Top Ring of Honor Matches of 2003

Note: I am currently missing Ring of Honor shows: 4/12/03 - Epic Encounter (Danielson-London), 8/16/03 - Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies, 9/6/03 - Beating the Odds, 9/20/03 - Glory by Honor II, 10/16/03 - Tradition Continues, 10/25/03 - Empire State Showdown, 11/1/03 Main Event Spectacles (Danielson-Styles), 11/28/03 - The Conclusion, 11/29/03 - War of the Wire, 12/27/03 - Final Battle 2003,

1. Homicide vs. BJ Whitmer (Ring of Honor - 11/1/03 "Main Event Spectacles")
These two look like total opposites and sometimes this looked really strange, but stylistically they blend perfectly. They just have a really stiff match with all the big moves and the climatic dives that you expect from a high-level Japanese match. The pace of this is so fast at points that I'm amazed this is so-caled "indy wrestling." Homicide is really great as this roughneck heel and Whitmer works good as a strong, bleeding babyface. This really impressed me and convinced me these are two of the top guys around. Whitmer sells the Copkilla like death and the last leg of this was very purooresu influenced and good. An awesome effort and these two need to do a rematch in the future.
Rating: ****1/2

2. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor - 5/31/03 "Do or Die")
Now this a quality feud. These two had a nice ***1/2 match that seemed to be the tip of the iceberg and they take it to the next level here as now they're in opposinng stables and fighting for the strap. The story is great too. Homicide is smaller, but obviously won't take a back step and Joe is the brutal champion who has beaten down everyone. Sometimes the spots seem like fan service, but the devestating nature of them will obviously pop a crowd. Low-Ki comes down and we get a nice turnaround and the last part of this is what you'd expect. This seems like an All Japan clone match that has that indy charm that we enjoy out of ROH. I dug the hell out of this for what it was and the post-match promo with Joe is strong.
Rating: ****1/4

3. Paul London vs. AJ Styles (Ring of Honor - 6/14/03 "Night of Grudges")
The story is London was replaced by Styles in teaming with Red and they won the belts and now they wrestle. Great job at getting over the code of honor's place in a heated match like this as they add in handshakes here and there to make this interesting. They pick it up and London shows a great combination of heelish offense in working over Styles's knee and a face ability to be killed. This thing is filled with awesome spot after awesome spot and the crowd loves it...obviously. The finish is kind of unfortunate and the crowd boos it, chants for more time and doesn't get it. Of course you can't have London going over the NWA Champion nor Styles challenging Joe for the same reason. MOTYC? This was pretty spectacular and I've seen this get rated highly, but the finish hurt this (despite its necessity).
Rating: ****1/4

4. Briscoe Brothers vs. AJ Styles & Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 3/22/03 "Night of Champions")
After winning the titles a week prior, Styles & Red are preparing to take on two of best blue chippers. I've never seen the Briscoes in a tag match that I liked a lot, but these four apparently click well. This is really everything you want to see, well what most people want to see. The action is practically non-stop with a little bit of everything, except for mat wrestling. The Briscoes heel it up a bit, which seems to be their niche, as they take to Red for a bit. Styles tags in and we again get a big pick up in the pace. This had qualities of the high-end New Japan junior tag matches with US Indy appeal. The last few minutes are excellent and the finish is spectacular. Best ROH tag match at this point in it's history, although it didn't have the competition you'd expect.
Rating: ****1/4

5. Homicide vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Danny Maff vs. Colt Cabana (Ring of Honor - 7/19/03 "Death Before Dishonor")
A great mix of talent here with all four of these guys fitting into a "#1 Contenders" match. Maff and Homicide have both had strong matches with the champion in the past two months and in Whitmer and Cabana we have good up-and-comers. It is cool because the Homicide-Maff battle adds a good intensity and allows room for the other two to get in a win. This has the rapid switches and multi-man spots that you expect out of a four-way, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious weak link and this is excellent in most regards as things just click very well. Maff looked like a bad ass big man, Cabana looked tremendous as an innovative spot guy, Homicide looked like the future ace here and Whitmer looked like a really tough guy with a simple, but effective offense. The finish was good, the crowd was into it and Samoa Joe awaits.
Rating: ****

6. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams (Ring of Honor - 3/22/03 "Night of Champions")
These two had a pretty good match five months prior, but I think it was lacking something. They've since clashed in Williams' native company - FWA and Daniels won the belt. So here we have I rematch for that belt and Williams' right to shake hands (a stip from the prior ROH match). Daniels is 2-0, so it seems like Williams going over is just the right thing to do here. Basically Williams works the bad neck and Daniels counters by working over his midsection. Its not really a pretty match, but Daniels feels like heel here and Williams has a very strong comeback. The last leg of this is so excellent as both are battling through nagging pain and trying to put the other away. Excellent near escapes that made Daniels look like he should and had Williams look tremendous in beating him. Tough battle with as strong a story as ROH has in a self-contained match. If this was in the UK and/or had the heat it deserved this would've come across as amongst ROH's better matches.
Rating: ****

7. AJ Styles vs. Jonny Storm (Ring of Honor - 5/17/03 "Frontiers of Honor")
I've never been overly impressed by Storm as he's always tried to be a flyer first and a character second, which is a big mistake. Despite being in his homeland and working a foreigner, Storm gets tremendous heat on himself throughout this match. Unfortunately, his offense is kind of weak for a heel and so they defy the usual heel beats on face psychology and have Styles dominate Storm with his stellar offense. The crowd still never gets behind Storm, which is a credit to his skill as heel because the whole night they were getting behind the person getting beat on. These two clicked strongly it seemed and Styles carried this to a really good match with hot moves. The finish was kind of odd, but the post-match was smart with Storm shaking hands but then jumping AJ, which actually surprised me.
Rating: ****

8. Samoa Joe vs. American Dragon (Ring of Honor - 1/11/03 "Revenge of the Prophecy")
Two of my favorite workers going and I've never known them to square off before, except once in EPIC, which was apparently excellent. They open things slowly with each doing their thing before they kick it up. Joe smacks Dragon around, but ends up spending the first half of this getting his knee taken apart. He turns it around, abuses Dragon with vile strikes and mean-spirited submissions, then delivers a suplex to the floor. You know what, Chris Candido (master of suplexes to the floor) takes them a certain way, but Bryan Danielson does to...and we all wince in pain when we see it. And things don't slow down and probably get more brutal. Similiar to the Ki-Joe finish, only Joe dumped Dragon on his head and pinned him instead. I dug the hell out of this, but I think these two can do better than this.
Rating: ***3/4

9. Low-Ki vs. AJ Styles vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 2/8/03 "First-Year Anniversary")
Ki and Styles had an awesome match a few months prior and while I'm not usually one who think three-ways are always cool, I've heard this is one worth checking out. I guess you can expect lots of action, neato spots and strong crowd reactions typically. Well, this has all those. Ki pretty much plays the bad ass here that you expect and the fans eat it up. Styles is on, so he looks really good. London looks outclassed in comparison, but Ki and AJ work hard to pull him up to their level at the very least by laying in a beating. He gets over as a game kid who doesn't back down from two guys of this caliber. It picks up in intensity towards the end and the fans pick up accordingly. Cool finish that worked for me and some really good action. Story was simple and seemed effective in the context of the match, but London-Xavier would be the real telling one immediately following.
Rating: ***3/4

10. Paul London vs. Christopher Daniels (Ring of Honor - 4/26/03 "Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II")
London is acting kind of goofy mimicking people and part of the gimmick is Daniels is pissed because he isn't taking things seriously. Daniels had the earlier match, so theoretically he's fresher and he spends the first part of this working over London's midsection. The kid refuses to lose though and is constantly getting in hope spots and he plays a great underdog. It gets really good towards the end with London having many good chances, but getting robbed. I think the last part of this might convince people this was much better than it was. Very good, perhaps the MOTN, but the first part of this is kind of lackluster to be any sort of MOTYC.
Rating: ***3/4

