ROH "Rising Above" PPV Taping Results 11/22/08

Here is Dr. Keith's writeup.


ROH in Chicago Ridge, Ill.
Report by Keith Lipinski and Steve J.

Ring of Honor "Rising Above" Chicago Ridge, IL
850-1000 fans (nice set up with huge bleachers in background)

The new professional camera set up included two nice shiny hard cameras, a swinging arm camera and GASP two microphones in the ring corners. Another change pre-show music changed from heavy metal and wrestling songs to someone's 70's collection. For instance as the show started instead of PANTERA~! we got Jethro Tull. Instead of Badstreet USA we got George Harrison's "I got my mind set on you". Instead of "back in black" we got "more than a feeling".



Pre-show match

1. The Phoenix Twins beat Grizzly Redwood & Aaron Stock. "Grizzly chop him down" chant. Double axe handle to his nuts. Looked way too low. Double teaming twins on Timberjack. Timber did headdive on twin one and missed, used double axe handle on Griz. Cowardly yelp when doing a back bodydrop - twin. Double knees fishermans suplex by Aaron. Double superkick for Twin win on Aaron. Mitch Franklin. Hand shakes all around and Grizzly chants.

ROH Rising Above Taping



Prazak opens the show for the PPV taping camera pop.

Briscoes call out Steen and Generico. Mark Briscoe is hobbling but they are fighting champions. New music. Modified for both teams anything to prove.



1. Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated The Briscoes. Briscoes jump right away even though they have nothing to prove to these fans. Generico goes to check on Mark, are you okay, and got an elbow for his troubles. More heelish work by the Briscoes including hitting Steen from behind and jumping Generico on the apron and double teaming on Steen. Steen got a bloody mouth. "Let's go Briscoes" and "Mister Wrestling" chants. Steen used a superkick on Mark and then made the hot tag to Generico. Michonokou Driver on Jay for two.

He tried walking the ropes but Jay hit a clothesline while pulling Generico off. Senton on Mark for two. As Generico did a dive to Jay on the outside (and Jay got color) Mark tried a Cutthroat driver on Mark but couldn't get Steen up because of his injured knee. Steen kicked it and hit the package piledriver for the win. Afterwards all four brawled and were separated by everyone including Grizzly Redwood and Security Chief. Official time of 6:39.



2. MsChif defeated Sara Del Rey to retain the SHIMMER Title. Sara tried to baseball slide dropkick as MsChif entered the ring. She missed and the match was on. Almost thrown into a new cameraman and tripped on a cable when MsChif whipped Sara into the dasher boards. Submission. Back breakers. Sara used a Boston crab all the way back. Huge "holy sh*t" chant. MsChief recovered as Del Rey worked on the neck with short armed clotheslines.

Second time MsChif hit a neckbreaker for two. Nice reversals by both. Sweeney. No no lookout. You perv, that is your belt! Standing dragon sleeper from victory roll into the corner by Sara for a Shimmer chant. German with bridge by Sara for two. Gori special by Sara turned to Yoshi tonic by MsChif for two. Sweeney is so great! "What the hell are you doing worked up and derty." The mist was booed. Kick to the head. Sara has a green misty colored thigh now. MsChif hit her Desecreator DDT for the win at 9:11.



3. Delirious beat Rhett Titus. Delirious didn't wait for the bell to attack Rhett.The match went outside quick. Delirious tried a panic attack to the guardrail. Dayton in August and Rhett had the gaze of fear and ducked. Deli still hit the knee. Rhett did a Rick Rude-ish twist and called for his sexiest suplex. No dice as Deli raked the back like NWO Hogan. He spread Titus' legs like a wishbone bit couldn't connect with a knee to the groin. Delirious got posted.

Hit three amigos or the sexiest suplex. Not very sexy but a fitting Eddie tribute. Spun his hips and Delirious hit the testicle claw and atomic drop. Execution kick missed. Tried to hold Delirious tights from roll up for two hit fameasser for two. Got crotched on top then Delirious shook the ropes and hit Shadows Over Hell at 6:43 for the pin. Delirious then licked Titus - yup, in the face and arm. He than got the Top off the Class Trophy and hit Rhett with it. Positioned it for the panic attack and hit it and destroyed the fine trophy. For shame.



