ROH's 2nd ppv: DRIVEN (Review excerpt inside)

[What Would Kevin Do?]

This is taken from http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/PPV_Reports_5/article_22895.shtml
The actual article has full match reviews/ratings an spoilers. I didn't want to post them in here. If you actually care about the "star ratings" then you may be interested to know that the Danielson/Nigel match was given 5 stars, and the Briscoe/Steen and Genrico match was given 4 1/2.

Honestly, is $10 to $15 bucks too much to spend on an attempt to find good wrestling in America?





Recommendation: (10.0) I’ll have more thoughts on this show in the coming week. You must buy this PPV and watch it. If you’ve never given ROH a shot, they deserve your money for this show. It is the best PPV I’ve seen since “One Night Stand” in 2005. This was simply an amazing show from top to bottom. The McGuinness-Danielson matches is one of those matches I’ll go back and watch from time to time as the years go by, as it will never get old watching the masterpiece they put on in front of a rabid crowd in Philadelphia where ROH was born.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Dave Meltzer touched on it as well, if you care what he has to say.


--ROH Driven PPV debuts tomorrow night on TVN and The Dish Network. The show is really good. From a wrestling standpoint, it's right up there with the best PPV shows of the year:
*Roderick Strong & Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. Delirious & Erick Stevens & Matt Cross
*Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal
*B.J. Whitmer vs. Naomichi Marufuji
*Mark & Jay Brisco vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen for tag titles
*Takeshi Morishima vs. Jimmy Rave for ROH title
*Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness

[Outsider]

And how would someone living outside of Yankland go about viewing such a show?

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Fuck if I know? I don't know what you "other" countries have. If you don't have InDemand, Dish Network, or TVN, you're probably SOL. Stupid uncivilized countries that aren't America.

[Outsider]

Fuck if I know? I don't know what you "other" countries have. If you don't have InDemand, Dish Network, or TVN, you're probably SOL. Stupid uncivilized countries that aren't America.

Damn, looks like it's another evening sitting in the cave doing nothing :(

[The Fugitive]

Could always find a bird at a bar that you can bring back home and beat around with a club.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Caveman Olympics FTW.

[Outsider]

You can't impress any cavewomen these days unless you can either make fire or a wheel.

Shallow bitches :mad:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

And how would someone living outside of Yankland go about viewing such a show?

Last PPV somebody found on dailymotion a few days after it aired, try looking around on there next week

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Last PPV somebody found on dailymotion a few days after it aired, try looking around on there next week

Or PWTorrents

[Kane Knight]

Honestly, is $10 to $15 bucks too much to spend on an attempt to find good wrestling in America?

I'm glad you said "attempt."

Maybe this time we'll see extreme exploding butcher blocks while someone cuts a promo while dripping with SEMEN!

That would be good storytelling right thurrrr.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Okay, now you just look retarded. Why not trying watching the product before bashing it? Order the ppv. If you don't like it, you can bash it all you want. Hell, if I thought you'd actually order it, watch it, and be honest, I'd offer to send you 10 or 15 bucks to compensate you if you actually didn't like it.

[Xero]

The fact that they did the bloody/hanging angle at the third PPV taping with Jay Briscoe screams that they're getting desperate for attention. If they have to resort to that shit to get buys they're not long for success - even if they "don't condone" that bullshit and won't air it.

[Kane Knight]

Okay, now you just look retarded. Why not trying watching the product before bashing it? Order the ppv. If you don't like it, you can bash it all you want. Hell, if I thought you'd actually order it, watch it, and be honest, I'd offer to send you 10 or 15 bucks to compensate you if you actually didn't like it.

You know, it's funny. I've stated multiple times that I HAVE WATCHED THE PRODUCT BEFORE, and somehow, you think I'm the one who looks retarded. Shut the fuck up, fanboy, Before your single brain cell over heats.

Yes, yes, I know. You're so phenomenally stupid you think that nobody who ever watched the programming, their myriad DVDs could EVER think they were bad, or even my stance of not living up to the hype, especially after something as horrendously lame as their last stint (Which smarktards like you will fawn over). You're just limited.