11. Raven vs. CM Punk (Ring of Honor - 7/19/03 "Death Before Dishonor")
I sometimes think the "Code of Honor" is the recent equivilient of Bill Watts' banning moves off the top rope. First, it makes sure matches fit a certain criteria (not filled with pointless highspots becomes not all matches are part of feuds). Second, it naturally sets up a heelish quality (jumping off the top becomes being dishonorable). Third, it makes these things mean more later. So we have a "Fight Without Honor" and we all want to see it. They replay the great Punk promo from the previous show where Punk says he'll become "a monster to fight the monsters of the world!" The promo really sets this up great: he starts real personal, but he slowly slips into the self-righteous heel mode beautifully. Great in-ring promo to super heat. The build the "Dog Collar" stip with Punk being a chickenshit, but it gets going and its brutal. The first part of this is good for what it is. The second part features the fighting in the crowd, which everyone there likes, but usually detracts on the TV...not too bad here though. The last part is back in the ring and is excellent and again Punk goes over. They still send the fans home happy and the feud continues. Pretty good brawl, but the little things really make this awesome.
Rating: ***3/4

12. Homicide vs. Trent Acid (Ring of Honor - 6/28/03 "WrestleRave `03")
Acid is generally considered the best worker in CZW and Homicide is good enough to ensure this'll be better than anything he could have in that limited atmosphere. The pace is fast and the bumps are big early on and you think it's gonna change, but it doesn't. This match is really lacking on the psychology and for a feud of this caliber you really want that, but it's not lacking on the things that make you watch CZW, not ROH. Spots that take forever to set up, lame outside interference, ref's holding ladders for people, announcers putting this over as a "classic" and nearfalls involving all these gimmicks, but someone getting the pinfall with a simple cradle. Ugh. Brutal match that would've blown me away in another time, but not now. This lacked what I think it needed, but the live crowd loved it and a lot of people have rated this highly. I'm sure this delivered in the minds of Homicide and Acid. Post-match rave is funny and I guess this sets up a Backseat Boyz versus Special K deal...sure.
Rating: ***3/4

13. Briscoe Brothers vs. AJ Styles & Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 4/12/03 "Epic Encounter")
A rematch of the tag match that really raised the bar in ROH. They start it often tremendously with a lot of unbelievable mirroring and they really go into a lot of fast-paced action for the first part of this. The Briscoes slow it down as they heel it up a bit and work over Red. The champs take back over and we get a really great finish. This was much shorter than I expected, but it was good while it lasted. If this had another 10 minutes, this could've been better than the first.
Rating: ***3/4

14. Samoa Joe vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 7/19/03 "Death Before Dishonor")
This is hyped very simply, but very effectively. London has been on a slow rise and recently has gone over Danielson and drew Styles, so he's a strong contender. Joe has beaten everyone the company has given him since winning the belt: Williams, Homicide and Maff being the three notables. London is the small underdog type and that is such a simple story to work that you know this has to deliver. We get streamers, tremendous heat for London, Joe's fun and brutal stuff, hot nearfalls, great hopespots, the right guy going over and a real good post-match. I enjoyed this a lot for what it was, but between the bells it didn't strike me the way I thought it would. The match itself is like ***1/4-***1/2, but you can't discredit the uniqueness of the whole atmosphere.
Rating: ***3/4

15. Christopher Daniels & Xavier vs. AJ Styles & Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 3/15/03 "Expect the Unexpected")
Daniels really strikes me as star, but Xavier (the freakin' champ!) seems like an upper midcarder or something. When you think about how tricky this is to book. The usually booking says - Styles starting and going pretty even with Daniels, Red plays face-in-peril and Styles comes in and it picks up with Styles or Red pinning Daniels for the belts. If the titles are going off the Prophecy, you can't beat Xavier unless you're creating a new challenger. I liked the idea is that Xavier has a concussion and therefore he isn't his "usual self," however he needed a real sick move to get it over...that didn't happen. He sold it well by seeming out-of-it, but sold other stuff poorly and I didn't like both Red and Styles getting broken up nearfalls on him either. Anyways, Daniels really kept it together for his team and the challengers looked like worthy champions. Enjoyable match, despite mt gripes about Xavier.
Rating: ***3/4

16. CM Punk vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor - 4/26/03 "Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II")
After a deal to continue the Rave feud, Punk continues to elevate his stock by wrestling for a title shot with the man who wants to wrestle Samoa Joe more than seemingly anyone. The pacing here is fast if it had kept that pace, I would have suspected this to be a high-end ROH match. They slow things down significantly in the middle, trading submissions and starting to sell the grueling nature of a mildly grueling match. Once it goes to the outside it picks up well and turns back into the match we wanted to see. I really didn't like Homicide kicking out the Pepsi Plunge, but all the other false finishes were great. A bit of sloppiness late, which I'd credit more to fatigue and unfamiliarity with one another, but a strong #1 contender's match. I expect a better rematch in the future though.
Rating: ***1/2