ROH announces a return on 1/31 for another PPV taping.



4. Claudio Castagnoli defeated Sami Callahan and Silas Young and Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne in a four-way survival. Shake our hands pissed them all off. They both torment Claudio. Silas and Sami sound like a 60's R&B act. Huge heat for Claudio as he got a HEYY every time he did anything. Sugarfoot hit a missle dropkick. Sami and Silas back.

Sami's offense included a Stunner as Silas was on his knees. Shut up already. Headlock on Sugarfoot and a sunset flip attempt with Claudio trying to hit the ropes. Punches on the ground. Hey hey! Claudio with another headlock and pinfall. Hey hey! Sami hits the cannonball to the outside. Atabian press. Claudio tags and throws Silas out. Sugar Ricola! Sugar hit a bulldog. Claudio hit the Ricola and the crowd chanted HEYYY. He put a chair on Sugarfoot. Danielson with his baby blue t-shirt. Intermission follows with a lot more metal music.



5. Chris Hero, Go Shiozaki, and Davey Richards defeated Roderick Strong, Brent Albright and Ace Steel. Ace was the surprise and they took to Sweet and Sour. Ace worked with Chris Hero and yelled, "I love Chicago." Brent Albright has a yellow blonde streak in his hair now. Hero popped Albright in the mouth. Go and Albright. Tried his 619 and missed. Roddy and Go exchanged chops. Roddy brought Davey up for a suplex and tossed him off. Heat on ace. "F-U Hero" and "Chris is awe-some" dueling chants.

Chicago is whacky! Hero was telling Go to pin Ace in his native tongue. Ace blocked power bomb and hit a forearm "you wanna be the Gero boy" Davey to Ace. Quiet tag to Roddy. Backbreaker on Davey by Roddy and then by Albright. Kobashi like neck chop by Go on Roddy. "Stay on him;" Triple team by S&S and a Gero punch for two. Overhead Albright suplex on Davey and Ace and a corner dropkick for two. Ref got in the way again. He then asked what's going on! Go with a superkick. Ace hits a tope to Go and Albright. Roddy and Davey had the "booo, yayyyy" elbow war that turned into chop vs. kick in an outstanding and intense matchup. Roddy hit a powrbomb for 2.5 and the stronghold. At 16:15 Davey pinned Roddy after a Hero chairshot.



6. Austin Aries defeated Jimmy Jacobs in an I Quit match. Jacobs might have the best beard in ROH history (non-Danielson wizard era). Aries doesn't need anyone on his back. Called Tyler the flavor of the month. Tyler at one point said hey I'm just here. Jacobs threw Aries with huge streamers on foot into the boards. Sinclair asked if he would quit. No! Put Jacobs on table outside as Aries was on top rope. Tyler put Jimmy Bogg the table. Aries tried for his tope and Jimmy pulled out the chain from last week. Jimmy "I can still smell my blood on this."

Swung it around for huge HUSS chant. Went to work on Aries choking with chain. "Austin do you quit". Ahhhhh! Crimson mask by Aries. Quite nice. Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs dueling chants by the crowd. Set chair on the outside. Aries got up. Jimmy busted his mouth and has rosy bloody cheeks. Spear by Jimmy on the apron. Dive to Aries on the chair. Asked again if he'd quite and got back "NEVER". Chained Aries to a chair like he was Harry Houdini. Headbutts and bites to Aries' head. Lacey came out and got on the apron. She pulled out a white towel. She did not wipe down the ring ropes. Jimmy had the spike. I will kill him! Lacey punched Jimmy. Aries broke free awkwardly. Super tope by Aries to outside brainbuster on broken chair. Aries then got the chain off and hit Jimmy. Crowd chanted "we want blood."

