RD : Rev Ray Duffy, read "Dante's Inferno" as my bus trip reading material
DR : DEAN RASMUSSEN, the dining decisions were... unfortunate.
MN: Mike Naimark, holding the sole group photo hostage to the highest bidder.
PAS: Phil Schneider, has had to air out his apartment for a week to get out the stench.
TKG: Tom Karro-Gassner, nothin says lovin like somethin from the oven
PP: Pogo Pete Stein, who read New X-Men HC #2 on the bus home. Morrison and Quitely are your X-Gods.
KZ: Kate Z- Humoring Schneider's wrestling obsession.

DR: That is so the greatest match of the year. Meltzer needs to lay off the industrial solvent huffing. Honda is yo fucking DADDY.

PAS: I enjoy my role as wrestling missionairy, bringing the word of the messiah Honda to the unwashed masses.

MN: Well lah-dee-dah, I got to spend all week discussing federal regulations covering pharmaceutical research while simultaneously dodging the invectives of the filthy, spittle-spewing hippies who were amassed outside my hotel because they got wind that there were individuals inside who just might have perhaps at some point in their professional careers performed some animal research. As if the topics under discussion weren't mind-numbing enough, one of the unwashed vermin from the street burst in to my Thursday afternoon session spouting off some nonsense about animal researchers murdering Jerry Garcia before he was summarily shuffled off by security. Needless to say, by Thursday evening, I was in need of the respite that only a night out with the legendary DVDVR Playboyz~! could provide. 

PP: I was in a similar bind to Naimark's, having spent the previous few days at my company's Atlanta convention which was put on by our most insane meeting planner. 14-hour shifts... check. Two days setting up for a 6-hour trade expo... check. Forced to stay at our booth while everyone else is boozing it up at the open bar reception... double-check. From Sunday night to Wednesday afternoon I literally never left the hotel complex and the non-work highlight was me getting rip-roaring drunk before Game Six.... speaking of which, the beloved Cubs didn't exactly help my mood those last couple of nights either. OTOH I did learn to distinguish between the Georgia accent, the Carolina accent and the Mississippi accent. ("Wheah's the golf town'ment bein' held?" "Sugarloaf." "Shuhloff?") As you might imagine I was starving for some entertainment by the time I got the fuck out of Dodge (having been smart enough to get the rest of the week off and fly straight to DC). I hit Dulles and pass by the airport bar just in time to see the Marlins go up 3-0 in the first and I realize I won't be getting any entertainment from baseball tonight.

RD: Tom shows up and then Lee Benaka with beer. We wonder where the hell Pete and Dean are. Angie calls up and we still continue to wonder where the hell they are. I think they showed up like 2 hours after they were supposed to as Dean tried to look for a place to buy beer. Phil and Tom considered doing an intervention, but Tom thought it might be awful hypocritical for him to be doing one.

PAS: On the phone Dean has the sound of Kitty Dukakis scouraging the medicine cabinets for rubbing alcohol. When he got here he shotgunned 7 of Lee Benaka's beers, it was like watching Mickey Rourke in Barfly.

TKG: I get on phone with Dean and reasssure him that if all else fails Phil has some Vanilla extract in cabinet.

DR: I pick Pete up and make it all the way to Schneider's street before getting turned around and then it all went to hell. I drank a lot of Lee's beer and I guess that means that I owe him ass, gas or grass. Or maybe... just some...some beer.

PP: As we hit the highway Dean checks his watch and says something to the effect of "We should be at Phil's by 9:30." Dean gets it in his head that we should hit someplace and get some sweet boooooooooze, which leads us to the scariest 7-Eleven in the world: no beer, TWO cops stationed at the door and Slurpee cups kept behind the counter for theft prevention. Egads. We finally stagger into Phil's around 11 after making 17000 U-turns and somehow going past his street 4 times. I give Ray his gift of Goody's headache powders as he continues to embrace the straight-edge redneck lifestyle.

RD: During the night, a copy of Moose Cholak v. Larry Chene gets played from the 60's and it totally kicked ass. Cholak was great as the big fat amateur wrestler who cheats with loaded head butts with his head gear. Chene also busts out two HUGE over the top rope bumps in one match. It had great heat as the fans were getting a little restless over Moose's cheating, including an old lady throwing a shoe at him or something before the local PD are around ringside for the final fall. Tom and Phil pimped the hell out of the head scissors reversal where Chene escapes Cholak's headscissors by TYING HIS SHOELACES TOGETHER! It also has the great call by the announcer saying Cholak was "on him like a baby hippo". We end up staying up til like 4 am watching stuff including the NJPW old man battle royal and the Zero One fat ass battle royal and an old NJPW Dick Murdock v. Abby where Dick gives Abdullah a brainbuster that Abby didn't seem to want to go up for, making his bump even worse.