17. Low-Ki & AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels & Xavier (Ring of Honor - 1/11/03 "Revenge of the Prophecy")
This opens fast and hard with Ki and Xavier, who mix pretty well, however Ki and Styles don't mesh particularly well as a team. Xavier, the champ, is the weak link here and looks to have the weakest game. Finally we see the XXX partners meet and they go to war...well, not quite. This intensity doesn't really get you into right off, but it picks up and the last leg of it is really strong. This had a lot of All JapanISMs, but it seems too much like these guys copying that style rather than doing something special, which they should because its heated, has an angle and so fourth. Daniels' quality as a technical heel here is really strong and the thing that could make him like a modern day Curt Hennig or something. Xavier looked better than normal here and actually better than AJ, who was somewhat off (as he sometimes is). It really picked up in a major way at the end and we get a great finish. The holy shit spot was sold like it should've been and we saw a logic finish (though it wasn't followed up on entirely perfectly). This was a strong main event and a fun watch.
Rating: ***1/2

18. Samoa Joe vs. BJ Whitmer (Ring of Honor - 8/9/03 "Wrath of the Racket")
Whitmer was a well-built challenger for Joe, but he seems more like someone who can have a good match with him rather than someone who can actually beat him. They were involved in a strong four-way match earlier in the year and appeared to have good chemistry. Another four-way saw Whitmer earn this shot and go into this with a "broken nose." You know this'll be hard-hitting and it is with Whitmer's suplexes and Joe's strikes. This has a slow-pacing to it and it really feels grueling. They exchange some dangerous suplexes for a win by Joe that gets a weak reaction from the sizable crowd. Pretty good, but this was too short with a major lack of matwork that I think would've given this more substance.
Rating: ***1/2

19. Briscoe Brothers vs. AJ Styles & Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 7/19/03 "Death Before Dishonor")
This is third match in what has been a tremendous serious that set a standard for tag matches. I always get nervous with a series of strong workrate matches because they're destined to dropoff at some point, either the novelty wears off or whatever. Wisely, ROH has given this a "no rematch" stip. Red's knee is "bad," which might be based off some legitimacy. So that becomes the story though as the Briscoes become strong heels and take that knee apart pretty well. Styles plays the savior and delivers his strong offense leading to the finish where Red "sacrifices his knee" with a Shining Wizard that allows AJ to hit the Styles Clash for the win. Strong match with a straight story, but again it was about ten minutes too short and the finish was kind of flat.
Rating: ***1/2

20. Matt Stryker vs. Tom Carter (Ring of Honor - 5/31/03 "Do or Die")
Two good indy talents who don't get much fanfare, but are known and are actually former WWF developmental talents. Carter, formerly Reckless Youth, has been kicking around the East Coast forever. The early part is good matwork, but nothing that sets the world on fire. When they pick up the pace though and start with big moves, it gets really good. Crowd is awesome and they go into Carter killing Stryker for the last part. Then Stryker gets the flash cradle. This seems like a precursor to the "Pure Wrestling" deal and I liked this. Carter is good heel and I think he should be able to fit in ROH reasonably well.
Rating: ***1/2

21. Raven & Christopher Daniels vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana (Ring of Honor - 6/28/03 "WrestleRave `03")
Raven's mystery partner was the man who Punk declared war on and so this has a lot of heated-ness to it. For some reason they do comedy spots, before they go to a more intense brawl with Punk and Daniels juicing. Daniels plays the face in peril...very well too I might add. Raven is excellent off the hot tag and they go into a fun tailend with the valets running in, Punk hitting a great superkick on Allison Danger (one of his good friends in real life), everyone hitting their finishers before they set up a Dog Collar match. Raven and Daniels are left laying with "Copa Cabana" playing in the background...how ridiculous. Raven issues the challenge and Punk cuts the best promo of his career in the back and I'm really wanting to see this blowoff match. This had plenty of things that undercut the intensity, but there was enough to make this better than so much of the wrestling I usually see. The match itself was good, nothing spectacular, but it did everything it was supposed to.
Rating: ***1/2