Jimmy was opened up. "We want fire" chant. Sinclair asked if Jimmy quit. Aries put Sinclair in the corner. Jimmy was wrapped with chains in the corner. Aries had the mic and hit Jimmy with it. Mocking "do you quit Jimmy". Put Jimmy and a chair on table. Went up top. Jimmy used chair to stop Aries and caught him up top. They both went through the table at same time. Back in the ring Jimmy went low end time. Jimmy used knees and last chancelory. Aries freed with THE CLAW. Tyler threw in the spike and Aries ducked then hit a backslide and eight knees to Jimmy's head. Big huge kick last chancelory. Tyler got on the apron. Lacey stole his towel. Aries did a crossface with spiking. Jimmy finally quit at 22:08. Jimmy was livid about Tyler yelling at him. "You worry about me" as Jimmy kept on hitting him with the towel. Tyler left.



7. Nigel McGuinness defeated Bryan Danielson to retain the ROH Title. Nigel kissed the belt. Handshake and Nigel let Danielson know he had his eye on him. Chain wrestling and wrist locks to start. Nigel got outside came back in the ring and did a hand gesture for a time out. Nigel kicked Danielson in the leg. Fish and chips and dragon is a wanker chants. Dragon tried a surfboard and jumped up to weaken Nigel's knees. He then went to work on Nigel's arms.

Danielson tried a tope but stopped and hit Nigel with a huge running high knee back into the ring. Dragon stomped on Nigel apparently attempting to "get your f**k**g head kicked in." Dragon was favoring his knees. Nigel did the surfboard knees on Danielson. Half crab on Danielson. Rope break. Crossed legs and pulled them far back for Nigel near fall. Nigel did spinning toe hold and figure four in center of the ring. Turned it around for rope break. Trading european cuts nigel went low for leg. Dragon hit let chest kick with his bad leg. Headstand. Danielson got leg like anklelock and hit a belly to back suplex while Nigel's left was bent. Chicken wing, elbow stopped it.

Traded nearfalls with reversals. Running uppercurt by Nigel. Got the chickenwing nigel hit rope. 10 kicks to Nigel's back while by the ropes. As the ref Sinclair was admonishing Danielson, Nigel dove and swept Danielson's leg. He set up Danielson on the top rope for a clothesline. Instead he attacked Danielson's knees with forearms. Nigel hit a lariat off the ropes. Nigel went outside and Danielson hit a baseball slide dropkick and springboard dive to Nigel and the floor. They fought to the entrance. Nigel got a chair, Sinclair stopped him which allowed Claudio to jump Danielson on the floor. Sugarfoot came out and helped drag a now bloody Danielson and bring him to the center ring. Huge lariat for a great near fall. Half crab. Pulled Danielson towards center. Danielson got the ropes. Crowd went silent.

Attacked the knee more. Danielson hit his fast kick attack. Both men down. Eurpoean uppercuts. Tried jawbreaker. Danielson ducked and grabbed arm bar MMA triangle with elbows. Hand dropped twice. Tried half crab. Small package Danielson for amazing near fall. Missed European uppercut elbows and cattle mutilation. Tiger suplex. Nigel near fall with jawbreaker spin move. Lariat for twoooo. Nigel did elbows. Slaps to Nigel running forearm. Whipped into ropes and hit jawbreaker lariat for the pin at 28:16. Wow! Amazing final 10 minutes.



ROH announces 10 dollars off each ticket for the St. Louis show in December.



Non-PPV Match

1. Samoa Joe defeated Tyler Black. Huuuuuge ovation for Joe. Handshake and nose to nose. Joe overpowering Tyler and Tyler not backing down. Diesel beat you. Joe had a five hundred star look and mocked them. Outstanding. Tyler on offense with his speed. Joe went outside Tyler hit a flip dive on him. They traded chops. Tyler tried a jump off the middle rope to little success whipped Tyler into the corner and an awesome enziguiri. Joe tried to dive.