DR: That was fucking GRIM. Abby forgot five or six spare rib recipes at that moment. The weirdest thing about the Cholak/Chien match is that I didn't think wrestlers bumped that big until Ray Stevens in the early 70s but there's Larry Chien taking a fucking unprotected Jerry Estrada bump to the floor.

TKG: During first fall Pete says"Hey is this the match where Cheen blades?"...no thats one of the other Lary Cheen matches. I really like the last section of the Fat Man battle royale. The arguement over which overweight Zero-One gaijin would be the most fun to titty fuck was never really settled.

PP: BAH. Anyone with ESPN Classic would know they've shown like three different Chene matches over the years... all of them great. This match was as Chicago as Vienna Beef and Old Style and I need to find more of Cholak as he was totally king-sized. We also watch the Muto/Arashi vs TAKA/Gigantes tag titles match and are well and greatly entertained at Arashi's "sell" of TAKA tossing him over the guardrails. By this time the Cubs' choke was complete but I was having so much fun that I didn't really even care anymore.

PAS: I am reviewing Cheen v. Cholak for the next DVDVR, but man fucking alive did it own.

RD: Thursday morning Dean, Pete and I get up early and drive out to Ohio for gas and breakfast at the IHOP. 

DR: Our waitress gives me the wrong plate and I don't notice and begin MY JOURNEY into gastric pain. She realizes her error and takes my plate and gives me my proper International Sampler and then - en lieue of throwing the first platter away- gives both plates to me and WHOOP! THERE GOES THE DIET!

RD: We get back about 3 hours after we left to find Schneider has just woke up and continue going through tapes. Rippa ends up bailing on the weekend because his beloved Wankees are in game 7. I hope they lose if only so I can call up Rippa and make fun of him for passing on wrestling and meeting up with the group for baseball. Cel also bails due to work. Ironically, I gave up on my economic sanctions against ROH because I was under the impression that all the Playaz (minus Tony) were going to be there and we ended up with people crapping out. We finally get somewhat organized as Dean, Phil and his girlfriend pick up Mike and his wife Jenny in one car as the other ends up with Lee, Pete, me and Tom. 

PAS: We watched a whole mess of wrestling. Whole mess.

PP: We watch the Carnage Crew/Rudy Boy trainees matches from ROH as they try to convince me that the Elizabeth match ended seconds after Hotstuff Hernandez got concussed as opposed to the 5-10 minutes I had to sit through live, including the 2-3 minutes where time stood still as the concussed Hernandez struggled to clear his head long enough to put Masada through the chairs at the finish while the crowd died. There's a reason they edited out that footage, you nerds. Magazines were also busted out... someone had bought the Wrestle America markazine with the promotion reviews and we decide that "Chasyn Rance" is the most indy name ever.

MN: Our plans to meet were thrown together somewhat haphazardly, so all I knew was that we would be picked up by somebody in an unknown vehicle at a downtown Metro stop. Naturally the agreed-upon time to meet was missed, so me and the Missus had plenty of time to muse about what to expect from our hosts, since I had known most of them through the DVDVR since 1998, but only met one (Pete). I speculated that we should keep an eye peeled for a vehicle with a mismatched door, dragging its muffler as "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" blared from half-blown speakers. The truth was more horrible than we could have ever imagined...

TKG: I leave work later than I planned as I was distracted by the cuteness of six year olds trying to teach me how to do whip-its. "Mr. Tom, Mr Tom don't throw that bottle away just yet". I was more bothered by the idea that he thought I wouldn't know the joys of nitrous, than I was by the idea that he did.I look for Mike at the metro station. He was described as having a green shirt and looking like a scientist. He did have a green shirt but his hair was combed so I had a hard time spotting him.

DR: Naimark is sexier than I imagined (less of an Ed Gein vibe than I was suspecting). 

MN: I always suspected I had a pretty radiant Herbert West vibe, actually, but maybe that's just the turpentine talking.

PP: "Michael Naimark, Miskatonic '88."

DR: Luckily he sported more than just a speedo after the DC cops complained. I explain the fine paiste of goldfish and apple juice that everyone is sitting in since I basically ripped the car seats out the backseat and hauled my sweet sweet keister to DC. Naimark and his wife pile in while I pull off- as if we were pulling a bankheist. It doesn't take long for us all to realize that Naimark's wife is SO much cooler than he is. I already knew that Schneider's girlfriend was cooler than he will every be. 

PAS: That is really true, I think she actually enjoyed herself at the show too- although she had a fondness for Sonjay Dutt for some reason.

