ROH Death Before Dishonor V (Night One)
August 10, 2007 in Boston, Mass.

I’m doing my best to catch up on ROH pay-per-views and DVDs from July 2007 through the most current releases. Eventually, I will change the date of this review so that it shows up in chronological order in the ROH listings.

The Briscoes cut a promo inside a medical room and used crutches to show what Kevin Steen and El Generico would look like after their street fight main event...

1. Jack Evans defeated Davey Richards by DQ in 12:00. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard introduced themselves during the ring entrances. At 3:00, Richards picked up Evans for a suplex and instead threw him abdomen-first onto the top rope. Cool move. The announcers noted that Evans would face Roderick Strong in a cage match at an upcoming show. At 8:30, Jack missed the 450 splash, yet summersaulted through. Richards caught him with a series of kicks and suplexes and scored multiple nearfalls. Davey got upset and shoved the ref, who shoved him back.

Evans came back with a reverse huracanrana for a nearfall. Jack made a comeback and went up top, but Strong ran out and pushed him down. Rocky Romero ran out and threw Evans back inside the ring. Richards took the mic and vowed to end their feud inside the cage. The Resilience (Austin Aries, Erick Stevens, Matt Cross) made the save. Jack didn’t want their help. He left the ring and told the camera that he was going to get people who have his back.

Powell’s POV: Good opener. The crowd didn’t seem to mind the DQ finish too much, most likely because it set up some upcoming matchups.

2. Lacey pinned Daziee Haze at 8:08 in a No. 1 contenders match. The announcers noted that the winner of this match would face Sara Del Rey in the main event of the next show. Del Rey walked onto the stage with the belt over her shoulder to watch the match. In the end, Lacey used an implant DDT for the win. Good action. The crowd respectfully clapped afterward.

3 Chris Hero (w/Sweet and Sour Inc.) defeated Nigel McGuiness at 19:49 in a Pure Wrestling Rules match. Before the match, the referee explained the pure wrestling rules. Larry Sweeney took the mic and read the “pure wrestling commandments” that he and Hero came up with. Hero took the mic and read the second, “Thou shalt not be British.” Funny. He also called for “no closed fists and no clotheslines.” Hero passed on the handshake with Nigel. He shook hands with his stablemates, but snubbed Dempsey and then kicked him off the apron. Funny.

Hero performed some of his usual hilarious antics to start the match. The wrestlers locked up briefly, but the lights went out and someone talked about “Project 161” repeatedly. The lights came on and the voice continued. The announcers said someone was just trying to make a name for themselves at the show’s expense. Hero passed along a message to the ring announcer, who told the crowd that Hero wanted the referee to know that Nigel used his three rope breaks during the power outage.

At 8:00, Hero caught McGuiness in a hammerlock near the ropes. Tank Toland reached in and placed Nigel’s foot over the ropes and the ref ruled it a rope break. Hero has the ring announcer inform McGuiness over the house mic that “the move was only a hammerlock and a waste of a rope break.” Funny. Later, Hero punched Nigel over the ref, who was trying to separate them in the corner. Nigel fired back and the ref caught him. While the ref was telling the ring announcer, Hero punched Nigel again. The referee turned around just in time to see Nigel retaliate with another punch. Good spot.

At 17:00, Nigel grabbed Dempsey and rammed him into Hero at ringside. Dempsey fell onto Hero and the other members of Sweet and Sour Inc. had to pick him up so that Hero could beat the 20-count. Late in the match, Hero hit the roaring elbow and went for a cover. Sweeney reached in and put Nigel’s foot on the ropes and cost him his final rope break. Hero locked in the hangman’s clutch. Nigel reached the ropes, but had already used his final rope break, so he had to tap out. After the match, Toland ordered Dempsey to attack Nigel. Dempsey charged at Nigel and missed. Moments later, Nigel nailed him with a lariat.

Powell’s POV: This won’t be remembered as one of Nigel’s finest moments, but I enjoyed the match. Hero was in rare form and the spots with the ref missing Hero’s punches but catching Nigel’s were very well done. It was a nice upset that didn’t damage Nigel because it was portrayed as a team effort to cheat him out of the match.

Backstage, Steen sat in a wheelchair and cut a promo while Generico laced his partner’s boots. Steen said he might be sitting in the wheelchair, but the Briscoes would be leaving in it. He wrapped up the promo and ordered Generico to wheel him to the bathroom. Funny...

4. Matt Cross beat Brent Albright and Delirious and Pelle Primeau and Eddie Edwards and Jigsaw at 10:44 in a Six Man Mayhem match. The announcers explained the rules of the match right away. Albright showed off his power during the match by roughing up his opponents with suplexes throughout the match. In the end, though, Delirious taunted him and the Albright chased him to the back. Seconds later, Cross hit the shooting star legdrop on Edwards for the win.

Powell’s POV: I like the finish. Albright proved himself dominant during the match so he didn’t need to win. Meanwhile, Cross picks up a win and the announcers sell the story line that the Resilience is getting back on track.

5. Austin Aries and Erick Stevens defeated Rocky Romero and Roderick Strong at 18:05. Strong avoided hooking up with Aries at the start. At 14:00, Aries took the hot tag and flipped Strong over the ropes and inside the ring. A minute later, he sold a knee injury. Later, Aries hit the brainbuster on Romero and followed up with the 450 splash for the win. Afterward, Richards ran out and attacked Aries. Cross ran out to even the sides. Jack Evans ran out and cleared the NRC from the ring.