Ah well. The problem isn't that I'm not fellating a MoR promotion (Hey, officially the worst thing I've said about RoH), it's that I'm just not honest. Or not informed. Which is ironic, coming from you.

[blake639raw]

Just throwing in my 2 cents. I'm not gonna get info an argument over this, but if nobody's doing anything tonight, they really should check it out. You'll see some great wrestling, and there ain't usually alot of crazy stuff like the Jacobs thing. I believe that you guys will be pleasantly surprised about it.

[Mr. Pierre]

I'll definitely be ordering this :y:

[Mr. Pierre]

I'm glad you said "attempt."

Maybe this time we'll see extreme exploding butcher blocks while someone cuts a promo while dripping with SEMEN!

That would be good storytelling right thurrrr.

If you've watched a Ring of Honor DVD before (like you claim), you'd see that most of ROH's matches are done on the mat. And it's a bit ridiculous that ROH is getting the "garbage wrestling" tag on it because of one promo. But, what I'm trying to say is that I think you have mistaken ROH for CZW.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

You know, it's funny. I've stated multiple times that I HAVE WATCHED THE PRODUCT BEFORE, and somehow, you think I'm the one who looks retarded. Shut the fuck up, fanboy, Before your single brain cell over heats.

Yes, yes, I know. You're so phenomenally stupid you think that nobody who ever watched the programming, their myriad DVDs could EVER think they were bad, or even my stance of not living up to the hype, especially after something as horrendously lame as their last stint (Which smarktards like you will fawn over). You're just limited.

Ah well. The problem isn't that I'm not fellating a MoR promotion (Hey, officially the worst thing I've said about RoH), it's that I'm just not honest. Or not informed. Which is ironic, coming from you.
You've stated you've watched the programming multiple times before? Where? In the last thread you rambled on in, I asked you what shows you've seen, what matches you've seen, etc, and you never replied. So I'll ask you again, what shows and/or matches have you seen.

And fanboy? Come on, is that the best you can do? Oooh, I have one brain cell. I'm stupid apparently. Clever. Seriously KK, you really shouldn't go around insulting people, because you don't have a whole lot going for yourself. I'm just going to leave it at that though.

And not once did I EVER say people can't dislike ROH. All I'm looking for is a reason. You can't just give a reason though, can you? You bitch about people complaining that you blindly bash ROH, yet you've never given one legitimate, informed opinion about why you dislike it. The only thing you bring up is the angle involving AotF and the Briscoes. Is that all you got? Seriously? If you want to bash ROH, dislike ROH, fine, but at least give reasoning. Hell, the people who like ROH can give reasons as to why they like it. I can list things I like and dislike about the product. You seem to be incapable of doing that though.

More likely than not, you'll reply to this in your normal, sarcastic/insulting way and totally avoid what I've said. So here's the deal. You can actually talk about the ROH you've seen, and what you didn't like about it, or you can continue your annoying little trend. If you choose the latter, I'm done with you, because I have better things to do than try to reason with you.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

The fact that they did the bloody/hanging angle at the third PPV taping with Jay Briscoe screams that they're getting desperate for attention. If they have to resort to that shit to get buys they're not long for success - even if they "don't condone" that bullshit and won't air it.

Is it really that much more outrageous than WWE 'resorting' to running an angle pretending Vince was dead?

[Xero]

Is it really that much more outrageous than WWE 'resorting' to running an angle pretending Vince was dead?
For a promotion that prides itself on its wrestling rather than the outrageous bullshit that the WWE and TNA puts out it's clearly just a cry for attention. I wouldn't say anything about it if it happened in WWE or TNA, but I see ROH as being a true wrestling alternative to the WWE and if they have to resort to these types of angles just makes them look like another WWE clone under to layer of "good" wrestling.

They don't need nor should they pull shit like that. The fact that they did, whether they're pulling it from the PPV or not, makes them look like a joke.