RD: Somehow our car gets past Dean despite them having a 5 or 10 minute lead on us and them still somehow beating us to the KFC for the pre-matches dinner. The Deanmobile gets their food before us as the Lee mobile crew ends up stuck behind someone who's ordering like an 80 piece dinner with coupons and making substitutions and paying with a credit card, further speeding up the ultra-efficient KFC team. 

TKG: She had coupons, a money order, and a Dinner's Choice card. It took a year.

PP: All I'm going to say about this KFC is I hope our cashier, Cuba Gooding Jr., wins the Oscar for "Radio" so he can get the living fuck out of the food service business.

DR: Jesus, it was grim. A Baltimore Voodoo Rastamon summons the spirit of Colonel Saunders through a purple mist. The Colonel bellows his hellish battle cry while dropping the straps and pulling off his gloves. "FUCK YOU, FAT MAN! HAHAHAHAHA!" Saunders hits the flying crescent spinning front back kick directly into my grease-coated stomach and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Schneider forces me to help him eat his barbecue wings and my fate is sealed. Slaw was good.

RD: We choke down dinner and get to the building just as the pre-show stuff had started. I was surprised the place was as full as it was with it being a week night and the playoffs going, but they filled the place up pretty well.

PP: Lee passes Tom some sort of plum brandy in the car which he proceeds to hit up his 1/2-gallon Pepsi with. He's forced to leave it in the car, but I take my (smaller) drink with me... and consternation uproar, they let me in with it. Best security ever! I guess the crowd at about 500, which is quite good for a weeknight if not up to the usually gargantuan (wink wink) MCW crowds. Green Lantern Fan is conspicuous by his absence, but I notice a Green Arrow Fan off on one side. I immediately hope he posts match times to the board in lieu.

TKG: MCW always had a worked crowd of 1,200. Feinstein had to be disapointed.

DR: Me n Naimark figured 300ish. It was pretty full.

MN: So was Dean. I actually thought he ordered boneless chicken strips at KFC since I never noticed any skeletal chicken remains in his plate. His toilet must've looked like the lost elephant graveyard the next day. 

PAS: I was really hungry and ordered too much food, luckly Dean and Tom will always pick up the slack for you.

Pre-Show
RD: We got into the building just as Samoa Joe and Prince Nana were going at it. Nana has some new gear which now has the arrow design on his flaps on his groin and ass so it's sort of a loincloth type effect going. Nana got in the corner charge, rebounding ass attack, but eventually Joe catches him and chokes him out. There was no referee for this, but Cappetta called that Joe had won. Joe did a little mic work welcoming everyone to Ring of Honor. He promised he was going to choke out Briscoe later in the show which I think lead to the Jay and Mark coming out and Jay getting in Joe's face.

DR: Samoa Joe did neat suplexes and I was happy. Not really much of a match but I wasn't ready to invest much into it.

MN: They don't make Samoan wrestlers like they used to. I bet this guy wouldn't tear out another man's eyeball even if you gave him a dollar.

TKG: They announced that a couple in the front row had driven from Miami to Baltimore to see the show as part of their Honeymoon. I'm not so much bothered by the idea of going to a wrestling show as part of ones honeymoon as I am bothered by... YOU WENT TO BALTIMORE FOR YOUR HONEYMOON. Baltimore? I guess there were no wrestling shows in Flint, Michigan this week. They really are missusing Nana in this jobber role. I did like his new outfit.

PP: Agreed with Tom... Nana is solid gold on the mic and is entirely servicable as a worker too so his lack of push is really depressing. Joe's music is number one and the best as he uses "Another Body Murdered" by Boo-Yaa Tribe and Faith No More.

MATCH 1: SCRAMBLE RULES : THE RING CREW EXPRESS (Dunn & Marcos) v. DANNY DORING & JOSH DANIELS v. SONJAY DUTT & SLYK WAGNER BROWN v. THE ROTTWEILERS (Grim Reefer & Slugger) w/ Julius Smokes
RD: This is the first time I've seen Dunn and Marcos live and Marcos is tiny. Dunn sports his name in the Poison style font and Schneider I think said Marcos had his name in the old Dokken font. This was a pretty good opening match as there was some feeling from our group that don't like a lot of people in this match, but for the most part, everyone looked good. Doring and Dutt got pretty big reactions as I think they were both regulars in MCW. Reefer and Dutt faced off at one point and it seemed like Reefer was a little bit behind, so it didn't look so smooth. I've seen him look a lot better, but this was OK. Slyk came out without his hair dyed blond, so maybe hair dying is against the code of Honor or something. Things of note from the match, I think everyone looked good for the most part or at least hid some guy's weaknesses. I did like the goofy Marcos/Dunn air guitar celebration after hitting a double team. Julius Smokes, who worked in JAPW and USA Pro as J-Train is really fun as a second. I think he brings a lot of enthusiasm to the job and works the crowd well and does a great job of cheering for his guys. The finish was Slugger hitting his Body Bag (sort of a diamond cutter out of a body slam) on Dunn for the win. I think Slugger needs a new finish, while the of the move is neat, it just doesn't look all that good since the guy is pretty much landing with their face well into Slugger's chest when he hits the move.