22. Low-Ki vs. Jodie Fleish (Ring of Honor - 3/22/03 "Night of Champions")
An interesting "dream match," although I'd think the style clash would hurt this from delivering. Fleish has joined Special K, the raver group that doesn't believe in the "code of honor," and Low-Ki is looking to beat respect into him. Fast and fun early and Fleish is so quick that he can make Ki's offense look even better and Ki is competant enough to have a better junior-style match than probably anyone in the company. Once you get an idea of how these guys will work together, you can basically fill in the blank and know this is gonna be really good. Ki beats on Jodie, who does his spots superbly (including this insane Shooting Star into a Piledriver, which is wacky as it sounds) and the fans really get into this one. The last leg is strong with a few crazy spots, in addition to that aforementioned one. I didn't like the finish exactly (a very delayed pinfall), but I might be the only one who was irked by that. Fleish stands out as the best Special K member...too bad he retired before the end of the year. I don't know about this one. It was good, but after a better tag match of a similiar style/pacing this just seemed too excite me less. Maybe this play better stand alone in the future.
Rating: ***1/2

23. Samoa Joe vs. American Dragon (Ring of Honor - 2/8/03 "First-Year Anniversary")
A rematch of their brutal match from the previous month's ROH show and I anticipate this to approach that level. They grind away at each from the get-go with grueling matwork in the place of cosmetic matwork that really anyone should be able to appreciate. Then they transition to hard-hitting stuff, namely stiff strikes and an STO from hell. Dragon is basically kicked around this whole match in a vulgur fashion, that in addition to his look (minus the age) makes this like a mirrored version of Kawada-Fuchi at times. Joe really comes across like a bad ass in all this. You know the WWE gets across bad asses by having them beat everybody and act rebellious and stuff, but ROH does it by having you abuse another man...I dig that. The finish makes sense, though it doesn't fit this style exactly. I suspect a third match now, though I prefer Dragon-Williams matches instead.
Rating: ***1/2

24. Homicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. Justin Credible vs. John Walters (Ring of Honor - 6/14/03 "Night of Grudges")
Angeldust was replaced by JC, which is good and bad, though he seemed to be really over. Sabin, the X Division standout, is making his debut as well. Walters is a hometown boy. Homicide is of course the premier worker here and it really shows. The fast-pacing due to having four people involved make this a really strong match. I tend not to like these type of matches a lot, but this was really fun. The right guy went over and everyone got to show their stuff.
Rating: ***1/2

25. Paul London vs. James Tighe (Ring of Honor - 5/17/03 "Frontiers of Honor")
Tighe's a young flyer, so this seems like a good pairing. The crowd seems split as well and these UK fans are great, nice and vocal. Great spots and you quickly figure out how this is going to be and this is a fitting opener. The fans are always getting behind whoever is on the defense and it makes this really fun because it's a nice change of pace, even from ROH crowds. The action was nonstop and there was little to really knock this for considering these guys have less than five years of experience between them. Strong finish and a better-than-solid opener.
Rating: ***1/2

26. Doug Williams vs. Tom Carter (Ring of Honor - 7/19/03 "Death Before Dishonor")
Two very good mat wrestlers from very different traditions. Carter did train under Steve Regal for a time and has the Quack-lucha connection, so it's very likely that this can be super-fun. Williams is a really physical guy and Carter can be, but he just didn't seem as legitimate in that way. The legacy of Reckless Youth as the indy guy who did fun highflying and stuff still haunts Carter's moveset and prevents us from moving on. These two clicked and had a generic good match without really doing what I think they could do with familiarity on their side.
Rating: ***1/2

27. Christopher Daniels vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor - 4/12/03 "Epic Encounter")
Both of these guys are potential challengers to Samoa Joe's title and both have agendas with him as well. Really solid match early on that can pick up and build to something. It goes back-and-fourth in the first half and is about what you'd expect. Actually it struck me as a really good MLW match in the early going. Homicide acts like he hurt his knee (or maybe he actually did) on a dive and you're thinking they're gonna work off that, but don't. Tale end picks up with good nearfalls going into a sudden cradle finish. This worked for me, but I'd prefer a things were done different.
Rating: ***1/4

28. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide vs. BJ Whitmer vs. EZ Money (Ring of Honor - 3/15/03 "Expect the Unexpected")
This is for the number one contender's trophy. Homicide and Joe really have the main story here and one of the two has to go over. Money raided Doug Furnas's closet and, what the hell, so did Whitmer. It makes me hate both of the them. Actually Money strikes me as the new RVD in that he is cool when you first see him, but you quickly realize he has limited moves, often screws them up and is pretty much lame. Actually when Money is out this is damn good and I have to say that ROH is best suited to dump him (which basically they have). Joe looked like a convincing #1 contender and Homicide looks to be the logical #2 and thankfully ROH delivered on Joe-Homicide and Joe-Whitmer in the near future. The post-match riot deal was much better than the first (although it's still very stupid). The match itself was good fun, but Money's involvement hurt it a lot for me and if he'd not been involved this might have the MOTN.
Rating: ***1/4

29. Samoa Joe vs. Danny Maff (Ring of Honor - 6/28/03 "WrestleRave `03")
The day after his father passed away, Maff has probably the biggest singles match of his career. A week prior, Maff beat Joe in a six-man tag to break up "The Group." They keep this match simple with a lot of stiff brawling, which is always a good way to heat up an ROH crowd. They pick things up with the suplexes and slams. Really strong effort by Maff, who really wrestled the match he had to and showed he has the potential to be the player that they're pushing him to be. Nice post-match makes this more than just a good title match.
Rating: ***1/4

30. Raven vs. CM Punk (Ring of Honor - 3/15/03 "Expect the Unexpected")
Let me first say I hate ROH's audio. The Raven-Punk debate earlier was practically coherant (put a direct line in somewhere you cheap assholes!), but hopefully the wrestling will do the talking. Raven is more like Eddy Guerrero than Konnan, which makes us all happy and he is perfectly content to not be a top guy, which realistically he shouldn't be. They finally make this a "Raven's Rules" match and things start to get violent. They brawl around, annihilate their cheapo-depot guard rails and bleed. Well worked brawl because they keep the story simple and deliver the highspots you need to make these matches standout. The finish was fine to continue the story and Punk proved to be a nice developing heel. This was like Raven-Dreamer or Raven-Sandman without the great heat.
Rating: ***1/4

31. Samoa Joe vs. Doug Williams (Ring of Honor - 4/26/03 "Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II")
I expect something unique here as these two haven't work each other before and have something of clashing styles. If Williams had as much Japan experience as Joe they could probably do something far better. Williams is amongst the bigger people in ROH that seem legit with Hotstuff Hernandez and Colt Cabana being the only other potential people. Nice physicality with some submissions thrown in for good measure. I liked this a lot even with some of the rough-looking parts, it made Samoa Joe look like a convincing champion and gave him an interesting challenger. Post-match with The Prophecy laying out The Group's only members in the house Michael Shane and Joe. Fine match, but I want a rematch because I think these two can step it up.
Rating: ***1/4

32. Christopher Daniels vs. Jodie Fleish (Ring of Honor - 5/17/03 "Frontiers of Honor")
These two had one of the greatest finishes I've ever seen to a junior match in a late `99 trios match in MPro, where Fleish jumped to the top rope, Curry Man followed him and Uranaged him back in for the win. I was hoping this would be as terrific as that match was, but it was a totally different animal. Daniels cuts a good heel promo, but the fans still love him. Fleish is a strong babyface and you know he'll be able to get good heat here. Daniels does a lot of stalling, jawing with fans and generally being a good heel. Fleish as a traditional babyface is not pretty, but thankfully most of his hope spots are the highflying highspots that we want to see. Daniels seemed on, but the crowd wasn't as into this I would have liked. It eventually turned into more of a typical ROH-type match, though the interference by Storm was very unfortunate. Post-match was strange and mainly a FWA angle with Jonny Storm busting open the commissioner with a chairshot. A good match, but I expected much more.
Rating: ***1/4