Powell’s POV: The NRP can steal some shows, yet they also have a tendency to appear in tag matches that drain the crowd on other shows. I thought maybe that was just my take, but this live crowd was noticeably quiet at times during the match. They were appreciative afterward, but I got the sense that plenty of people were just kind of waiting for the finish like I was. Part of the problem is that ROH hasn’t done much to establish their characters on recent DVD releases.

Backstage, Shane Hagadorn cut a promo about Adam Pearce. He said Pearce always keeps tabs on ROH and added that this is the calm before the storm...

6. Bryan Danielson defeated Matt Sydal (w/Larry Sweeney) at 16:45. Before the match, Sweeney asked to be paid $3,333.34 for Sydal’s appearance in the recent eight-man tag. Dragon insisted that Sydal would only get $3,333.33. Sweeney flipped. Dragon said wrestlers don’t get retirement funds so he invested the money on behalf of his teammates. Sweeney insisted he get the money. Dragon said he’d give it to him immediately if Sydal beat him, but Dragon said he would keep it permanently if he pinned Sydal.

Dragon dominated the opening minutes of the match with mat wrestling and stretched Sydal into several painful looking positions. Later, Danielson hit a belly-to-back suplex for a nearfall. He followed up with cattle mutilation, but Sydal reached the ropes. Danielson missed a top rope move and Sydal landed a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Later, Sydal went for a shooting star press, but Danielson lifted his knees and immediately locked him in a triangle choke. The referee stepped in and stopped the match. Afterward, Sydal and Sweeney bickered at ringside. Sweeney accused him of screwing up. They walked to the stage and hugged...

Powell’s POV: There’s a lot to like about Sydal. He has a good look and he’s very athletic. He still needs to work on selling. There were times in this match when he’d sell a move momentarily and then completely lose whatever facial expression he was using once he saw Danielson was about to perform another move. It’s a little thing, but it really stood out during his match.

An ad aired for the ROH training center with clips of Raven and Roderick Strong working with the students...

7. Takeshi Morishima defeated Claudio Castagnoli at 15:30 to retain the ROH Title. Claudio brought the Race to the Top Tournament trophy with him to the ring. The live crowd was split in their chants for the two wrestlers. Claudio went on offense early and used the giant swing for a nearfall at 3:30. Cool spot given Morishima’s size. At 11:30, Morishima connected with a missile dropkick. Two minutes later, Claudio hit the Ricola Bomb for as close a nearfall as you’ll ever see. There was a lot of commotion in the crowd because many thought they had witnessed a title change. Although Claudio dominated the offense late, Morishima came back with a nasty backdrop suplex for the win. The crowd booed the outcome of the match. The crowd applauded Claudio as he left the ring.

Powell’s POV: This was a fun match. Claudio was elevated in defeat because Morishima sold as much for him as I’ve seen him sell for anyone.

Backstage, Brent Albright cut a promo in which he congratulated Morishima on his victory. He vowed to drop Morishima on his head and pull his shoulder of its socket during their title match the next night...

Powell’s POV: Albright’s promos don’t match the intensity of his in-ring work. I think he’d be better off playing the strong silent type until he improves in that area.

8. Kevin Steen and El Generico beat The Briscoe Brothers in 22:30 in a non-title street fight. Steen and Generico attacked the Briscoes just seconds after they walked through the curtain. The announcers quickly pointed out that the ROH Tag Titles were not on the line because it was a non-sanctioned street fight. The announcers laid low and let the action speak for itself. Just an insane brawl with the two teams using chairs and whatever else they could get their hands on.

At 6:30, Generico and Mark battled back to ringside. By 8:30, Steen was climbing over the guardrail when Jay came out of nowhere and hit him with the Diamond Cutter on the floor. Finally, both teams were at least at ringside. However, they didn’t stay there long. Both teams were in the ring at the 15:00 mark. At 16:30, the Briscoes set up two chairs and then threw Generico high into the air and watched as he crashed on top of them. At 18:30, one of the Briscoes set up Generico in the crucifix position on the second rope. His brother jumped in and turned it into a neckbreaker/powerbomb off the ropes. Wow.

At 20:00, Steen pulled a ladder out from underneath the ring and set it up in the corner of the ring. It backfired when he was backdropped onto it. Mark climbed the rickety ladder, which was in such bad shape that the referee actually held it in place for him. Generico came back in with a springboard Ace Crusher. Steen low-blowed Jay and followed up with a piledriver for the win. After the match, Steen took the mic and said this match is proof that he and Generico would take the tag titles in their upcoming steel cage match.

Powell’s POV: An insane brawl. These guys didn’t let up for a second during the 22-minute match. The wrestlers didn’t go out of their way to sell the moves very long. Then again, if you’re looking for good psychology from top to bottom, then ROH probably isn’t the promotion for you anyway. The match was very good for what it was and I was amazed at how those four guys managed to maintain the pace they set throughout the match.

Final Thoughts: Good show. The last two matches were standouts and that helped make up for some forgettable undercard matches (although I enjoyed the Hero upset over Nigel). This is hardly the first ROH DVD I’d recommend to a new fan or even a semi-regular, but it was a solid show. I’d give it a 7.0 out of 10.

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