DR: I thought Dutt/Reefer sections were flashy as hell and pretty neat looking. Reefer was the best guy in this match because he rudoing like a KING for Dutt. Everything else didn't suck as much dick as we were preparing for it to suck. Jesus, I hate these kind of matches but this wasn't horrible at all. I actually dug large wads of this match in a Michinoku Pro 1996 kind of a way.

MN: I found this to be nearly unwatchable - nobody sold anything for more than a few seconds, lots of flying and bumping and I never believed for even a second that any of these guys could hang with Pat Rose in a shoot.

PAS: I was really dreading this match but it actually ended up being pretty fun. I spent most of the match watching J-Train though, as he really is the best thing about damn near any match he is in.

TKG: I really wouldn't mind seeing a Daniels vs. Dunn singles match as they looked good working each other. I agree with Ray that Reef looked off. I have no idea why Doring is roiding that much, does he think he's gonna get called up to AJ to work a Helmsley gimmick in the WWF army? Instead of working a scramble match everyone tagged which made it work alot better. And this was infinitely better than I expected it to be. I don't understand Slugger's finisher at all. I could see Gaffari using it as a finisher but unless I'm supposed to think that Slugger has a dangerously sharp erect nipple, I don't see why being dropped on his chest should do anything.

PP: Perfectably acceptable opener as they seemed to focus on the RCE, Reefer and Dutt for the most part. I also like the fact that Reefer/Slugger actually came out to J-Train's own music. I don't know where Dutt gets the bad heat from as he's been fine every time I've seen him. Dean starts a running conversation with the 10-year-old boy in front of us... this will continue throughout the night.

MATCH 2 : FIELD OF HONOR TOURNAMENT MATCH : MATT STRYKER vs. CHRIS SABIN :
RD: This match was pretty ugly as it got sloppy in a bunch of spots. I'm not sure who to really pin it on, but there were 4 or 5 spots that looked very bad. There was a pretty bad looking powerbomb by Stryker on Sabin. There was also a spot where Sabin springboarded into a Stryker powerslam that looked more like a Northern Lights Bomb. Stryker I think almost dropped Sabin on his first attempt at the Death Valley Driver on Sabin, but eventually hit the move, busting Sabin's eye open in the process. There was a bit of a panic from the crews to get towels and do a full clean up of the mess as the Maryland Athletic Commission is notoriously strict, especially when it comes to blood. This was probably the worst match of the night.

DR: This match was horrendous. I wouldn't say this was the worst match because I'll take these two fucking everything up over Back Seat Boys and Special K not selling any finishers for 15 minutes. This was the most disappointing because I dig Stryker and he looked like the one fucking everything up. I'm amazed Sabin could walk again after the Powerslam that went awry.

PP: You've heard of the turning powerslam, right? Well, this was the Burning Powerslam.  Not good. Nope.

PAS: This did have some nice sections, but really went awry. Worst Matt Stryker match I have ever seen, and it looked like he was to blame. I think it is his new greasy hair cut.

TKG: I didn't mind the dangerous powerslam. Thats the way El Dandy used to take them and it would have been a fine finisher. That said there were large chunks of this that were WWE RAW level sloppy. Ugly match.

MATCH 3: FIELD OF HONOR TOURNAMENT MATCH : "CLASSIC" COLT CABANA v. BJ WHITMER 
RD: This was a fun match. I haven't seen a whole of either guy, but this is the first stuff I've really seen of Colt since he went to the Blue Bloods training thing and it looked like he picked up a bunch of mannerisms- as he did a few funky reversals in this that looked straight out of a whacky british match. Colt impressed me a lot as he's got a lot of personality and it shows. Given his size and the fact he's got a personality, it's sort of a surprised WWE hasn't made a play for him. There was a funny bit where Colt tripped on a rope running segment (whether intentional or not) and played up how pissed he was as the fans and Whitmer were goofing on him. They did some back and forth stuff, Colt escaped the weird reverse DDT move that Whitmer hit him with at the Elizabeth show into something else. Whitmer escaped the Colt 45 at another point. Cabana won with sort of a standing La Majistral cradle for the win. Good match with Colt probably impressing me more than everyone else just with his working of the crowd.

DR: This was the match of the night just because Colt Cabana was so fun while hitting moves better than anyone else on the card. I think Cabana is the best guy in the indies who isn't named Preston Quinn. It was at this point that I tried the chicken fingers. I would have been better off beerbonging a can of motor oil.