33. Christopher Daniels & Danny Maff vs. AJ Styles & Homicide (Ring of Honor - 8/9/03 "Wrath of the Racket")
Jim Cornette was out early and hooked up with the Prophecy and though his goofiness seems to counteract the stable's heelish style, it all works out in the end. Red blew out his knee, so now AJ needs to pick a partner...Homicide. So yes, we have potential for interaction between Jim Cornette and Julius Smokes, though it never really happens like we all want. Good intensity early, then goofiness, then normalcy. This was too 80s for this crowd it seemed as they liked the action, but weren't into the psychology at all as it all seemed unfitting for this smart of a crowd. They heated up for the finish though and it was fundamentally a good match. Post-match was great though with JC shaking hands with the victors, getting turned on by Daniels & Maff, getting saved by Red, who gets saved by Samoa Joe to big "ROH" chants.
Rating: ***1/4

34. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (Ring of Honor - 2/8/03 "First-Year Anniversary")
These two rocked the house having definitely one of ROH's best matches of their inagural year and I anticipate their third high-caliber singles will be near the level or better than the previous two. Cool faux-KO spot early where Mark suckers Jay and starts to go after his knee. I dug it, but I think it should've been later (so the fans might have bought it more) and the outcome should've been a turning point. The action is really back-and-fourth, almost unnecessarilly so and it ends up with them brawling on the floor ending with Jay getting bloodied. Then they began going back and fourth with more substantial offense, most of it looking good, but nothing special. Finish was fine and the fans enjoyed it, but this match lacked in so many ways that the previous one had in spades.
Rating: ***1/4

35. Paul London vs. Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 4/26/03 "Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II")
This really should be like Ultimo-Mysterio as both are highflying faces, but London plays the heel a little bit. He's coming off his best ROH match yet against Danielson and seems poised for big things after kind of cooling off due to Zero-One tours. Red's early match was alright, but this has a better story to it though the first had two fresh guys and a veteran working it. This was largely designed to hype a London & somebody versus Red/Styles and have London be a bit of a heel. Fun match, better than the first, but this lacks that balls-out feel that it needed to have.
Rating: ***1/4

36. Low-Ki vs. Flash Barker (Ring of Honor - 5/17/03 "Frontiers of Honor")
Barker is UK vet with plenty of martial arts training, so this is going to be shoot-style. Or so it seems from the first few minutes. This goes into a more traditional type of match with lots of stiff striking. Barker is good, but clearly not an exceptional worker and he does seem to take to the junior-ish spots in this well. Maybe its the fact this is following a garbage match before this or they aren't into this style, but the crowd is just not into this. They boo the time limit draw idea and they take ten minutes to say they can't go five more minutes. This was a really strange match that had potential, but several factors kept it from achieving its goal.
Rating: ***1/4

37. Xavier vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 2/8/03 "First-Year Anniversary")
London coming off a strong match where he pinned AJ Styles got the immediate title shot and had a hot Manhatten crowd behind him. Xavier, is the prick champion (and comes across as undeserving), so of course he jumps the challenger. London does a good job as an exausted babyface. Xavier is pretty good in his role, basically beating the hell out of London and he doesn't complicate it with unnecessary highspots. London is a really natural babyface with spots that work and he knows how to sell appropriately. Things kind of fall apart in the last half with London's fatigue effecting his moves, Xavier's limitations shining through and the involvement of Allison Danger and Alexis Laree just doesn't fit in an ROH main event. By the end you forget the good parts of this, except for some of the nearfalls. Pretty good, but not what it should've been.
Rating: ***1/4

38. Christopher Daniels vs. Amazing Red (Ring of Honor - 4/26/03 "Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II")
The first match in the Round Robin between Daniels-London-Red and this is a smart match here after Styles/Red took the tag belts off Daniels/Xavier. This was about what I expected, Daniels dominates Red most of the match and Red comes back with fun highflying moves. Both men's limitations are shown to an extent with Daniels having a somewhat limited offense and Red's known-act not looking quite so "amazing" here. This was good match and especially strong show opener.
Rating: ***1/4

39. Xavier & Nigel McGuiness vs. John Walters & Tony Mamaluke (Ring of Honor - 11/1/03 "Main Event Spectacles")
An interesting combination here as a lot of these guys were in a transitional phase with ROH. Walters is definitely somebody ROH seems something in, McGuiness is similiar, Xavier just never took off like they hoped and Mamaluke is the "veteran." I was really surprised by this little match and thought everyone played their part well, except when Xavier had to sell. I actually think he looked good offensively and he is a good heel, but he is way goofy on the selling. I thought it worked as a tag match and was well laid out and dug it for what it was.
Rating: ***1/4