Ring of Honor: Death Before Dishonor VI

I couldn't sleep Saturday night, but for good reason. I went to see Ring of Honor at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and have not been that blown away by a wrestling show in quite some time. There were no leprechauns; no cars exploding; this was all about wrestling with some extremely passionate fans to boot.

I'm so glad myself and The Girlfriend stayed for the event, because quite frankly I didn't feel like waiting on the long line that snaked up West 34th Street. Thankfully the line moved quickly and tickets were still available. Overall, I think every wrestling move in the book was used throughout the night. The tag team of the Briscoes is better than anything the W.W.E. or T.N.A. has to offer. Getting to see a world championship - even if the N.W.A. Title isn't what it used to be - change hands also was a treat. I walked out of there after the four-way match and thought how could Vince McMahon not be trying to get if not all four then one of these guys to jump to W.W.E. Contracts be dammed, that's never stopped Vince before.

My words don't really do justice in describing Ring of Honor. All I can say is that December 27 R.O.H. comes back to the Hammerstein and you can bet there's no place else I would rather be on that day!

Here's the results from the show, with some additional thoughts:

The Briscoes defeated Ruckus and Jigsaw.
Jay and Mark Briscoe are the best tag team in wrestling, yes, better at this point in time than my beloved Dudleys.

Chris Hero pinned Delerious after a forearm smash knockout.
Hero got major "heat" from the fans. Delerious is a bit of a Rey Mysterio knockoff, which isn't a bad thing.

Eddie Edwards defeated Roderick Strong.
Roderick Strong = crowd favorite.

Brent Albright defeated Adam Pearce to become the new N.W.A. champion.
Bloody match with Albright winning after being sent through a table from the top rope. The N.W.A. title has been bastardized over the years, but to see a title that traces its lineage back to the beginning of the 20th century change hands was pretty cool.

Austin Aries defeated The Age of the Fall's Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher in a three-way match. Necro walked out on Jacobs after he thought Jacobs hit him with a chair and Austin pinned Jacobs.
Aries is very much like CM Punk.

Naomichi Marufuji pinned Go Shiozaki.
These guys - like all of the wrestlers on the card - told a great story in the ring. At the beginning of the match there was that ho-hum sort of feeling, but by the end of the bout I wanted to see a rematch.

Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated The Motor City Machineguns.
Generico is over with the fans big-time as is Steen. I was disappointed to see the 'guns lose, but this tag team match blows away any tag team match I have seen on W.W.E television in the last year.

ROH Champion Nigel McGuinness won a four-way match against Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castignoli and Tyler Black.
I liked the way it started off as a tag-team match in which you didn't have a designated partner and could tag whoever you wanted. Nice twist. Black also reminds me of Punk and although Danielson and McGuinness are outstanding wrestlers, if one guy has that "W.W.E. look," it would be Castignoli. The guy is an absolute monster! Think Batista with a lot of wrestling ability.