was able to avoid one, hitting the Ricola Bomb for a close near fall. Nigel was able to avoid Claudio’s next attack, DDT’ing Claudio. Nigel hit the ropes of the Jawbreaker Lariat, but got rolled up instead. Nigel kicked out, saving his title. Claudio tried to Ricola Bomb him again, but got hit with the Lariat instead. Claudio used the fighting spirit to get off the mat, hoisting Nigel into the air. Nigel broke free, hitting another Lariat before making Claudio tap out in the London Dungeon. We get video highlights of the show to close out this DVD.        

Is It Worth Your Money: ROH really went all out with this release for their Ballroom debut, and it came together nicely. One of the amazing things, something ROH has toned down on, is by having two excellent matches early in the show. I’m talking about Danielson vs. Marufuji and Steenerico vs. NRC. Both matches were amazing pieces of work that had me on the edge of my seat. The Tag title match also was a brilliant piece of work. I was kind of disappointed in the main event, as these two have had better matches. But it isn’t as bad as people are claiming. Morishima vs. Necro could’ve been a hardcore classic if they didn’t squash Necro. Entertaining squash, but could’ve been so much more. The show, as a whole, is amazing. While there are some bumps in the road, the show flows smoothly, and makes the time go by like nothing. With a few great matches, some memorable ones, and a hot crowd, I can’t help but give this the full monty. A New Level Is Worth Your Money.

And just a plug for next week’s ROHbot Report, make sure you come around and see it. Not only will I have the results and fall out of this weekend’s shows, but also an exclusive interview with ROH World Tag Team champion Kevin Steen.