[Indifferent Clox]

EH. I think ROH is the best thing in american wrestling today. So they did a stupid angle, they didn't even show it! I mean that's like saying a movie is bad based on a deleted scene.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

EH. I think ROH is the best thing in american wrestling today. So they did a stupid angle, they didn't even show it! I mean that's like saying a movie is bad based on a deleted scene.

It'll still be on the DVD I'm sure. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets shown on the 4th ppv, since they'll need to build up the match between the two, which will probably be shown on the 4th or 5th ppv. Really, I think they're doing the whole "We're pulling this because this isn't the image we want to send..." just to further establish AofF as a group, making them the obvious antagonists against what ROH stands for.

Personally, I hope they do show it. It'll give Jimmy Jacobs exposure. That way as he grows into the roll, and is on ppv, people will already know who he is.

Anyway, ROH is known for their "wrestling" but they've done shit like this before. The whole Colt Cabana/Homicide feud for example, which started with Homicide pouring Drain-O down his throat. Hell, Homicide choked him with a coat hangar at one point, and "tried" to cut out his tongue.

The Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer feud was pretty damn brutal.

They've had two "barbwire matches." I've only seen one... Wasn't a huge fan, but to each their own.

The feud with CZW which ended in "The Cage of Death."


So yeah, ROH is wrestling based, but they still do gimmicky things. Yeah, this was by far the most extreme, but it isn't totally uncharacteristic of them.

[Xero]

So you're defending this kind of crap, the kind of gimmicky crap WWE is based around? Nice.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

So you're defending this kind of crap, the kind of gimmicky crap WWE is based around? Nice.

Wow, so apparently stating fact is not defending something? I never said I condoned it, I just said that something gimmicky such as the hanging, while not the usual, is not totally unheard of in ROH.

I already stated I wasn't a fan of the barbwire matches.

The Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer feud was amazing, and the big gimmick payoff match was a cage match...

The Drain-O was also unneeded, but the feud itself was really well done.

As far at the AotF stuff goes, we'll see what happens, and how it goes frm here.

And I don't see how the above things, wether I condone them or not, are anywhere close to the level of WWE gimmicks. When ROH drops a car from a crane, covers someone in shit, runs an angle about the owners bastard son, does a "I'm your real Daddy" angle, has someone give birth to a hand, or fuck a transvestite, then maybe I'll see things your way. Or maybe when they handcuff someone to the post and attatch jumper cables to their balls... Then I'l agree with you.

Honestly though, at the end of the day, if I had to choose between Homicide pouring Draino on Colt Cabana, or HHH pretending to have sex with a corpse, I'm taking the draino.

[Loose Cannon]

I never really liked ROH. And to be honest, I'm not a wrestling match fan as much as I am a fan for angles, characters and storylines. The matches are just an extra bonus for me. I like watching the stuff that makes the match more so then the match itself.

However with saying that, if somebody can get me footage or something of a build up to a match and then the match itself, I want to see what they can do. Because all I've seen from ROH is matches and that will turn me away fast.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

The only place I can think where you'll really find "builds" for matches is in the Video wires. You can find them all on the ROH site, in the media section.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

http://www.rohvideos.com/

[Loose Cannon]

what's a good one to watch?

[thecc]

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This is one of my favorites

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Why not start at the begining. This was the first of the "New" video wires. 3 parts, hosted by Colt Cabana.
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[What Would Kevin Do?]

I love this one too, mainly for the Kiss 2 Kill video:)

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[What Would Kevin Do?]

Yeah, that's probably my favorite video wire ever. It recaps the Jacobs Cabana feud nicely.

[KingofOldSchool]

Lacey is hot.

That is all.

[Super V]

I never really liked ROH. And to be honest, I'm not a wrestling match fan as much as I am a fan for angles, characters and storylines. The matches are just an extra bonus for me. I like watching the stuff that makes the match more so then the match itself.

However with saying that, if somebody can get me footage or something of a build up to a match and then the match itself, I want to see what they can do. Because all I've seen from ROH is matches and that will turn me away fast.
You'd need patience, their angles are just way too long and sometimes they take turns that are pretty non-sensical.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Like the Homicide/ Steve Corino feud?

