Monday, April 17, 2006

ROH Joe vs. Kobashi 10/01/05

1. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Colt Cabana - 5
2. Matt Sydal vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Azrieal - 6
3. Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro vs. BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs - 6
4. Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Lethal - 6
5. Rodering Strong vs. Jimmy Rave - 7
6. Ricky Reyes vs. Pelle Primeau - 4
7. James Gibson vs. Jimmy Yang - 6
8. Homicide vs. Jack Evans - 5
9. Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe - 9

Cabana is pretty well rounded, but Claudio should probably stick to making lasagna in his mom's kitchen. The three-way wasn't bad—mostly because Daniels led these guys through it. I liked the tag match a lot, honestly, it was one of the better matches overall. Sal and Tony are little guys, but they held their own. I'm not too big on Jacobs, but he has time to improve; he gets ahead of himself a lot in the ring, but he has potential. Nigel and Lethal doesn't sound too appetizing on paper, but they produced a watchable bout. Roderick is one of the most consistent performers on the independent circuit, and looked solid here against Rave. Reyes squashed Pelle--nobody cared. Gibson and Yang do in the ring what WWE would never let them accomplish in 4-minute Velocity matches. Seeing Homicide put overrated Evans over is laughable, as well as slightly insulting. Evans should have gone for a career in gymnastics instead of wrestling--he'd make better money. Joe and Kobashi is everything you've undoubtedly heard it is; it's stiff, physical, and intense. Is it a classic? I don't think so. For unknowing American fans, Kobashi works matches of this level and magnitude constantly in Japan, and has been doing so for years. Still, it's nice finally seeing Joe getting roughed up, and the hot crowd certainly helped make this match more memorable.

1 comment:

Jessie said...

one of your rare 9's...and deservedly so...stiff encounter..i really don't remember the rest of this show