PAS: Kate also thought this was match of the night, and Cabana was really great here although it really was a one man show, as I don't remember a single thing Whitmer did. I also really dug the "back the guy into the corner and give him a high ten" spot. Definitely satisfing wrestling.

MN: This was the match of the night just because Colt broke out the freakin' Bionic Claw, and the crowd, to their credit, popped huge for it. Und zat is all da people need to know...

PP: Colt comes out wearing a singlet with what appears to be the Cubs "C" logo and I remark that he must be doing the job tonight. NO, I'M NOT BITTER. This was fun fun fun as Colt rules the earth, the moon and the surrounding planets and Whitmer isn't far behind. I like to think the rope-running spot was unintentional and that Colt just did a masterful job of covering the goof.

TKG: Cabana and Smokes are the two guys on the show that just have SUPERSTAR written all over them. I agree with Pete that the Zbysco stall was a really smart way to cover for a botched sequence. Compare that to the fuck ups in the Sabin-Stryker match where they'd just go to repeat the spot. I'm a little more ambivalent about the Bionic Klaw then the rest of the folks here....I'm just uncomfortable seeing a member of my Tribe using the tools of the German oppresor. I started thinking about MY Name is Ascher Lev and it distracted me from the match.

MATCH 4 : SPECIAL K (Dixie & Izzy) w/ Becky Bayless, Elax, Lit & Hijinx v. THE BACKSEAT BOYS (Johnny Kashmere & Trent Acid) for the ROH Tag Team Titles
RD: This was another 'eh' match. I like Dixie a lot, but this didn't look like a real strong performance from him. I'm not sure how many matches Izzy has been back since his last injury. And with the Backseats, well, you're dealing with the Backseats. I've seen them look passable and I've seen them look shitty, and this wasn't on the passable side. The other Special K guys did run ins at points in the match and the Backseats hit them with some double teams to eliminate them, including a double force the guy to do the strut with you into a leg sweep. Dixie eventually hit Acid with a gordbuster and Izzy hit a springboard 450 to score the win and win the belts. During their post match rave, HC Loc of the Carnage Crew did a run in to attack Special K, but was totally out numbered and was getting beat down when the Rottweilers and Smokes made the save. It seems like Loc appreciated the Syndicate guys saving him, so I don't know if this means they're going to be moving him into that group or what.

PAS: Man, Johnny Kashmere sucks, I mean Trent Acid sucks too, but Kashmere looks worse then Lit in their sections against each other. Kashmere is sub-Lit, for god sakes. My favorite part was some dipshit in the crowd getting into a heated argument with Cloudy. You could see this guy reaching deep into his bag of verbal gymnastics so he could best Cloudy in a war of words.

DR: God, I hated this match. No selling, shitty punches, the worst possible Southern tag match ever. Yuck. What a clusterfuck.

TKG: There was nothing southern about this. Just crap. I was looking forward to Youth Gone Wild reunnion and stoked to see Elax at ring side. But there was nothing in this match as good as the Doring vs. Slyk sections of the opening scramble. The Backseats looked like absolute shit. I kept thinking, what the Holy Rollers weren't available. Special K was sub Total Quality Management too. Unwatchably bad.

PP: I was also looking forward to the YGW reunion but this was pretty bad and I can't even place all of the blame on the Backseats as it seems like Dixie and ID were more off than usual. I did get a kick out of them playing the techno remix of "Final Countdown" after they won the straps. Am I hallucinating or weren't they supposed to have banned match interference like the 18 run-ins here?

MN: One of the Special K Posse had a pretty dope fuzzy pink hat. I also liked their intro music and the flashing lights while they danced in the ring. See, Mike's all about the positivity.

MATCH 5 : CM PUNK vs. AJ STYLES
RD: This was my match of the night. Pre-match, Punk comes out and does a little mic work making fun of everyone for being weak and pointing out that he's better than us all because he doesn't drink or use drugs. Phil and Tom have a great debate about who they should be pulling for in a match that has a born again Christian and a straight edge guy. There was a lot of good counter wrestling in this both guys looked great. They teased a few big finishing spots where Styles was trying to hit the Styles Clash off the second rope, but Punk fought out of it. Punk tried to hit the Pepsi Plunge and Styles fighting out of it. The finish was Punk going for the Shining Wizard, but Styles some how blocking it and lifting Punk up and into the Styles Clash. Good match, one of the better ones I've seen live during the year.

DR: This match was good but I wasn't feeling any hatred betwixt the two so it was kinda of clinical process of wrestling. Which is better than most wrestling I guess. Still, after watching all the NOAH and after comparing it to the average high-end NWA-VA match, this didn't really stir me like it would have two years ago. Nothing drew me into it and that's the point of the wrestling- to get drawn in and emotionally attached.