Well, that didn't take a non-sensical turn, just had a stupid, non-sensical end.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

From Dave Meltzer


NRC vs Delirious/Resilience - ***3/4 "basically what the TNA X division should be, came close to being at one point, but somehow stumbled out of."

Claudio Castagnoli vs Matt Sydal - ***1/4 "Crowd was hot. Sweeney is tremendous in his role, reminding me of a young Bobby Heenan in the 70s AWA days."

Naomichi Marufuji vs BJ Whitmer - *** "It's hard to explain but he (Marufuji) carries himself like a superstar, which he didn't a year ago.

Brent Albright vs Pelle Primeau - * "He (Brent) came across strong in the squash as his offensive moves looked killer"

The Briscoes vs Steenerico - ***3/4 "They work well together" "Entertaing from start to finish except for two crazy spots" Meltzer expressed concerned about two crowd bumps into the chairs from Generico and Mark. More of a safety concern for the wrestlers and fans.

Takeshi Morishima vs Jimmy Rave - *1/4 "Good as far as a short match goes"

Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness - ****1/2 "The early part of the match is impressive with the best matwork on PPV that I've seen this year"

Driven - "a seven match wrestling heavy show that ranks at the top of the PPV shows held this year



And from JD Dunn at 411 ***SPOILERS***

ROH: Driven
by J.D. Dunn


Original airdate: September 21, 2007


From Chicago, Ill.


Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.



Dave Prazak opens the show, but he barely gets started before Erick Stevens, Delirious and Matt Cross interrupt. Stevens wants a match with the No Remorse Corps. Hey, ****ing Wolfmother serves as the opening package music. How'd they pull that off?!?


Opening Match, Six-Man Tag: Delirious, Erick Stevens & Matt Cross vs. Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero & Davey Richards.
Cross, disappointingly, breaks the color continuity for the babyfaces. Be a team player, Matthew! The NRC gets cleared out pretty early, and the fans are all over Roderick. Delirious somersaults onto the NRC. The Corps isolates Delirious soon after. Strong slings Delirious onto his knees, and Romero hits a springboard kneedrop. Prazak notes that Austin Aries bought a ticket, but he can't appear because of obligations to "another wrestling company." Delirious headbutts Richards and tags out to Stevens. The faces set up the NRC in the corner! HANDSPRING ELBOW! CHOO-CHOO AVALANCHE! PANIC ATTACK! Stevens hits the TKO, but he can't get the pin. Richards sets up for the DR Driver, but Cross makes the save with a reverse rana. Stevens catches Strong with a one-handed slam. Romero comes in but catches a wheelbarrow stomp teamup from Stevens and Cross. Davey and Stevens slug it out, and Stevens ends it with a Full-Rotation German Suplex. SHADOWS OVER HELL! SSP! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Romero and Strong just make the save. Strong knocks Delirious out with the backdrop on the apron. Cross and Romero wind up in there together, and Cross hits a twisting moonsault for two. They exchange rollups until Richards can sneak in and hit Cross with the DR Driver at around 11:00 (no opening bell). Wall-to-wall action with a sizzling hot crowd. One of the best openers of the year. ****


The NRC try to continue the carnage, but Austin Aries hops the rail and chases them off. Aries announces that he is gone from TNA and signs his new ROH contract! Aries gets in another nice little dig at TNA, saying "I'm Austin Aries. This is ROH, and we are wrestling!"


In the back, the Briscoe Bros. try to MAN UP!


Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal.
These two were teammates last time out, but Sydal blamed Claudio for that loss. Sydal opens with a lot of armdrags and headscissors. Claudio comes back with the GIANT SWING! Sydal starts to fight back, so Claudio gutwrenches him off the mat. Wow. Sydal knocks him to the floor and hits a twisting no-hands plancha. Back inside, Claudio reverses a whip and hits the Match-killer. That sets up the Apomari Waterslide for two. Sydal comes back with the standing moonsault and catches Claudio with a DDT for two. Claudio cuts him off with a European Uppercut and a springboard enzuigiri. BICYCLE KICK! EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! Claudio tries to press him but Sydal reverses to a headscissors in mid-air. Crazy! Sydal blocks a powerbomb and takes him over with a rana for two. He tries it again, but Claudio rolls through to the sunset flip for the win at 8:20! Fantastic action. Tons of reversals and reversals of reversals. Nothing blown, surprisingly. ***1/2


Sweet & Sour Inc. interrupts before any celebration can occur. Sweeney offers Sydal a spot in S&S Inc.. Claudio snatches the contract away, tells Sydal not to make a big mistake, and tears up the contract. Claudio starts cleaning house on Sweet & Sour, but Sydal attacks him from behind.


BJ Whitmer vs. Naomichi Marafuji.
Stalemate early on. Marafuji knocks Whitmer to the apron and slingshots into a DDT. Nice. Back inside, Marafuji hits a crazy Butterfly Suplex into a cross armlock. Whitmer makes the ropes. Marafuji hits a corner elbow, but Whitmer catches him going up and delivers the SUPERPLEX! You wanna chop it out, bitch? Let's chop it out. Whitmer hits a German Suplex rolling into a Dragon Suplex, but Marafuji slips out of his powerbomb. BJ boots him in the face for two, but Marafuji hits a flying jawbreaker. Whitmer catches him and slams him down for two. Whitmer blocks the Shiranui and gets two off a brainbuster. Marafuji crotches Whitmer and ties him in the tree-of-woe. COAST-TO-COAST DROPKICK! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! SWEET-OH CHIN-AH MOOSICKOHHH! Whitmer blocks the Shiranui once, but he can't block the second try. That gets the win for Marafuji at 10:58, and Whitmer's losing streak continues. Like a lot of Whitmer's action, this was closer to "solid" than "spectacular." Nothing wrong with that, though, and Marafuji provided his usual. ***


Brent Albright vs. Pelle Primeau.
Legalized slaughter. Albright tosses Pelle across the ring and then drops him on his head with the head-and-arm suplex. The Half Nelson Suplex looks even worse. ONE, TWO, TH-Albright wants to break Pelle's arm. He presses Pelle overhead and catches him in the Crowbar on the way down. Pelle taps quickly at 1:41. 1/2*


ROH World Tag Titles: The Briscoe Bros. vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico.
This is quickly becoming the rivalry of the year. The challengers took the Briscoes to the limit back in the spring, and then they gave Mark multiple concussions with their sneak attacks. For obvious reasons, you probably won't hear that hyped too much. Jay outwrestles Generico early, and they do a lot of posturing. Mark gets the blind tag and springboards in on Steen. Steen tosses Mark into Jay, and the challengers isolate Jay for a while. Jay fights back, and the Briscoes kill Generico dead with doubleteams. They take him to the floor and do their MONSTER HIPTOSS, throwing him out into the chairs! Ho-lee ****! Steen tosses Mark over the top with a powerbomb into the other side of the chairs! Back in, Steen hits the swanton! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Steen sets up for the Packaged Piledriver, but Mark makes the save with Hick Fu! Generico nails Mark with a Tornado DDT. Steen and Mark battle near the corner, and Mark puts Steen through the table with a double-stomp. Back inside, Jay nails Generico with the press DVD. It only gets two, so the Briscoes hit the Spiked Jaydriller at 16:08. Not quite as dramatic as their Fighting Spirit match, but still an excellent brawl. ***3/4


After the match, Steen lays out both Briscoe brothers with a ladder and blows snot on them.


In the back, Sweet & Sour torments poor Bobby Dempsey.


