I finally had a chance to sit down and watch Ring of Honor’s “Man Up” pay-per-view last night. If you like stiff realistic looking wrestling with performers sacrificing their bodies to deliver some of the most high risk and entertaining spots that you’ll ever see, you better Man Up and make sure that you see this one! For 120 minutes Ring of Honor delivered with a superb wrestling pay-per-view featuring some of the most entertaining matches that I have ever seen. In fact this pay-per-view is so good that I would recommend it to my friends that are not even wrestling fans. You do not have to be a fan of the profession to get into the action featured in ROH’s latest pay-per-view effort.
Man Up opened with a Four Corner Survival match between Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness, Claudio Castagnoli, and Naomichi Marufuji. For those that have never witnessed a Ring of Honor Four Corner Survival bout, there are two competitors in the ring and the other two have to tag in when they feel that they have the best chance to win the bout. There were all kinds of notable crazy spots in this one but the one that nearly stole the show for me was when Nigel McGuinness climbed up to the top turnbuckle and jumped into the second row of fans at ringside! I have never seen anything like that and the fact that ROH would let a performer do something that risky is crazy in itself but the fact that any performer would agree to do it is beyond me and was awesome!
This match featured several notable wrestling maneuvers that are rarely seen in mainstream professional wrestling today. Marufuji locked the Iron Claw on Claudio only to have it reversed and one applied on him! As well as Claudio applying a double swing on Chris Hero. The crowd ate it up and so did I.
The best of three singles matches up next between the No Remorse Corps and The Resilience factions were all three fast paced action laced bouts that could make even the most casual wrestling fan drool for more. Matt Cross and Rocky Romero worked the first bout with Romero going over but the best spot in this match was from Matt Cross when he connected on a springboard double stomp followed by a standing moonsault on Romero. Overall an outstanding match!
Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards was up next and I could go on all day about these two performers. Aries and Richards worked their asses off but Aries is the one that really shined. Aries hit the 450 splash to take the victory and I popped so big I literally came out of my seat. Aries is one of the best high flying wrestlers in the industry today and is capable of carrying anyone in a very entertaining match.
The best of three singles matches between the two factions concluded with Erick Stevens taking on Ring of Honor veteran Roderick Strong. The way that Strong handled Stevens’ size was jaw dropping but I thought that Strong broke Stevens’ neck on the finish. Strong and Stevens were gutting out a stiff fight on the top turnbuckle when Strong hit Stevens with a Splash Mountain powerbomb off the top followed by the pinfall. Unbelievable.
Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson was the match that I was looking forward too the most and despite being a very good bout, I thought that it was the weakest part of the very strong card. You have to give it to Danielson for a great match with one eye and the way that he handled the 300 pound plus Morishima even furthered my respect for him but the previous three matches were a very tough act to follow. Danielson got screwed out of the title when the referee stopped the match on several stiff forearms that Morishima gave Danielson to the head. It was just like the end of an MMA fight or boxing match. Once again not a weak match by any stretch of the imagination, however, I have seen better from both competitors.
The match of the night and quite possibly the pay-per-view match of the year was the Tag Team Ladder War for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships. The match was so good there is not even a way to put it into words. The bout between ROH Tag Team Champions Jay and Mark Briscoe versus Kevin Steen and El Generico was all over the place. It started in the crowd where all four men exchanged devastating chair shots and threw each other recklessly into seats that were occupied by fans that were all standing. We hadn’t had blood yet on the pay-per-view so I was expecting plenty of juice and I got it.
For nearly twenty minutes both Jay and Mark Briscoe bled profusely from their foreheads as they completed unimaginable high risk ladder spots that featured the competitors getting slung violently into the ladders causing them to buckle in half. There was one spot where El Generico got whipped into a ladder so hard that I thought that he had legitimately broken his back. There are all kinds of crazy spots I could talk about but when Jay picked up El Generico and Mark hit a Doomsday Device by springboarding off the ropes and through the inside of a ladder, I gasped in amazement. The match was unreal and finished with a stiff as hell battle between Jay Briscoe and Kevin Steen battling at the top of an extremely large ladder with Jay ending up with the straps.
As if the Briscoes hadn’t endured enough punishment, the pay-per-view ended with Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs, and Necro Butch (with his fist wrapped in barbed wire) attacking the ROH tag team champions. These guys deserve to be recognized for their work; Mark and Jay Briscoe are one of the best if not the best tag teams in the wrestling industry today. Wait to go guys, you all stole the show!
In conclusion Ring of Honor “Man Up” was an outstanding pay-per-view. I ordered it last night and will be purchasing the DVD as soon as it is released. This is truly a must-see event for every diehard wrestling fan in the entire world. This is also a must-see for any casual wrestling fan or for anyone that enjoys two hours of unfathomable fast-paced action. I’m telling you, do not miss this event. I would save my money and not order a WWE or TNA event before I would let this one go by me. I do not take my responsibility of recommending shows lightly and I promise to you that you will write me and thank me for highly recommending it.
Richard can be contacted at richard [at] grayinternet.com
Richard Gray is a professional wrestling journalist and frequent contributor to Rajah.com. He has been covering the world of professional wrestling since 1999 and has had the opportunity to cover ground breaking stories such as the demise of ECW, the WCW buyout, the Benoit tragedy, and more. For more on Richard check out his web site at WrestlingNewsWorld.com.