PAS: I agree with Dean, perfectly fine stuff, but they didn't really give me a reason why they were working each other, and the match itself didn't tell much of a story. This really felt like an INDY WRESTLING MATCH, the kind of thing which they could tour around with, and the Cleveland Championship Wrestling crowd would give a standing O too. Failed to engage me though, I think instead of Punk cutting his standard Straight Edge promo before a match with a Born Again Christian who doesn't do drug, he should have done some anti-Jesus stuff. Punk has a Born Against CD in his changer, quote some lyrics.

MN: I liked this match because as I recall Styles broke out the cravat, which is the king of old-school sugar holds in my book. Prior to this match the announcer proclaimed that the Yankees were losing to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 4-0. Plenty of time for a comeback, I figured.

TKG: I dug this match a bunch. When he isn't wrestling Raven they sure are jobbing Punk alot. Punk's Misfits running shorts were also neat. When I think Misfits I don't think running shorts. Then again I don't think cage matches with Steve Williams either.

PP: This was my match of the night just for them doing the lucha upside-down slap fight near the beginning... that was my big nerd-out moment and was fully deserving of the "Freak!" look Kate gave me. Punk's Misfits basketball shorts ruled it, but someone has to explain why he had "138" (I think that was the number) down one leg.

INTERMISSION
PAS: During intermission, I go an try to score a copy of Julius Smokes CD, he doesn't have a copy with him unfortunately, but I do buy him a glass of Hennesey.

KZ: As Phil's girfriend, I ended up doing what girls often do best - cattily evaluating other girls. I tasked myself with assessing the Baltimore groupie situation, which I did during an intermission walk-around with Tom while Phil was snuggling up to J-Train.

I was frankly disappointed. I assumed there would be an active indie wrestling groupie scene in Baltimore - this is, generally speaking, a town that trades in human misery - but there were only five or six good-looking, suitably desperate groupies around. That may not even be enough to meet the needs of the Backseat Boys for the evening. They were all underage, too, and while that doesn't diminish their groupie appeal, it does make it all the more difficult to get them legally drunk enough to perform their duties. What's Chris Sabin to do on a lonely Baltimore night?

PP: We get a group photo from Jenny... we couldn't find a suitable stand-in for Cel but the 10-year-old made a perfectly fine substitute for Raven Mack.

MATCH 6 : FIELD OF HONOR TOURNAMENT MATCH : JIMMY RAVE v. DANNY MAFF w/ Allison Danger
RD: I think this was Maff's first match back since his head trauma at the hands of Low Ki. This was a bit too squashy for my tastes. From what I've seen of Rave, he's fun and good on the mat and I like Maff a lot, but this just wasn't lined up well. It seems like Maff is a guy they really want to push as a monster and with him just coming back from his injury, I think they were going to push him hard, so this was a whole lot of Rave getting beat up. They do an extended sequence on the outside with Maff whipping Rave into the railings at ringside to all sides of the ring. Maff also teased throwing Rave into the crowd only to turn around and throw him back in the ring. Rave recovered and hit a diving knee off the apron onto Maff on the outside. They did a bit where Maff faked like his head was hurt, but he popped up and nailed Rave. Rave got in a tilt-a-whirl crossface at one point. Eventually Maff hits the Burning Hammer to score the win.

PAS: This is exactly how this match should have been worked. No complaints. I would have liked to see Rave beaten a little more though.

DR: I was completely unfazed by this match. I blame myself. Maff has lost a lot of weight.

TKG:They really needed some mic work to set up the head injury angle. This was so not CM Punk vs. Chris Hamerick...but fine match.

PP: Yeah, the faked injury went over most of the fans' heads here. I feared Rave going over Maff via some "creative" (read: convoluted) booking, but the result here was exactly as it should've been as Maff squashed the bejeezus out of Rave and got the easy win. I was amused at everyone noticing Maff's gigantic lifts for the first time.

MN: Was this the match right after intermission? The RF Video table was stacked with row after row of uninteresting fare in my judgement, though your mileage may vary. I really don't care what Ian Rotten has to say, and that's a shoot, brother!

PP: After Mike and I get back from the merch table I tell Jenny I was trying to get him to pick up the Wrestling Vixxxens DVD for her. She mentions almost getting it for Mike for Hanukkah, and I decide I need to get out to Fort Collins more often.

MN: Well I WAS planning on moving back to Mississippi and joining a country club, but now Pete has outed me and shot that idea to hell. Mazel-tov, motherfucker!

TKG: My favorite was the Al Perez shoot tape. Al Perez?? Does RF ask him who oiled him up for those Watts promo videos? Does he ask if they can reenact them?

