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| VERY DETAILED RESULTS FROM 8/13 RING OF HONOR SHOW IN CHICAGO RIDGE, IL by Ryan Deppa @ 9:50:00 AM on 8/14/2005 Ring of Honor Chicago Ridge, IL August 13, 2005 Ring of Honor returned to the Chicago area this weekend for the final matches of CM Punk and Matt Hardy. There was a much larger crowd this time around, as a result, which was rumored to be at least over 1000. Hardy was originally scheduled to sign autographs before the show, but didn't. Three extra matches were held prior to the main card featuring students from ROH's wrestling school. *Bobby Dempsey d. Smash Bradley *Brad Bradley d. Shane Hagadorn *Anthony Franco d. Davey Andrews It was hard to hear some of the names so a couple of them might be off. It was funny watching these because they featured guys I had previously seen doing odd jobs at the shows like selling merchandise or working security. All of the matches were pretty short and not very good. It was announced that new ROH Champion James Gibson would still be teaming with Spanky for a shot at the Tag Team Titles later in the show. The main event between Colt Cabana and CM Punk was also changed to a 2/3 Falls Match. James Gibson came out for a promo to start things off. He thanked the fans for their support and stated that the last year had been the most trying time of his career. The crowd really rallied behind him. Soon Spanky was out and reminded Gibson that he was interested in a title shot. Gibson accepted the challenge. (1) Nigel McGuinness d. Delirious & Matt Sydal & Alex Shelley Daizee Haze and Prince Nana were at ringside. Delirious is absolutely hilarious and the crowd was firmly behind him. This was the usual dose of great Four Corner Survival action. McGuinness beat Delirious with a top-rope bulldog. (2) Chad Collyer d. Ace Steel Hometown guy Ace Steel got a nice pop from the crowd. Some girls behind me were loudly in favor of Collyer for some reason which was pretty annoying. They added bits of comedy to the match which made a rather dull pairing exciting. A scary moment took place after the match as Steel was busted open. It was hard to see, but I was told he accidentally nailed a person during a brawl on the outside. Collyer won with the Texas Cloverleaf and Steel was attended to by ROH officials as he was bleeding very heavily. (3) Austin Aries d. Jimmy Rave Nana was once again at ringside. Aries won with a rollup despite interference. The match was alright, but Rave didn't seem to keep up his end. After the match, Alex Shelley joined in on an attack of Aries until Roderick Strong and Matt Sydal made the save. (4) Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal d. Low Ki & Homicide by DQ I had high expectations for this match and it delivered. This was a very hard-hitting contest which saw Lethal take most of the punishment until the hot tag was made to Joe. Lethal came back to attempt a Dragon suplex on Low Ki, but Homicide gave the ref an elbow drop for the decision. The highlight came afterwards as they took things into the crowd. Ki jumped from the top of the bleachers onto Lethal. Joe also proceeded to throw multiple chairs at Homicide. Luckily, the chair throwing debacle from last summer's show in Chicago didn't take place. There was an intermission after the previous match. They seemed to have more merchandise available for this show including many WWE figures and t-shirts. I witnessed a cool moment during the intermission and it was something that usually goes unnoticed. Homicide was walking back to the backstage area through the fans and stopped to sign an autograph for a little girl. It's the intimacy of these shows that make them so fun to go to. (5) BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs d. James Gibson & Spanky to retain ROH Tag Team Titles My friends and I called the heel turn and it happened. It was funny seeing Gibson and Spanky crack up over the fact that the crowd was chanting "Smackdown sucks." Whitmer and Jacobs did a funny spot where they hugged each over the fact that they weren't leaving the company. Jacobs was super over with all the "huss" stuff. You'd have thought the Berzerker was a legend or something. Gibson went for the Tiger Driver on Whitmer, but Spanky gave him a superkick instead. Whitmer covered him for the pin. Spanky cut a promo afterwards stating that his decision was just business based on the fact that everyone knew Gibson would be leaving soon. Didn't they just do this angle with Punk? Spanky is leaving too which didn't make much sense. (6) Roderick Strong d. Matt Hardy If the intention was for Hardy to be the heel, he certainly didn't need to cut a promo first. This crowd was very anti-Hardy, but there were some confused pro-Hardy fans as well. All the hassling of Hardy took away from the match which was very good. Strong got the most heat of his career and the fans loved him. Hardy went for the Twist of Fate, but Strong turned it into a backbreaker variation for the win. The crowd popped huge for the finish. Hardy went on to thank the fans and put over ROH big. (7) Colt Cabana d. CM Punk in 2/3 Falls Match The crowd was chanting for Punk as soon as the previous match had ended. He certainly has the best entrance in ROH and the crowd clapped along with his theme the whole way through as always. Cabana definitely got some love too. Punk's song played once through and everyone was a bit confused when he didn't come out right away. Another song began to play as an emotional Punk made his way out. Streamers were thrown, hugs were had, and some of the other wrestlers were at ringside. I remember seeing Joe and Ace down there. Punk won the first fall. There was some tension when Cabana kept messing around and joking while Punk was trying to be serious. This built up some animosity for the last two falls. Cabana won the second one with a lariat. Cabana went on to win the match with a rollup. Most everyone came out to the ring for the big celebration. Cabana sprayed Punk with a bottle of Pepsi. Two older people were there as well which I will assume were his parents. The only wrestlers I don't remember seeing were Homicide, Low Ki, and Matt Hardy for obvious reasons. Punk went on to thank the fans, the wrestlers, and Cary and Gabe. The wrestlers hoisted him in the air, as the crowd chanted for him some more, to end the show. Overall this was another great ROH show in Chicago. I don't know if I'd rank it at the top, work-wise, but this was one of those shows that made you feel like you saw something special. The celebration for Punk was great to witness live and I can't wait for their return in November (which was later announced). Matt Hardy also came back out afterwards to sign autographs to make up for missing the session previously. |
| QUOTE (TheBigSwigg @ Aug 15 2005, 08:11 AM) |
| Ok, so Strong goes over Hardy, but Homicide doesn't???? |