Tyler got out of the way and got in the ring and tried a tope of his own. Joe hit him with a high kick while he was flying and then Joe toped Tyler into the first row and my seat. Joe then hit the ole kick and bent the guardrail in half. He tried again but Allison Wonderland stopped him by covering up Tyler. Joe moved her out of the way and this allowed Tyler to work on Joe. Spring board clothesline attempt but Joe caught him with an atomic drop. Powerslam and a two count from Joe. STF on Tyler into a crossface which got a very small "kill your wife" chant.

Rings of Saturn which got a great "Perry Saturn" chant. Rope break. Joe called for muscle buster. Tyler blocked and hit a standing shooting star. Tyler was caught for a one count on an island driver. Crowd was stunned. Punches. Tyler hit a kick to Joe's face and the God's Last Gift by Tyler for a great nearfall. Positioned Joe for phoenix but was too slow. Another kick. Phoenix splash failed over him. On top rope Tyler hit a huge enziguiri and went for the clothesline but Joe countered with the STO and muscle buster to choke Tyler. He went to sleep at 18:55. Joe said he would come back anytime and put over the company. His blood is red and black and TNA has a PPV competitor.

I didn't get an exact number but Keith's estimate looks right.

angel, they probably wanted to due the PPV stuff first and then end it with the non-PPV match

That may be the case, but you can't blame TNA for feeling that way. Joe didn't do anything crazy except for the dive. Oh yeah, he made that crude gesture to the fans who chanted "Diesel beat you." That got a huge pop and "JOE" chant. Very good match between Tyler and Joe. Tyler got a nearfall with that brainbuster, but nobody really thought he was winining.

I'd be shocked if there was more than 1,000. More like 700-920, but I didn't do a count. My guess is that this St. Louis show is going to bomb with the attendance, because they were trying to move tickets to that show last night.

Great show overall. Danielson vs. Nigel was another classic, and there was about three great near falls for Dragon. I really don't know where they're going to go with Nigel as champ now, because he's beaten Dragon. The only disappointing aspect of that feud was that they built up Dragon on PPV chasing and beating Nigel's opponents to get another shot at the belt, and the fans got no payoff to the chase. So who knows where they're going.

Claudio got the HEYS everytime he did a move and he totally milked it for all it was worth. Even got into it with fans at the end. Sugarfoot got pinned (boo). They got the cell phones out for Silas and Sami got a good reception. Sami looks polished, but that was the first time I saw him work live.

Aries vs. Jacobs was really slow to start live and the crowd was half dead, but after the dive to the outside and lacey's return, that got the crowd amped. These two both bled buckets, with Jimmy sporting the crimson mask. Finish was awesome with the repeated stabbings. That's how you blow off a feud. I guess they're turing Tyler face.

Pushing of Sugarfoot was awesome. This news will cause PPV buys to spike 157% in Iowa alone. They'll have no choice to to book Nigel vs. Sugarfoot to headline a Des Moines show in 2009.

Shimmer match had some unique submissions. SDR's wig is creepy.

Briscoes vs. SteenErico was too short, but harmless. Titus gets a reaction whenever he moves his pelvis, but Krotch in AAW gets a bigger reaction. That match vs. Delirious was real quiet until the crotch grab.

Albright looks too much like Steve Corino now. I popped huge when the "Blues Brothers" theme played. Ace got a great reaction coming back and I hope he's back in ROH for good. The last few minutes of the six man had some great striking between Strong and Richards.

If you can't wait for the DVD, get the PPV. Great, great show, but I wouldn't put it above the first Driven PPV.

The music situation (my theory here) is so that they can use the music on the PPV and not have to pay the regular recording artists rights for the music since they used the karaoke versions. Sure they'll have to pay someone but its probably cheaper using those versions rather then the real music by the original artists.

I understand what you're saying but I still think they did it to have a real flow from beginning to end. For all they know, Joe and Black could have tired out the crowd and the finish to Dragon / Nigel might have ended flat.

Not really.

Samoa Joe is a live attraction, not meant for PPV. Samoa Joe's match has no effect on ROH storylines, so why should it be part of the flow of the show? You can't think of his match as being a part of the card because it wasn't. It won't be on the DVD.