MATCH 7 : JUSTIN CREDIBLE vs. RAVEN 
RD: Pre-match Credible gets on the mic and says he's tired of reading on the sheets and on web sites (didn't include ours, gee, wonder why) putting over Raven for re-inventing himself. This was kind of there and shitty and didn't really hold my attention. I think they did a spot where Credible tried to use a standard padded chair and ended up eating the drop toe hold into it. Raven eventually hit the DDT for the win.

TKG: This sucked. Soda Pop Ronnie Zukko vs. Dino Cassiotone was better than this.. Kelly Bell vs. Jimmy Cicero not only drew better at "Michaels 8th ST.", it also smoked it in ring.

DR: God, this match was HORRENDOUS. Fuck, Credible is from fucking MEMPHIS. Why doesn't he know how to throw a fricking punch? It also appears that Credible took Benoit In New Japan 1993 level of steroids while in the WWE and ECW because he now looks like Andy Dick with a shaved head.

PAS: I saw a coked out Andy Dick attack the sidekick on the Tom Green show. It was clear form their wrestling Dick has some MMA training, he went into the guard at one point, and even attempted a triangle choke. I think Andy Dick v. Low-Ki or Dick v. American Dragon could be better then either Credible v. Ki or Credible v. AD. I also think Andy Dick and C.M. Punk could have a really fun feud.

TKG: Andy Dick was coked out of his mind on that show. The larger Green sidekick bulled Dick down then Dick went to the guard and moved toward eventually getting the mount. It was nutty. Clearly had some Ju-jitsu training that he could actually apply while on enough drugs to kill a horse. If the guys who do the Bum Fights tapes, ever want to go from being drug casualty tough men contests to being drug casualty MMA....Andy Dick could be their Gracie. They get Sky Saxon on commentary and I'll be buying all their PPVs.

MN: I didn't even recognize Credible, who looks to have dropped 40lbs of muscle and body hair since I last saw him in the WWF. He now boasts the physique of a young Wolfie D, or perhaps an old Chic Donavan. Chic would work his ass on the mat though.

PP: The 10-year-old boy got his picture taken with Raven at intermission, calling it the greatest moment of his life. Aww, he's young... I get a load of the pic and Raven has this hysterically cheesy smile for the kid. Regarding the match proper, I actually didn't think the in-ring portion of this was all that bad... it only went to hell when they went outside and then brought the chairs into the ring. I think this was the match where we noted some of the local fauna as you had the mother rat roaming around the area while the daughter rat followed close behind, learning from her parent about foraging for food and a potential mate. "Now don't use your teeth on Mr. Shrader unless he asks. See that piece of skin there? That's called the taint..."

MATCH 8 : JOHN WALTERS vs. XAVIER vs. MARK BRISCOE vs. HOMICIDE w/ Julius Smokes
RD: Pre-match, Xavier refuses to do the handshake with anyone. This was really eh. Walters was one of the guys who had a bunch of talk up about being one of the great guys you've never heard of and he didn't look really good in this. I'm not really high on the Briscoes either. The segments with Xavier and Homicide were good, but this really didn't thrill me a whole bunch. They did a big dive sequence with everyone. The finish was a bunch of guys hitting some big stuff. I forgot what took Briscoe out, but Walters hit something that sort of looked like a second rope dominator on Homicide. Walters got up and Xavier hit an eye rake and hit the 'Kiss Your X Goodbye' on Walters and scored the pin as everyone else was down and couldn't make the save. Post match the remaining 3 did the post match handshakes.

DR: John Walters is the next in a long line of overhyped New England guys who suck when you finally see them. Maybe it was an off night. This match was perfectly fine despite his horrible horrible punches.

PAS: Homicide looked really great in this, as did Xavier as did J-Train, but ick for the rest. That Walters Indian Deathlock/Chinlock double team in just embarrassing and he clotheslines like Shane. Man, I feel sorry for New England wrestling fans.

TKG: I really like Tarno and Dan as writers, and maybe I need to see the N. England guys in New England work cause.... damn. The chinlock thing might work as a double or triple team. When its a one man move---man even Nova wouldn't do that. On the other hand Briscoe didn't look much better. The Homicide vs. X sections were nice and ROH should really run that singles match. I also really like the Homicide breaking up a pin by punching Walters in the face spot.

MN: Match was OK, but overshadowed by the initial pre-match announcement that the Yankees now trailed Boston by a score of 5-3, with two men on base. Just scant seconds before the actual match commenced, the announcer quickly exclaimed that the Yankees had tied the game at 5-5, allowing me an opportunity to dance a little jig and proclaim my contempt for any and all cockroaches in the venue. My attempts to start a "Let's Go Yankees" chant were met with the silence of the ignorant, too enthralled with exploring the contents of their nostrils to offer any opinion one way or the other.