ROH World Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Morishima vs. Jimmy Rave.
Morishima mauls Rave before the bell and tosses the official aside. To the outside, Rave whips Morishima into the railing to take over. Back inside, Jimmy hits the SPEAR! He goes up, but Morishima catches him with a belly-to-belly. Morishima comes off the top with a missile dropkick. He hits a weak clothesline and misses a buttsplash. Rave nails the Shinning Wizard (want to get sued?!?). Morishima drops him with a Sit-out Bossman Slam and finishes with the Backdrop Driver at 3:58. I think Jimmy probably saw the writing on the wall here. Hello, TNA! Not bad for a squash. **


We head over to Philly…but first, Adam Pearce talks about BJ Whitmer needing the acceptance of the fans. Pearce says we will soon understand how he satisfies his needs. Ewwww. He walks over and talks to BJ, and they hug. Then, Pearce suckerpunches him. Brent Albright walks in and has a good laugh. That is the weirdest start to a stable that I've seen in a long time.


#1 Contender Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness.
Virtuosity: the mastery of all technical elements of a performing art to such a degree that the ability to perform becomes nearly second nature. Artistry: the ability to transcend the technical conventions of genre, redefining the art in the process. Is this match either? Both? Lots of jockeying for position to start. They take it to the mat early, and we get our first little contest-within-the-contest as Danielson gets caught in a bodyscissors while trying to throw forearms at Nigel's face. Nigel blocks at first and then takes him down into a keylock. Danielson gets out of it and offers a handshake, but when Nigel accepts, Dragon slaps him in the face. They trade uppercuts, and Nigel returns the slap. Nigel goes after Danielson's arm, which was injured a year ago and put him out for months. Danielson turns it around into a Goku-Raku Stretch, but Nigel knocks him to the floor. The brawl continues on the outside, and Danielson slams Nigel's face into the table. Then, he slams the table onto Nigel's face! The ref admonishes Danielson to take it back in the ring, but Nigel rebounds with a STIFF lariat. Dragon falls into the crowd, so Nigel goes up and comes off with a crossbody! Nigel sets up for a running European Uppercut, but Dragon cuts him off and drops him on the top of the rail with a suplex. Sweet Baby Jesus! Danielson suplexes him on the floor and starts driving his knees into Nigel's back. Nigel fights up and turns it into a slugfest. LARIAT BY NIGEL! Moses on a motorbike! That was stiff! Nigel thrust kicks Danielson and hits another stiff lariat. Dragon goes up, but Nigel cuts him off and sets up for the Tower of London. Danielson blocks but winds up in the Half-Crab. Nigel even puts his knee right in Dragon's back. Danielson struggles to the ropes and delivers a BACKDROP SUPERPLEX! The Crossface Chickenwing puts Nigel down, but he fights back up. Nigel reverse suplexes Danielson into the Tower of London! Oh, but Nigel's back is so buggered, he can't cover. He is able to recover first, though, and set Danielson on the ropes. FLYING LARIAT! ONE, TWO, THRE-Dragon's foot is on the ropes. Dragon clutches the ropes like a baby before hitting an enzuigiri. They both struggle to their feet and come face to face – literally. SLAPFEST! They take turns headbutting each other, and Dragon gets cut open. SICK! I love it! Danielson misses a swing and gets CLOCKED by a lariat. He does have the wherewithal to block the Jawbreaker Lariat and hit a Dragon Suplex. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Dragon tries to segue to Cattle Mutilation, but McGuinness rolls Danielson onto his shoulders. Dragon rolls through again, ties up Nigel's arms and elbows him to oblivion. The Cattle Mutilation is a mere formality at 24:31. I have no problem calling this the Match of the Year. It's certainly the best singles match of the year, eclipsing both Michaels vs. Cena contests, and probably the best match since Cage of Death last year. Maybe the Motor City Machine Guns/Briscoes match will give it a run for its money at the end of the year, but right now, today, this is the best match I've seen all year. Believe the hype! ****3/4


The 411: I said Respect is Earned was the third best PPV behind Backlash and WrestleMania, but Driven leaves them all behind, and by a substantial margin. With the exception of the squashes, everything was good to unbelievably fantastic. There was angle advancement with the formation of the Hangman's Three. They set up future shows with Steen & Generico laying out the Briscoes again and Danielson earning a title shot. Plus, it had the big return of Austin Aries to ROH.