PP: I thought the best part of this match was J-Train rambling all over the place as Homicide's second. Truly hysterical as every match it seems like he snorts a gallon-sized Ziploc of toot before coming out. Also of note is that you can add Xavier to the list of wrestlers suddenly sporting tiny pants at an ROH show. 

MATCH 9 : JAY BRISCOE w/ Mark Briscoe vs. SAMOA JOE for the ROH Title
RD: I was getting kind of burnt at this point, so this was kind of tough on keeping my attention. The fans were getting behind Jay and Mark was in the corner leading the cheers. Jay got a fair amount of offense before Joe would start crushing him. Joe eventually caught him in the choke sleeper for the win. Joe was getting a lot of heel heat at the end of this.

DR: I liked this match quite a bit because of Briscoe taking all the finishers at the end and then Joe going over- as opposed to the problem with the old CZW Brisco matches where they go back and forth with 78 finishers to the point that Kyoko Inoue would watch the tape and say, "Jesus Christ, they sure did kick out of a lot of shit." Samoa Joe is a fun wrestler and I dug this match. Briscoe is vastly improved over the last time I saw him.

MN: I agree with Dean that what made this match memorable was Briscoe's failure to triumph in the face of all adversity and have a "miraculous! unexpected!" win after taking Samoa Joe's myriad of high-impact moves. Both of these guys seemed like perfectly solid wrestlers, although like most of the matches we saw tonight, too many finishers were kicked out of for my tastes. Gimmie the old days when a simple piledriver was enough to break out the stretcher.

PAS: Easy match of the night. Joe has put on a really impressive run of title defenses, and this was a great Vader match. Briscoe took a man-sized beating, and Joe's selling really made you buy Briscoe's comebacks. By the end of the match the crowd was rabid to see Briscoe win the belt. I think this may have been better then even the Briscoe v. Briscoe ROH matches and totally owned their CZW match. Joe is a guy who I thought was overhyped for a long time, but he is just amazing now, and one of my favorite guys to watch.

PP: Really good match as Jay got everyone to think he might, just might, pull off the colossal upset and win the title, although I thought him kicking out of Joe's Island Driver was a bit too much. Joe more than gave Jay his receipt with a SICK lariat for the pin then flipping off the fans for good measure while still covering . Joe has really come into his own as the magnificent bastard champion... "You really thought I'd lose to him? FUCK YOU ALL!" Mark hits the ring for the save postmatch but Joe takes care of him in similar fashion.

TKG: Yeah we all know that Jay isn't winning on this throw away houseshow but, hot damn did they get the crowd to believe that it might happen. As the crowd was super hot for this and booed Joe big time at end. This is first time I've seen Joe inspire some of the heel hate (emotional need to see the face triumph over him) that Xavier had in his title defenses.

RD : Post show we split up, Lee drops us off at Schneider's as Dean makes a wrong turn and practically drives Naimark back to Colorado, forcing Tom, Pete and I to walk around and kill time at the 7 Eleven, daring the rat infested streets of DC after midnight. Overall, the show was pretty good, but looking back at it, it felt like the second half really dragged. I was going in expecting a whole lot since it felt like a throw away show line up wise, but they had a big and lively crowd who were into a lot of it. If anything, Punk/Styles is worth trying to see. We ended up watching even yet more still wrestling Thursday night before Pete and I headed out on Friday back to NYC. It was cool to meet Naimark though I was disappointed we had people bail and further disappointed I didn't get to call Rippa and make fun of him for the Yankees losing. Stupid baseball.

PAS: Dean for some reason decided that the quickest way from Baltimore to Washington D.C. is through Arlington VA. Unfortunately, my notorious lack of directional skills meant the fat lummox was completely ignoring me when I repeatedly told him to get off the freeway. The show was the worst ROH show I have been to, but worlds better then any MCW show I have seen. I am jazzed for them coming back regularly.

DR: It was a fun show. The Stryker match was the only thing I was disappointed with and some of the stuff that I figured would suck, didn't. Cabana is awesome.

TKG: Enjoyed meeting Mike and Jenny, nice to have Lee out at a show as well...and had fun watching wrestling with the usual suspects. Good time was had.

PP: Not the best ROH show I've seen (this was my third live) but this was still exponentially better than anything you're likely to see on a Thursday night in the immediate future, and I'm pretty stoked for the 11/1 show in Elizabeth. Somehow the LeeMobile beats Dean back to his place by an hour so we bump around the neighborhood dodging rats and homeless people while picking up food and drink at the SEV~! We get back and watch more wrestling and I successfully beat back the urge to brain Phil with a chess piece everytime he bellows at me for nodding off at 3:30 in the morning. And my sister says I have no self-control.

YOUR DEATH VALLEY DRIVER PLAYAZ~!